I just want to start this with, yes it sucks, I know it does I have known since school. If I’m writing for a academic paper, journal, magazine, etc then I of course employ a proof reader/editor but here on my own site I don’t.
I have made no secret of the fact I struggle to maintain a blog, I find writing for such a varied audience hard and while I’m motivated by new things and cool ideas ultimately I have nearly a 100 drafts! That’s almost more drafts then posts.
So what’s with this post?
Well I regularly get people commenting and complaining about the grammar on the blog. Strangely most of these people use fake details and ironically nearly all make grammar mistakes in their comments. The latest one was quite long and detailed so I decided to respond by email sadly I was greeted with.
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
djonorous2994@yahoo.com
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 554 554 delivery error: dd This user doesn’t have a yahoo.com account (djonorous2994@yahoo.com) [0] – mta194.mail.ac4.yahoo.com (state 18).
In the email I reiterated the fact the blog is simply a place for my musing and thoughts and not a structured or edited. While writing the email I was chatting to Carolyn and between us (ok mainly her I was concentrating on not making mistakes) we came up with several ideas based around identifying such comments. However the whole incident has left me pondering the importance of grammar on this site and how it’s effecting peoples mental state.
What would you do?
So here is my question as many people know I’m prepping for v3 of timnash.co.uk it will still have the blog but perhaps the content on it may change. Basically I have 5 choices:
- Do nothing – Keep everything the way it is maybe add a disclaimer just to rewarn and ask people not to be an ass when commenting
- Make content purchase only – and use the money to pay an editor.
- Pay for an Editor – timnash.co.uk does not make money to pay for an editor would mean finding a way to pay for the editor or it comes out of my pocket, reducing the posts even more
- Stop Writing – It’s simple, I can’t offend if I don’t write
- Ask for donations for an editor – do you feel strongly enough that would put your hand in your pocket to help pay for an editor?
I have created a Google Page form http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDNfeG9IaUc1dGlrNHdTT2xiQmJicWc6MA
Please if you can spend 20 seconds answering the two questions it will help me make some choices. Also how would you handle the issue of grammar and spelling? Should I just take a chill pill!
Oh and the evil idea Carolyn came up with?
Every time some one comments and their comment has words like spelling, grammar or apostrophes they are taken to a screen asking if they are sure they want to post such a comment. It would also suggest they make a donation to the Dyslexic Research Group a charity I have been supporting for years.
10 comments
I really like the last idea, actually.
In all honesty, though, I’m not sure. Sure, on first read your grammar irks me a little – but that’s because I’ve been trained over the years to root out grammar mistakes (which makes sense when proof reading everything except your own writing!) But then again, being dyslexic no-one can expect you to get the spelling and grammar perfect – I imagine it’d be akin to sending me out on a football field and telling me to get the ball in the goal 10 times. And there’s no way on earth I expect to be able to do that.
But it begs a question – do you want to have to make the “I’m dyslexic” statement on your blog? It really depends what kind of readership you’re trying to get – if you want people who already know you produce quality content, who can read past the presentation to what’s behind it, then I think you’re absolutely fine (but implement Carolyn’s idea anyway, because it will make people stop and think). If you’re trying to extend the audience of your blog and think that your grammar might put off new readers, then that’s a different question.
And to be honest, I wouldn’t find it out of the question to pay for your blog content. But I enjoy reading your blog, and I believe quality content should be reimbursed somewhere along the line (but I’d want to see more regular posts for that!).
But if, as you say, it’s just a place for your musings and thoughts, then it’s absolutely fine as it is. If people can’t see past the presentation to the content, they’re probably not really going to read it properly anyway.
Add a disclaimer. Then ignore anyone who complains.
Hi Tim,
I took the survey and had to answer that your grammar does sometimes affect my enjoyment of your blog but that’s just because some mistakes make me do a double-take to understand your meaning. I make many similar mistakes in posts on my own blog but I can’t blame dyslexia – I’m just rushing the posts. No matter how many times I read and re-read, something always slips through.
Don’t give up writing, please – your ideas are definitely worth the handful of tiny errors that you make. There will always be a vocal minority of dimwits on the internet that find it easier to criticise spelling/grammar than contribute to the debate.
tl;dr – keep writing and ignore the trolls
PS. I’m sure there are errors in this comment but it’s a blog comment, not War & Peace so they can stay.
Hi Tim,
I too like Carolyn’s idea. While I think great grammar makes articles easier to understand, I don’t think yours impedes the point of your articles. I think you have so much good stuff to share, it’d be a shame to stop, or to slow down your posting just because you have to wait for an edit (or wait until you have a little extra cash to hire one).
Good luck!
Just going to add since several people commenting already are aware that yes I am Dyslexic. While I referenced the Dyslexia research trust I tried to not mention the fact I’m Dyslexic since I don’t think it is really an issue and I find it difficult to give scorning looks and comments when people use it as a an excuse if I was to use the same excuse.
No my grammar issues while maybe effected by Dyslexia are down to me and me alone, I don’t want people to think I want to be “let off”, simply does it genuinely effect your ability to read my thoughts?
Keep writing Tim, this is your personal site & it beholds us readers to allow for errors & omissions.
If I found something I couldn’t get the ‘jist’ of I would hope I’d query this in a polite way only after taking time to think round the actual meaning.
I do try to be helpful & point out factual errors on the odd Folk Information/Publicity website ie dates or broken links, but this is always via email not public comment.
I have spent a lifetime of making spelling & grammatical errors and am not distressed by it any more, I rejoice that millions more people can & are encouraged to read, write & share thanks to the internet. My 1950′s Primary schooldays saw a higher percentage of children ‘lost’ to the written word than will, thank goodness, ever happen again.
ps Color always made more sense to me: spent many hours outside Headteacher’s door for challenging the illogicality of spelling.
Lesley aka @EnglishFolkfan
I really wouldn’t bother changing anything. I haven’t seen any mistakes so bad that I couldn’t understand the post, and I suspect the huge majority of the web is full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
If anyone complains, tell them to f*** off and get their own blog.
You shouldn’t feel you have to change what you’re doing because you have some picky readers. If it’s that bad, they’d stop reading and go elsewhere. Presumably they don’t, because they still find your content interesting.
Simple solution: change the comment form around so that people have to choose between two options. “I want to make a substantive contribution to the discussion” and “I want to correct the spelling or grammar in this post”. If they click the latter, it redirects them to a PayPal contribution form where they can make a financial contribution. Once they’ve done that, they can post a ranty comment about spelling or grammar mistakes.
Alternatively, you could have it redirect them to a view of the post where they could edit it and submit the corrections back to you.
Well!! This is a thought.
Yes, like some people have said a grammar mistake could interrupt the flow of the post and just make you go back to try to get the right meaning, for me anyway. That said, I don’t think the issue is strong enough to stopping writing, that’s an absolute no no. The part about outright donations seen by all, I think that might be seen as a tad bit cheeky by some people, myself included. So I would just go with the disclaimer and anyone who writes a comment about it has been warned!
If that still doesn’t stop them, then Carolyn’s idea would make a lot of sense… to people that want to kick up a fuss, that is.
But seriously, everyone makes mistakes in grammar at one time or the other so I just find it weird that people would go on about things like that, in a ranting manner!
I like Tom Morris’ idea of a button with “I want to correct the spelling or grammar in this post”.
But rather than a donation of funds for an Editor – they must volunteer their time to work on this site as an Editor. Once, say three articles have been Edited, they can post a rant about grammar.
But barring this – I would say ignore them and clear their comments as they add nothing to the discussion… unless of course it is a discussion on grammar.
Regards,
Cheryl