There is writing and then, there is quality writing..... ~ From a nomad’s diary

I recently happened to read a confession on Bloggers' confessions page on FaceBook. It was more of a question and less of a confession, though the confession part was more asserting than the question asked. And the confession goes.....

“I am shocked at the quality of some of the blogs that I read. The language is ungrammatical and the issues are so boring!!! The point seems to be to communicate - by hook or by crook!! And if you have lots of friends in the blogging community then it gets a lot of visibility too. I am curious how one goes about getting visibility for one's blog? Blogging today seems to be more to do with tech savviness rather than ability to write.”

Before I worked as a content writer, I blogged as a hobby while I was still and very much a working IT professional. And at that time, I never gave much attention to grammatical mistakes, incorrect framing of sentences, or excessive use of articles. If you read my earlier blog posts, you would know. Not that I am good, but I have surely improved from that time. And about five years back, the language, the words, grammar or the way I phrased sentences were not relevant as long as my feelings gushed out in my writing space and as long as readers were able to understand what I was writing about, despite the fact, I never really blogged for readership. For me, the concept of blogging started as a channel to emote healthily and as long as I did it, I felt at peace.

But when I joined a small firm as a content writer after a stint of 3 years with IT industry, I understood for a fact, that writing is no child’s play. It is not some regular blogging for fun. It appears simple. Deep down, it is a work that needs an eye for detail. The grammar has to be correct. Punctuation has to be used in the right places. Sentences have to be short and crisp. Excessive usage of articles should be avoided. And most importantly, plagiarism is a sin in the world of writing. Content has to be put in a way that when a visitor happens to read your article, he does not get the feeling that he has read it before and that, he must be glued to it from start till the end. Yes! Even rephrasing sentences are not allowed, although it gets tricky with articles that were based on facts alone. And, when I wrote my first article, I got my first shock. When the editor sent the article back to me, it was painted in yellow. When I read my brightly painted article the first time, I could not find anything wrong with it. I went to my editor and she pointed out my genuinely grave mistakes that never met my eye. She was not-so-pleasantly surprised as to how I could not identify them. Nevertheless, I made the corrections, as had been asked to. It took me a long time but, the outcome was surprising. I compared both versions and this is what I felt. The edited article was neat. It was crisp. It was shorter than the earlier version. It sounded good to read and most importantly, it had a novelty that was lacking in the previous one.

That day I got two lessons for a lifetime:

• A healthy criticism if perceived in the right manner will not only make you perform better but will fetch you more accolades.

• And that, one needs to have an open mind when accepting criticism. The thoughts “I cannot be wrong” or “The other person does not know as much as I know” or “The other person cannot see what I am good at” should be flushed over and out of your system. Only then, passion can make a hobby fascinating and that hobby can become an interesting profession.

And now, I shall connect the dots. The question raised by the confessor is genuine. There is writing and then, there is quality writing. It is fine to de clutter your mind every now and then. Sometimes, the idea is also to communicate. More so, the content should be such that once it is read, it commands a respect in the reader that he feels inspired by the writer in some way or the other. Just communicating should not be the only criteria. After all, it is not a hypothetical saying in the world of writing that............................................................................................................

Which is why, language is a weapon. A dangerous bow that uses words for arrows! The ripples its impact can create in a crowd, is astounding. It can make or break an idea. An unintentional mincing of words can add a ‘mis’ to a perfect understanding. And coming to think of it, what is the harm if writing/blogging comes with quality? A blog’s look is important nonetheless. So is readership which is a reward to the writer/blogger. But then so, is the content. It is the content shared in the right words that will leave a foot print in the reader's heart and will urge the reader to come back to the writer for more interesting reads.

Blogging is fun. Writing is good for soul. But, quality? Quality adds life to writing.

P.S: And going by what this blogger has confessed, I would agree to that line, “Topics need to be interesting as well!” You bet!

Any grammatical errors or wrong phrasing of sentences or anything for that matter may be spotted and I would happily make the corrections.

And I found something in Google for myself and for whoever visits my writing space.......................