Does Spelling Matter?

Spelling is one of those things that seem to incite fairly different views - a bit like Marmite. Either bad spelling really bothers you or you're really not too bothered by it at all.

I fall into the first category and it seems that to some, this means I am labelled a pedant. I don't think that's necessarily true. It just means that I was taught that spelling was important and whilst I agree and accept that language changes, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (don't even get me started on 'chillaxing'!), I still think there's a very big place for correct spelling.

When I read a book or a magazine then I expect things to be spelled correctly. After all, this is something I have paid money out for and these people are doing it for a living. And for the most part, things are, although I did come across a bit of a honker in a copy of Sew magazine a couple of issues back, and it wasn't an isolated incident. There does seem to be an issue with the production in some magazines, not so much with spelling, but with getting the 'right' version of words when there are two that sound the same. English is not an easy language as we have an abundance of such words to trip us up, but these are people who are being paid to publish something made of words. Shouldn't they therefore have higher standards?

The argument brought up against 'good' spelling is that language evolves and we shouldn't be so hung up on the idea of how something is actually written down, but should instead concentrate more on the meaning. I can see the point of this argument in that the meaning of something is obviously tantamount to the experience of reading, but to make it into a 'one or the other' choice is detrimental.

Pre school children can work smartphones and the like better than the actual owners in a lot of cases and that's understandable. They are being born into a world of technology that has moved on faster than almost, if not any, other period in history. It's part of their world. It's not 'new technology' to them, it's just there. It's normal. However, when children are handing in essays written in text speak, and are either losing the ability, or never even being taught how to really spell words, then we have a problem.

Arguing that they don't need to learn spelling because even homework is done on a computer these days, as handwriting becomes a lost art, is only a half truth. Yes, a computer can check the spelling, but is your computer set to the correct language? Not correcting 'color' for 'colour' isn't an error if the language default is still US English and you're writing for a UK audience, whether that's a teacher or a magazine readership. And of course, the other thing with computers is that they are checking for spelling but don't know the difference in context between there, their and they're, for example. All of these are correct but they don't all fit in the same hole.

Personally I don't think we're doing any favours with the lack of spelling education in the classrooms. It's like the lack of competition debate. Yes, I get the idea of not encouraging competition so that 'everyone's a winner'. That made sense in a meeting, I'm sure. But in reality? Perhaps less so. And this is coming from someone who was pretty much always in the last couple to be picked for sports teams. Teams were generally picked by the cliquey kids who were also often good at sport and I was neither cliquey not sporty, so whilst an attempt to make me feel more included would have been nice, I don't think it would have worked. Competition is part of human nature. It's going to happen. Out in the big wide world we have to fight for everything - including jobs, which is where we come back to the spelling issue.

One of my PA jobs involved opening the CVs (or resumes, depending where you are reading this) received whenever we had a employment opportunity. I had a pile that I'd hand to the boss and a pile that went to the shredder. My boss' first criteria was that he didn't want to see CVs or application letters that were full of mistakes. His view, and one held by many employers, was that if someone hadn't taken the time to get things right in the application, how much commitment would they have to their work? That might seem unfair but applicants get whittled down and that was the first hurdle. It's important to remember that, whatever technology gives us, spelling is not irrelevant.

I'm not saying choose spelling over creativity, not at all! I'm just hoping that we can have both.

As a last note, these thoughts are only about 'everyday' spelling. Issues like dyslexia, etc are obviously a lot more complex and are in no way being included in these thoughts. As someone who has both relatives and friends who deal with such struggles, I completely understand what a challenge these can be and would never trivialise such things.

I also realise that 'resume' should have an accent over the last 'e' but there doesn't seem to be any way to insert anything like this within Blogger. Perhaps I need to start writing the posts in Word and then copy and paste. If anyone does know any different, I'd love to hear from you.

So, am I being pedantic in liking things to be spelled correctly? What's your view?

Falling in Love Again

Apologies for the absence. Any of you that have read the blog before will know that last year I had a publisher let me down on a contracted book right at the last minute and, to be honest, it put me off writing for longer than I expected. I did take a break at the time and then try and get back into it, but I don't think my heart was in it. It was the second time I'd experienced a deal being pulled, despite a contract and I think there was a lot of  'why am I bothering' still lingering around inside me.

However, I pulled out a novel that I've been trying to finish editing for ages and got stuck into it. I really enjoyed the first read through (I hope that doesn't sound too vain!) and now Screen Edit 1 is complete, I'm about to start the first paper edit - having first had to schedule in some serious paper buying!

It's taken a while but I've fallen back in love again with, not only my current novel, but also the act of writing itself. I am, once more, bumbling about with my head in the clouds and talking to people who don't exist. It's brilliant!

New Scenes And Taking A Hike

One of the things I wanted to do in this edit is add in a couple of scenes that will help expand understanding of the characters' behaviour in certain situations. Sunday was a good day for that and I ended up writing quite a long scene which I hope, when I read it back, will be what I aimed for it to be.

I vary between writing longhand and writing directly on to the computer. There's no rhyme or reason to this, but often depends, not only on mood, but also just on circumstance. On Sunday, where I was meant that it was easier just to pull out my pad and pencil (never a pen!) and get scribbling. There is a benefit to this because, when I do type it up ready to be inserted into the main body of the novel, it gets an edit there too.

There is still another scene or two I want to add in. My plan is to type up the one I just wrote and work out where to put that, and then get on with the next one that I know I need to write. Doing it that way helps me keep on top of things and not have a tonne of pages floating about. Once the next one is done, I'll go through the whole thing again and see how I feel about it all then.

I tend to think about scenes and so on when I'm out on a walk - and now that the temperature has climbed down out of the 30s, I enjoyed a meander through the countryside yesterday, with the odd stop to pick blackberries. It's important to remember to get out and about when you can - it's good for the mind as well as the body. There are plenty of times I've worked out a scene during a walk that I've haven't been able to figure out all the time I was thinking about it inside.

Hope everyone else's writing is going well and I'd love to hear what you're working on. Feel free to leave a comment below!

Happy scribbling!

Editing - still!

As I mentioned previously, following the disappointment of having a publisher pull out of a contract on a self help book, I've turned back to novels and pulled out one that I wrote some time ago with the aim of doing some serious editing and rewriting.

Editing Pass One is now complete and I have more of an idea as to what needs to be changed and added in order to help make it a better piece. I've done some of this but there's still definitely plenty to go and sometimes it does feel a bit overwhelming and a case of 'I'm not even sure how to do all this!'. That's a bit scary and the confidence goes a bit wobbly and I have plenty of moments when I sit there and think 'What on Earth made me think I could do this?!'

But then I read this quote on Twitter:

'A writer should always feel like he’s in over his head'. ~Michael Cunningham

To be honest, it made me feel a lot better, and relieved a bit of that 'Is it just me?' worry. So whilst I may well be in over my head, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In the meantime, I shall keep doing my best to bob to the surface for large gulps of air and then dive back in with my characters. With a bit of luck, we'll all get there in the end.

Do you ever feel like you're in over you head, and has there been a quote that's helped you along? I'd love to hear so feel free to leave a comment below!

Unintended Hiatus

I've been away from blogging for a while, but I'm now hoping to get back to it more regularly. Apologies to anyone who follows on a regular basis, and thank you for sticking with me.

There were a couple of reasons for the break, and I didn't intend to stop blogging, it just sort of happened. At the beginning of the year, I got the contract through for a non fiction self help book. It needed a fair amount of research and I was headlong into this. I got the research done and started actually putting the book together. I was two thirds through when I thought I'd contact the publisher just to check that everything was good in publishing land. His reply was less than enthusiastic and he wasn't even bothered about me finishing it if I didn't want to. It appeared that there wouldn't be any promotion done, despite what had been agreed previously.

In the circumstances, I felt that the best thing to do would be to walk away. I got a confirmation in writing that the contract was no longer valid and that all the work I had done was mine and there could be no claim on it if I were to publish elsewhere.

I'm sure you can understand how much of a disappointment this was. Especially as this is the second time I have found myself in a similar situation - a fact this publisher knew. I lost the enthusiasm for the project and, to be honest, writing. It seemed that I had just wasted six months and felt very let down. Just putting the whole thing aside for a while seemed the best option.

I haven't decided exactly what to do about that project yet. I may look for a new publisher or I may self publish. At the moment, I still don't have the enthusiasm back for that one, so I'll wait until I do and in the meantime I can just ponder over what I what I want to do with it.

I am back to writing though, well, editing. I've pulled out a novel which has been waiting for a new edit and some rewrites for a long time. I've really enjoyed getting into the story and the characters again. I enquired with a publisher some time ago about sending it in (as it's a little shorter than the standard) and they were happy to take a look. I'll check this again when it's closer to being polished and shiny. Hopefully the answer will still be 'send it in'. After that, it'll just be a case of fingers crossed!

So, again, apologies for the break. I hope your writing has been going well and would love to hear your news!

Happy Writing!

Moderating Blog Comments

I remember a discussion some time ago on Writers Talkback about blog comment moderation, and the dreaded 'Captcha'. For the most part, it seems that people are less likely to comment on a blog if there is a moderation process in place, and I can understand that, especially as Captcha seem to have done their best to make the darn things practically unreadable whether you're human or not!

On the basis of this, I elected to leave the moderation process off my blogs. I get a notification that a comment has been made, and I can then go and choose as to whether this is suitable to publish, and publish, delete, or mark as spam as appropriate.

So far this has been working just fine. Until a few weeks ago, that is. I did a post called 'Catching Up' and for some reason, this has been nabbed by some sort of weightlifting/gym sort of organisation, and they seem to think it's ok to keep posting on there with completely irrelevant, ridiculously worded phrases. From the looks of it, it seems to be directed from Russia. And frankly, it's bloody annoying!

As I'm now getting them on that post several times a week, I'm seriously considering putting the dreaded Captcha back on, as much as I'd prefer not to. So, my question is, does having this process seriously put you off commenting on a blog?

I'd be grateful for any opinions on the above, or if you have any other ideas on how to avoid the spammers, I'd be grateful to hear from you.

Facebook - Friend or Foe?

As my previous post was about Twitter, I thought this time I'd turn my attention to Facebook. This was also partly inspired by a conversation I had on Twitter - someone mentioned that they didn't really want to do Facebook but that some of their friends were on it, and refused to communicate in any other way. Therefore he was forced to have an account in order to keep in touch with those people.

Now, is it just me, or does that sound like bullying? Someone who doesn't want to do a particular thing is being forced to because of the actions of others.

I can completely understand the situation and have a similar one. However, I refuse to join. In consequence I do miss out on knowing certain things and that's something I have to accept. But I wasn't interested in joining up when Facebook was all the rage a few years ago, and I have even less inclination to now. The security issues they've had worry me. The decisions they make at times worry me - notably the most recent one about the beheading videos being posted on their site. For more information on that story, see here

The main thing that irritates me about Facebook, however, is that it's made us lazy. As mentioned above, many people put their 'news' on their page and expect others to read it. It doesn't matter whether you are close family or a 'friend' - a term which seems to have very tenuous connections at times. You all get the same news. There's nothing personal for those who are closest, and that just seems  a bit off kilter to me.

Surely the way you tell a loved one something is different from the way you tell someone you've never even met, who's a friend of a friend of a friend. Don't the people who you really spend time with, or you are emotionally close to, deserve a little more attention and consideration, rather than having to go wading through comments from people they don't know in order to try and ferret out a bit of news that could have been put on an email in moments?

Now, this is all about the personal pages of Facebook. For businesses, I can see the purpose. It's a good way to keep people up to date with news and events, if you know that many of them already have FB accounts. It encourages them to interact in a way that they might not if that news was solely confined to a blog, for example. In fact, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who did have reservations about setting up a page but has done so anyway - has it been worth it?

In the meantime, a little request. Please remember that just because people aren't on Facebook doesn't mean that we don't want to hear your news, or see the funny photo you took at the weekend. We just need to be told in a different way.