I write here to correct a common misreading of my work. I've not been fighting all these years just to make writing easier by loosening standards; I've been fighting to make writing better. Especially in my recent *Vernacular Eloquence*, I've been trying help people use their vernacular spoken language to produce writing that is nevertheless careful and excellent--to break out of the unclear, roundabout, or mashed-potatoes prose they so often produce when they try to write right.