Good writing takes practice

by HOWARD M. BERLIN

2/22/2004

My final contribution as a member of the News Journal Community Advisory Board concerns what got me here in the first place — good writing, or at least me writing better than most of the others who submitted entries.

I probably had advantages others didn't. Although I'm not a professional writer as such, I have written 30 books in the last 28 years, all non-fiction and all published by reputable houses. I don't hold myself out as an expert, but I think I have come to know more than most as to what constitutes a well-written sentence.

Well before my graduation with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, I was advised by my father, himself a chemical engineer and a good writer, to break a stereotype that engineers do not write well. I practiced and in time was able to quickly write my master's thesis and doctoral dissertation with only trivial revisions required by my professors.

As a college educator for the last 22 years, I always based at least 20 percent of the grade of lab reports on grammar, punctuation and spelling. Despite students' carping that this wasn't an English course, I admitted my bias to the students but felt that my emphasis on well-written reports was for their own good. If I didn't point out their mistakes — and there were far too many simple ones — no one else would.

Shamefully, even after getting good marks in an English composition course many students couldn't consistently write complete sentences with subjects and verbs, use correct capitalization and punctuation, apostrophes for possessives, or know the difference between "were" and "where" or "then" and "than."

Elementary mistakes
Most didn't speak correctly either. As most of my students were recent products of Delaware public schools with low test scores, this came as no surprise. Even with computer spelling checkers, pitiful mistakes continued.

I told my students I didn't expect writing at the level meriting a Pulitzer Prize. What I did expect from them was a document in readable English with no spelling or grammatical errors, proper sentence structure and punctuation.

I told them to keep papers simple and avoid fancy words that would make them sound like a thesaurus — assuming that they knew what one was.

A job application cover letter or resume that contained even a single spelling error would be quickly shown the trash can. Often the written word is your first chance to make an impression. I stressed that professional advancement rewarded those who could write clearly and succinctly.

For the last two years, my association with The News Journal required me to write essays with a given number of words. Unlike writing books with no such limit, I needed to choose my words judiciously, quite a learning experience. I hope some of my opinions had an impact on readers.

I also gained different perspectives from meeting many of the state's influential personages for candid discussions with the editorial board. One such meeting with Gov. Minner was probably better than participating in her "open door after 4" program.

I also met Sen. Joseph Biden, U.S. Rep. Michael Castle, state Chief Justice Norman Veasey, Attorney General Jane Brady, Wilmington Mayor James Baker, New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon and aide Sherry Freebery, several statewide political candidates, top figures in the state Chamber of Commerce, two college presidents, an architect, and the secretary of the state Department of Education.

I'm aware that good writing doesn't come easily for many. But the solution is simple: practice, practice, practice. The rewards are worth it.

Howard M. Berlin, of Wilmington, is an electrical engineering college educator and a member of The News Journal Community Advisory Board. Send e-mail at w3hb@yahoo.com.