THE WALRUS

“Before the Renaissance, writers and artists were valued for their skills rather than their individuality. Today the originality of creative writers, whether they be novelists, playwrights or poets, is inescapably linked with self-exploration. The writing we most value is that which makes an authentic, individual statement; which conveys the writer’s personal view of life.” Anthony Storr, writing on depression, in The Author magazine. This is undoubtedly true of writing on depression, but I’m inclined to think that the creative works that sell the best are those that accord with the reader’s personal view of life.

Spellcheck in Microsoft Word is a great invention. It does even cater pretty well for the variations in spelling between US English, British English and Australian English. However, many writers think all the have to do is spellcheck and all will be fine, neglecting to check for the ‘or’ that should be ‘of’, and so on. It also doesn’t distinugish between ‘everyday occurrences’ and ‘things you do every day‘. On the other hand, the grammar tool is nearly absolutely useless (the only thing I use it for is to pick up the occsional inadvertent extra space between words) and often just plain wrong.