sbelin

[mespeak]

I was reading at a site that accepts stories, and lots of the entries had grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, yet had high scores.. how important is grammar these days?

[jdparadise]

Critical. Always, critical.

Just because others have lowered standards is not an excuse for the writer to lower their standards in things that are intended for others to read.

I was in a zoo this past weekend--great zoo, wonderful place, they treat the animals well--but the exhibit labels were full of typos, comma misuses, and grammatical errors. Which minor-league bugged me, until I saw a little kid sounding out the words. How was the kid supposed to learn the right ways if the wrong ways are posted in official places?

For personal writing--for blogs, for diaries, for first drafts and stuff no one's supposed to see--neither grammar nor spelling matter very much. For things intended for publication, why would a writer send out something other than their best work?

[Codger]

Mespeak - What do you mean by "yet had high scores.. "? Just curious.

[Dave.C.Robinson]

Both spelling and grammar are very important.

It's easy enough to find places where the pieces are poorly written and badly spelled, especially FanFic, but none of them are legitimate credits. If all you want is for people to read your stuff, you can post it places where spelling and grammar don't matter. If you want legitimate credits for selling to markets that pay real dollars then they do matter.

Look at it this way: Would you really want to buy furniture from a carpenter who could neither saw nor hammer a nail?

[ChaosTitan]

You also have to take into account the type of site it is. Is it a professional, paying website? It is a free site that allows anyone and their brother to upload a story? Many, many websites should not be used as an example of how to properly write a story.

As jp said, grammar and spelling are critical tools for a writer to master.

[job]

>>I was reading at a site that accepts stories, and lots of the entries had grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, yet had high scores..<<<

Because the site 'scores' the stories, I get the impression this may be a 'showcase site' rather than an e-magazine.

The 'scores' at a showcase site come from the site sponsors or from peer reviews. It is difficult to determine in what way the scores would be indicative of merit.

Because showcase sites are not publishers in a meaningful sense, they do not impose standards of grammar or usage, or quality of any sort.

[veinglory]

They had high scores because their friends from school were voting for them.

[MidnightMuse]

They had high scores because their friends from school were voting for them.

Nail, meet Head.

[veinglory]

...and it turns out this was stealth spam. Damn. They still get me sometimes.

[job]

...and it turns out this was stealth spam. Damn. They still get me sometimes.

The original question ...?

[veinglory]

Indeed. Storywar sockpuppet.

[MidnightMuse]

We need a sock puppet emoticon

http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/images/sockPuppet.jpg