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critique - facing problems sometimes in writing


stuti 1 / 1  
Aug 6, 2009   #1
I am a professional Technical writer and sometimes get comment from US clients that my excerpts have grammatical flaws...though i don't find them while reviewing again and again...what it can be? Does US English differs a lot? if so, can anybody give idea about it and tell me what can i do to satisfy US clients?
EF_Simone 2 / 1,986  
Aug 6, 2009   #2
There are grammatical flaws in this short passage. These are not differences between U.S. and British English but very basic errors such as improper verb form and failure to put an "s" on a plural. People who pay for technical writing expect perfection in punctuation and grammar. In my view, it's unethical to portray oneself as a technical writer if one is not able to write even a couple of sentences without making grammar and punctuation errors.

I am a professional t echnical writer and sometimes get comments from US clients that my excerpts have grammatical flaws...though I don't find them while reviewing again and again...what it can be? Does US English differ a lot? I f so, can anybody give ideas about this and tell me what I can do to satisfy US clients?
EF_Sean 6 / 3,491  
Aug 6, 2009   #3
In my view, it's unethical to portray oneself as a technical writer if one is not able to write even a couple of sentences without making grammar and punctuation errors.

If one writes technical material and gets paid for it, then one is in fact being perfectly honest in describing oneself as a professional technical writer. Now, if one were to say one were a competent professional technical writer, that would be another matter . . .

Simone makes a valid point, though. From your post, it seems as if you need to fix your grammar generally. Also, do you have many British clients who do not comment on your grammar? Or are most of your clients American? If the latter is the case, then that would tend to indicate the problem is with the writing and not the clients.
OP stuti 1 / 1  
Aug 8, 2009   #4
Thanks for your opinion.

I work with both US and British clients with same ratio. But few US clients complain about this. I would review twice my work before sending it, to avoid these silly but imp mistakes.
EF_Simone 2 / 1,986  
Aug 8, 2009   #5
I work with both US and British clients with same ratio.

Grammatical error here.

I would review twice my work before sending it

Misplaced modifier here.

If your clients aren't all complaining, I can only assume this is because they don't know English well enough to see your errors either. Sorry to be so harsh but I'm appalled by shoddy work in any field. You're obviously writing at a novice level and would be lucky to earn a "C" in first-year composition. To present yourself as sufficiently expert for people to trust you to write for them is, in my view, unethical.
EF_Sean 6 / 3,491  
Aug 8, 2009   #6
Why don't you post a sample of your work here? Your posts have not exactly been the epitome of great writing, but many people write appallingly in online communication, even when they know better. Let us see the work you have actually charged people for, and we can tell you if it is in fact up to par grammatically.


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