The Spelling Maffia (by sarah)
Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!
I subscrib to a Writers Newspaper and a Writers Magazine to my horror I keep coming across articles saying things like 'if they can't even spell basic words correctly then they can't have done any research' or other such comments some worse some better - all implying that the person who has mispelt something is thick or lazy or both!
Now whilst I advocate intensive spell checking and proof reading I should think the odd thing will still sneak in especially when like me you start with ~every third word mispelt! It is absurd however to suggest that someone has not researched a topic becuase one typo or spelling mistake has sneaked in and some of these people weight the person on the spellings in the emails! Al thought I was paranoid about the spelling issue until recently now he frowns, looks sad and seems to repeatedly be saying 'why is there so much discrimination over spelling?'.
Recently someone said to me on a forum that I should not have my degree due to my spelling and that it was a disgrace of our education system that I had achieved my 2:1 - I have a BSc!!! for goodness sake - if it was a lit degree then maybe but for science? Thats what drafts and supervisors are for with papers - they are checked by you, by peers, supervisor and then the editing team and the journal (or maybe this is just me as my spelling is sooooo bad). Why should people with valid points and the brains to do the research be swept aside becuase of a few transpotions of letters which like so often in DNA actually has no effect on the meaning of the peice written?
People look upon spelling as fixed these days too - this my friends is a relatively recent occurence hence half the problems with the natural 'vandilisation' of our language - its could evolution - each set teenagers/the young and happenings has its own codes, its own special words - a cool black and white film about some guys working to update the dictionary sums this up bueatifully - its a comedy mind, wish I could remember what its called :(.
People tell me I cant be a good writter with my spelling - of course I realise it will just mean more proof reading than most but what has that got to do with the content? I realise that stories need to flow - so I work on the language specifics afterwards - no one has said Will Shakespeare is a bad writter and he couldn't even decide on how to spell his name! People have got PhDs out of going through his work trying to make the spelling uniform - otherwise it looks alot like Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have been doing the writting!
The other thing is it seems to me that editors have gotten lazy - I know they probably have a hundred and one jobs todo - all of which are probably needless paper work that has nothing to do with actual editing or sorting out proof readers for large amounts of text - this now seems reserved only for large techniqual books that institutes are likely to buy on mass and therefore carry a high risk of suing. An old lady who had written books in her youth was horrified that fiction writters had to do all the proof reading and such them selves - even those with commissions - 'thats the editors job' was her definate answer - unfortunatly they seem more interested in cutting out the dros by using pre selection techniques! This is like throwing out a UCAS form of a student wanting to study science cos they have mentioned Terry Pratchett on the form 🙁 (this happens scary I know).
Anyway this is a rambling post now - mainly I am peed off that people - a large amount of people still seem to think that the ability to spell perfectly is some how realated to intelligence/hard work - it is not!
Peoples brains work differently - alot of the most itelligent people I know cant spell - to an extent that I notice!!! We have pooters with spell checkers now - its like people thinking someones no good at maths cos they struggle a bit with mental arithmatic - now as alot of maths peeps have told me - doing sums in your head like that has very little to do with maths and how it works and many of the people with maths degress... well lets just say its a nightmare if you go out for a meal with more than one of them (unless they want to be accountants!).
Erm, so yeah - Dyslexics rule!!!! KO!
p.s. I do not spell check my blog enteries as I consider them informal
Mon 11th Sep 2006 8:32 am 
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By Clare, Mon 11th Sep 2006 @ 9:28 am
Duuude, a proofreader is basically part of the job I want! Next time they tell you to sod off cos they say you can't spell, tell them to employ meeeeeee!!
By becca, Mon 11th Sep 2006 @ 1:50 pm
yeah - any work you do either at uni (or if you are writing professionally) always gets proofread by someone - even if it means you have to bribe someone to do it for you (e.g. with alcohol). Olly gets an allowance for proofreading as part of his dyslexic student support (you have to request it though when you go for your assesment). I finally now get paid to proof read olly's PhD work (something i have been doing since his 1st year).
By becca, Mon 11th Sep 2006 @ 1:53 pm
BTW i know a long long long long long long time ago you started writing a "romance" novel [i shall call it that not to embaress anyone). Monicas new student, Jemma, is also writing a "romance" novel...think brokeback mountain but in Antarctica!!! Was wondering if you had an electronic copy of yours for me to show her - she needs "inspiration" and some "warping of her fragile little mind....."
Becxx
By sarah, Mon 11th Sep 2006 @ 7:47 pm
erm none is finished - did you read any of them? Do you have a specific in mind?
I have one which is ok - its sort of a bit listy though as its for a comp with a word limit and wants to be a far longer story - it also started out as teenage fiction and then 'accidently' became 'cough' romance. Oh and I have one that was written as an actual romance - then the one written for a friends gay site that I was to shy to actually allow to go live but that is only the first part of a serial, then theirs the gothic/horror one - erm they are all the completish ones I have?
I dont have any online as some places consider that to be published and so voiding them from comps and things.