Oh My G-D, I Think I Scared Her

For those of you who know me, you know that I have been for sometime looking for an editor for my novel. I stumbled across, Jennifer Garrett Who Writes For A Living and who also to some extent works for Blogger. She is a self-professed "Complete Anal-Pile" when it comes to the written word. She stresses punctuation, punctuation, punctuation. So much so that supposably, she polices blogs by emailing the blogger about their bad grammar, punctuation and so-forth.

I recently e-mailed her. Not about her grammar police tactics but because I need an editor. Needless to say, I haven't heard back-from her which might be a good thing because personally, I didn't find her writing that, interesting or exciting.

I must say that I like reading blogs that aren't grammatically perfect and have too many ellipses. At least you have something interesting to say. Which is more than important than having nothing to say but saying it grammatically perfect. To all my blogging brethren... Keep using your ellipses, never be boring and remember that those who can "Do" those who "Can't" criticize.

And if you get an email telling you of your misuse of the english language invite them to kiss your... "Dita Von Teese is fabulous".

And with out further ado my email to Ms. Garrett.

Hi Jennifer,

First, I'd like to say that I am very intimidated by writing to you because I know that my grammar is being torn apart from the seams as your eyes glide across this email.

But, oh well. At least I didn't use ellipses. Whew.

My question is how can writers find their voices if we get hung up on correct punctuation? How can we correctly use punctuation to express sudden changes in thought, to contradict ourselves if and when we are writing stream of consciousness stuff?

I too have a grade school writing experience that was the antithesis of yours. Unlike, you I didn't win my writing contest. I was traumatized by my 3rd Grade teacher Mrs. Pounds’ blaring red pen across all of my words. There were so many mistakes on that piece of paper. It’s a wonder I didn't get a failing grade. I got a B- because she liked what I wrote.

It may sound silly but that stopped me from writing for a long time which I always enjoyed doing. It was probably because I was perplexed by the countless red marks and having written an enjoyable story and not doing it correctly. Now when I write I get so caught up in the punctuation that it's painful and I forget what it is that I’m trying to say.

Blogging breathed new life into me. I try to be a responsible blogger watching both my grammar and punctuation but if I followed all the rules then how am I expressing myself? Where does it all end and a voice and one’s story begin? I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. I like your writing style. I’m still mulling over mine.

Thanks for your time,

G.G.