Editor Wanted
Rejection slip for ”The Diary of Anne Frank” – The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ”curiosity” level.
I submitted an essay to The Sun Magazine last week. Yesterday my husband noticed a typo in a copy of the already sent cover letter that was lying around in the vicinity of the kitchen table. Looking at the page with the typo on it, made me think of Native American beadwork.
I used to make jewelry – some beadwork and some wire work – and I was employed at Seeds of Light (a bead shop in Blacksburg) for many years, which is how I became aware of the following tradition: In some tribes, a bead artist will include an off-color bead in the midst of an elaborate and otherwise uniformed bead pattern. I have a Hopi peyote-stitch key chain like this. At first glance, and if you don’t know of the tradition, it looks like a mistake was made. I’ve heard that the off-color bead is used as a signature. Or, I’ve also heard that it’s meant to keep one from losing ones soul while gazing into the hypnotizing pattern.
I don’t claim such a thing for my typos, but it’s fun to think about…
Sometimes with writing, my mind sees what I meant, more than what I actually wrote. No time for editors or writing workshop feedback in the fast paced world of daily blogging. So far I have had 3 typos pointed out to me by readers on entries that I must have read more than a half a dozen times before posting. While I appreciate knowing about the typos, I also wonder, why is it we can’t easily see our own mistakes? Our own faults and body odors don’t bother us either, as much as those of other people.
Misspelled words? It runs in my family. I like to remind myself that standardized spelling only came into existence in the late 1800s. And this is what Andrew Jackson said about it: It’s a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word.
I say: “Thank God for the spell check.”
March 23rd, 2005 12:21 pm
I jst wnat you to know tht i read you’re blog today.
March 23rd, 2005 4:09 pm
I’m so proud of you! And you made me laugh. I hope you get hooked!
March 24th, 2005 12:30 am
What a wonderful post! Let me echo your thank G-d for spell check sentiment. Thank you so much for pausing at my blog to comment because it introduced me to your site.
Now, I think I have some blogrolling to do. If only comments had spell check.
March 24th, 2005 9:36 am
michele! I feel like I’ve been visited by a celebrity. Your blog is a blast!
March 25th, 2005 7:08 pm
Don’t worry about it (though it’s always a good idea to get someone else to read something important like that submission letter or resume before you send it). I’m a copyeditor (of books – more than 300 so far), but I overlook mistakes in my own writing, especially onscreen. I think you’re right: when you read your own writing, you know what you meant to say so you tend to see what you meant. Also, it’s harder for the eyes to see text online, so easier to miss mistakes. But why is it, I wonder, that when I write a comment on a blog, I can preview it without seeing a typo, yet it leaps out at me as soon as it’s posted for all the blog world to see.
March 27th, 2005 2:35 am
I am only grateful that my own readers have mostly given up on pointing out my typos, as my comments would otherwise consist of nothing but that. 🙂
March 27th, 2005 8:17 am
If you do have a lot of typos on your blog (usabeck) (which I didn’t notice) you make up for it by having good computer tech skills (humor that extends even to the links when the mouse points to them and they light up). My real problem is: How do I upload a photo!
March 27th, 2005 10:37 pm
🙂 Ha, you must have gotten there after I changed the big glaring “Jepordy” in my title to Jeopardy! Hmm… but would you like some help with the photos? I’d be happy too. Send an email my way! Cheers, and Happy easter!