Good writing is a pinnacle skill

Posted on 17 March 2013

When Im hiring people for Electric Book Works or Paperight, I

know whether theyll work out the moment I read their cover letter.
When I read a really good cover letter, I can essentially ignore the
CV attached to it. (Though I do expect the CV to be well
constructed, neatly laid out, and error free.)
Why is there such a clear correlation between a well-written cover
letter and an excellent team member? Because of what good
writing represents.
Writing is a pinnacle skill. In order to write well, you have to have a
range of other skills in place first. They are the underlying
foundation. Once you have those other skills, good writing
represents their combined result: the pinnacle of their positive
effects.

When I read a great piece of writing, I know the writer has those
foundational skills. In this diagram I only list a few off the top of my
head:empathy (which is an appreciation for what your audience is
thinking and feeling), attention to detail, a broad general
knowledge, logic, clarity of thought, persuasiveness, the ability to
critique your own work (also called a crap detector), an
appreciation for rules and the smarts to break them, self-discipline,
the ability to prioritise, a sensitivity to clich and stereotype and
more.
As an employer, thats much of what Im looking for. (I do, of
course, factor in whether a person is writing in their home
language, but even then many of the skills of good writing
transcend a persons grasp of grammar.)

Writing is not a bag of skills learned for their own sake spelling,
grammar, punctuation, metaphor, and so on though sometimes
theyre presented that way. In a recent piece in The
Atlantic,Jessica Lahey argues that spelling counts because, in a
busy world, people needaquick and superficial way to measure
you:
youve already spent nine hours today reading through these
applications. The one in your hand looks pretty much like all those
thousands of others. If only there were some way to decide without
having to wade through the 500-word essay about the summer
spent digging latrines in Kenya
And there it is an easy way out, right there in the third sentence:
The days are hot and dry, your thirsty, tired, and homesick. Not
youre, but your. The essay may go on to articulate inspired
truths about human nature. It may reveal some novel insight that
has never been revealed before. But heres the rub: This
admissions officer with the limited time and frustrated spouse is
done. Three lines into the essay, the application lands squarely on
the No pile.
This example tends to upset my students. They wail, But thats
unfair! Shouldnt it be the ideas that count? Thats about
appearances, not content! And they are right. Ideas should be
judged on substance rather than appearances, but this simply is not
how our world works. We live in a society where appearances
matter, where in order to be heard and taken seriously we are

judged quickly and superficially.

Thats a shame coming from a writing teacher. It reads like an
apology: Im sorry you have to learn this spelling rubbish, but the
worlds so silly about these things!
There is nothing superficial about judging someone on their
spelling. Unless you really are stranded on a desert island without
a dictionary, the Internet, or a smart friend, a spelling mistake
demonstrates a clear lack of fundamental skill or temperament.
Misspellings especially in business documents are the
symptoms of an underlying carelessness that to employers, clients,
colleagues, and fans can and should be deeply troubling.
The quality of your writing is a clear indicator of the quality of your
mind. And while spelling is only one part of good writing, its a
crucial one: get it right, and you give your work a chance to shine
and you to shine through it.