Venue for Writing Class!!

I'm so pleased to announce that my

 Make A Book! 

class will be held at the 

ANN PEDEN JEWELRY and ARTIST MARKETPLACE 

in Watkinsville, GA.

Ann truly understands the need for artists to be creative while someone else handles the business end of things. I feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

First class will be Tuesday, June 14, from 9-12. 

Here are samples of books from last year:

And a link to all the titles available on Amazon.

I also have a new pamphlet/brochure. You can see it here:

Phyl Campbell

The "New Grammar" of Facebook

You've seen the fight going on for a while. Years if you've been paying attention. The truth is, there is a fine line on Facebook and other social media sites between the occasional typo, appearing uneducated, autocorrect blunders, and being the rude individual who attacks someone's comment or argument by pointing out an inability to spell.

It's not really a new grammar. It's a huge gray area of steps and missteps. It's wondering whether a comment is worth taking back and editing -- or can people tell what was meant? And for some, it's a new way of reading. Few people hate the LOL cats, and have no difficulty understanding them.

Image is not owned by me, but is used educationally and editorially to demonstrate my point.
http://cheezburger.com/1396637440

So which came first -- the online mistake or the cat that made it cute? Now, many people copy grammatical mistakes as a form of humor. There's even a shortcut I've copied -- "because X" -- where the statement is not grammatically correct, but the writer assumes the gist is understood.

Image is not owned by me, but is used educationally and editorially to demonstrate my point.
memecenter.com/shauntrogers

Take comments from many a local news story that has been shared to Facebook. (Please.) Some comments are requests for more information or  generally well-thought-out additions to the discussion. Others, read like, well, comments from the stereotypical "Bubba Joe" interviewed after the natural disaster or alleged alien abduction. "Bubba Joe" was not only abducted by aliens in the last tornado resulting in a fire where the dog rowed him out to safety, "Bubba Joe" has an opinion about everything. Oftentimes, this opinion is cringe-worthy to me. However, sometimes I find myself agreeing with "Bubba Joe," thinking how obvious a solution must be if even "Bubba Joe" "gets it." And that's where the new grammar of Facebook comes into play.

We're more likely to read something as a typo if we agree with the comment made.
Conversely, we're more likely to have difficulty reading comments we expect to disagree with.

I know people get labeled "grammar Nazi" and such things for trying to make the internet a place for better grammar. However, people offering too much correction stop being taken seriously AND are held to a higher standard of typing skill in their own comments. Perhaps such people brings it on themselves?

While recognizing the problem is an important step -- what can be the solution? Do we simply accept the new Facebook grammar? Do we insist on updated technology, more editing capacity, or read-back-and-edit-before posting features? I, for one, am all ears.

Providing a Service or Being Rude?

Good Grammar Tuesday Morning!

My question this morning -- when you point out an error to someone privately, are you providing a service or being rude?

For me, alerting someone to a grammar error is the equivalent of saying "Hey! Fly's undone." We'll both be embarrassed for a minute, but hopefully the mistake will be corrected and it will be over. Am I wrong?

And of course, this comes because I sent an email last night alerting someone in the business to a their/there/they're mistake on his/her webpage. (I know in speech I would not worry about mixing "someone" and "their." I have even read that in writing it's OK to lack agreement in number in support of using ambivalent gender, but I just can't quite bring myself to do it in a post critiquing someone else's misuse of "their.")

This morning, YAY! I got a reply from the person. However, it was a half-hearted thanks, and a more strongly worded caution that I should not try to connect with people by pointing out mistakes.

That person may never know how I agonized over that email. The three extra paragraphs I wrote, deleted, re-wrote, deleted -- just to show I was writing it to help. The person admitted to almost deleting my email thinking I was simply trying to sell editing service. Actually, that hadn't crossed my mind. I was thinking that in spite of the error I found, this person had talents I lacked and a good fit might be made. And we live in the same geographic area. But based on the feedback -- I felt like I owed the person an apology; an apology! -- for taking the time to privately let the person know there was a mistake on a page shown to potentially thousands of educators daily. The cheek!

Dude! I'm just covering your butt!

Obviously my opinion is always to be kind and honest. If your fly is undone, I am going to tell you. I won't zip it for you, but I'll let you know, and whether or not you zip is then up to you. I will apologize for embarrassing you. But is the time I took -- which embarrassed me also -- really worse than everyone else who just let you walk around with an open fly?

So I wrote back a sorry/not sorry. Maybe things will be better when we bump into each other at a book event, as is bound to happen. So many things can get lost in the written word, especially online. I'm sure this person is a nice person, just as I am. Maybe one day we will laugh about it.

I don't know. I probably wouldn't point out to a boss during an interview that the email granting me an interview had a typo. I would tell my boss -- because I write and I consider editing a constant part of any job description -- if written items were going out with errors. And were my boss's fly open, I hope I would say something before the interns showed up! This wasn't that. This was an email to a potential colleague that we have talents that could mutually benefit each other. And if nothing else -- for someone to zip his or her fly.

Is there a kinder way to handle such corrections? Because you know me. I can't NOT do it in professional situations. And well aware I am that some will lash out (not that this morning's response was so extreme, but) no matter the level of kindness applied. Embarrassment often leads to anger. But I can learn to be kinder in the process. If there is a process, and if someone will point out my mistake by teaching me how to do it better.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! And welcome back to school, for most!

(Photos are courtesy of MorgueFile.com)