Sunday, October 25, 2009

It had to start somewhere

When I was a kid, someone told me a lie. A specific lie that lead to compulsive behaviour that lasted for years. I don't know who told me this lie or why it stuck with me, but someone once told me that if you found a mistake in a book, you could call the publisher, and you would get an award. I believed this person, and for years I would copyedit books as I read them. I still do. Back then it was an obsession. I can't remember when I found out that this "award" didn't exist, but I do remember that it blew my mind. It was like the time in grade five that my teacher corrected my spelling of the word "believe". I had been spelling it "belive" for my entire literate life. THAT blew my mind. I still remember feeling shocked and disgusted. I'm pretty sure that's when I became fixated on proper spelling. These just might be the reasons that I grew up wanting to be an editor.

4 comments:

  1. There should totally be an award for that. I'd be rich! Best of all, I could make a living reading books!

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  2. I remember thinking I was a pretty awesome speller when I was in first or second grade, until the day our teacher challenged us to spell "hors d'oeuvres." I think everyone in the class tried, and when the teacher finally wrote the correct spelling on the board, it pretty much blew my mind.

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  3. Hey, you know what's funny? I always thought that dogs, um, laid eggs. And, I learned something today...

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  4. I don't know who you are, Anonymous, but that has got to be one of my all-time favourite Family Guy quotes!!! Too funny!

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