Creativity first, accuracy second
There are people out there who think the most important thing about writing is to never split an infinitive. Don’t listen to them; it’s all too easy to let fear of being wrong, of making a spelling or grammatical mistake, stop you from writing creatively.
You don’t have to take our word for it. Here’s what Stephen Fry – famed for writing with clarity, energy and lyricism – thinks about pedants who place absolute technical accuracy above creativity:
“They whip out their Sharpies and take away and add apostrophes from public signs, shake their heads at prepositions which end sentences and mutter at split infinitives and misspellings, but do they bubble and froth and slobber and cream with joy at language? Do they ever let the tripping of the tips of their tongues against the tops of their teeth transport them to giddy euphoric bliss? Do they ever yoke impossible words together for the sound-sex of it? Do they use language to seduce, charm, excite, please, affirm and tickle those they talk to? Do they? I doubt it.”
What a wonderful way of making a very important point. Accuracy is important, especially if you’re writing in business. But it shouldn’t be the first thing you think about.
You should always try and use the power of language to excite and engage the people reading your words. Seduce them, in Fry’s words, with your sound-sex. Then you can check your spelling, punctuation and grammar.