Read Matthew 5:18, Proverbs 6:6-8 and Proverbs 30:25
All three of these scripture selections are connected to the importance of the details of good writing. First is Jesus’ own warning that everything written in scripture has divine authority. Nothing is minor and all will be fulfilled. The others both praise the hard work and thoroughness of ants–who appear to be incredibly weak. You may be familiar with army ants or soldier ants; are they weak? How are these concepts of detail connected to writing?
Even though our writing does not come close to the importance of scripture, it is essential that our writing be as accurate and authoritative as possible. People need to know they can rely on what we have said to them or committed to print. How does that relate to ants? It’s very simple; just as ants are amazingly thorough and seem to work without stopping, we must not stop until every detail has been revised for meaning, edited for correctness and wording, and proofread for every punctuation mark.
Answer these questions:
- A supervisor of a government publication explained to his editor: “If we miss commas and misspelled words, the customer might think, ‘What else did they get wrong?’.” Explain this statement.
- Which of the following is correct, and why?
- “Let’s eat Grandma.” or
- “Let’s eat, Grandma.”
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