I was involved in a discussion earlier about the use of the ellipsis (The...people use to emphasise a pause in a sentence)
Now if you know me, you will know I am not the grammar police, in fact I find nothing more irritating than people correcting grammar. However, someone made a comment today about editing in modern day.
There are lots of different opinions that have developed over time in regards to the ellipsis and various other punctuation marks, that cause a lot of debate. I think sometimes we forget that times have changed and what we learnt from parents and school maybe completely different today.
Of course the grammar police stepped in with the rights and wrongs of how an ellipsis should be used.
I watched some of the responses and one in particular caught my eye. It went something along these lines.
Over time punctuation has changed, not everything is as it was. Even traditional publishers can disagree with each other over how certain text should read. If people stopped being killjoys and stopped analysing every bit of text, then maybe it would be more enjoyable for the average reader who doesn't sit down to edit a book, they sit down to read it.
These are my own words, but you get the picture. This really hit home. I completely get this point.
Why should we fall into into a 'reserved writer' constantly worrying about getting it wrong?
Thoughts?
I am within 2 inches of hating grammar police and I try extremely hard to not hate anyone. I am a brain injury survivor who is vision impaired. After the accident, I had to learn how to walk again after my legs finally healed. I could not longer remember any math (I use to be a human calculator) and I could not remember grammar, spelling and half my lifetime.
I quickly learned that some things simply don't matter. I have worked hard to become a functioning human being again, but I function in completely different ways than the "average" human being.
I often mix up my words, use the wrong punctuation, and use the wrong form of words. It is not a matter of I don't know "there" from "their", or "them from they" it is a matter of my brain and my hands are not always connected properly.
But I have been attacked by so many grammar police I am finding it very hard to "nicely" explain what causes my mistakes and in truth, I should not have to keep explaining it.
If someone does not like my writing, they are free to simply move on. Mute me if it bothers them so severely. They are not doing me a favor by attempting to "teach" me.
People should simply accept others for who they are. No one is perfect. I am sure there are plenty of things they are lousy at. How would they feel if everyone called them on the carpet for their mistakes?
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I think your 'story' is something people will want to read, not focusing on the grammar. You have achieved so very much, grammar is just, and after thought. Or it should be. Well done at where you are at!
I get things back to front all the time with dyslexia. I only explain myself when I am trying to support other people now.
I love your way of thinking :-)
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Thank you for your kind words. I don't see the things that have happened to me as "oh poor me, look what I have been through". I see it more as a way to let others know you can fight back from almost anything. I am trying to take a firmer stance people like grammar police. I don't seem to have a middle ground yet. I tend to go from sweet and loving to 100% _____ far too often. So I am bad about trying to explain things when it is really no ones business. I need to stop doing it, but it is almost like a shield and it is hard to stop. I will keep trying however. I rarely give up on something I want to accomplish.
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I can see this is something that you are passionate about like me. I am sure you won't give up on many things in life, you sound like a very strong woman !
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