John Talks "Grammarcialism"

 Let it be known:

I'm the king of the typographical errors, I must confess, and proofreading is a must for me especially since my spell checker cannot spell!

I stand in awe at the notion of an English teacher in some remote and rural High School in Wytheville, VA struggling to get the idea of correct grammar across to a net savvy student because, after all, if its on the internet, it must be true--bad grammar that is. 

Funny, they used to say the same thing about print.

Writers, in particular, must be very diligent in shouldering a particular burden of responsibility: the modern pen dragon must  convey thoughts which move, seduce or force thought to mind.  

Writers can be said to be the molders of our thoughts, ideas and general fodder for the local water cooler conversationalists.

While the idea of passing on our thoughts to our eager readers is admirable, the grammar and structure are the package in which those nuggets of thought are presented.  Form is equal in substance if not more in importance then the idea.

You see, dear reader--anyone can lay down the word, be it on pen or through electronificationism (I like to coin words just to trip up the spell checker).

Anyone can write but like a missile, the word is pretty useless without a decent delivery system

And I have Faith, Dear Reader

I have faith that readers want the good form and structure, that they dont want to sift and that they want it as good on the internet as the books give it--"it"  being the idea and the passing on of that idea by the diligent and well meaning writer. 

As I write this micro-tome, please forgive any spelling errors as I have a demented spell checker--ah but that is what proof reading is for!

I’m just sayin…