Far from being ashamed, insulted, embarrassed, or “mad” when someone tells me I’ve made a mistake in my writing, I’m THRILLED that A) someone critically read what I wrote, and B) they took the time to stop and gently educate me.
I look upon these occasions as an opportunity to learn something new and to commit to “doing better next time.” It takes a large serving of humble pie to openly embrace the idea that I’m not perfect, but I think this is probably called maturity. Go figure!
Last weekend I heard from a long-time blog reader who purchased a complete set of my books a couple months ago. “I think I found an error in something you wrote,” she began.
Then she explained what she’d found, told me she stopped in her reading and double-checked her questions online to be darn sure she wasn’t just going on what she thought she knew, but actually had her ducks aligned.
And she was right. I had used the word “prone” instead of “supine” when describing someone lying on a bench with a gash in her forehead. I did this because I honestly didn’t know any better!
So I ask you: Do YOU know the difference in the meaning of these words?
Well, just in case you’re as clueless as I was, prone is lying face down and supine is lying face up. It is unlikely that a person with a gash in her forehead is lying face down, now isn’t it?
My ego is taking a bit of a hit here knowing my error is in print, quite public, for all to see. But at least my loyal readers can take comfort in the fact that I fessed up here, also in public, so they have no need to ever make the same mistake as I did.
Thanks Trish, for keeping me on my toes!