MY VIEW
Kevin J. McCue: Using the written word in tribute to a teacher
I traveled down to Allegany in October last year to visit an old friend. After lunch, I drove up the street to visit my alma mater: St. Bonaventure University. Nostalgia enveloped me as I crossed the bridge and spied the lovely venerable brick buildings off to my right.
Pulling into the parking lot behind Plassman Hall, in my mind’s eye, I saw him: he was moving toward the stairs with an armful of papers that he had graded. He was clad in a tweed hat, white rain coat, and was humming softly to himself. It was the seemingly “absent-minded professor:” Dr. Russell Jandoli. I chuckled at the vision and it occurred to me how fortunate I was to have him teach me the craft of journalism — for teaching me how to write. Better yet, how to write more effectively!
Dr. Jandoli, or “Dr. J.” as he was known around campus, was one of my favorite instructors. He had a light, gentle wit, and seemed
genuinely amused by my absurd presence in his classes. I think he detected some imagination and a touch of wit through my grinning, vacuous, party-boy demeanor.
I recall getting my papers back which were littered with his red marker — the recurrent themes of his corrections were: “wordy,” or “trite,” and sometimes even “dull!” I enjoyed writing, especially the creative process of banging out a story in a flurry, but editing was another story. I was not fond of the editing process; it was too long, too tedious, and required simply too much work!
However, I think he saw promise in the “rough drafts” I submitted as carefully edited projects. Dr. J. got me, and all his students, to find our unique writing style — to reach deep down inside ourselves and find our writing narrative, our writing voice.
Later, when I became an advertising copywriter, all that I had learned from my beloved professor came to the fore: Less is more in writing.
I believe our tendency to use too many words in our writing stems from our grade school days: to meet the homework requirements of writing a full-page essay, we would pack as many words as possible on the page to fill it up. Old habits linger.
I’ve heard people say that writing is becoming something of a dying art. Business letters and formal correspondence have been replaced by e-mails and, heaven forbid, text messages.
The problem with e-mails is their implied informality — but the truth is people size each other up via their written communication. And if an e-mail is littered with misspellings and incorrect punctuation, the perception of the writer is seriously compromised.
As a corporate trainer, one of the workshops I facilitate is business writing. And, with Dr. Jandoli’s posthumous blessing, I suggest three ways to immediately improving your writing:
1. Be concise, avoid wordiness.
2. Use short sentences whenever possible.
3. Always proofread your writing, and then read out loud to prevent mistakes.
Simple, effective, and easy-to-incorporate tips!
I keep Dr. J’s Buffalo News obituary in front of me, and feel his presence when my fingers are flying over the keyboard. I can almost hear his voice saying, “Mr. McCue, I know you can do better,” and, as usual, he is correct. The good doctor lives!
I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: thank you, Dr. Jandoli for teaching me, and so many other St. Bona graduates, how to be better writers. It is my deepest hope that this essay was neither too wordy, nor too trite, nor too dull. God love you!
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