BLOGGING: I Could Use An Editor

This blog doesn't have an editor and won't ever get one. But it could use one.

The fact is, that this is, more or less, the computerized equivalent of talking to myself. The original idea was to get so angry at something that I just HAD to spew here to release the pressure. Then, I got into writing the novel and I used that as an excuse not to write here. Then, this blog to hide from the writer's block that reared its ugly head over at the book window.

Trying to kick the block, I decided I'd write EVERY day. And since new ideas weren't coming fast enough on the book, it was back to writing here to keep the typing fingers limber.

Still, I need an editor. Always have.

When I was getting started at The Guardian, I would occasionally decide I knew how to spell a certain word better than the rest of the world. One case was Optician. We had a slew of Opticians in town sponsoring various sports teams. Typing up the weekly minor sports results, I might type Opticians ten times in an evening. I knew how to spell Opticians. Hell, I've been wearing glasses since I was five years old.

But some night, I just decided to start spelling it Optitions. Monday morning, I was back in school and my editor Ken Giles went through all the copy I'd done over the weekend and corrected each mis-spelling. Then he forgot about it. The next weekend, I repeated my little adventure in Wacky Words Land. This time, he called me at home on Monday night.

"How do you spell Opticians?" he asked. I rattled off the correct spelling.

"Hmmm," he continued, "That's not how you've been typing it the last two weeks." I laughed at the joke. Surely he jested. Then I put the phone down and mimed the keystrokes. Darned if he wasn't right.

There have been other words over the years, including the names of cities like Winnipeg and St. Catharines, that I mis-spelled perpetually. But mis-spelling isn't the main bane of sloppy writing (and yes, I originally typed slopping writing!).

It's the words that the writer THINKS are there, that aren't, that's the biggest bugaboo. Truly, I DO read over the post before hitting the publish button. But I KNOW what's supposed to be there, so that's what I see. Simple as that. The screen images don't make it all the way back to the cortex, before I've decided I've seen enough to know that the pearl of wisdom I just formed, is perfectly formed. It's YOUR eyes that you can't believe.

Just kidding.

So, I don't sweat the small stuff with the column. There are spelling booboos and grammatical inconsistencies. Some of the latter are intentional. I know the rules and CHOOSE to break them. I ramble at times and I don't always have a good wrap-up, but I try. Words and letters occasionally get left out. And I get vague with the exact time and date and such, cuz it's just too difficult to do the research to get it pinpointed exactly. If I say early 80's, I'm pretty well safe for any date between January 1, 1980 and sometime in May of 1984. Or so I figure.

No question, I DO need an editor. Just don't bother applying.