PROOFREADING! (I Stole This Title)

Am I crazy? I don’t think so. I can be a very bad writer though. Sometimes what I have written will read back as if written by a madman. It is very much like talking too fast, and then immediately wishing to take back what was said. This is usually referred to as the “edit” button in our heads. Unfortunately we cannot physically press an edit button to keep our tongues from slipping. However on a computer, typewriter, or cell phone we have the option to review and correct what we want to say before we say, “porj shops with pot a toes and unions,” when we really want to say, “pork chops with potatoes and onions”.

I was talking to a friend of mine from Galveston, TX over AOL’s instant messenger service, AIM, earlier today while reading over this assignment. I found that even while reading about the importance of proofreading and the various methods to do it effectively I was still typing away as quickly as I could, making numerous horrible spelling and mechanical errors. I believe the reason lies in that I was attempting to keep up a spoken conversational pace of dialog. I don’t think I’m the only one doing this, in fact it seems that is the whole point - to make it seem like a real talking conversation. As our fingers blur across the keyboard we accidentally make incorrect keystrokes. Grammar Girl’s article suggests typing in this manner is not preferable. It certainly does not have the aesthetics that makes good English look so good, but as long as ideas are exchanged effectively I don’t think a few typos while texting or instant messaging are a very heinous or worrisome error.

Spelling and mechanics become important when bodies of people will be viewing what has been written. Because there are so many broad concepts and ideas to be interpreted throughout the world we have defined symbols, or written language, to represent the ideas universally. Through the use of word definitions and rules of mechanics we have learned to express a vast spectrum of complex thoughts in ways that can be understood by everyone.

But, we already know that we won’t necessarily get it right the first time. Thankfully it is written language, and not the spoken word. We can proofread. It is important when explaining ideas to a group of people that everything is in its right place so all people in the group have an equal understanding of what is being explained. Typos cause confusion. Where one person might see through the typos, the person sitting in the next seat might not. Everything gets lost in the bad translation of thought to text. When it involves groups of people, proofreading in all its various ways is essential.