They Don’t Erect Statues For People Who Spell Good!

A man occupied with the public or other important business cannot, and need not attend to spelling. — Napoleon Bonaparte

I frequently get comments about my poor spelling and lack of proper grammar in my writing. I guess that’s what happens when you quit school at fifteen to play golf.

I was also subject to a bizarre experiment of the British educational system when, as a five-year-old just starting school, they gave us books spelled phonetically rather than in actual English. It failed and waz cancelled after a year.

But enough of the excuses. The truth is I am far more interested in the quality of my content than the quality (or lack thereof) of my English skills. Although using Grammarly has helped tremendously it still does not catch all.

Even Professional Help Does Not Fix All

My first published book Making it Big in America was proofed four times — once by an English professor, once by paid proofreader, once by my wife (who is very good at spelling and grammar), and then the publishing company had their people do it before printing.

There were still twenty-one errors, according to my agent!

After that I just gave up trying. Yes, I run it through spell check, but that doesn’t fix all the issues, such as wrong word usage. Grammar, as far as I am concerned, is in the eye of the beholder. Some of the greatest sentences ever made have poor grammar according to the books. “Just do it!” comes to mind.

“Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.” ― Mark Twain

I could wait until a member of my staff proofs it, but I usually don’t. It’s more of a patience issue. If I write it at 9:00 p.m., it goes out as an e-mail or up on my blog at 9:15 p.m.

Then comes the flurry of complaints and abuse:

You should hire a proofreader.

I would never do business with your company since your spelling is so bad.

Your spelling and grammar reflect very badly on you and your company.