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> OTOH, those who can't handle the challenge of writing a
> simple sentence are less likely to realize that they're
> reading a badly-written one. Or to care that they are.
Some variant of this sentiment has been expressed by several people over the
last month. However, it is incorrect. I am not a musician, but I can tell a
true voice from a flat one. I am not a ball player, but I can tell a catch
from a fumble. I am not an electrician, but I can tell a well lit room from
a dark one.
People who consume writing can tell good writing from bad writing. They may
not be able to offer a cogent analysis of why it is bad, but they know bad
when they read it.
Experts in every discipline, but more perhaps in writing than any other,
tend to expound rules that either make no difference at all or that do
positive harm. But the reader is the real judge. If you are worrying over
differences that no one in your target audience can detect and that will
make no difference to their performance, you are worrying over the wrong
things.
---
Mark Baker
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com
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