Nate Kornell said, "Making errors is the best way to learn information that you want to learn." I absolutely agree with statement; making mistakes is what helps every writer continue to better his or her work. On the other hand, however, I believe that if mistakes can be prevented in the first place, then they absolutely should. Different techniques and tools should be taught to all young writers to ensure more accurate, correct work, and that does not mean the work will be perfect from the get-go. Mistakes are inevitable, but can certainly be minimized.
I think one of the most important things aspiring Journalists can do to recognize and prevent errors in writing is to read, and read a lot. Mistakes are actually very common in writing because it is such a nitpicky art. There are several things to look out for when reading: how to use proper punctuation, how to select the right word to convey meaning, and when to quit. That is, writers should be aware of exactly what is being put down on paper, and make sure it is either long enough to include a full explanation, or short enough to get the point accross quickly and efficeiently. It's quite humorous actually: some writers can have a number of errors in their writing, without ever having a colon or a comma out of place.
"You can't learn accuracy the way you learn to add and subtract." I think this is a somewhat false statement, because adding and subtracting is, in essence, surrounded by accuracy. Mathematics is arguably the subject where accuracy and correctness is the most crucial. When it comes to banking and dealing with enormous amounts of money, people need to be taught how to handle these amounts properly; they need to be accurate. Therefore, I think you absolutely can learn accuracy, yet that does not mean mistakes will not be made.
Edmonton Sun --> "A man was taken to hospital this morning..." --> This sentence is missing an article, because "hospital" is not one absolute thing; there are a number of different hospitals in the city/province/country/etc. The sentence should read, "to a hospital," or, "to the hospital," to aid in clarity.
Edmonton Sun --> "Guys are a lot bigger, stronger and faster, of course." --> This is just a grammatical error, but there should be a comma after "stronger" and before "and." This error would not impair communication to the reader, although this is a tiny detail that should be taught early on to younger writers; continual use of proper punctuation simply turns to habit.
Edmonton Sun --> "Forget astrology, the coffee you drink..." --> This is a run-on sentence, because "Forget astrology," is a full sentence in itself - it contains a verb and a noun. Again, proper punctuation is crutial to professional writing, and it should be practiced constantly.
Note: Image from: http://www.videopokerballer.com/articles/10-video-poker-mistakes/mistake-cartoon.gif
Codyediting and Proofreading remarks:
ReplyDelete•In the first paragraph, the use of the word 'however' is redundant; you already stated it was an opposite opinion with 'on the other hand'.
•Also in the first paragraph, the sentence "..if mistakes can be prevented in the first place, then they absolutely should." should end with "should be prevented." in order to clarify the sentence
•In the second paragraph, the last sentence is kind of odd. I think it should read "yet that does not mean mistakes will never happen," because it sounds better. I don't like using the word 'not' twice in the same sentence, it just don't sound not too bad in my opinion.