"Writes" of Passage

Confession: it drives me bananas when I see erstwhile writers routinely misspell stuff. Words are our lives and livelihoods with writing, and that means actually knowing the words that you're using.

All too often, I see people who are clearly processing language phonetically when they write something down. That is, they're trying to reproduce a word they've heard, and they get it wrong. Because they've never read the word they're misusing; they only heard it and are repeating it.

Nobody likes a wordsmith, I know.

But, come on. Finding (and using) the right word is the meat and drink of writing. You have to love words, and that means actually knowing them.

I see it on Twitter a lot. And, yes, I understand, the Twit is a social media cesspool, but it's still no excuse for boning up words. I see writers doing that and it bugs me.

It would be like a singer thoughtlessly crooning sour notes or a cook without a developed palate -- words are what writers have, and they should have a care in their use and abuse.

Recent examples, so, top of mind:

I saw "troupe" used when "trope" was intended. I saw "ball" used when "bawl" was intended. I'm always seeing "your" used when "you're" is intended. I saw "currated" when "curated" was intended. I always see "hone in" when "home in" is intended.

People might accuse me of snobbery, but words matter, and if you screw up the simple stuff, how can you be trusted with anything else? How can a reader trust you to take them somewhere they want to go if you're driving over grammatical potholes at every turn because you're sloppy with language?

More to the point, if you're the type of writer who can't be bothered to know and/or understand the words you're using (and abusing), you're a hack. The sad fact of it is the ones who abuse the language in this way most often simply fail to even realize they're doing it.

I'd be pilloried for even voicing this, but that's part of the problem, too. Having standards is somehow seen as being elitist. Take the time to learn your craft and hone your language. You owe it to the profession and to your readers. There are just too many avid hacks out there, mindlessly mangling language, polluting the pond.

Learning how to write is a rite of passage (and a constant quest for improvement), and words are the building blocks of all that we do; they're like the musical notes -- stay in-tune when you're trying to compose something.

XTC | No Language In Our Lungs