Have we forgotten how to write? I only ask this simply because, as I read many of the articles here, I have noticed a complete disregard for the basic rules for writing. I have seen many with run-on sentences, missing or misplaced punctuation, a lack of spacing, and spaces where spaces do not belong. I have read many sentences that do not make any real sense, because the grammar is terrible. At best, I must extrapolate the author's meaning using the context of the surrounding article. Often this is difficult, and reading should not be this much work.

I love to read. According to my grandmother, I have been writing longer than I have been able to read. One of my high school English teachers once commented about my avid thirst for reading, amazed that I had a new book each week. She knew I was truly reading these books, as she would watch my bookmark travel through the pages as the week wore on.

I have tried my hand at writing a few times, and although my teachers always marveled at the level of skill showed in my works, I knew that writing at the level of maturity I was aiming for required a level of maturity I did not have. Now, having reached the level of maturity necessary for what I desire to accomplish, I have lost the free time I require. These days, being bookkeeper for a small business, along with new motherhood, tends to sap all time and energy. Some days I am amazed my family eats, because I am so tired by the evenings. More importantly, the demands on my time and attention leave little space for imagining a good story.

These lamentations on the direction of my own life are unimportant. When I first found this site, I was excited to find a place where I would have the chance to read quality work from intelligent people, and hopefully learn some things along the way. What I have found is a prevalence of laziness in much of the writings, and a complete disregard for basic rules of grammar. These styles may be fine in everyday speech, but speaking and quality writing habits are two completely different animals. I have realized that many people seem to think these articles are an extension of their personal blogs, and to an extent that may be true. However, as a business owner, I approach the concept of advertising on an article in a specific manner. Knowing that the quality of the article I choose to sponsor is going to reflect on the image of my business, I have been hard-pressed to find one here worth sponsoring.

For those of you looking for a little cash in return for your thoughts, you should keep this in mind. Using the spell-checker feature is simply not enough. That useful little tool cannot tell the difference between there, they're and their. It cannot tell you if you should use to, two, or too. These are two very common misspellings; they are spelled correctly (according to spell-checker), but they are constantly used in the wrong way. Let me give you a little help in this regard. 'There' is referencing a place; 'they're' is the shortened version of 'they are;' 'their' is referencing a person or people (generally.) In addition, you must realize that 'to' and 'too' are definitely not interchangeable.

I understand that English is the most difficult language in the world to learn to speak, read, and write. If your desire is to use this as an excuse for laziness, I must protest. The second most difficult language to learn is Japanese, the foreign language I took in high school. How well you learn a language depends on two things: the quality of your teachers, and the level of work you put into it. The second of these is definitely the more important of the two. The grammar-check tool in Microsoft Word is useful, but merely a guide and not an exceptionally great one. I also suggest having your work double-checked by another person.

As I said before, I love to read.  I love reading these articles.  It satisfies my nosey nature.  I also learn new things, which I appreciate.  My hope here is to get the authors who post to this wonderful site to take a little more pride in their work, and maybe utilize some sort of editing process.