On LDs and ESL...

[tangerinesidhe]

And why perfect spelling and grammar are not the be-all end-all indicators of intellectual prowess.

I find myself increasingly frustrated with the ranks at sorting_elite for a number of reasons. The one that stands out the most at the moment, however, is the tendency of the members to vote someone "SQUIB" (meaning that they are voting to deny the individual

Comments

[lampbane]

I'm not going to begrudge people for misplaced commas. However:

If you're going to claim to be a professional writer, for the love of god, know how to spell.

Today I read a script that contained:

"A bolt of lightening struck the ground."
"Like their on the outside looking in."
"The back door of the mansion creeks open."

There's a few more, but it's minor stuff (its/it's, to/too). Now now, you can say that people can be brilliant writers and still be bad spellers, BUT...

This was from an educational script. To teach children. About LANGUAGE ARTS.

[callmecaito]

A professional writer should know how to spell, but everyone makes mistakes. That's why professional writers work with professional editors.

[lampbane]

But what about when the person who's supposed to be in charge of the script isn't really an editor at all? And even though I'm technically an "editor" I'm not supposed to be checking the script for grammar, but for factual accuracy?

(And mind you, I may be a "professional" because I'm getting paid for this, I never had any actual experience in editing until I got this job.

I guess my point ends up being that people need to take responsibility for their own mistakes and stop hoping that others won't mind or will correct them.

[erby]

Also, a professional writer's job is not to write professional grammar with professional punctuation; a writer's job is to write. That is that.

UNLESS punctuation and grammar impede the reading of a piece, I don't understand how it affects the writing. One comma and a spelling error should never, ever detract from an entire sentence, an entire piece, an entire novel -- or in the case of sorting_elite, and entire person's being and personality.

[aurora_borialis]

I'm a walking, living, breathing example of this.

[callmecaito]

Hahaha, you so are.

[aurora_borialis]

and your the epitome of HILARIOUSNESS! [/sarcasm]

Although.. YOU ARE hilairous. So I can't really argue... I do love you though. XD

[shakiracrazy]

I'm proud of you- I think that is an excellent idea :D That type of generalization is completely unacceptable. Keep us posted on how it goes :)

[ariesathena]

As someone who has read far too many applications and sorting votes, I can offer some of my observations?

- Some members are just twats. And really there's nothing more to it than that. They feel like lording their superiority over the applicants however they can.

- I'll admit that I've squibbed for truly egregious grammatical errors. And my husband has a pretty severe case of dyslexia, so I am sympathetic, but when the application is just painful to read, I can't help but think of how much I'm going to be cringing at the member's posts once they're in the community. I remember one applicant who wrote their entire application in lowercase because she thought she was the next e.e. cummings that just made me want to bash my head into my desk. I'm not going to jump on someone's case for a few typos or misplaced commas though. I think part of the problem is that we used to really only squib for the more egregious errors and now members are just getting more and more anal.

- Most of the people I've seen who were officially

[ninepointfivemm]

Maybe they just think that they're showcasing both their intelligence and elegance? They appreciate people who are both smart and graceful? *snerk*

I mean, it's always a thought, what with all those crazy ship names these days.

[bawdy_letters]

- Some members are just twats.

Bwahaha it's true.

[erby]

I never think grammar or spelling should ever indicate anything