Note that this entire progression of thought has to do with other people's errors. Fault-finding is not an attractive quality, and having firm ideas about style and mechanics tends to be unrewarding. I wish for a massive bullhorn to help me exclaim, "The acceptable plural forms of 'octopus' are 'octopuses' and 'octopodes.' And stop saying 'is faced by.' You can usually just say 'faces.'" The shouting would never end. Instead, I have some mental editing stamps: "purple prose," "bad comma use," "passive voice," "arrgh!"
My critical eye turns inward, as well. I'm constantly trying to refine my style. So far, I've discovered, and struggle to change, tendencies toward overusing modifiers and relying on weak verbs. The previous paragraph contains examples of both.
So, what can I do? I can see Phlegethon from here.
5 comments:
In fault-finding, I think one needs to consider the appropriateness of the critique. For example, if I am reading something in a newspaper/magazine/book that was presumably penned by a professional writer, then I expect a certain level of refined prose, correct grammar, etc., and it annoys me if I see egregious mistakes. However, if I am reading a blog or an e-mail from a friend or co-worker, I tend to ignore misplaced commas or other grammatical or stylistic errors (of which I am certain I am also guilty). Although, I would imagine that, as a teacher who is constantly grading the writing of others, you probably have a harder time turning off that editing mechanism.
Hmmm...now you have me wondering what faults you find in me (well, besides the kanji back tattoos, of course).
I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking about your tats at all. Hurting your feelings would be a terrible thing to do, and I regret voicing what I meant to be my confusion about something I saw online. I never meant to implicate your tats.
No hurt feelings. I mean, I've had to deal with the branding of the lower back tattoos as "tramp stamps", so I think I can handle just about any critique related to my tats!
K, I look forward to a lifetime of figuring this kind of shit out with you, handing you the bullhorn when necessary, and taking it away when then situation arises.
Thanks, baby.
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