Genetically Hard-Wired

"Never use a preposition to end a sentence with."

My family is genetically hard-wired to catch grammatical errors. Anytime we are together, we have at least one rant about any current offenses we've encountered. Print ads lacking proper punctuation, spelling errors on signs, slang terms becoming part of our vocabulary. Also, I have yet to find a restaurant menu that does not have at least one typo in it.

Where does this fascination with proofreading, editing, and writing come from? For me, it originated out of a perfectionist righteousness to avoid mistakes. To prove my intellectual superiority by catching other people's errors. Fortunately, all that has lost its appeal. Though I can't not catch typos, I'm less offended by them. Spelling has always been arbitrary. Grammar has gotten more relaxed. Not a bad thing. I think I'm more interested now in a novel's readability; it's ability to engage.

Though this blog is called Grammatically Polite, it has less to do with grammar and more to do with developing a writer's voice. Since I was a teenager I've written novels, short stories, plays. I've unsuccessfully sought an agent. I've successfully seen one of my plays produced. But after all these dozens of years of writing, I still hesitate when I compose. Maybe as I relax into blogging, I'll care less about getting the language perfect. Perfection can be rather sterile. Maybe I can go for flavor.

Or, maybe it's flavor I should go for.