Posted: February 3, 2012

Many of us tremble at the thought of writing a report or proposal where our mind and thinking are on full display.

Let's see. Do I use who or whom when I write "To who it may concern."

Oops. It should be whom, shouldn't it?

Is there a difference between that and which? Should I use among or between? All these decisions seem so trivial; but they are important.

Is writing tedious because there are so many ways to unveil our ignorance of common writing issues? Maybe we should have paid more attention to Mrs. Fernald's class in eighth grade instead of writing notes to our friends.

To tell you the truth, if someone asked me today to tell him/her what a gerund is, I think that I would have a lot of difficulty.

Does it really matter if we pay attention to the small stuff in writing? Is it important to know where to put a comma? Well, in a word: yes, it does matter even though, commas, are used, and misused, every day.

However, a proper use of common English mechanics is a lost art and skilled writers are a valuable commodity in business. Doubt me?

Look around your office. Are inadequate writers given important proposals to prepare? Aren't important documents reviewed by many eyes before they are distributed to the outside world? Why would that be? Hmm.

Like it or not, people judge us on not only what we say but also how we say it when we are writing. When we write, we need to correctly use common grammatical vehicles to help us communicate. If we are in doubt, we need to consult Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" or William Zinsser's "On Writing Well." Purdue's Online Writing Lab at owl.english.purdue.edu is a wonderful online site and so is http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/.

This latter site provides valuable review for English usage problems. People whose second language is English will appreciate its format to provide review.

Little writing issues can cause big problems: Contracts can be lost, directions can be misinterpreted or people may lose their jobs.

I once heard a story about a guy who was describing entryways to a building in the center of a city. The building was owned by the state government. Instead of correctly spelling the word public, he spelled it pubic and described the necessity to provide adequate security at pubic entry points. I wonder how that went over when it was printed in the thousands? Spell check didn't save him.

The popular book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff," justly offers advice about living each day in its entirety. However, it is the small stuff in writing that can become big stuff.

My rule of thumb is: The greater the importance of a written document, the greater the number of readers and reviews it needs to receive.

Don't take short cuts where your business writing is concerned. The small stuff really does matter.

Bob Stowers is a clinical professor of management and leadership communications at the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary. Visit http://mason.wm.edu/faculty /directory/stowers_r.php.