For those of who have been lurking around here awhile, you’ve probably figured out that one pet peeve of mine is seeing misspelled words on something which is intended for presentation or to get across an idea. Here’s one example I found today on Facebook.
Does the person’s message come across well when the key point is marred by a terribly misspelled word – “unempolyeed”? It’s all about proofreading. And this is far from the only example I’ve run across in recent weeks.
Has the butchery of the English language really progressed that far? I’ll grant that I couldn’t diagram a sentence to save my life – therefore disappointing a string of English teachers who probably tried their best to drill that knowledge into me – but more often than not I can get my point across with a minimum of grammatical issues. I do well enough at it that I am (or have been) paid to write for particular clients, and although my finished product isn’t always what I submitted (late editing and developments sometimes preclude using the items in the manner I wrote them up a day or so earlier) I’ve been counted on to contribute portions of the weekly Digest for over three years – before that, I was a more occasional contributor. That’s just part of my overall writing resume, of which monoblogue served as the foundation.
Lately I’ve been thinking about other ways to expand my sphere of influence and it occurred to me that I have seen a large number of e-mails and releases from politicians and candidates which have been dreadfully written and rife with misspellings, sentence fragments, and other problems which detract from the overall message. This occurs moreso with politicians for local and regional races than those who are serving at a higher level but as the example I linked to shows, statewide candidates are not immune.
And since my job here involves trying to get my own message across and – based on audience growth and feedback – the word seems to be getting out, perhaps there is an opportunity for me to find clients in the conservative political realm who need writing done for them. Need a press release? I’ve written a fair number of them; meanwhile I’ve also penned op-eds and short opinion pieces which have appeared in newspapers and websites all over the state and country, not to mention over 3,200 (and counting) items on this site – almost all hand-crafted with a minimum of filler.
Here’s the way I look at this. In 2014 – heck, even in 2013 in certain quarters and areas – there are hundreds of state and local offices up for grabs, and conservatives need to have someone who is versed in writing political opinion on their side in an attempt to rustle up as many votes as they possibly can. It’s about creating a positive image and mental picture of the candidate as one who is detail-oriented enough to be able to do the job in their county seat, state capital, or even Washington, D.C. And in stating this belief in this humble little venue of mine, the thought I have is: nothing ventured, nothing gained. All it’s costing me at the moment is the hour or so it took me to come up with the idea and write the pitch. (Time which included editing and proofreading, by the way.) If I can make a cottage business out of this, I would be very satisfied I know I’m doing more on my part to turn this nation in the right direction.
Everyone has a talent, and mine seems to be one of putting thoughts in a coherent, readable form. So why not try to maximize my market? If you are indeed interested, or if you can recommend me to someone who may not be familiar with my work, you can follow up via e-mail: ttownjotes (at) yahoo.com.
Or you can have something like this, which came in my e-mail today.
It’s your choice: “princripal” or principles.