Language, I believe, is not as inflexible as it is made out to be by the so-called purists and impurists. Anything forced sounds unnatural. A sentence can be interpreted in thousands of ways, and you can convey the same thing in thousands of different sentences. So unless there are some glaring grammatical or spelling mistakes, I don’t think there is right writing or wrong writing — the underlying objective is to convey in the most compelling and comprehensive manner.
Here is a nice blog post on stupidest writing mistakes. I won’t say that all the mistakes listed there are stupidest, but you can certainly learn a few things in this blog post. Take for instance the difference between affect and effect. It amazes me that there are many people who don’t know the difference between the two. The writer aptly explains that an effect is a noun and an affect is a verb: your dramatics don’t affect me; your dramatics have no effect on me.
In some instances the writer plainly seems to have a difference of opinion and seems to stupidize (my word) people for having a different view. I’m not very snooty about using commas before "and" because it does not depend on the rule, but the voice and the feeling. I know it’s difficult to understand, but that’s why some people are writers ;-).
Do read the post though, some good pointers.
Thanks for recommending this blog post Amrit, I will definitely be checking it out. I agree with you that there language is how you make it and what you decide to do with it. We can learn from how others write by reading and listening to each other point of view.
If I want to test a writer’s ability, or his or her merit, I need only use one word. It is one of my all-time favorites in this profession of writing:
comprise.
I can’t remember all the times I have seen the phrase “comprised of”. It sends shivers down my spine. The word comprise is a verb which stands alone. A bowling set comprises 10 pins. If you really need to use”of”, make it “composed of” or “consists of”. That is what you were really thinking when “comprise” came into your mind.
Comprise means “includes,” “encompasses.” It comprises several other synonyms as well.
Language is that thing which we handle in a manner we like. As you said there is no right writing or wrong writing unless there is some grammatical mistake. Thanks for sharing a good post.