On Old Timey Writing
I embrace communication in just about all its forms. I like letters, email, blogs, facebook, Internet chatting, phone texts and the occasional phone call. While I’ve not yet delved into micro-thought trends like tweeting, I can see the value in them. I also enjoy uni-directional varieties like TV, radio, books, magazines, static web sites, etc. I’m not as audibly-oriented as I am visual, so the allure of podcasts and audio books elude me, but again, I can see the value in them.
My life’s work is dedicated to communication. Being first a graphic designer, then writer, then creative director, and finally a marketing manager, it might be seen as self-serving to adopt the opinion-as I have-that our advanced level of communication is what has made mankind what is it today. Without the ability to share ideas, we are little more than domesticated house pets.
Thus I come to my point. I would like to share with everyone my first, golden rule of effective communication: front-load the work.
Communication of any kind requires at least two parties: the one conveying the idea, and the one(s) receiving it. Both parties must be active. If the receiver (reader, viewer, listener, etc.) is not actively participating, the conveyer (book, TV, talker, etc.) isn’t communicating, it’s just making noise.
There a number of reasons the receiver might stop participating: distraction, boredom, confusion, fatigue, and so on. It is fatigue that most interests me today.
There is a trend, born out of Internet chatting and texting I believe, to back-load the work in communication. Instead of taking the time and effort to clearly express an idea through verbose language, abbreviation and broken grammar rules the day.
The problem with abbreviations is that they causes the reader to decode what would normally be an succinct idea. Abbreviations like “ne1” and “b4” serve only to shift the work from the conveyer of the idea to the receiver. The person reading a message filled with such abbreviations must expand everyone one into its actual word-on the fly and in their head-and then extract the idea from it. That slows down the comprehension speed considerably, and consequently, the retention of the message.
What’s worse, it actually slows down overall reading. Most believe that we actually read every individual letter in every individual word we see. This is not true. The truth is that we read the shape of a word first, and if we recognize it, we move to the next. Only when we run into unfamiliar or uniform word-forms do we slow down and read each letter. This is why words written in ALL CAPS stand out so loudly. They are literally speed bumps on the road of communication. It is also why text set in type with balanced ascenders, descenders, and serifs is easier to read, as it emphasizes the shape of each word.
It’s actually possible to write whole paragraphs with misspelled words that match the word-form of the correctly-spelled word, and still be readable at nearly full speed. Our brains, using content and context, can actually substitute the correct word on the fly, as long as the word looks the same.
But when one compresses word after word for their own convenience, it forces the reader to do substantially more work on their end. Communicating in constant abbreviations, while dropping such courtesies as commas, periods, and breaking spaces, is at the very least lazy and inconsiderate. At its worst, poor writing is counter-productive and destructive. A miscommunication can cause great damage.
When we communicate, we are trying to convey ideas that we consider valuable. Every thing we say is an attempt to educate or convince our listener or reader. We communicate as much for our own benefit as that of others. If you think otherwise, I argue that you’re not self-aware. Think about it for a while, and try to understand why would talk and write to one another.
Then consider why would we intentionally hinder that communication by building in stumbling blocks for the other side. Every convenience we take for ourselves is an inconvenience for another. If you value what you’re saying, if you wish to be heard, take upon yourself the work and responsibility of communicating effectively. Do your fair share, so that your audience doesn’t turn you off.
Otherwise you’re just making noise.
As a friend once said to me: if someone asks me for help in abbreviated text because it’s shorter and quicker, I’ll say “no” instead of “yes” for the exact same reasons.
My life’s work is dedicated to communication. Being first a graphic designer, then writer, then creative director, and finally a marketing manager, it might be seen as self-serving to adopt the opinion-as I have-that our advanced level of communication is what has made mankind what is it today. Without the ability to share ideas, we are little more than domesticated house pets.
Thus I come to my point. I would like to share with everyone my first, golden rule of effective communication: front-load the work.
Communication of any kind requires at least two parties: the one conveying the idea, and the one(s) receiving it. Both parties must be active. If the receiver (reader, viewer, listener, etc.) is not actively participating, the conveyer (book, TV, talker, etc.) isn’t communicating, it’s just making noise.
There a number of reasons the receiver might stop participating: distraction, boredom, confusion, fatigue, and so on. It is fatigue that most interests me today.
There is a trend, born out of Internet chatting and texting I believe, to back-load the work in communication. Instead of taking the time and effort to clearly express an idea through verbose language, abbreviation and broken grammar rules the day.
The problem with abbreviations is that they causes the reader to decode what would normally be an succinct idea. Abbreviations like “ne1” and “b4” serve only to shift the work from the conveyer of the idea to the receiver. The person reading a message filled with such abbreviations must expand everyone one into its actual word-on the fly and in their head-and then extract the idea from it. That slows down the comprehension speed considerably, and consequently, the retention of the message.
What’s worse, it actually slows down overall reading. Most believe that we actually read every individual letter in every individual word we see. This is not true. The truth is that we read the shape of a word first, and if we recognize it, we move to the next. Only when we run into unfamiliar or uniform word-forms do we slow down and read each letter. This is why words written in ALL CAPS stand out so loudly. They are literally speed bumps on the road of communication. It is also why text set in type with balanced ascenders, descenders, and serifs is easier to read, as it emphasizes the shape of each word.
It’s actually possible to write whole paragraphs with misspelled words that match the word-form of the correctly-spelled word, and still be readable at nearly full speed. Our brains, using content and context, can actually substitute the correct word on the fly, as long as the word looks the same.
But when one compresses word after word for their own convenience, it forces the reader to do substantially more work on their end. Communicating in constant abbreviations, while dropping such courtesies as commas, periods, and breaking spaces, is at the very least lazy and inconsiderate. At its worst, poor writing is counter-productive and destructive. A miscommunication can cause great damage.
When we communicate, we are trying to convey ideas that we consider valuable. Every thing we say is an attempt to educate or convince our listener or reader. We communicate as much for our own benefit as that of others. If you think otherwise, I argue that you’re not self-aware. Think about it for a while, and try to understand why would talk and write to one another.
Then consider why would we intentionally hinder that communication by building in stumbling blocks for the other side. Every convenience we take for ourselves is an inconvenience for another. If you value what you’re saying, if you wish to be heard, take upon yourself the work and responsibility of communicating effectively. Do your fair share, so that your audience doesn’t turn you off.
Otherwise you’re just making noise.
As a friend once said to me: if someone asks me for help in abbreviated text because it’s shorter and quicker, I’ll say “no” instead of “yes” for the exact same reasons.