Wednesday, July 29, 2015

You're Not My Typo

In the past three days, I've had three people express angst over sending me an email or text with a typo or grammatical error. One person? No biggie. Two people? Maybe they're neurotic. Three people? Yikes. I'm going to own that.

So, just for the record, let me clarify: I'm not judging your intellect, creativity or all-around wonderfulness by the grammar and spelling in your emails and texts. Yes, I am a writer. Yes, I'm more aware of grammar than your average bird. Yes, I typically notice those typos and grammatical mistakes.

News flash #1: Noticing doesn't equate to judging.
News flash #2: I make typos and grammatical mistakes myself. Especially in texts. (Let's all pause now for a collective gasp.)

You may be like me in this -- I generally see my own mistakes right after I send a text or email. And, as you know if you've been on the receiving end, I frequently send an immediate correction. Because I am a tad obsessive-compulsive about my own spelling and grammar.

On the other hand, I'm delighted that you are communicating with me at all. I work alone. It's a delight to hear from someone. I'm not reviewing and criticizing every word. Writing two when you mean too does not make you an idiot. You can even use 2 rather than too and I'll keep breathing.

On the other other hand, the same does not hold true if we're working together on copy for a client. Then, I do aim for perfection. They're (there their) paying me to aim for perfection.

So write away. Right away. I love to here from you. ;-)

P.S. OK, I can see why I make people neurotic. Even leaving the intentional typo in the last line, complete with the winky face, is making me crazy ...


2 comments:

Lezlie said...

I love this so much. Yes! I get the same thing with music. People frequently apologize because they don't sound good enough. Or because they "can't sing." It breaks my heart.

Preach, sister!

Jan said...

Lezlie -- that's it exactly! I feel like I'm stifling someone's willingness to communicate, rather than instigating it. Very distressing.