samedi 24 juillet 2021

I consider it a kind of weakness in constitution when someone notices imperfections I've noticed too, but then they can't see any further.

For example, I'm pretty acutely aware of spelling and grammar issues as I read. It isn't something I can just turn off. It's very distracting trying to read sloppy text. However, if someone sends me an essay, story, script, or poem, I will work around my tendency to glom onto the surface defects. I might edit the text myself as I go. Or I might just make extra effort to see past the proverbial grime on the window.

I would never read something and call it crap simply because it has surface issues. If the thing had any kind of promise, I'd be looking for that, and I'd probably notice it.

There are times I've stopped reading an ebook because of a typo, but I wouldn't leave an angry review of that edition (if I wrote a review I would mention it), nor would I think it has anything to do with the quality of the substance, even if the typo definitely came from the author and there were many other typos. This stuff is trivial. You get it right so people can focus on the good stuff. It has little to do with the good stuff otherwise.

Someone with poor grammar might not be a good stylist with language, but then again, they still might.

The closed-mindedness that does not even imagine otherwise angers me, but I recognize it too is just another imperfection.