Good Author with Bad Language Skills - Is it Possible?

[Terri2]

Is it possible for someone to be a good author but have bad language skills, such as spelling, grammar, and such? Are these qualities required to make an author good?

Does it matter now that we have spell checkers and such?

[awelker]

i dont think that it is such a problem now. i mean if you are getting your books sent to a well-known publisher don't they have editors anyways?

[sleepydumpling]

I don't know about an author, but I think someone can be a fantastic storyteller yet have bad grammar or spelling. Sometimes people who talk in heavy slang or colloquialisms are the best at weaving stories.

[kaytie]

If you're a writer and you know you need help in the spelling and grammar department, it's best to have that taken care of before the manuscript goes to an agent or editor. There's a lot of work that goes into editing a manuscript for publication beyond the surface level typos and grammar, and publishing houses these days don't have to deal with it if they don't want to because there are lots of polished manuscripts they can publish instead.



So the answer to the question is yes, with the caveat that it's the writer's responsibility to take care of those kinds of issues before involving agents and editors.

[NSUSA]

Like others said, there are always editors. Most writers aren't the best at spelling and grammar. That's the editors' job.

Of course, you can always write songs and poems and things that do not require so much formal writing.

[AstonWest]

i dont think that it is such a problem now. i mean if you are getting your books sent to a well-known publisher don't they have editors anyways?

But to get a book in front of a well-known publisher, you have to get it past an agent...they'll take one look and ask "why bother?" then send you a form rejection letter.

[babypinkcandygirl]

it sometimes seems to me that an author doesnt even need to be a good writer to be regarded as a good writer, regardless of language skills (jonathan kellerman anyone?) lol. im not sure it matters so much as there are tools to help, although i certainly wouldnt send a manuscript knowing that it was full of mistakes. i think its interesting that the two dont necessarily go hand in hand; i am fairly good with grammer and spelling on the whole but i am the worst writer in the world!

[Eric]

I read a book by Samuel Beckett ("Malloy Dies", maybe?) where the entire novel was one huge paragraph. It was annoying as hell...especially when I wanted to find a stopping point where I could pick up again later! But overall it was a great novel, regardless of the maddening style. It was the same with a novel I read from Celine, the misanthropic French writer: practically the only punctuation he used were ellipsis marks! Again, it was a good book, though. And everyone knows about Emily Dickinson's love of dashes...

[Tracey Neal]

I think one can be a successful author regardless of their spelling, grammar. That is what editors are for. Craft and concept...plot..if it is there its worth writing.

[aemdis]

Well, here is an example of sorts. Anne Rice wrote her last 'supernatural' book Blood Canticle and rumor has it she refused to have an editor. Not only was the book horrible, but she had spelling errors, subject/verb agreement problems, tenses, sentences that were way too long and loaded. So one can argue, that's proof. Did she always do that and the editors catch it? Or did she just not care anymore haha...

At least that's what it made me think of.

I think it's totally possible, honestly. Kind of like left brain right brain stuff... Sometimes the really creative people are crap at technical aspects of things. (I'm an art teacher and I have problems with basic math haha)

[the tiger fights]

I know a great story when I read it and I know bad writing when I see it . . . and I have yet to see them together.

[Maud Fitch]

I know a great story when I read it and I know bad writing when I see it . . . and I have yet to see them together.

A very insightful comment. I've yet to work out the category for bestselling authors who have written vampire/werewolf/shapeshifting/dystopian novels which are poorly delivered.

[axisage]

consider the run-ons and fragments of hemingway.

[the tiger fights]

He's a great example, but he chose to write in such style . . . so maybe they are not mistakes at all. Certainly his lack of internal punctuation and his use of "and" instead of commas could have been easily corrected by his editors and proofreaders.

[Thailander]

George RR Martin. Great Stories badly written.