An error exists in the headline above. Did you catch it? In grade-school grammar, we learned never to end a sentence with an adverb. Technically, a headline isn’t a sentence, so some may not think it incorrect. There’s no doubt, though, that an old-fashioned stickler for style and grammar would have put a big red circle around the headline and called me on the carpet for making such a senseless mistake.
I didn’t have to end the headline with an adverb. It would have been very easy to rework the headline: Carefully Choose Your Words. That sounds a little stiff, doesn’t it? Well then, how about this: Choose Your Words With Care.
The point is that more than one way exists to write a good sentence. Writing as we speak is one very common way of doing this. Consider, though, that we have become extremely lax in our writing over the last several years. It’s perfectly acceptable to have a casual style that appeals to a large group of readers; the problem occurs when we get a little too comfortable and throw style, grammar and punctuation out the window.
When we talk about something really exciting or deeply meaning to us, we tend to ramble, but we don’t need to do that when we write. Typing on a keyboard gives us a chance to calm ourselves and gather together the key thoughts we want to express. No need to jabber on or use incorrect style or grammar. Take a deep breath, compose your thoughts and then carefully transfer them to the page or computer screen.
But don’t, under any circumstances, “transfer them to the page or computer screen carefully.”
