[stylist] Pet PVS

Fri Mar 30 01:01:10 UTC 2012

Eve and Bridgit,
First of all, Eve, I second Bridgit's thoughts. Writers, blind or sighted,
have a hard road. Competition is fierce, and success is rare. Once you're
successful, you can pretty much do what you like, but getting there is
another matter.

If I personally have ever made you feel inferior by correcting your spelling
or grammar, I am truly sorry. I call it as I see it, and I have criticized
Bridgit -- and she me -- on matters of grammar and style. I don't see any
point in reviewing something for someone and not giving them constructive
criticism. At this point in my own writing, the biggest disappointment I
have with regard to people reading my work is when they say next to nothing.

I also agree with Bridgit on the blindness thing. Like it or not, we are not
respected. Giving someone any excuse to write us off -- even if it's a
common mistake that sighted people make all the time -- is something I'd
rather try to avoid.

Language and style, however, do change. I think the population is less
inclined to understand or care about the subtleties of language and
communication, and it may be that we are headed into a period of
civilization where spelling is no longer standardized. There is historical
precedence for that, though I personally see it as a step backwards.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 5:31 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Pet PVS

I agree with you, Eve, when it comes to casual communications such as
emails and texts, but as writers, especially on a list dedicated to
writing, it's paramount we understand structure, form and grammar and
can make necessary corrections in our writing. I know very few editors
who have patience for the slightest errors, whether they be human errors
or mistakes made by technology.

The initial question for this thread wasn't necessarily intended to be
serious or nit-picky; after-all, we all have pet peeves about various
things, and some simply have shared what bothers them in terms of
writing.

However, it is vital that writers of any kind pay attention to matters
of writing so they can present the best work possible regardless of if
it is intended for publication or just something shared on a listserve.
I don't want grammar, structural and spelling errors in my writing, and
I appreciate when they are pointed out so I can correct them. I want my
writing to be professional, quality and since I'm blind, I don't want to
potentially contribute to stereotypes many have about blind writers; I
have met them, and they assume most blind people are not aware of
grammar and structure because they are blind.

It has nothing to do with believing someone is "superior" for commenting
on errors in each others writing. I'm not sure why it would be wrong,
especially on a writing listserve, to point out such mistakes. Again,
this is what any editor will be looking for, and many editors will
refuse to consider work full of mistakes. If we can't handle our peers
making helpful corrections, how will we handle editors, publishers and
agents doing the same?

A mistake is a mistake, and when you write for publication of any kind,
you want to avoid errors as much as possible before submitting. If you
have an outlet in which to share your work before submitting, you should
be thankful for the opportunity to have a plethora of people who can
assist in the grammar and structure department.

If someone has a clear grammatical or spelling error, I don't understand
why it would be viewed as childish or me thinking I'm superior to point
it out. When we make these comments and provide feedback, we are not
implying people are stupid or know little about writing; we all make
mistakes, and no one has all the answers, it's nice to have others look
something over bringing their knowledge and experience to the table.
This is how a workshop environment works. Stylist is not the perfect
workshop environment, but when any of us post our writing here, if all
you want is praise an accolades, well, no writer should expect this
without receiving constructive criticism as well. If we never are told
what to work on, how do we grow, learn?

So I totally get your frustration for casual communications, but I don't
think it's nit-picky, condescending or wrong to point out these types of
errors even if typos are due to carelessness or technology; an error is
an error no matter what, and as writers, we should want to fix any
manuscript so it it is not riddled with mistakes. There is a way in
which to go about making such comments, and people should never be rude
about it or question a person's intellect because of writing errors, but
it does need to be corrected nonetheless.

It's not adopting a superior attitude to point errors out. To avoid
miscommunication, I state that this next comment is a general one and
not directed towards you. If you don't like people providing feedback
and commentary on your work, you will not have an easy time of it as a
writer. Comments about grammar and spelling are not about preferences;
they are established rules of writing that must be followed. In a word,
for writers, it's called professionalism.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 21
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:22:40 -0600
From: Eve Sanchez <3rdeyeonly at gmail.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Pet PVS
Message-ID:

<CACdbYKUDhuF=pXgJRjaAPJUWPzfTtAD8A7Q5D_OGNogKj+kJWg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Alright now. I will jump on the band wagon. My pet peeve is people who
think they are so superior that they need to constantly correct others.
Whether it is a mispronunciation or spelling error (which could be a
typo)... relax. It is not the end of the world if it is not corrected.
"Save that behavior for your children people!" Eve

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