Deliberate writing: Email

We consume loads of information these days. Producers of information who want to get their message through should therefore strive to carry as much as possible of the intended consumers' burden. This applies to a lot of different contexts, but let us begin with email.

Apparently, some people still believe that text written in email do not have to be grammatically correct or spelled correctly. That the email medium does not even require you to be coherent. That is fine when it comes to mail with artsy dadaist poetry from friends who just want to keep in touch. But if your message is intended to provide me with information or making me take some kind of action, then I would like to ask you this:

If what ever you are trying to communicate to me is not important enough to justify decent spelling, grammar and interpunctuation, then why should I spend more time deciphering your text than you spent composing it?

When writing email, of which most of us receive a lot every day, put some extra effort in making the text comprehensible to the recipient. As a minimum, just read through your text once before you send it and fix the most obvious errors in spelling, grammar and interpunctuation. You also might want to check if that automated spell checker you probably have gives you any good advice.

As the sender, it should be in your greatest interest to get the message through to the reciever, loud and clear. Make the significant part of your message stand out. Please do this for me and I promise to return the favor.