As part of my job entails helping businesses with their grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary, it might seem strange that I am asking this question. My answer should be ‘Of course grammar is important! Grammar is everything!’
Grammar counts for a lot and, as I’ve discovered from recent discussions on LinkedIn, even the most mild-mannered business owners are discovering their inner grammar pedants.
But is faultless grammar a guarantee of engaging writing?
I like to think of myself as someone with high standards as opposed to being a pedant, and admit freely to consciously breaking rules in my own writing. (Did you spot the split infinitive there?) And some of the rules of grammar are so intricate or archaic that many of us are unaware of committing crimes that offend others.
Indeed, breaking a few rules is to be recommended. It means that one’s personal style can be lively and imaginative: a great asset for attracting and engaging potential customers. An obsessive adherence to grammar rules can render writing stilted – even clumsy and ambiguous. Churchill’s famous (and, as it turns out, apocryphal) retort regarding the placing of prepositions at the end of sentences (‘This is a situation up with which we will not put!’) illustrates the point nicely. After all, the main point of a written communication is that it should be understood.
But what if your copy-writer doesn’t know the rules? What if their writing is smattered with malapropisms, misplaced commas and apostrophes, or dangling participles? I’ve seen many examples of content writing errors on professional websites that cause me to twitch violently, yet others where the meaning is clear and the ‘error’ can easily go unnoticed.
If copy-writers are going to break the rules, they need to know what those rules are, otherwise their creative efforts will be wasted. It is far better to make the choice to deliberately manipulate words and sentences for effect than to blunder in blindly and hope for the best.
It’s worth asking when you draw up a contract with a copy-writer whether proofreading is included in their quote, especially if you’re not too confident with your own grammar skills. If proofreading isn’t included, consider investing in a separate proofreading service. Even copywriters with a good grasp of English make mistakes that they won’t spot; it often takes a fresh pair of eyes to see some of the most glaring howlers.
Many customers are put off by poor grammar and some are more pedantic than others. I know a few who would criticise this post for opening sentences with conjunctions such as ‘and’ and ‘but’ and who would dislike my use of contractions. For such customers, I would moderate my style accordingly. However, if a potential customer is so anal that they place correct grammar above reader engagement I would rather not have their business.
The prime purpose of language is to make meaning clear and to make others want to read it. A knowledge of grammar is essential to achieve that goal, but application of correct grammar is not the be-all and end-all of an outstanding piece of writing.