English 5365 Week Two Post

Topic: What is style, why do we write things down, and in what ways does technology determine style?

My personal definition of Style is the specific presentation chosen for a particular audience for a specific topic or field of study. Style can be dictated by the field in which an author has been trained or in which that author wishes to publish. The author of a paper written for a medical journal is more likely to fill it with stodgy, over-complicated wording, while the author of a children's story strives for a more simplistic presentation. Style can be anywhere on a continuum from complicated to simple, including everything in between. However, it does not necessarily mean that the style is good, graceful, or appropriate to all situations.

In Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, 3rd ed., Joseph Williams writes, "This book rests on two principles: it is good to write clearly and anyone can." The idea that style is a basic way of writing that conveys its meaning to the audience clearly is fascinating and elegant. Clearly, if clarity is an important part of style, a significantly large portion of documents written for any number of purpose fail to exhibit style.

Williams references "the irresistible lure of obscurity" as a section heading in the first lesson in Style. I was drawn to this heading because of its impact on my life. I have often thought, while reading scientific manuscripts at work and even while reading some of the assigned reading in my Master's program, is this author purposefully being obtuse? I long ago came to the conclusion that authors attempt to over-complicate papers in a effort to make themselves seem more intelligent. I vaguely remember a joke from college in which a prize committee selected a winner, stating, "We can't understand it; it must be great!"

I hope that I add some clarity to papers in my work, but sometimes, I must resort to "preserving the author's original obscurity" because I cannot understand it, even after being trained to suss out the meaning of some of the most awkward sentences every seen. If I attempt to clarify a sentence and thereby introduce the wrong meaning, I have committed the cardinal sin of my job. I can only hope that Clarity truly becomes the clarion of good style and that people begin to think "I can't understand this; it must be awful."

With our overwhelming lack of style, I have to wonder why we bother to write things down at all. In A Better Pencil, Dennis Baron discusses some of the history of communication. The initial belief that writing was less-trustworthy than speech evolving to the current belief that writing is more-trustworthy than speech is fascinating. We started writing to remember things, keep a record of inventory, shipments, etc., and have moved to writing as a way to sort out our thoughts, express our emotions, and tell our stories in minute detail.

Technology has made a vast impact in the way that we tell our stories. Writing was once a past time for those who had the money for paper and ink, as well as the time to write. As paper became less expensive, writing became more common. As people became more educated, writing became more common. Still publishing was a privilege reserved to those who had the talent to get someone else to publish their work or to those wealthy enough to publish on their own.

Now, with blogs, like the one you are reading, people can publish their thoughts, feelings, and emotions without regard to talent or even to if the audience wants to read them. Is that good or bad? I have no idea.

I usually write very little in my blogs (yes, I have more than one), but the few people who read them tend to like them. I do not think much about my Style, blogging is more stream of consciousness in my mind. Perhaps as technology evolves, I should think more about the style of my blog in addition to the style of my course papers and workplace endeavors.