Writers who write the wrong version of words called homophones (words which sound alike but are spelled differently) are often scolded. Far worse, in my opinion, is that the writer’s credibility suffers. When I read anything–online or in print–with grammatical or homophone errors, my esteem for both the writer and the info plummets. A writer who doesn’t know which witch is which doesn’t merit my time as a reader.
Writing Tip for Today: Your credibility as a writer and expert in whatever topic you write about (even fiction) is closely tied to your writing skills. Not only will Miss Grammar Police take you to task for errors involving grammar, sentence structure or punctuation, ordinary readers will lower their opinions of the content as well. While it might sound absurd to let a misplaced period or comma dictate an editor’s rejection of your work, you won’t communicate in a clear and concise manner if you leave misspelled homophones or other landmines in your text. Unless you’re Dave Barry, who wrote a book called A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind, it pays to learn correct forms of homophones.
Try This! We talked about this subject a few months ago, and your, you’re; there, their and they’re were the most prominent offenders. What are some more obscure mangled homophones?