A lot of the mistakes I make in writing, I don't even know I'm making. For instance, I would use "different than" instead of "different from" and not think that was wrong. There are many words and phrases in this language, so we're bound to make a mistake unless we're grammarians who really do our research about correctness.
I think, if you make enough common "errors" that the average person can recognize, that average reader will think you're lazy and judge what you have to say more harshly than if you made less mechanical errors. I personally think the error can be both in the writer and the reader. Though, Williams is saying the error is in the reader. He is saying this because he looks for the quality of someone's ideas, instead of the quantity of their errors.
"It simply feels more authentic when we condemn error and enforce a rule. And after all, what good is learning a rule if all we can do is obey it?"
>>He is saying this because he looks for the quality of someone's ideas, instead of the quantity of their errors<<
ReplyDeleteYes. He also points to the subjectivity inherent in reading any piece of writing. The different than / different from distinction is not something many people would notice or care about, whereas if you wrote a double negative, i.e. "I don't know nothing about writing," it might irk a lot of people. Errors, in this sense,are about what is socially accepted or not, about what people will or will not notice, and not just objectively "right" or "wrong" sentences.