Things I Fear: Proofreading Your Own Work

Less of a fear, more of an..I'm incredibly lazy. But I can probably swing this post into something that vaguely matches the purpose of this blog. Give me a second.

Fear of Proofreading Your Work can be traced back to a time when scholars had no idea the concept even existed. This can be seen in even the earliest of writings. Many of these writings contained misspelled words or improper grammar because the authors were overwhelmed with anxiety about discovering an error in their work. So they chose to submit the finished copy in one take without even checking to see if the title of the document lined up with the content itself. This would cause mass confusion amongst the townsfolk when books were traded for an appropriate monetary value. Oh how times have changed.

Today, we are fortunate to have people who waste their lives editing the works of other people who would much rather shell out dozens of pages of poor writing than to read over their previous documents and discover that there was an error. As a self-proclaimed writer of literary gold, I know I would certainly fear the overwhelming feelings of disparity and soul-crushing humiliation of finding out I wrote the word "there" instead of "their". Or used a period where I probably should have used a semicolon. Many writers who don't leave the confines of their basement or bedroom fear what would become of them if a mistake was spotted in their work. Seldom do writers admit they have made a mistake and will never acknowledge the error of their ways. It's out of fear.

This fear has ruined the lives of many great men and women over the years. It has soiled reputations and may or may not be directly responsible for why The Beach Boys are still performing. Regardless, this fear can never be cured so long as there are people who continue to write thoughtless works without any sort of logical flow or facts.

I've strategically placed several errors in this post. And all of my other posts. The vast majority of which I've hidden so well that I'm not even aware of them. If you find any of them, please let me know so the appropriate course of action can be taken.