Respect Yourself - you are the voice behind your words

bymalana

177 followers

Updated 7 years ago

Besides my tattooing career, I've been a screenplay editor and translator for the past few years. It has trained me to read a lot of text and think about the people behind the words: The screenwriter, the characters; how they speak, their intonation and accent. It is very interesting and it has also made me very sensitive to grammar and spelling mistakes. Not talking about typos here, mind you.

I must admit, when I get a screenplay full of those mistakes, I can't read it. I can't even see the story behind it. All I can think of is: this person needs to read more. A lot more. Writers must be avid researchers, in order to actually know what they're writing about. This screenwriter can't possibly be educated about what they wrote or about writing at all, if he/she never took the time to eliminate these basic language flops. I send the script back.

If you want to become a guru, an authority in your niche, I think your writing must be flawless at least in terms of grammar and spelling, in order to gain respect for yourself because after all it is YOU behind this business and hopefully in the foreground.
This flawless writing is accomplished only be reading, preferably literature.

So stop being afraid of text. Let your brain "capture" the right way to write by reading, and it will become built-in. You see, convincing writing becomes a voice in our heads as we read it. It is generated by our imagination combined with the authenticity of the writing.

The sweet bonus is, the more you read the faster you will develop your unique writing style, i.e., your voice, in a way that it will eventually become recognizable without even having your name on it.

And hey, reading is fun! people have written down the most interesting ideas and stories...

A few of the common issues that have caught my eye here (hey, here's my valuable input for free;) is this considered a tutorial? just kidding - cut and paste this in... No, No, No. Print it, cut it out and stick it in front of your eyes when you write:

• you're= you+are your=which belongs to you
  "you're in your prime"
• they're=they+are their=which belongs to them
  "they're all waiting in their cars"
• who/whom= If you can replace the word with “he”' or “'she,” use who.
  If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom.
• could have... (correct)
  could of ... (there is no such phrase in English!!)
• you've gotta = you have got to *verb* (action)
  you have got a *noun* (object)
• i.e. = in other words vs. e.g.= for example
  he has many attributes, i.e., good characteristics
  he has many attributes, e.g., smart, kind, attentive, etc.
• it's=it+is or it+has its=which belongs to it
  "The dog has finished its meal and now it's sleeping".

It's been great meeting you all!