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No one really likes grammar, but we all need it. Bloggers depend on it to make clear points and demonstrate their blogs’ level of professionalism. Proper grammar isn’t just a frustrating burden, however. Improving your grammar as a blogger can improve not only your sentence structure, but your overall blogging skills.
Grammar, Reliability, and Professionalism
Grammar is an essential part of any language, but that importance increases in the case of written language. While verbal conversations utilizes physical signals like body language and facial expressions, written conversations rely entirely on grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary to express mood and thought. You can’t even hear the pitch and pacing or a written sentence. Correct sentence structure and punctuation can mean the difference between clearly expressing yourself and utterly confusing the reader.
Because of this, readers depend on grammar as a signal of an author’s reliability. Even if you have worked in your field for years, your experience will come into question if you can’t express it. Fair or not, the vast majority of readers consider the standard rules of English an indication of education. While speakers may not face such critical judgment when they splice sentences, it jars readers’ internal reading voices. No one likes to feel confused, and this confusion quickly transforms into annoyance. Blogs filled with improper grammar are difficult to read, and no one wants to put in extra work to read them.
Bloggers who generate content filled with grammatical errors also appear unprofessional. Such posts represents limited resources. If you cannot afford an editor or proofreader for your content, then exactly how solid is the business behind your blog? If you are unaware of glaring errors, that may be even worse. If you don’t have the attention to detail required to make an error-free blog, are you really detail-oriented enough to manage a commission or large-scale project?
Reviewing and Editing
Good grammar takes work. Even professional writers with college degrees and loads of experience make mistakes all the time. That is why editing is such an important part of writing. Editing for grammar introduces broader editing habits, and it forces you to comb through your work at least once before hitting the publish button. Ideally, you’ll go over your work more than once.
Even if your focus is grammar, going into your prose for a second look opens the door to further edits. By actually reading what you’ve written, you can analyze it as a reader rather than a writer. As you read, keep an active line of questions rolling. If you were a reader, would the first line grab your attention? Do the ideas flow smoothly, or do they feel choppy? Do awkward phrases leave you with a mental tongue twister? These simple editing questions will improve not only your post’s grammar, but your skills as a blogger.
You don’t have to love grammar to excel as a blogger. You don’t even have to like it. However, you do have to understand how it affects your readers’ perception of your work. Before you give up on their/they’re/there, remember the value of a second look and remember what drove you to become a blogger in the first place.