Falling Down, Again

As an art form, writing ought to allow as much freedom as paint, sculpture, or music. But regardless of the medium, creative license shouldn't be a license to kill. Ketchup on a canvas can be creative, and nitric acid on a canvas can be creative, but ketchup is less likely to result in smoke, headache, and a response from the local HAZMAT team.

Words generally don't result in smoke, but sometimes they cause headaches. There's a time for creative freedom—grinding away at the rules of grammar for art's sake—but writing a letter to the local newspaper ain't it. The sentence below is a good example of why certain words aren't simply interchangeable at will. The wayward comma only adds to the confusion.

Many who consider themselves "peace activists" across the globe engage in tactics, which fail to engender peace.

As written, this sentence tells me that tactics—any tactics—fail to bring about peace. Had the writer chosen that instead of which and left the comma for another time, the sentence would have reflected the intended meaning instead of stalling the reader with ambiguity.

Many who consider themselves "peace activists" across the globe engage in tactics that fail to engender peace.

An alternative would be to illuminate the nature of the tactics in question. Add one word, and the whole problem goes away.

Many who consider themselves "peace activists" across the globe engage in confrontational tactics, which fail to engender peace.

Passive construction aside, the sentence now communicates what was surely the writer's intent in the first place. But whether this problem resulted from simple oversight—accidentally omitting a crucial word—or a wild disregard for grammar, one result is a malfunctioning sentence that doesn't do what the writer wanted it to do.

The other result has more to do with falling off the Grammarians Anonymous wagon, again. But I'm not giving up.