Okay ... I have a pet peeve. Actually, I have many (I'm a little neurotic, what can I say?), but I'll only address one today.
If you are an author (or maybe even if you aren't), the face you show the public is important. Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of social network promoting for LASR/WC. Our Facebook account has nearly 2000 "friends" on it, so I see a LOT of updates, primarily from authors.
I can't tell you how many of them are littered with grammar errors.
Not typos (we all make those now and then). Not "chat" speak (though I really hate seeing: "how r u?"). Flat out grammar errors that make the writer sound utterly ignorant. Wrong word use (I've seen: concur instead of conquer, for instance, as well as the usual suspects: there instead of they're, too instead of to, etc). I read one a few days ago I wish I'd kept to use as an example. Not only was it so poorly constructed as to make nearly no sense at all, but the spelling and grammar errors made my eyes bleed. Things like "deel" instead of "deal", etc.
Look, I know it's fairly informal, but I'm inclined to think that if you sound that ignorant publicly on a regular basis, then your writing isn't going to be stellar either. An editor, no matter how good, can't take a rotten apple and make a diamond. There's not enough pressure in the world.
If you know you have issues with spelling, then run your status through spell check (actually, if you use Firefox, it does that automatically). I realize it won't catch homonyms, but it will catch "deel" instead of "deal". It's a start.
I really think the internet has great power -- but it can be used for evil or for good. It's mind-boggling how many folks rant and rave on their statuses, spew hateful diatribes full of profanity as punctuation and don't think that's a problem.
Is it just me?
Sound in, folks... what do you think?
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In other news, I gave myself a lovely second degree burn on my left index finger last night. Note to self: make sure that you're both completely awake (even if it is 2 a.m.) AND that you turn on a light before trying to add wood to the wood stove. A stove that's running at 600 degrees really isn't something you want to tangle with.
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Your Personality is Somewhat Common (ISFJ) |
 Your personality type is stubborn, conservative, trustworthy, and caring. About 13% of all people have your personality, including 18% of all women and 7% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. |
That pretty much pegged me... LOL...
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7 comments:
YEOWCH on the burn! Hugs!
And YES, it bugs the heck out of me when writers misspell. A lot of times I'll see them come back and correct themselves, which makes me feel better.
I do find that is I see grammatical errors in a book, I'm more apt to notice others that may have skipped my vision.
Your Personality is the Rarest (INFJ)
Your personality type is introspective, principled, self critical, and sensitive.
Only about 2% of all people have your personality - including 3% of all women and around 1% of all men.
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging.
This is accurate.
Spelling and grammar: We all make mistakes, but if I see the same person make them over and over, I get annoyed, too. Especially if that person is an author. I write all my posts and comments using Microsoft word and then just paste it. That way, I know that at least my spelling will be good.
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What is LARS/WC? I’ve never heard of it.
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I’m sorry to hear that you burned yourself.
I have seen a couple of authors in the past few years go off the rails as far as spewing forth nasty comments and such to others who dare to criticize them. Those go immediately on my "Never Ever Read" list. I've also noticed quite a few books these days have grammatical errors. I think even Editors are becoming more lax in that area.
So sorry to hear about your burn. I hope it heals quickly!
My quiz results were the same as yours.
Have a good day!
Hugs on your burn. I hope it heal quickly.
I don't worry about the spelling/grammar stuff so much. I guess if it was someone's author page who was doing serious promotion for their career, then yeah take more care, but with a personal one, not so much. I have some readers on mine, but it's definitely not for promo in my case.
What really annoys me, however, is authors I've never heard of wanting to be my FB friend then as soon as I am they ask me to like their author page or spam my wall with promotion stuff.
This is why I read my blog posts three, four, sometimes even five times before I post them. I hate sounding like an idiot.
I will admit I'm a tad more relaxed on Facebook & Twitter. Especially Twitter because you have so little space to write.
However, I agree with everything you said.
I've been known to delete and repost a comment if it has a grievous error.
Hope your burn is better today.
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