Spelling: not an optional extra

We all makes spelling mistakes. I make spelling mistakes. I make them here – I do try to correct them as soon as Karen Miller tells me they’re here. But essentially, I know the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’. I can differentiate between ‘we’re’, ‘where’, ‘ware’ – and indeed the Old English ‘were’.

I proofread. Then I get someone else to proofread because I know that it’s damned near impossible to proofread your own work – you know what you’re trying to say and the brain will insert words where the relevant ones are missing on the page. Sure, there are always going to be some that get missed, by you, the best proofreader in the world, your editor or publisher. Nothing is perfect. However, it should be as damned close as it can be.

I am therefore completely perplexed by people who submit work that is patently NOT proofread, who seem to think correct spelling is optional and, worst of all, make a joke in their submission letter about their bad spelling.

Folks, we are writers: words are our medium, our bread and butter, our paint, our clay, our plasticine … to produce the best quality work, you really need to be using the best quality materials, which in our case are words, correctly spelled.

So FFS, learn to spell! And get someone to proofread your work, because quite frankly, enraging me is a really bad idea. *ROAR*