Ever notice, when dweebling about your social media, that writers are compelled to amend their posts for the express purpose of correcting typos and auto-correct blunders?
I'm not talking about your blog, or a platform you use specifically to promote yourself as a writer. I'm talking about the place where you spew random absurdities at people who aren't listening. Or looking, I suppose.
I'm talking about Twitter and Facebook, where vowels are a sometimes thing, and the title of 'friend' is conferred with overreaching abandon.
The internet is a giant fishbowl, where anyone can point and laugh at our spelling errors and missing words. Even so, I'd wager most of us do it in private chat too, with people we actually know, who are actual friends, who really extra don't care because they've been matching our wine intake glass for glass.
Do minor mistakes in these types of forums matter? Most of us are too polite to call someone out over a typo. It's considered bad form. No one likes a pedantic troll who scuttles through the web, flaming folks over their spilling and gamer. So why are we obsessed with fixing, and explaining, our own tiny errors?
This is my theory. The compulsion doesn't stem from a fear of being judged incompetent by others. I think it's intrinsic. We can't abide falling short of our own standards for precision. As writers, words are our thing. Using them to clearly communicate is sort of our raison d'être. We have to do it correctly, even when it doesn't matter, because it ALWAYS matters. Even when no one is looking.
Share your amusing observations* of writers in their various habitats at awcswriterscorner@gmail.com Put FLEAS & TICS in the subject line.
*Generalities, please. Don't single anyone out. Do make it funny or dark, but don't be a meanie.
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