Why?

Why? Why would anyone give a rat's behind about editing or writing issues?

To use a phrase my parents wore out... because I said so. {eye roll, here}

Because... if we stop giving a rat's behind about simple issues such as punctuation, using the right form of a verb, and so on, we'll be forced back to a time when communication was grunting a certain length and volume. Oh, wait a minute. That form of communication still exists--in recliners and on bar stools.

The enlightened age of electronics has tried to eliminate communication requiring any thinking beyond initials, hashtags, and 120 characters. That's a lazy person's way to elude responsibility for what you're about to put into cyberspace.

I'll age myself here and admit I grew up with 'party line' phone service--no, not the one where you call and have phone sex with multiple unknown people from multiple locations, but--picking up the phone, as quietly as possible, so you won't interrupt another person's on-going conversation.

You know, sharing phone service with four to five other people on your block? No? It was literally one step above having an operator put your call through. It required the caller to think about what they said or understand their business would soon be everybody's business.

In days of yore, knowledge was protected as ferociously as gold. Reading was considered attainable only by the wealthy and upper level churchmen, i.e., priests, cardinals and the like. These days, the internet has provided a wealth of information, and disinformation, to anyone able to decipher the letters on the screen. It has also done a fantastic job of dumbing down the public. Want to say something outrageous but can't spell it? Make it into initials, OMG!, and stick a bunch of punctuation behind it because, who knows what it means anyway, and who cares?

I believe writers, and I am one myself, have a duty to know what they are writing, and how to communicate that information in a form every person will understand. Of course, it's a chore. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be master classes at prestigious colleges around the world offering degrees.

Don't lose readers from your poor English skills. Honestly, I've heard people make the comment that they started reading a book, but the 'writing' was so bad, they put it down and walked away. Remember, the big book stores are constantly offering 'free' downloads of books, so you can't count on the old adage, "well, they bought the book anyway." Not necessarily. 

You may find errors in my ravings; probably so. My 95-year-old aunt commented once, she would stop learning on the day she died. Point well taken. I have shelves of reference books on writing and punctuation, and I still feel uncertain on many occasions.

If you are following this blog, you have been officially warned. I felt it only fair to let you know... you have stepped into the dungeon of the Mistress of the Red Ink Pens. There is no mercy for bad English here... and I don't mean the rock and roll band.

Mistress Red Pen