BEYOND QUICK FIXES: THE REAL WORK OF WRITING WELL

 

The Web is full of well-meaning advisers who hand out quick tips on "writing well."  Trouble is, most of them stick to scolding people about the same tired mistakes: mixing up there and they're , it's and its, and so on, under the rubric of "common mistakes." The Spanish language also has language gurus who also correct "common mistakes" like don´t write "a ver" for "haber", "ayer bailemos" for "ayer bailamos", and the like. They are scratching the surface because getting into the brass tacks requires knowledge and experience. Seldom do they dwell on the use of the subjunctive in both languages, or the right position of adverbs, or the proper use of the progressive form, or the "perífrasis durativa." They want to replace hard work and study with the quick-fix band-aid of their directives. “If you’re serious about writing well, skip the shortcuts—dig into the hard parts, sweat through them, and earn your command of the language.”