Day 48

Today is pet peeve day. So let's join the choir and sing.

OK, I know we've all been newbies and we all have plenty of questions, uncertainties, etc. And, at least in theory, there's no such thing as a stupid question. All is good. But some of the questions asked by some of the new writers border on being asinine, approaching the "why's there a cupholder on my PC"-style epic FAIL.

Yes, there are such things as stupid questions!

- How long should a chapter be?

- Should it be "Great," she said or "Great." She said ?

- Is it "lay," "lied," or "laid"?

- Can you have more than one "and" in a sentence?

Etc. etc. etc.

I can tolerate these questions once in a while, but when I see or hear them all the time, I start to wonder if our school system really sucks so bad. Or do people actually read? These questions could easily be answered if these people had actually read a book. And have they ever heard of dictionaries?

I don't know if this grumpiness comes with old age -- and I'm definitely in the old fart category -- or people are getting lazier and lazier.

And if you ask a question like "How long should a chapter be?" don't be surprised if you get a snippy remark, from me, such as "How long is a piece of string?" Your feelings are hurt? Maybe that would do your soul some good.

1400 words, 20500 words total
317 days and 165000 words to go