by Daniel Cloud

Created on: May 15, 2011

I fail to see how this is even a debate. Of course a writer must be good at spelling. Some quick comparisons: Is knowing what tool to use important for a mechanic? Is understanding a person's rights important for a police officer? Is knowing how to count money important for a cashier? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, then God help your soul.

Each job, trade, or skill has foundational and codependent skills. A writer must know how to spell, the mechanic must know what tools to use, the police officer must know the law, and a cashier has to be able to count money.

Some would argue that it is the content that makes you a good writer. You are very correct in that assumption. You are also failing to see the entire picture. Spelling is a foundational skill for writers. If your spelling reeks of a 6th grade level spelling test with an "F" on it, then I would venture to say your content most likely has some issues as well. That is an assumption for the reader. It is human nature. If you cannot grasp a foundational skill for the job, then you are in the wrong line of work.

Writing should be thought of as a job. Some people write for fun, others for money, and many for both. I write for both reasons. I consider writing to be a fulfilling occupation.

A lack of spelling on a writer's part immediately catches a reader's eye. When a reader sees that you cannot spell, particularly when there is a spell check to fix your errors, then your writing is seen as substandard. This is how the human mind works. If your foundational skills are lacking, then there's a good chance your main skill is lacking. Think back. Do you trust the mechanic who doesn't know a screwdriver from a hammer? Do you want him working on your car? I would think not.

Hypothetically, if I owned Helium and you submitted content with spelling errors, then I would delete your article and ask for a resubmission. Helium does that. If you are off-topic, misspell words left and right, or cannot form complete and logical sentences, then your article goes in the deletion bin and you get an e-mail saying so. If you desire, you can resubmit a new article. However if your spelling is bad, I doubt a rewrite will help your cause.

The main point of this debate is that any major skills or occupations have a set of lower foundational skills that must be understood in order to success in the given area. If you write, you must be able to spell. If you cannot spell, you are not going to get far in writing without some educational help in the area of spelling.

You may be able to have people rewrite articles for you through freelance websites, but that just shows that you are even less of a writer. Having a ghostwriter when you claim to be a successful writer is an oxymoron. Unless you wrote the article yourself, it is never truly your own work or writing.

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