Grammar: Writing Like You Speak

Why are there rules of grammar? It's not to make people feel stupid, it's not to give some people a sense of superiority, it's a road map that facilitates communication. There's nothing wrong with jargon, colloquialisms, slang and the like, but if you're communicating to a broad, mixed audience, there has to be a common language if our words are to be understood.

One of the mistakes many people make when writing is to write the same way that they speak, complete with tangents, stops & starts, and lack of structure or direction. When you are speaking, especially when you're speaking in person, face-to-face, you have the benefit of tone of voice, volume, facial expression and body language to help clarify any ambiguities. You also have the advantage of reading the other person's facial expressions and body language to determine whether you are being understood. You have the option of repeating, rephrasing or or explaining what you meant. None of this is possible when writing, so it is critical that the words used when writing be as clear and unambiguous as possible. Proper use of punctuation is just as important. Periods, commas, exclamation points and other punctuation marks can stand in for pauses and points of emphasis that might occur in speech, but also help identify changes in subject and categorization of ideas.

This is not to suggest that you should never use your own vocabulary, native idiom or jargon when writing; a lot depends on your intended audience. What I am suggesting is that you refrain from simply putting down words as they pop into your head, rather thinking through the point that you wish to make and how to make that point clearly.