As a proofreader and editor of five years (though it
often doesn't look as though that could ever have been
possible when one reads some of my own hastily crafted
posts), may I offer a little insight here?

I do believe it's important to try to be extremely
careful when crafting correspondence that could
provide you gainful employment.  Do use spell checkers
and other tools available at your disposal.  If you
don't have a spell checker, try
http://www.yourdictionary.com (and it's not just
restricted to English).  If you're not certain, have
someone you know and trust proofread your document
before sending.  Many of us, myself included, are
phenomenal at pointing out the mistakes of others, but
we rarely see our own mistakes (not just limited to
grammar).

With that said, please allow me to tell you that,
based on my long-term experience, there are many
brilliant people who cannot spell and/or write worth a
darn.  Their excellence lies in other fields, and they
often rely upon others to polish their wares.  I
cannot tell you how many managers and vice presidents
I made over time.  Their work would come in
scritchy-scratch form and extremely poor grammar, and
it was up to me to make them shine--including excising
superfluous text and recrafting some of their own
brilliances.

Now about that punctuation.  That's a conundrum unto
itself.  There are numerous books of style, and
clearly they do not agree as to the rules.  Further,
folks will punctuate based upon the rules of
punctuation they were taught in high school, and even
those change.  Look at the issues in English.  Do the
Americans and the Brits and the Aussies and the
Canadians all agree?  Heavens, no.

Don't interpret my words as undervaluing the
importance of acquiring good writing, spelling, and
punctuation skills.  That's not my intention.  But
given the brilliance of an excellent curator and
faulty language skills, I think I would opt for that
excellence and find someone in the organization to
backfill as appropriate on any writing deficiencies.

In a perfect world, you'd get Superman or Wonder
Woman.  I'm afraid they're only for a comic book
world, and it's rather comical to expect that a
candidate would not qualify for a position because
(s)he oopsed on punctuation.

As for the email form of communication, I find that I
have abandoned my own picky style (good grief, those
whose work I was responsible to oversee became
terrorized by the mighty purple pen--though they often
commented they learned a lot) in favor of stream of
conciousness communication.  Even now, I will
sometimes forgo a comma or other punctuation
mark--especially question marks--lest I interrupt the
flow of thought.  My internal censor will slap my
hands for a second but, more often than not, will say,
oh, heck, they know what I mean and overlook it.

When interviewing for a job, it's important you look
your best and put your best foot forward in any
communications you offer.  But, for day-to-day
dealings, it's probably foolish to presume you're
going to wear Sunday-go-to-meeting wear everyday and
not make occasional lapses in your written
work--especially in an email forum.



--- "David E. Haberstich" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In a message dated 01-11-21 10:29:25 EST, you write:

In any case, we need to be
> tolerant of mistakes.  I
> think it's better to offer critiques and corrections
> off-list than to make
> direct references on the list, which sometimes leads
> to hostilities and
> withering exhortations to lighten up.  Remember the
> "vitae" debacle?


=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

Looking for a job?  Try:
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414

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