Daphne Gray-Grant

Home
Testimonials
Products
Free Articles
Book Reviews
About Daphne
Free Newsletter
Contact Me

 

 
  Check out my book!

 

I think you have one of the most valuable and insightful business writing resources on the web (and, as Im sure you know, there are thousands of them out there). No matter how busy I am, your newsletter is the one email I always open the moment it hits my inbox!
Leslie Talbot
Principal, G2G Sales, Cambridge, MA

I have to stop myself replying to your email each week to tell you how great I think your writing is. I've held off for two months now, so: I think your writing is great. Yours is the only newsletter that I read every time. Inspiring and concise, with humour. Love it.
Andrew Lightheart,
RealSmartNow.net
Singapore

You don't know me, but you've made such a big difference in my writing as I launched and then grew my copywriting business over the past year. Your newsletter is the only one I read right when I get it.
Kelly Parkinson,
Copylicious
Oakland, Calif.

I read your Power Writing tips religiously. I have learned more from them than I did in all my years at Catholic School. Your stuff is valuable to everyone regardless of their business function.
Mary Anne Doggett
Interactive Communications, Inc.
New York, NY

Unlike most newsletters I subscribe to (many of which I delete in frustration or let accumulate in my inbox for "later") I read yours the moment they come in. I love that they’re short, easy to read, and informative.
Nadine Pederson
Black Swan Services
West Vancouver, B.C.

Just had to tell you that, once again, your newsletter has brought enlightenment, enjoyment, and a welcome dose of sanity to my inbox. I love hearing from you each week.
Fran Sammis
Teledyne Storm Products
Woodridge, IL

I just wanted to let you know that I read 100% of your writing. Of the many newsletters that come to my inbox, yours is the only one I read from start to finish every time. TGIT (Thank God it's Tuesday).
Laura Williams
Mississauga, Ont.

Thank you for your recent newsletter. What a powerful concept! I think you've just given me a key to my writer's block. Your newsletter is terrific!
Lisa Ham
Bend, Ore.

I just don’t know how you do it. Every column of yours I read is noteworthy. I’m working on two books (one for Oxford University Press and the other for Prometheus Books) that are each due in a couple of months. I’ve got two major research projects and teaching to boot. I don’t read anything extra.
Except your emails. They’re worth their weight in gold.
Barbara A. Oakley, Ph.D., P.E., FAIMBE
Associate Professor of Engineering
Oakland University
Rochester MI

As a new writer and web owner, I had subscribed to several writing-type newsletters -- yours is the only one I have kept. It's short and sweet; and it offers value.
Julie DeHart
Manila, Philippines

 

 

February 9, 2010

Dept. of mistakes

My big fat mea culpa!

I live in a glass house. No, I'm not talking about my own home, which we're currently renovating. (Project to be finished Feb. 24! I'll write about that soon.) I'm talking about this column. People generally like my work, but when I make a mistake, well, watch out! Those rocks come flying through my walls.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm just pointing out why I have a special expertise for writing today.

Last week's Power Writing, I'm embarrassed to admit, claimed three errors. The first was about the date of the book Seabiscuit. It was published in 2001, not 2007 as I wrongly stated. (Thanks, James!)

The sentence about the jockey: "We're appalled by the serious injuries Red Pollard endures, as he's thrown from horses and captivated by his remarkable recoveries," has a misplaced clause. No, as subscriber Jean points out, I did not mean that Red Pollard was captivated by his own remarkable recoveries -- I meant that we readers were. I could have fixed it all with a semi-colon. "We're appalled by the serious injuries Red Pollard endures as he's thrown from horses; at the same time, we're captivated by his remarkable recoveries."

Readers Beryl and Joanna asked about my section that said, "I loved the book. And so did my husband -- who is just as disinterested in horses as I." What I should have written is, "He is as little interested in horses as I." The word disinterested is the opposite of interested only when the latter implies an expectation of personal gain. As Beryl concluded, this suggests that neither of us bets on the horses. (Although that's 100% accurate, I confess I didn't know the true definition of disinterested.)

Now that you understand my great expertise with mistakes, let me give you a five-point strategy for dealing with them and maybe even preventing them.

1) Be aware of the mistakes you make typically and have a plan in place for capturing them. I'm most embarrassed by my error over the publication date. That's exactly the kind of mistake my fragile mind is most likely to make and I should have known to double check.

2) Consider how important accuracy is for your particular job. Writing isn't brain surgery, and readers generally won't die if you make a mistake, but some works are more important than others. For example, when I finished my book, 8 ½ steps to writing faster, better, I had a dozen educated, opinionated friends read it first (they caught lots of mistakes) and then paid a professional proofreader (she caught even more!) The newsletter you receive here, however, is fr/ee and it's weekly. This means I have neither the time nor the budget for professional proofreading. And that leads me to my next point.

3) Be sure to have a good self-proofreading practice. It's hard to catch the typos we all make because our brains already know what we want to say and we tend to self-correct, unconsciously. As a result, I proofread this column at least four times. And two of those times involve printouts (the eye catches more on a printed page than on a screen.) And, to my family's despair, one of those times involves reading the column out loud. Despite this, a few mistakes still slip by. Thus,

4) . . . be gracious when people point out your errors. When readers email me with corrections, I always write back (if you emailed me and didn't receive a reply it means I didn't receive your email) and I'm polite and appreciative, even when, very rarely, the correspondent is rude. Humble pie doesn’t taste as bad as you might think.

5) Try harder to do better. I once followed a blogger who persisted in using the phrase "land on your franny." (I don’t know who poor Franny was, but she must get awfully tired of people falling on top of her!) The correct phrase, of course, is "land on your fanny." I guess the blogger must have received lots of complaints about this because she subsequently posted a rather angry screed about “complainers” who were “perfectionists” and thus would never live fulfilled lives. Wrong approach!

We should learn from every mistake and try hard never to make it again.

To receive a short article like this one each week, get on the Power Writing email list. It's free.