Re: Remember secretaries? (was RE: Proof that content is more important than style)

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

Chris wrote:

>     Language is language. Spanish or SNOBOL, French or FORTRAN -- 
> they all call for mastery of a certain vocabulary and a set of rules of 
> syntax. The only inherent reason for different abilities I can see is that 
> programming languages are consistent, while natural languages are not. 
> Thus, certain individuals may handle the programming languages well but 
> be "thrown" (for want of a better word) by the contradictory rules of 
> natural languages.


Programming and prose are two very separate things in my opinion. Programmers build tools, objects, *products* - all using a set of building blocks. To me what they do is much more similar to doing a jigsaw puzzle, or laying bricks, than it is to writing. I do NOT say that disparagingly - I say it to emphasize the difference between building or fixing something and just plain *communicating*.

Also, language is language, but speaking is not writing. By that I mean that the ability to articulately express oneself via the spoken word does not always go hand in hand with the ability to *write* well. 

Writing seems to be a particular skill, which comes easily to some, and not at all to others. To me THAT is the reason we (writers) have a job market. There are those who view the task of writing with about the same enthusiasm that I feel for a trip to the dentist. This antipathy for writing is analogous to the almost pathological fear of public speaking that many people experience. Communication is not easy for everybody, and some forms of it seem inherently harder than others to certain people. 

Some of the wittiest, most articulate speakers I've met are lousy writers. Apparently they cannot simply write the way they speak - they see no connection between these forms of communication. I ran into this when my daughter was younger - she was a terrific reader and a clever conversationalist, but you wouldn't know it to read her writing. I had to coach her to try to capture the way she would speak with her own writing.

This is something that some of us lose track of. For many of us, writing is *easy*. It seems to be the most natural way to communicate, to the extent that some of us prefer the written word to the spoken one when we really want to get our point across. 

For others, the exact opposite is the case. Again, therein lies the source of our employability. Essentially, we get paid to do something other people either can't do, or don't want to do.

Some programmers are terrific writers. Some stink. It's the same across the board for other professions. In my experience, it has little or nothing to do with what job these people do, how articulate they are, or how well educated they are.

I'm comfortable expressing myself in print. The fact that many people are not is my bread and butter. Here's hoping they *never* learn to write well!



Keith Cronin

TECHWR-L: Where people who aren't tough enough to get into an actual fistfight go to argue.


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