Don’t speak Internet-ese. It’s just easier that way.

I write this as a high school teacher, albeit a student teacher, who teaches writing to seniors in a government class. You’d be surprised how illiterate the vast bulk of them are – even those who aim to be freshmen again next year.

You might benefit from this advice, also.

As soon as you let an lol pass your fingertips, or even a simple ;-), you’ll end up using this shorthand in your typing more and more often. At first, you won’t notice it, but it will creep in and out of ur writing.

Then, the next week, when you’re writing your term paper, you’ll skip the squiggled red line that is the spell check. You miss the most glaring mistakes, just because your in a frenetic pace to just get it done. Sure, you’ll get another pair of tired eyes to look it over the night before it’s supposed to get turned in, but you shouldn’t chance it.

It’s easier to write well from the start. Use periods. obey the rules of capitalization. Don’t be afraid of verbs and don’t overuse conjunctions. The more you practice these rules, the easier you remember them when you must and the quicker you can write using them.

If you practice it now, you might be able to skip the editing phase in a pinch. It takes a few seconds more to write coherently, seconds that could save you during finals when you slip during finals.

Don’t make stupid errorz when it most counts, just because you want to look l33t. Its not worth it.

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Bonus points for he or she who spots the most errors.