Getting it just write

In an age of high-tech communications and declining newspaper sales, it may seem as if good writing is a thing of the past. Some might say it is, but a quick look at top-selling fiction, the blogosphere and television writing — or lack thereof because of the Hollywood writers strike — complicates the picture.

“I’m not ready to write the obituary on writing,” says Linda Coleman, associate professor of English at the University of Maryland.

“If anything, I see an improvement among students,” adds Ms. Coleman, who has been teaching linguistics for 30 years; one of her current courses entails teaching grammar to journalism students.

Bob Thompson, a pop-culture professor at Syracuse University, says the Writers Guild of America strike shows how important good writing is for television.

“In the grand scheme of things, American pop culture would be in sorry shape if you didn’t have good writing,” Mr. Thompson says. “Starting in the mid-’90s, we demanded good [television] writing or we were not going to make it a hit.”

Think HBO’s “The Sopranos” and even network shows such as “24” and “Lost.”

Richard Sterling, a professor of education at the University of California at Berkeley and executive director emeritus of the National Writing Project, a professional development network for teachers of writing at all grade levels, says cutting-edge technology — contrary to what some might think — has only improved writing.

“It’s very interesting, but in this era of technology, we’ve had a miniature explosion of writing,” Mr. Sterling says. “Technology is actually promoting writing.”

So, writing is not necessarily in decline; it just has found new venues?

“Yes, I would say that it’s in decline in its most prototypical sense,” Ms. Coleman says. “Prototypical” meaning conventional newspaper and hardcover fiction. “But people are writing elsewhere. Just look at the blogs. … It’s [exciting] because more people can self-publish and there’s less mediation.”

Granted, not all blog writing is good-quality writing, she says, but that’s always been the case. No matter what era you consider, writing always has been a mixed bag, she says.

“We look at the late 1800s as the golden age of literature, but that was also the era of awful dime novels,” she says. “Much of it didn’t survive.”

Also, back then, many people could barely write their names, she says.

That’s Mr. Sterling’s point. If anything, he says, the general state of writing has only improved since more and more people are going to school: In the 1950s, just 50 percent of children graduated from high school; now close to 90 percent do. Also in the 1950s, just 15 percent of the population went on to higher education; now that number is close to 70 percent.

“I think the idea that writing used to be better is pure nostalgia,” Mr. Sterling says.

All that said, the written language is in constant flux, a work in progress. In fact, Mr. Sterling refers to the English language as “promiscuous,” ready to adopt foreign words and expressions, drop commas and skip capitalizations. Long sentences are becoming extinct.

Ms. Coleman thinks “whom” is facing the same fate and the idea of not ending a sentence with a preposition is all but abandoned. Instead, simple syntax is valued.

“Our definition of elegance will change, too,” she says.

Then there are all those new venues, each with its own specific demands. Instant messaging uses “gr8tly” abbreviated forms of words and expressions; e-mailing tends to be less formal than other types of writing.

According to Mr. Sterling, however, most of us are able to adjust our style to the specific demands of the writing arena, whether that’s an informal e-mail or a formal letter asking for a promotion.

Speaking of promotions, Mr. Sterling says he has learned through his work with the National Writing Project, which does surveys of employers, that government and private-sector employers value good writing.

“If anything, good writing is prized more and more,” he says.

People who show aptitude when it comes to writing are more likely to be promoted, he says.

So, is the 21st-century writing picture all rosy?

“No, [kindergarten] through 12 needs more attention,” Mr. Sterling says. He says he would like to see writing involved and included in more subjects, such as science. He also would like to see students learn how to use writing as a thinking tool by improving note-taking and synthesizing information.

Ms. Coleman, former director of the Freshman Writing Program at the University of Maryland, has seen firsthand the need for improvements to writing instruction in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“Writing is not attended to as much as it should be in school,” Ms. Coleman says, adding that the reason comes down to underfunding. So, she’s not holding her breath.

Television viewers, on the other hand, might still be doing just that in hopes that the annual Academy Awards broadcast won’t be canceled because of the writers strike, Mr. Thompson says.

“If it is canceled, it will definitely get a lot of attention,” he says.

However, viewers likely will be even more disappointed if their favorite shows, such as “Lost,” end abruptly midseason. (Just eight of 16 planned episodes of “Lost” have been taped so far for this season.)

“Reality shows can’t fill the void,” Mr. Thompson says. “It’s like an unbalanced diet. … Even if you love pizza, you can’t eat it all the time.”

While possibly annoying and disappointing viewers, the writers strike also might help highlight the work done by those behind the scenes.

“We sit down to watch ’The Office,’ and we don’t tend to realize — we tend to think that Steve Carell does such a great job creating his character — that someone created that persona for him, ” Ms. Coleman says.

While people are starting, slowly, to recognize the names of television writers such as Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”) and J.J. Abrams (“Felicity,” “Alias” and “Lost”), these names are by no means as big as those of the on-screen television and movie stars.

“We do tend to take writers for granted…. Maybe one of the things that comes out of this strike — if you’re a writer — is you get a little respect,” Mr. Thompson says. “Sometimes the way to know you appreciate something is to take it away.”