Know Jack #473 Text Without Texting

If caps lock is the bane of your existence, you might be a writer.

I was around for the advent of texting. Before that time most people didn’t write much. One reason for that was that the lessons we learned in English class about the right and wrong way to write stuck in our heads and we didn’t want to publicly embarrass ourselves. We were taught not knowing when to use there, their, or they’re reflected poorly on a person.

Then came texting and Facebook. People still don’t know when to use those terms and still don’t know how to punctuate a sentence. The difference now is that no one cares because everybody’s doing it. Facebook and texting have normalized poor writing skills. In addition, texting has added poor habits of its own to written messages. The proliferation of exclamation points as the only allowed punctuation and ALL CAPS creeping into writing styles are examples of how far we have fallen.

So, here we are with everybody writing rather than speaking and no plausible deniability except to blame autocorrect. That’s a little harsh on technology. Without autocorrect and predictive word choices, the woeful state of spelling would be even more glaring than it already is.

I can hear the alphabet generations' wounded wails of offense already. “Nobody cares anymore.” They’re right, but has anyone stopped to wonder whether that’s a good thing? Writing still reflects upon the writer. Accepting “as good as the next guy” as one’s standard of living demonstrates a willingness to live far below one’s potential. That may also explain the willingness to let others and even machines think for us. Poor Descartes.

I was once told that a good writer does not write like he speaks. That message was reinforced when I went to nursing school. I learned a new language that I was never to speak to the people I served. Writing a novel worth reading requires the author to use focused descriptions, and concise words delivered with passion not always found in our everyday speech.

Though he was not speaking about writing in particular, Calvin Coolidge once said, "In life there is nothing more common than talent and intelligence. What is missing is passion, persistence, commitment, and dedication." Texting falls flat when it comes to delivering the passion and commitment of the sender. That’s a fate worse than death for a writer.