Thursday, August 1, 2024

Typos, Grammar, and Errors, Oh My!

Readers of books, magazine articles, short stories, emails, flyers, blog posts, social media posts, newsletters, online articles, college papers, cell phone messages, letters, and notes expect to find no typos, misspellings, grammar troubles, or punctuation mistakes. 

Sorry...that will never happen. The fact is you will find mistakes in published material.

I've been reading a lot this year. I read for pleasure and am a beta reader for a few well-known authors. I'm on a favorite author's street team and help proofread for three authors. When I read for pleasure, about 80% of what I read has mistakes—emails, blog posts, published books (traditionally published to self-published), and newsletters. Yep, they have at least one typo or glaring mistake.

Some people hate finding mistakes in their reading because they say it "jerks them out of the story," and they can't or refuse to finish the book. They throw the book at the wall and never read that author again.

I say, "Rubbish!" Nothing is perfect.

All writers and authors strive to produce perfectly clean, error-free writing. Yes, that is part of the writing process. What may end up happening, however, is those sneaky automatic corrections cause trouble. The grammar checker tools used to check their work could be better. Computers and formatting programs may have glitches, causing all kinds of problems. Writers, beta readers, reviewers, editors, and agents do miss mistakes while proofing manuscripts. And smart devices are only sometimes smart.  It happens all the time.

When I encounter a mistake while reading, I pause, absorb it, and continue reading. I'm not letting a mere typo cause me to stop reading authors’ books and supporting their efforts. If I did, there would be very few authors I would read. Even the well-known writers whose names are golden on star-studded publishers’ lists have mistakes in their writing. It's shocking, but it's true.

Can't readers forgive those little mistakes? If they don't, they will miss some really great stories. There's a lot to the writing and publishing world. But it's a long way from submitting work to traditional publishers and holding that book in your hands (even with self-publishing), and mistakes happen along the way. 

This is my opinion. Yours may be the opposite; you might throw the book away or never buy a book by that author again. We are all different yet alike. We should all forgive and find acceptance in our hearts. Chill out, dive into the story, and let those typos go!  We strive for perfection and hope it will happen but won't hold our breath. And, authors, keep on doing what you love to do...

Here are writing articles: 

What's Up With That: Why It's So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos | WIRED

https://www.crosswalk.com/slideshows/things-i-wish-id-known-christian-writing.html






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