Why is there so much emphasis placed on spelling, punctuation and grammar?
I get it. I know as communicators it is our job to communicate with accuracy, but is my career over if i send out a press release with a misplaced punctuation mark? I’m sure I feel so strongly on the matter because it is one of the areas I struggle in, but I also feel that people just care too much about it.
As a student my marks often suffer do to poor editing. I feel that content is far more important then anything else, but time and time again grammar proves to be my worst enemy.
We are currently writing targeted resumes and we are reminded to be sure to proofread, as if employers see one error they are likely to toss our resume in the trash. I mean, really? I know it is a part of PR, but if my comma is in the wrong place I immediately don’t get the job? I may be over exaggerating, but for someone who struggles when it comes to proofing, its terrifying. I’ve spent hours looking at my resume trying to perfect it, and I still don’t know if it’s good enough.
It’s not that I can’t edit. I have the books, I’m a pretty smart young lady, I can figure it out. I did get a b+ in copy editing. I just have a hard time correcting my own work. I print it out, sleep on it and edit the next day and still I seem to somehow not notice all the mistakes.
Maybe I’m just being dramatic. So consider this a disclaimer: This is my blog. It may not be perfect, but its mine. If you notice a mistake, please do not comment about it (unless it’s huge and embarrassing). If I have to obsess about grammar in every aspect of my life, my blog grants my immunity of all grammatical errors. So please, comment away, and if you feel like spelling something wrong, this is the place to do it.
