Bad writing is offensive to the senses.

Here is the blog: askgreg.i.ph and this is the author’s entry.

This is a copy of my reply to that entry in the blog I found. 

I fully concur with what the author(s) say. I especially dislike 1, 3, 6, 7 and 8.

I’ll discuss these in seriatim

#1When I was in high school they’d make us write poetry even until college we did that. I sucked at it, and I think most other people suck at it as well. Friends of mine write poetry in their notebooks, away from sight because they know full well the consequences when other people see their “poetry”.

With #3 I think its sheer laziness or a refusal on the part of the guilty author’s hands to transmit anything substantial from his brain to the keyboard.

#6 refers to a matter of style. Which should never interfere with clarity or the ability to get the message across. Using too much ellipses is still something I don’t quite understand.

#7 Is proof that the internet is a fully democratic system. Even those who are illiterate can write! ITS A MIRACLE! Seriously #7 is a symptom of the rapidly eroding system of education (when it comes to Filipinos). Or at the same time it could be a disconnect between the author’s mother language’s syntax and the English language’s. If the mother language demands that “I go here” is the proper form then chances are the author will write “I go here” instead of “I went here” or “I’ll go here” or “I’ve been there”.

#8 This bastardizes the English language and the Filipino language. The dignity of either language is harmed with this confusion. It is shameful and should be stopped.

When these offenses stop the jologs can stop too? Nope. When the stupid stops then and only then can the jologs stop. I doubt it but we’ll be here fighting the good fight. 

The text above is my opinion on the topic. Please check the whole entry with the link above so you may properly formulate your own opinion. 

There have been some comments there with regard to freedom to write about anything, in any manner, etc. However, there are just some works out there that are plainly offensive. Yes, these may be amusing, at best, for a few moments but these only serve to ultimately damage the language in which the blog was written. In my very first entry I mentioned Mr. Bloom. I forgot the entirety of the work but I remember the passage regarding the literary non-elite. The examples of horrible writing featured in the entry I linked at the start are one of the main reasons for my initial resistance to joining the blogging community.

With the exception of #1, regarding poetry, I think that the other numbers I reacted to are crimes against language and literature. Writing bad poetry is an expression of the self, subject to regulation of course by the state (if the time will come when the state does begin controlling the internet). Writing bad poetry can and will be shielded by the mandate of the constitution. The rest aren’t. Writing poorly is a choice, a choice that serves no purpose than to destroy language and should be considered against the best interests of society. 

There must be an acceptance of the entire community that the content exhibited is not for personal use. A blog is not a notebook or diary kept under lock and key. It is a publicly accessible electronic site. It is open to the world. Blogs should be subject to regulation, not necessarily for content but for clarity of writing. The main objective in writing is to send a message to the entire world. Be that message mundane or profound it must be transmitted in the clearest possible way. Poetry and other literary methods and devices are also not exempt. Though these may appear muddled up with devices, these works serve to challenge the reader to recorgnize the message that is being delivered.

Literary works speak of the experiences of the author and his or her desire to transmit those experiences (whether they be real or imagined). 

Let us remember that and stick to it. 

P.S.

I made a mistake in that reply. The first line should have read “I fully concur with what the author says”.