Glory be to Introductions

[Kets-Mean-Kitty]

Hullo, my name is Jaimie, and I am an INTP. (Er, that's what the tests say, but I think my personality is so paradoxal that it doesn't really fit into any of the 16 types. But then again, it's basically pseudo-science, anyway.)

I am a journalism/technical writing major, I don't always use parallel structure, and I like the serial comma--a close relative to the serial killer. But anyway...as a writing major, I actually prefer writing and talking with conversational grammar. With that said, I don't think people sound smart when they're trying to sound smart. Bogging sentences down with adjectives and redundancies usually hinders the understanding, but hey!

Also, the title of my thread is sort of play-on-words because this board name (Introit) references Catholic terminology. (I am an ex-Catholic, don't worry!)

Edit
Also, I see that I typo'd my username. It was supposed to be Keta-mean-Kitty, but I think this version has character. xD

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

I don't like word salads either. Hi

 

[Jennywocky]

Hullo, my name is Jaimie, and I am an INTP. (Er, that's what the tests say, but I think my personality is so paradoxal that it doesn't really fit into any of the 16 types. But then again, it's basically pseudo-science, anyway.)

I am a journalism/technical writing major, I don't always use parallel structure, and I like the serial comma--a close relative to the serial killer.

I was trained to not use it in my first job, but I'm glad to see the shift back to using it since I think it's important in terms of clarity.

But anyway...as a writing major, I actually prefer writing and talking with conversational grammar. With that said, I don't think people sound smart when they're trying to sound smart. Bogging sentences down with adjectives and redundancies usually hinders the understanding, but hey!

Sometimes I type in l33t speak or text speak or current Internet slang just to be funny and amuse myself. (Totes!)

But yeah, "academic prose" drives me crazy; it's more obfuscatory than clarifying.

 

[Rook]

Hmmm irvine welsh uses amusing colloquial grammar in some of his tales.

Interesting author.

Welcome keta.

 

[Kets-Mean-Kitty]

Thanks, all, for welcoming me!

I was trained to not use it in my first job, but I'm glad to see the shift back to using it since I think it's important in terms of clarity.

It usually depends on the grammar style being used. In journalism, we use AP Style, and the AP Style does not use the serial comma. But like you said, it provides more clarity, especially in lists that have items with more than one word! So I use it in everything I write that's not an article, haha.

 

[Lapis Lazuli]

Style? What greater formal barrier to semantic clarity is there? I believe some grammar is necessary, but to any level of consistency such that you need a manual to maintain consistency is just as much academic speak as anything could be! If you choose a style to allude to something, then this would be semantic, and not grammatical.

But then again, I may be speaking to programers. In that case, style is almost everything, and the semantics are totally artificial.

But then again, I may be speaking to deconstructionists. In that case, style is almost nothing, and the semantics are totally annihilated.

Welcome Keta.

 

[Kets-Mean-Kitty]

Style? What greater formal barrier to semantic clarity is there? I believe some grammar is necessary, but to any level of consistency such that you need a manual to maintain consistency is just as much academic speak as anything could be! If you choose a style to allude to something, then this would be semantic, and not grammatical.

But then again, I may be speaking to programers. In that case, style is almost everything, and the semantics are totally artificial.

But then again, I may be speaking to deconstructionists. In that case, style is almost nothing, and the semantics are totally annihilated.

Welcome Keta.

I'm just talking about how certain writing jobs, like those in journalism, require the use of a specific style. I you're writing a news article for publication, and you fail to use AP Style, it won't get published. That's because the realm of journalistic and technical writing is a little bit like the world of programming. There is a formula. There is a right and there is a wrong. If you don't follow the formula, it's wrong. In terms of journalism, the purpose of using a style is to avoid bias. We're [supposed to be] delivering the news, after all, not giving our opinions! And structure and grammar matters. For example, AP Style dictates that breaking news articles should follow the inverted pyramid scheme. While there is theoretical bias in determining the most newsworthy piece to lead with, we have "formulas", so to speak, to figure that out without bias. But yadda, yadda...I don't want to talk about it anyway. Being forced to write in AP so much has kind of jumbled up the way I write anything else now. So I'm not defending forced styles, really. Just justifying them, I guess. Aha

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

That's because the realm of journalistic and technical writing is a little bit like the world of programming. There is a formula. There is a right and there is a wrong. If you don't follow the formula, it's wrong.

They are in many ways the same thing, that is following an algorithm and using a syntax.
There is a growing market for software that writes articles, blog posts, news and many more messages to save time and lower costs of maintaining sites.

In the future I would expect all article writing and information gathering to be done by complex heuristic systems of programs, leaving humans to improvise on the material and give a few personal adjustments when it's required.

And welcome to the forum.

 

[Yellow]

Welcome to the forum!

I understand your issues with writing style. I began my college education in journalism, and earned my first degree using AP writing style. My current style is a slobbery mutt, and I apologize in advance for any pee that may get on the rug.

Back in the day of my journalistic education (which began in Sept. 2001) the field seemed to hit rock-bottom, and I didn't have the stomach for it. There was no room for the heady idealism of journalistic integrity. I really hope there are people out there who still care to supply the world with objective[as possible] news. Maybe you'll gain enough momentum to cut through all the yellow.

 

[Pyropyro]

Welcome Kets-Mean-Kitty

 

[somebodiesfool]

Welcome and enjoy your stay.

 

[EditorOne]

"Bogging sentences down with adjectives and redundancies usually hinders the understanding, but hey!"

There is some reason to believe that technical jargon is intended to exclude participation and prevent participation and understanding from nonmembers of the crowd that understands the jargon. It's like armor, and serves exactly the opposite purpose to communication.

AP Style has its drawbacks, as does journalism jargon and protocols. Invariably AP news writers use past tense to refer to almost everything, even when it is a condition that continues in the present. "He was an Anabaptist, according to his mother." OK, my conclusion upon reading that is "He was an Anabaptist, so what is he now?" The journalist's rationale for using past tense, apparently, stems from institutionalized conceptual confusion about presenting information. The interview with the mother will be in the past when the reader gets to see it, so it's past tense. I have changed constructions like this to "He is an Anabaptist" many times over the years, and always get some crap from the reporter about how he/she is doing it the way his journalism professor insisted it be done. My response is someone should include a chapter on continuing conditions lest we leave readers with an unanswered question, which is a much worse sin for a journalist. Personally I attribute it to an institutionalized reluctance to think, instead substituting time-worn phrasing, parsing and sentence structures.

Did you know AP Style says the only proper use of the word "underway" is for a flotilla of vessels that is moving? All other uses are to be "under way." That's a style drawback, since a. nobody pays attention and b.what's the difference the distinction is trying to convey? My guess is one of the people who writes the stylebook was bored 40 years ago and included it as a joke.

E. B. White "Elements of Style" is an extremely practical and quite compact guide toward writing so everyone can follow and you can make your meanings clear. It's like the antipasta of stodgy.

Commas sometimes matter. "The elephant eats, shoots and leaves" as opposed to "The elephant eats shoots and leaves."

Welcome aboard Jaimie, and yes, you can still find media outlets where just finding out what's really going on and telling people is the reason people go to work, but you'll have to hunt around and even when you find such a place, there will always be a damn fool trying to get you to go out and find a cute cat. At a certain point in your career you can tell them to stick it up their ass, but expect some inane, fatuous assignments early in your career.