Haines, My Way: Is traditional writing dying?

Hey, bro, why y'all up in my grill?

Need a translation? Language has transformed through the ages, always meaning little phrases we like to use to make us sound cool, I mean hip, I mean, you get the idea.

As each generation looks on at the next, it's becoming a tradition to keep up with the current language. However, as fun as it is to know what "bust a cap" means, a question has been raised between a literary friend and me. Are we as writers looking at a crossroads between a new age of writing and the traditional style?

I mean OMG, I was LOL the whole time @ this idea. IDK, maybe I'm just crazy.

I am a passionate person when it comes to writing, it's a powerful tool that should be handled with care. I encourage the online vernacular, but when it comes to formal writing, meeting certain guidelines is vital. However, my point is don't discourage this type of Internet reading because it doesn't meet the grammatical quo.

There is a common misconception among instructors, mentors, literary fools and avid readers. Some of them think today's youth aren't readers or writers. "And when they do, it's all in jive," I've heard someone say. On the contrary! Today's youth have their eyes fixed on computer screens with e-mails, Facebook, MySpace and surfing around the Net. We're reading all the time, and mostly writing our responses to what we see. However, it is, I must say, a very different style of writing.

Common phrases have adapted into abbreviations; such as OMG was "Oh my goodness/gracious/gosh." Is that a bad thing? Is it degrading today's youth's reading levels? Some would argue it is, but I'm going to say it isn't.

An instructor once told me that all writers need to be well-read individuals. Not only does this advice promote an increased vocabulary, but as well as an expanded horizon into how people think. This instructor also said it didn't matter what you're reading, as long as you're reading. He might of meant it didn't matter between reading a newspaper, magazine, book or journal, but I think it also plays true to blogs, e-mails and online notes.

Think of it this way. Would you rather your child be playing "Halo," or writing a long e-mail? Would you rather see your significant other watching a movie, or reading your latest blog entry? It's all our thoughts, dreams and opinions, just in a different format.

When I was in junior high, my English teacher encouraged us to "brainstorm" a lot. This was just to be a continuous flow of us writing whatever was on our minds. It didn't matter what format it was in, as long as you were writing, it was considered great. Grammar, punctuation - it didn't matter!

Now imagine being able to write like that and share it with others, without the stern, disciplinary red ink of format breathing down your dominant hand.

The point of the exercise was to get all of your ideas down, and later elaborate on those points in a grammatically correct fashion. Of course that was the work. As today's youth type a million miles per hour, their lightning speed lives do not allow such time for that unnecessary step.

Does that mean their opinions aren't worth the read because they're not carefully proofed? Absolutely they're worth it! There are some brilliant writers out there who can't spell, don't know what an adjective is and were told by English professors they wouldn't make it in the literary world.

Oh, and the beginning phrase means "hey fellow man, why are you on my case?" Which implies to back off; otherwise you'll get served.

Carthage Press