One of my favorite old books is How to Write Letters by J. Willis Westlake, published by Sower, Potts & Company in Philadelphia, 1876. Now, it is very old and much has changed in American writing since that time, but some things never change. For instance (I quote):
Letters, as a class, are distinguished from other kinds of composition by an easy, natural mode of expression--half colloquial, half literary--which we designate as the epistolary style. But in this apparent unity there is infinite variety; beneath this general style, we find a large number of special styles. In fact, every kind of letter--we may almost say every letter--has a style of its own...
The style of a letter should be adapted to the person and the subject. To superiors it should be respectful and deferential; to inferiors, courteous; to friends, familiar; to relations, affectionate; to children, simple and playful: on important subjects it should be forceful and impressive; on lighter subjects, easy and sprightly; in condolence, tender and sympathetic; in congratulation, lively and joyous. It would be absurd to write to a schoolboy in the stately phrases of an official letter; and equally absurd to use the familiar language of love and friendship in a communication on business.
Whether we write letters and mail them or forgo letter-writing wholly and send only emails as correspondence, some things still never change. One is the rhetoric of writing, which is the art of expressing thought. Much of what passes today for an expressive style lacks clearness, elegance, and force. Who would take seriously or respond to a writer who writes (politically):
u know if u would follow mi advice u would be in a better position to argue ur point of view. No duh here, u know me by now i say what i mean. And i don't take advice from freakazoid nut sandwichez on the left or right, or any other creepy psychos cuz i know where i stand and hope u will agree with me. we can only get along if we only try. i know how ur buds thinks they got it all down but are misleading u and i wont u to know that. give up ur wild eyed maniacs wile there is still time for i no longer follow rectal-cranial inversions spewed by the quasi-lefty crazies or right mongerers. or any truther whackjobs TMMLOL, for that matter. the left's growing increasingly hysterical and i can see it an u can see it and people all over the right just lean on it and blow everything out of proportion. everybody is in full crisis mode, check. the freak show is the left the freak show is the right, and those who pretend to stik to the middle live in the deepest recesses of ignorance big time cuz they think they are the base we all stand on, duh. its all reeeealy creepy! u know, quasi-psycho and its affecting us as a nation. no one gives a crap about the big government truthers anymore, becuz they push the crap we hear and read and see and all that. its all crap pile on time! the government and their newsies distorts the pictures we see left or right or center. they want to talk about fairness, rights, reform and free speech but dont want the other guy to. the government cant stand to be attacked by any point of view becuz its personal. the whole things a freak show! u know, duh! i wuldn't follow arrogant douches and i want u to know cuz i care u know. u know i'm not much of a fan of people that don't make sense and i can tell u who dozn't on the nightly news. just take me at face value.
This example may seem extreme to some readers. I can assure them that it is not extreme at all, but it is a style of writing that has become common practice among those who should know better. One almost gets the sense that such writers are silently congratulating themselves on their wit if not their logic.
