Is My Slip Showing? Errors in Hubs

One of the advantages of communicating by writing is that you have time to form your thoughts, and the ability to review, edit and make changes before you press the send or publish button. You may even have the advantage of spell check and grammar check features of the program you are using.

Unfortunately, no program is going to be able to catch all the mistakes you can make. Nor can I catch all my mistakes when I read through my work once. I have found that when I go back to read one of my old hubs or anything else I have written, I can always find an error, or find a way I can make my writing better.

Eventually though, instead of being caught up with the fear that I may have let an error slip, I have to publish. I have been told that this might even be helpful - that some software manufacturers will issue software knowing there are mistakes and enhancements that can be made. This gives them a chance to issue a new and improved, revised edition.

I have read many articles, including my own, that have glaring mistakes in them. I understand my errors - I am new to online writing, and eager to get articles out there. When I write as a ghostwriter, I want to write quickly to get as much pay as I can. When I write here on HubPages, I try to make sure that my work is quality work, but sometimes when want to meet the challenge I have set out for myself, I may have to skip some steps in the editing process.

Even professionals make mistakes, because they too are human. And as an amateur, I have to allow myself to make mistakes. I think the important thing, is that I do not beat myself up for my mistakes. I correct them, and try to make sure I don't make that mistake in the future. There is no point in wasting time feeling bad.

In an earlier time period, women used to wear dresses. They wore slips underneath the dresses so the shape of their legs wouldn't show through when the sun was shining. They could be either full slips, which had straps over the shoulders, or half slips which had elastic around the waist.

Sometimes if the elastic was getting old on the half slips, the slip would hang down a little, and you would be able to see it peeking through below the dress. People debated whether to tell the woman that her slip was showing. Sometimes they said "Is my slip showing?" to get people's attention from their friends, so she could discreetly fix it. Hence the term, "is my slip showing?"

When you find a mistake in someone's article, there are several things you can do.

If the errors are numerous and irritating to you, you might want to simply move on and try not to read that person's hubs.

If you can read past the errors and understand the message, you might want to ignore the error and get the value of the content.

Another option is to let the author know of the mistake. This helps the author because she may learn something about a grammar fact she may not have known or may have forgotten. She can also correct a typo before anyone else reads the article and judges her by it. If you choose this method, it is very important that the spirit of your message is very clear. Many people are very sensitive, and if all you ever tell someone is what they did wrong, then you are really being a bully.

One day I was waiting in line at a bank, and I felt some hands on the back of my neck. Apparently, the tag on my shirt was showing, and the lady in line behind me felt the need to correct it. I was grateful that she helped me. I would rather have a quick embarrassment with her, and not have the tag sticking out all day.

Do I want to know if slip is showing in my online writing? I am not sure how to answer that question. Originally, when I was thinking of writing this hub, I would definitely have said yes. I want to correct my errors so that no one else sees them.

But now I am worried that many of my hubs have these little nits. I am afraid if I say yes, each of my hub posts will have a comment that shows something I have done wrong. I know I want to go back to review my hubs and correct them on my own.

But in the meantime, yes I want to know, but be nice, because I am not done editing, and because I am one of those sensitive people. Be sure that when you are telling me what I am doing wrong, you also tell me what I am doing right.

And if I have written a comment to let you know of an error, know that it is only done because I want to read more of your writing, and want to help you.