WRITING

Dear Grammarly Trolls,

Thanks, but no thanks for editing my story.

Recently 3 private notes were added to a story I had written. I usually get private notes from editors before a story is published. They let me know if there are changes I need to make. I always make sure to respond and make the requested changes.

But this story was already published, so I wondered what it was about. Lo and behold it was from the grammar police. They had so graciously edited my story without me asking them and enlightened me with their wisdom.

To their credit, I must say the tone of their words was not mean or condescending. But I felt like I had received my English paper back from the teacher. They had flagged out each mistake and included the appropriate correction.

Editing is an essential step. It elevates the quality of any writing. A frequent mistake I make is with possessive nouns. I confuse its (the possessive) with it’s (the contraction of ‘it is’.) So I was appreciative that the reader explained this to me.

This same mistake was pointed out not so gently by a reader in another story of mine.

What stung was that the sentence from which the word ‘it’s’ was highlighted was this-

‘I gauged it’s weight, 10–15 lbs of substance that once was my brother.’

‘It’s’ was a box of my brother’s ashes. But instead of a condolence message, I got a rude comment demeaning my English.

Similarly, another time I read a heartbreaking and gripping true crime story. Instead of appreciating the effort the author took in writing the story, the Grammar Natzi made insulting comments about the grammar.

Brittany Ross, who blogs for Grammarly.com, says that grammar trolls “do what they do because they feel smart when they shame others.” Seems the case.

So this is what I want to say to the Grammarly trolls,

Congratulations on your spotless English. Please pardon my apostrophes for being out of place, my erroneous spellings and word misuse. I did learn something thanks to your notes. It will help me with my future writing.

I know you have good intentions. You genuinely want to be helpful and not mean. But this is what irks me.

You only pointed out the mistakes. It would have been nice if you also dropped a comment about the story or clapped for it. You did painstakingly read it with a microscope after all.

Agreed, writers need good grammar. It essentially knits the words together and helps the story flow seamlessly. But writers also need good encouragement. A little can go a long way.

So next time you get that itch to point out someone else’s errors, stop to think if it’s really necessary. If you still must, do so kindly and leave an encouraging comment as well.