“Writing without typos is absolutely not fashionable”

One of the most famous bloggers in the west published a rather controversial article "Writing without typos is not at all fashionable . " Under the cut - my translation of the article. I propose to discuss, because on Habré in the comments, too, often pay attention to the spelling of the author.



Let's all shut up about blog typos, okay? Show me someone who complains about typos and at the same time he writes to the blog every day. Well, try it. See you There are no such. Because if a person tries every day to offer his ideas and express them in an intelligent, orderly form, he absolutely does not have to complain about other people's typos.
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In our time, you need to write sparingly. Now you need to focus on discussions and ideas, and leave aside the editing process and the pursuit of perfection.

As progress is made in the writing world, spelling terrorists will remain out of work. Here are five reasons why complaining about spelling mistakes is completely stupid and old-fashioned.

1. Imperfection of spell checkers.

We all know that spell checkers do not always recognize errors. And sometimes, we are sure that we are using a stylistic device, and in fact we are making a grammatical mistake.

In addition, it is almost impossible to find all the errors that the computer did not find. It is unnatural to check your texts, otherwise the professions of the editor and proofreader would not exist. And one study showed that if the first and last letters in a word are in place, then our brain automatically arranges all the other letters correctly. My favorite typo that spell checkers do not recognize is from / form: both words are correct and you can find many similar cases yourself.

So do not hesitate to use a spell checker.

2. Spelling has no relation to mental abilities.

Usually, those who whine about spelling errors at the same time write that the author of the text is an idiot. Such an attitude should be changed to mistakes as a sign of incompetence.

Many dyslexic patients are actually very clever. And most schoolchildren who win spelling olympiads show signs of Asperger syndrome (a form of autism). This means that the brains of talented spellers develop their intellectual abilities (in this case, spelling talent) to the detriment of communication skills.

So the one who makes mistakes can actually be very smart and sociable - you just don't notice it.

3. Time is limited. It needs to be spent on new ideas, not on hyphens.

I am very good at grammar. I can make out any suggestion. I can even in my sleep write school rhymes to help me memorize the rules. So I have every right to say that there are excellent writers who do not know the rules of grammar.

These experts, by the way, know by heart the "Associated Press" Style Guide. Newspapers and magazines hire proofreaders who are paid precisely for following the rules of the language. A blogger cannot afford to hire a proofreader, and for several years to learn the Style Guide is hardly a good job for a blogger. In general, you can either spend your life memorizing the Style Guide, or you can spend your life pushing new ideas.

So what if your ideas put hyphens in the wrong place? So what if you wrote the wrong ending? In almost all cases, readers will still understand what you mean. But if there are no interesting ideas in your article, they will not even try to understand something. Ideas are much more valuable than spelling, which is why people who offer interesting ideas are paid 20 times more than the experts on the rules.

4. Perfectionism is a disease.

If mistakes annoy you, think about whether you are a perfectionist? Perfectionism is a mental disorder. Perfectionists more often than others fall into depression, for them everything seems insufficient. Perfectionists cannot pass on their work to someone else, and therefore more often feel dissatisfied with their results. And besides, they are more likely to suffer from communication problems, because people stuck in trifles cannot lift their heads and notice what other people consider important.

5. Use the comments on the appointment - for a smart discussion.

Comments are intended for people to exchange ideas. The best comments (like on my blog) are comments written by smart, interested people who spend more time not on finding the perfect answers (are there such?), But on finding the perfect questions. The best commentators are those who help each other understand more deeply the questions we are interested in.

In general, blogs are not for perfectionists, but for those who are interested, inquisitive, inquisitive. For those who understand this art. Old journalism was obsessed with the ideas of Correctness and Authority; in the new journalism, the news is just a commodity, and above it is the main thing: people expressing their opinions. So stop wasting your time spelling analysis in the comments, and start contributing to the discussion.