Grammar – 32 What is good writing? 3 Conversational style

I believe in writing in a conversational style. I’ll be the first to admit the style you choose should be appropriate to the topic you are writing on, but there is no reason why you should not make it easy to read.
I suspect we think anything written in plain, simple, everyday, conversational English is not serious. It is a load of fluff, probably written by a woman who doesn’t know what to do with herself during long afternoons. “You can’t dumb it down!” is their argument. “What about medical reports? Technical papers? Manuals?”
Except highly technical stuff meant for reference, everything can be expressed in plain, clear language. Most writing can actually be fun. If manuals are supposed to be understood and followed, shouldn’t they be written in easy-to-follow words and phrases? Read the following sentence.
One can easily perceive that the propositional approach leads to a hypothesis that the surface symbolic appearance of a piece of information is not important or even consequential in a learning situation…
What does this mean?  Sure it is about learning, a serious subject.  But if it is relevant information, shouldn’t it reach a lot of students?  Won’t it be better understood if the words and phrases are simplified? For example, “see” instead of “perceive”, “necessary in a classroom” instead of “consequential in a learning situation”…
When I say “conversational” style, I mean:
[1] In the way you will speak to your friend.  The word “conversation” means you are involving the listener/reader in what you are writing. Your reader is expected to respond, as in a conversation, so he/she is going to be alert.
For example, “It is meant for the literate population in all parts of the world” is stiff and formal. Try: It’s for you, dear reader.” The simple “you” makes a whole lot of difference, right? It draws the reader to what you are saying.
Write as you would speak. But without time-buyers like “As you know (if they know, why would you say it?)”, “um”, “er”, “like” (terrible!), “you know”…
[2] Imagine you are having a face-to-face conversation with a friend. What words and phrases would you choose? Take another example:
Formal: Students generally hold the view that performance in GD is directly linked to proficiency in language.
Conversational: Students believe if they know the language they can do well in GD.
See the difference?
Here are two letters. Which one do you think will help to pacify the customer?
Dear Madam,
                      With reference to your letter dated 12-8-2001, and on the basis of the recommendation given by our Service Engineer who examined your existing washing machine (Washmac 2) I am to inform you that it has been decided to replace it with a new one under our guarantee. The inconvenience is regretted. Should there be any further problem, it may please be communicated to the undersigned. We are always at your service.
Yours faithfully,
XXX
Dear Mrs. Metha,
                            You can say goodbye to the washing machine that has been giving you trouble. We are despatching a brand new Washmac 2 today to take its place – absolutely free under our unique, no-quibble guarantee.
         We are indeed sorry the old machine gave you trouble. Please let our technicians take it away when they have installed a new one.
         Have many years of happy wash with Washmac 2.
Sincerely,
XXX
Just make sure you make no grammatical or spelling errors when you write, ok?

The Elliot’s beach saga – 12 News!

A prominent piece of news today: “The Madras High Court has restrained the Tourism Department from constucting a jogging track 100 metres from the shoreline at Kottivakkam and Palavakkam (soutern suburbs of Chennai). The first bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice D. Murugesan granted the interim injunction on a PIL filed by V. Srinivasan, who said construction of the 350-metre jogging track, well within the Coastal Regulatory Zone III constituted a major ecological hazard.
Pointing out that a similar track had been built near Thiruvalluvar Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur in 2003-2004, the petitioner said construction of similar structures would lead to the formation of a track parallel to East Coast Road. This would endanger the coastal eco-system in the entire belt. Increased vehicular and human movement would lead to pollution and affect the coastal flora and fauna.”
Ahem. In Puduchery environmentalists and fishermen mounted a campaign against the government’s proposal to build a port off that coast. And they managed to stop this disatrous move. In Goa, again, large sections of people, supported by the church, fought against the government’s shocking plan to convert entire hillsides to hotels and resorts in what was called the Goa Development Plan 2020 or something. The plan was finally scrapped.
It is a scene that’s playing out again and again. The guy gets on to his seat, whether he has a majority mandate or not, whether the election was legitimate or not, and the first thing he does when he sits down is to call for the “Development File”. Obviously the file contains details of the “Developemnt Fund”. He flips through the file, muttering to himself, “Where do I build? Here, here or I say, here!” He quickly decides on the modalities, prepares a fast-track plan (Ecology, what’s that? Don’t human beings come first? Plants and fish are for eating! Want to see them? Go to the zoo or aquarium!), calls the press and throws words like development, employment, tourism, attraction, beautification, jogging and now alarmingly, “the disabled community”. The construction gets done equally quickly and the park/track/wall/flyover/ elevated pathway/spine gets opened with a lot of fanfare.
End of the story: a couple of years later, the construction has turned to an eyesore. Fianlly, when it goes down, it takes along with it, the eco-system/the sidewalks, the beauty of the place. There is more debris, more construction material underfoot and more congestion.
The politico who ordered the “beautification” has since moved on and a new man sits in his chair. The first thing he does? You know what it is.