No one would try to be a carpenter without knowing how to use a hammer and saw. No one would claim to be a software developer without the ability to write syntactically correct code that (usually) does what it’s supposed to. But it’s astonishing how many people on writers’ forums show a basic lack of ability to use their language.

As a writer, you should understand spelling, verb tenses, sentence structure, agreement, and so on. You should have a good vocabulary and know what the right word is. You can break the rules when it’s appropriate, but you should know when you’re breaking them and why. You should know the difference between “rein” and “reign,” between “lose” and “loose.”

Grammar checkers won’t save a bad writer. The best of them are excessively nitpicking, ridiculously permissive, or both in turns. They’re valuable for catching mistakes, but you have to know which of their recommendations are valid.

I doubt that many of the people reading this post need the advice I’m giving. Incompetent writers don’t seek out writing blogs. I’m not talking here about people learning a new language; they know they’re learning, and they make huge numbers of mistakes because that’s how learning works. They know, or should know, that they aren’t ready to write for publication in their second language. What I’m talking about is writers who don’t care that they’re bad. Many of them have been the victims of teachers telling them that being “validated” is more important than learning skills. Correcting their errors in grammar and spelling might make them feel bad. Inability to write will hamper their ability to deal with the world, even if they never intend to write for a living, but lazy teachers don’t care about that. Good teachers have to undo the damage, and some work heroically at it, but they can’t save every student.

We all have more to learn. The important thing is to improve our precision in using the language. We need to earn our readers’ appreciation and respect by putting our words together properly.