Important Update on Grammar & Usage and How to Always Get Them Right
There's a new standard every writer should be aware of
If you’re like me, you have to look up a chart like this every time you use the verbs lay or lie to make sure you’re doing it right. I don’t think I’ve ever used lain in a sentence.
You’ve also looked up the definitions of obscure words to make sure you’re using them right. Sometimes they surprise you, and you realize you’ve had the wrong meaning for a word in your head for a long time.
None of this matters. If you’re splitting hairs to look up something to make sure it’s right, there’s an easy fix for that in all cases.
TODAY’S TIP:
Just rewrite it.
Rewrite it in your own words to sound more natural, the way a normal person would say it.
This is the new standard in writing, and it was brought on, primarily, by the rise of the Internet.
Before the Internet, there wasn’t nearly as much writing in the world. There was, in fact, an infinitesimal fraction of the writing we have now. Speaking, too.
This overwhelming abundance of language means there’s a lot more competition for ears and eyeballs than there used to be, and that means the rules have changed.
In the Beforetime, we could afford the luxury of “getting it right” when it came to every picky grammar rule. Now, we don’t have that luxury. Now, we’re fighting for our lives out here just trying to get noticed.
There are a lot of ways to get noticed. One way is to make your writing relatable and accessible. That means writing simply, the way people talk. It means avoiding the urge to be erudite and perfect, using bullshit words like erudite when a plainer word like fancy would suffice.
Fancy is a word people use and know how to pronounce. Erudite isn’t.
We learned this lesson early in the Internet, when online marketers realized that copy written simply—their rule of thumb was “no more complicated than someone with a high-school education can understand”—sold more products.
Your writing is a product, and you need to sell it. Learn from the masters.
Take the subhead of this article, for example. The rules of proper grammar tell me to rewrite that as “There's a new standard of which every writer should be aware.” That’s ridiculous. And no one talks like that.
Does this mean you should use an adjective instead of an adverb to modify a verb once in a while, for effect? Absolutely. It’s how people talk. Screw the rules.
Language evolves. The reason we speak English differently now than we did in the Middle Ages is because bold writers and speakers on the cutting edge came up with clever new words, said things in fun new ways, and used language to stay in step with the people around them instead of obeying the rules.
Look—I mean really look—at other writing you admire, modern or classic. You’ll see a lot of variety and individuality. We don’t all write the same. That’s part of what makes each voice unique, and it’s the spice of life. There’s no perfect model. Not even The New Yorker. The way they write isn’t right or wrong. It’s just a snapshot of the times.
If you want to write something different or make up a new way of writing, do it! Unlike other professions, no one gets injured or killed when you break the rules in language. Break them! It’s what keeps things interesting.
There’s only one “rule” in successful writing: command attention.
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