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I am a huge fan of editors and use several for my books, but this blog is my own work and frequently I only read once before posting. I believe it's more important to provide useful information than it is for my grammar to be perfect on this site.
But I still get correction emails so it's great to have this post from Suzannah Freeman from Write It Sideways today. I know I have a hybrid vocabulary which sometimes makes it difficult. I am British but have spent 11 years in Australia and New Zealand, and I also write for Americans – so my spelling can be a mixture of the lot of them! I hope you enjoy this post.
Those of us who blog about writing have an especially rough time when it comes to making mistakes.
There is a breed of commenter, also known as The Grammar Police, who feel it necessary to point out typos and misused words in blogs. Usually the commenter remains anonymous, and the purpose of their comment is strictly to point out errors – not to discuss the actual content of the article. The tone is, almost invariably, sarcastic.
It's as if they're saying, “How can you call yourself a writer? You made a mistake!”
‘Cause everyone knows writers never make mistakes. That's why there are no such things as editors and proofreaders.
Are Writers Allowed to Make Mistakes?
When readers find multiple errors in the same post, or every post they read on your blog contains glaring errors, it's definitely off-putting. Under such circumstances, one might be tempted to wonder if the writer knows what he or she is doing. But, occasional typos and errors do happen, even to professional writers.
Once in a blue moon, we might even (gasp!) misuse words like its/it's, or their/there/they're, or your/you're. Writer George Angus says:
“I'm no grammar expert but [misused words like your/you're] are the most basic and I think that any (even slightly) literate adult should have a grasp of them. Any adult who professes to be a writer has no excuse to not have a grasp.”
I wholeheartedly agree. Writers should have a good grasp of these concepts, and most do. Ask us to explain in detail the correct usage of these words‚ no problem. And 99.9% of the time, we write them correctly. That doesn't mean we're never guilty of mixing them up when we jot something down in a rush, or miss one during a proofread.
Food blogger David Lebovitz says, “Show me a blog without a typo and I'll show you a blog written by a machine, not a human being.” In the same article, blogger Deb Perelman shares her view: “I think blogs don't need to be perfect‚ they're generally one-person shops, it would be unreasonable to expect perfection.”
No One Gets Out Alive
Even Michael Hyatt, chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, gets hammered regularly:
“Someone wrote last week, You should be ashamed. How can you be a book publisher and allow such embarrassing errors on your blog? I am disappointed by your lack of commitment to excellence. It makes me think less of your company. Please: do us all a favor and hire a proofreader!”
Now, this is going to sound highly defensive (and it is), but here's what my day looks like:
After many hours of running after two children, being pregnant with twins, cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring and trying to get some personal writing accomplished, I'll plonk myself in front of my laptop (instead of putting my feet up and watching a good movie) and write an article, which I will then offer for free to thousands of people, most of whom are very appreciative. After all that…well…a small error, pointed out publicly, sarcastically, and anonymously, really smarts.
However, I do welcome the type of correction that comes in the form of a private note from a reader, letting me know I've missed a few things. A private email tells me the reader's intentions are to help me, not embarrass me.
The Aperture Blog decided to be proactive and add this statement to their comment policy:
“As this is a blog, written by a single person, I do not have the luxury of a dedicated editorial staff to proof read everything I write. I do my best, but occasionally in my haste to post (and get back to work) typos, grammar errors etc. will slip through. If you do spot something a nicely worded email pointing out any typos will be appreciated, however, comments insulting me, blanket derisive comments about my writing style and so on will be deleted.”
Of course, this is not to give anyone an excuse for sloppy writing and proofreading. The occasional typo doesn't offend most, but regular ones will.
How to Avoid a Visit from The Grammar Police
The Grammar Police will show up at your virtual doorstep once in a while, but you can lessen the fury of their onslaught by following these guidelines:
- Use a spellchecker (but don't rely on it). Spellcheckers are good for catching a lot of things, but they aren't smart enough to catch misused words. I suggest using your spellchecker first, then manually proofreading afterward.
- Leave it overnight, if possible. Better yet, a few days. As a blogger, I'm happiest when I have content queued up ahead of time, and can afford to let articles sit for a week or two before editing and proofreading. It makes spotting mistakes and weak prose so much easier.
- Read the article through at least twice. When an article is ‘finished,' I save it, put it into preview mode, then read it through slowly and make changes in the editor when necessary. When all the edits are complete, I re-save, refresh the preview, and do a final read-through.
- Read every word aloud. If you're prone to missing errors in your proofreading, try reading your articles aloud. This forces you to slow down and speak every word, rather than allowing your eyes to skim parts.
- Keep track of the words you tend to misuse/misspell. Even the best of us have a few words we tend to slip up on. When you do make a mistake that you know in your heart isn't just a typo, write it down on a list. You can do a search for these words when you proofread, or just keep them handy by your computer where you can see them every day, as a reminder.
- Proofread without distractions. Proofreading the average blog post doesn't usually take more than 5-10 minutes. Try to find a quiet place, free from the distractions of television, music, and screaming children while you proofread, otherwise you might feel rushed and be tempted to skim.
Always endeavor to present your readers with a polished product, even if you're giving it away free of charge, even if you're tired, and even if you think readers should cut you some slack.
But, if someone points out a mistake on your blog, correct it and move on. Don't let anyone tell you you must be perfect; perfection is impossible.
Perhaps the policy should be: Let he who is without blogging errors cast the first stone, but he who seeketh to eradicate the blogging errors of others, let his feelings be made known in secret.
What do you think? Is there ever cause to publicly point out bloggers' mistakes to them in their comment sections? What are your best tips for avoiding typos and grammar errors in your own writing?
Suzannah Windsor Freeman is the creator and chief editor of Write It Sideways, and author of The Busy Mom's Guide to Writing.
At BubbleCow (http://www.bubblecow.net) we provide editing and proofreading services. Stick with me this is not an advert but an embarrassing admission…
However, I am often impatient when I have written a blog post and post it before I can get one of our busy proofreaders to check the post. The result is that it often contains errors (and the proofers go crazy with me!).
I am lucky that our readers will often email and tell me about the mistakes. So here’s my three step approach when this happens:
1. Reply with genuine gratitude and apologize. Don’t make excuses.
2. Correct the error immediately.
3. Email back and tell them you have corrected the mistake and thank them once again.
Never attack and never go on the defensive.
Gary
This is a good way to go about things, Gary
People who have good intentions and email are a very valuable resource 🙂
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
Thanks Gary – this is how I go about it as well! (and I never notice mistakes in your posts!)
Great tips, Gary. I agree, it’s really important never to attack someone for pointing out an error. Thanks for sharing!
Nice Post Suzannah, it’s good to see you on another Blog i follow 🙂
As someone who has rather shoddy grammar skills (i am improving though thank God) it’s always a worry for me. A Blog, however, is a more rushed attempt of writing. The tips you offer are things i follow (try let it settle, look through it twice, focus on words i often get wrong), but in the end of the day i will start writing a Blog post on a monday afternoon and look to post it Tuesday morning. In such a short time frame, and doing this 3 or 4 times a week, mistakes are bound to happen.
People who comment on such mistakes publicly are quite frankly rude, and i mostly find, obnoxious. I’m all for constructive criticism, but surly aprivate message via email is far more productive.
No, these people are just looking for some attention and i find it rather sad to be honest. Are mistakes really the end of the world??? (although i do agree, if a post is litered with simple errors then it does need sorting, because it shouts out unprofessional, spammy, and not worthy of our attention)
Thanks for the post 🙂
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
I’m all for blogging being a more relaxed style of writing, but I would click away from a site that was consistently wrong. I hope you’ll stick around here Matt 🙂
Yes, these commenters can be rude and obnoxious, but some of the private emails I’ve gotten have been kind and constructive. If only everyone would go about it this way!
I am pretty obsessive about checking and rechecking before making a blog post live, but it is still easy to miss things. I generally reread at least twice once the post is published, too.
Moderating blog posts cuts down on a lot of problems. I don’t keep comments from being posted if people disagree with me, but by moderating, I can weed out profanity — and privately take care of any grammar issues people might point out.
I send a thank you to the person who helps me locate a mistake as well. I am truly grateful for their help, whether they are pointing out a writing mistake or a flaw in my thinking.
Occasional mistakes are inevitable, even with obsessive proofreading. A thank you to those who point them out is always appropriate. Thanks!
I was just wondering about this the other week (and blogged about it!!), when I happened to read a few writing blogs in a row, all with various typos/errors here and there. All of the classes and books I’ve read have trained me to polish everything I want to publish, so this idea is pretty new to me. And a relief, actually!
You don’t know how much time I waste re-reading and republishing posts to catch allll of the typos. Funny, but I just started adopting this new policy and have already heard about a few errors from a reader. Thanks for giving me an idea of how to handle that.
Thanks Colleen – I think it’s important to try your best but at the end of the day, blogging is about expression and you’re not paid for it – so you have to balance your time. I pay for professional editing for my books, but wouldn’t do it for the blog.
I think a couple of proofreads for a personal blog is sufficient. Of course, if you know you’re notorious for making errors, you might find an online proofreading partner with whom you can swap posts before publishing. But otherwise, a typo once in a while shouldn’t elicit a terrible response from readers.
My favourite trick is to bump up the typeface — to 20 point — and to switch to a font that looks really different — I like Papyrus. THEN and only then do I read it out loud. The combination of the different typeface AND reading aloud makes all the difference for me.
That said, some typos still sneak through. I’m with David Lebovitz. We’re people, not machines!
Great tip! Changing the way you read something is always a good strategy for catching errors.
Great advice. Leaving a post overnight before publishing it isn’t going to work for me though. I’m so impatient. I write it and I want to post it right then.
Thanks! If you can’t leave it overnight, I’d just do one final proofread before hitting ‘publish.’
Loved this post! I’m going to try to make a habit of doing this before posting on my own blog. Thanks.
Thank you, Joseph! Glad you found this helpful.
If you’re going to be a writer…tough skin is a prereq. With that being said; unless the blog is in the business of delivering time sensitive content (news, sports scores and what not), rushing to post content really shouldn’t be an issue. No matter how good the writer and editorial team are, mistakes will be made. The real problem comes when the mistakes start to mount and the actual content experience becomes tainted due to poor execution. All writing is a little like wine in that a letting some time pass and consulting a separate palate from our own before rendering final verdict is always good policy.
Absolutely — tough skin is a must for writers, and I think you get tougher as you go along. “The real problem comes when the mistakes start to mount and the actual content experience becomes tainted due to poor execution.” This is spot on.
I’m also very lucky as a blogger, because all my guest posters are writers and can generally be relied on to get things right 🙂
Thanks to everyone for your comments so far, and thanks to Joanna for having me! Since I wrote this post I’ve had the twins, who are now three weeks old and keeping me very busy. I do a lot of one-handed typing these days, so I have to be especially careful of errors!
Love your tips for avoiding editing mistakes and typos. And I think the disclaimer idea from Aperture Blog is a good idea too. There’s no excuse for rudeness…seems like an otherwise angry person blowing off steam. I’m the editor of a magazine and though I honestly find it a bit embarrassing, I do appreciate a typo being pointed out clearly, but quietly. We had the word Calendar misspelled as Calender for a few months on our cover. Just terrrible! But it was a repeated department of the magazine and so we just overlooked it. Lesson learned. We have to read every word every time.
Ouch, that’s a tough one! I’d done that before, where I’ve copied and pasted a line several times, and each time it contains the same error. live and learn!
I forgive typos in blogs. Blogs are social media, which is meant to be “flawesome”.
However, I don’t easily forgive people who throw shame at myself or others. I think anyone who starts a sentence with “you should be ashamed of yourself” comes from a ridiculous moral high ground and is due for a fall .
You’re probably quite right, Lucretia. Better for us to not stoop to the same level.
ooh, I like flawesome for blogging 🙂
I guess I’m more tolerant than many other people. My education is decent but I’m sure I make many mistakes when I write. I do try to be correct in grammar, spelling and punctuation, but mistakes happen and sometime are deliberate. If someone writes, I’m just happy they have written something interesting and I can understand what they have written. If I don’t understand something, I’ll ask them about the topic. I don’t worry about “mistakes”.
Happy here, keep up the good work.
Dale
I think most readers are tolerant like you, Dale . Readers should be able to expect excellence, but not absolute perfection.
I owe my business to a scathing review of my web page at Litopia. I sell an on-line writing course and I’d committed howlers on its promotional page. I’d cited K J Rowling, Philippa Greville and Kate Moss – authors who, my reviewer pointed out, don’t exist.
That lady was nasty. I blenched. I corrected the page. And I publicly thanked her.
As a result, I gained a flood of visitors to my page and some welcome signups. (The lady also apologised, which was a blessing unsought.)
Conclusion: publicly acknowledge criticism if it’s justified. If it’s not, ignore it. Controversy – rational or not – can be relied on to draw traffic.
Quite an interesting take on the subject! Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
I’m pretty good at spotting errors and typos when I’m reading. Yet, for some reason which I cannot fathom, I occasionally catch myself typing phonetically. I am fully aware of the differences between there, their and they’re, but have found myself typing the wrong one for no apparent reason, other than a momentary mental blindness. I will almost always see these mistake when I read what I’ve typed, as they usually appear glaringly and embarrassingly obvious, but do we always read what we’ve typed before hitting the send button. Especially if we’re using social media with all its brevity and immediacy? If someone spots such a mistake in my writing, I would hope they have the good grace to let me know privately, rather than inform me publicly that I must be thick, which tends to bring out my less charitable side which has been known to respond by asking if they’re aware of the enormity of the fuck I could not give for their comment! In private, of course. 🙂
We all have those moments, sometimes. For me, it’s when I’m distracted by something else—usually my kids.
It’s tough to proofread your own work. I’ve discovered mistakes in m blog posts after I’ve published them. The WordPress app makes it easy to correct your mistakes, even if all you have with you as your iphone. I need a proofreader.
I agree, it’s so easy to miss mistakes in your own work. Will have to check out the WordPress app!
I check, but I never spot them all. The worst seems to be not grammatical mistakes but omitted words — hard to spot under most circumstances — and when I use the wrong word (i.e., template for temple). I also have found that as my eyes get worse from age, I tend to drop the letter i — evidently, it’s just hard to see, and spot.
The most embarrassing mistake was at a company I worked — I didn’t make it, but a whole bunch of people did. They spent almost a year editing a single page document about how to use a software program. It went back and forth multiple times between the customer and the company. At last it was done! They sent it out via email and immediately got comments back about how they’d spelled the product’s name wrong in title. Evidently, they’d all looked at the content and no one paid attention to the title.
Ooh, I’m always worried about missing typos in titles or subtitles! Good tip 🙂
Good advice! 🙂 Reading aloud is not fun, but it is amazing for what you can catch.
Grammarly also has a nice program … free for 7 days!
Lauren Clark
I had a subscription to Grammarly for a while, and I agree it’s a great program!
Thanks Suzannah (and Joanna by extension) for a great blog.
I can identify with writing on the run. I have seven children and don’t have the warewithall (oops, wearwithal — no, that’s not it either … wherewithal — ah, got it — to hire an editor.
Your trick to leave it overnight works wonders. I try to write a blog a week before I post and write once a week (probably not enough). That way it keeps rotating and even allows me to be a couple of days late on the first draft. It’s amazing what is missed on the first draft. I read it later and think, “Man, I’m glad that didn’t go out.”
Take care and keep up the good work!
~Justin
It’s always best if you can let things wait a while. The longer, the better! Thanks 🙂
Typos are inevitable, especially, as Joanna says, there is usually only one set of eyes on it before it gets published. I’ve pointed out some obvious ones to bloggers, but very, very nicely — hey, if it takes two seconds to fix, I feel like I’m helping somewhat. (Most people do take it that way too, which is nice…)
Here’s another idea though: add a “Report a Typo” button to your blog. That way you can show readers that (a) you make mistakes and (b) you’re willing to fix them. It also gives people a way to let you know about errors without the whole “grammar police” vibe.
Everyone wins!
~Graham
I should do that! Good idea, Graham.