Thank You, Writer, for That Typo
It made us feel a little better.
Dear Writer,
First off, congratulations on your success. You’re clearly doing well for yourself, and I hope to one day publish as many books and articles as you have.
Secondly, loved your article. It was so well written. You were coherent, engaging, honest. You were throwing out words I understand but don’t feel smart enough to use myself. Your sentences flowed so nicely from one to the next that I didn’t skip or skim a single line.
I did notice something though: a teeny mistake in the middle of all your beautiful words. One little letter was out of place, making a common word look kind of funny. But I didn’t so much see it as a mistake, rather an unintentional reminder for us writers who are just starting to put themselves out there.
We baby writers look up to you. We’re watching your sentence structure. We’re paying attention to how you transition from one paragraph to the next. We’re eager to learn from you and your writing.
And, without knowing it, you taught us something else. Your weeks-old typo was a reminder that writers don’t need to hold themselves to an impossible standard. That no matter how far we may make it as writers, we’re still going to make mistakes— and there’s nothing wrong with that.
