PROOF-IS-READING
This morning I felt compelled to address an issue with my writing. It has been in my mind for quite a few months now.
As many readers of my articles have probably noticed, there are a few grammatical errors in the articles submitted. I know this. And contrary to popular thought, I don’t consider that majorly important.
I know that when all of us were in school and submitted our term papers and reports, points were taken off of those papers, and our grades were lowered because we let those errors slip by. Thus we all were taught that being grammatically correct is foundational to writing.
But is that necessarily so?
Let me first start by saying that I really try and proofread what I publish. But if I am, to be honest with myself, I suck at proofreading. Like many writers, the ideas I am putting down move faster than I can type, and words get left out of a sentence. For the most part, spelling shouldn’t be an issue today, and with spell check (thank god for that!!), there is no excuse. But missing words persevere.
Being grammatically incorrect also carries a sense that somehow the author isn’t professional or doesn’t really care about what they are writing. Look, writing is hard. It should be evident that they care if a person commits time and effort to write. They have to because there is no way a person dedicates that amount of thought and time to sit and write unless they care.
A writer writes because they have to. But any writer that tells you they don’t want readers is a liar. So the overall goal is to write something that will be read. So although I do proofread what I write, more than likely, I’m going to miss something.
But my goal is to write something that is read, and you reading this sentence has accomplished that goal. And isn’t that the result I would like to have to happen with the passion I cannot contain?
I am not discounting the importance of being grammatically correct. Still, I hope that this explanation for the occasional errors in my writing will build an understanding between the reader and me. It also relieves my consciousness about what I submit and the feelings I get when I later go over my articles that are out there. You reading this. And that’s all the reason I need to continue writing. The proof is reading.
