It's something of a hot topic among writers, and one that will be until we stop writing and communicate entirely by transmitting thought-images directly into each others' brains. The rules of grammar are considered sacrosanct by some and outdated or immaterial by others. Language is something that constantly changes and evolves, simply because people are constantly changing and evolving. To some degree, I understand and agree with the concept that we should be willing to let things like the occasional misspelling or mistype slide, depending on context. Grammar police are quick to pounce on any error, and we are none of us immune. I may have mentioned before that my husband and I have had many disagreement on the use of the comma. He feels I don't use them enough, and I feel too many commas leads to misconstrued ideas. Yet we are, in a sense, both correct.
You see, in my first series of courses for my editing certificate, there is an entire chunk devoted specifically to grammar. In fact, I would say the bulk of this first series of courses is devoted to it. Yet, at the end of the course, the last two articles that are required reading are about how we need to accept that grammar is essentially just guidelines for the usage of language, not immutable laws set in stone. We also need to accept that some of the things we know about grammar are simply things that our teachers chose to focus on. Choices in style or presentation that impact how we view the written word. Everyone is different, and everyone speaks with a different voice. When translating that voice into a written text, sometimes we make mistakes. Characters speak with accents, or use particular phrases or idioms. They stutter, they slur their words when nervous or drunk, but curiously they never misspeak.
It's the one aspect of human behavior you rarely see in dialogue, the same way rarely ever see a character use the toilet in a TV show or Movie. It's considered crass, unprofessional, or immature.
The same way poor grammar is considered unprofessional in writing.
Is it so hard a concept to believe that people are as capable of mistyping as they are of misspeaking? My mother-in-law frequently uses "thingy" to replace whatever word she was trying to say that she couldn't think of at the time, and rarely is it difficult for us to understand what she was referring to. Nor is she the only one. "Thingy" is just one of a slew of words we use in place of words we forget or just don't know in the first place. It's not about the neurological issues that could possibly be the root cause of us forgetting words, or even about the fact that "thingy" is, actually, a recognized word in the dictionary. There's a perception that those who use things like that are somehow less. Uneducated, ignorant, illiterate, senile, foolish...
All the things grammar police use to ridicule and deride those who make mistakes.
As an editor, it is my job not just to correct errors in spelling or grammar but to guide an author or writer into establishing their voice the way they intended in a manner that communicates their message clearly and concisely. Letting go of my pedantic clinging to outdated or unnecessary rules is going to be hard. Possibly harder than anything else I have to do in this journey. I believe, however, that I can do it, and that it's a necessary step in my own personal growth.
But I'm still going to disagree with my husband about commas, if only because I can.
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