This post is pretty much a rehash, but I just can't stress it enough: formatting, punctuation and spelling are more important than you think.
I know I'm a bit contrary to the larger group who stress that it's all about content. About story and plot and characters and worldbuilding, and in the end it is.
But... if the basics are not there, even the best story doesn't matter! Read on why...
Disclaimer
Let's start with saying that there are some writers that get away with non-standard formatting, and some poorly spelled books may have reached millions of readers on Wattpad, and that's great! But let's be honest: those are the outliers.
So, why do I think formatting, punctuation and spelling are that important?
(You may not like this text, but this is something that keeps coming up, so please read on. It's fine to disagree, but I think it's very important to give this some thought.)
Why does anyone write?
Let's be honest. We write because we want to be read. Period.
(If you write to get rich, it's probably better to start flipping burgers.)
It doesn't matter much if we want to please some individuals, or masses of fans. We want to be read. We want to tell a story and we want people to enjoy it, or learn from it. To do so, we have to make those same people find our story (marketing) and then read our story.
The competition
The thing is, we're not alone. There are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of writers out there, all cranking out their own stories. Now imagine, a reader picks up your book and finds out it is hard to read... because the spelling is odd, or he or she can't figure out who's saying or doing what? What would happen?
With all those millions of books out there your book will be dropped, and the reader will look for something else that is easier to read, no matter how good your story is.
The real competition
Things get even worse. With just a single click your potential reader will leave your book alone, and watch a Tik Tok video, or a movie. So, you're not only competing with all those other writers, but with any and all media!
In other words, if you present your story badly, it will not be read. Nobody will get past the first chapter. Perhaps they'll give up after the first paragraph. And now you've lost your reader, no matter how good your story is.
But... why?
You want the reader to focus on the story you're telling. That's the most essential thing. You don't want the reader to be distracted, or annoyed or bored. Or even worse, to become frustrated.
So how do we make it easier for the reader? Let's think about reading by itself. What is reading? Reading is our mind turning abstract patterns (words) on paper into images (visualizations) in our mind. Our brain recognizes and processes those patterns, and that's easier if those patterns are familiar...
And we're in luck, as (written) language follows predictable patterns! Spelling follows rules. Punctuation follows rules. Even the format of text (where paragraphs begin and end and so on) follows rules. Unfortunately, after a while our brains become so used to those rules, that when a text doesn't follow them we find it hard to process it.
If the reader's brain can't process your writing, he or she is going to get annoyed and move his / her attention elsewhere, giving up on your story.
Formatting and punctuation: traffic rules for the mind
Perhaps a good analogy is traffic. There are traffic rules. Basic things like on which side of the road you drive. Road signs that (re)direct us, inform us about dangers coming up, speed limits, those kind of things. That's what punctuation and formatting is all about. They 'instruct' our brains to process the upcoming bits in a certain way.
Yes. We're nothing more than programmed flesh beings. That's what we are.
Spelling: information noise, fogging the brain
Poor spelling and wrong grammar have a similar effect. Instead of automatically recognizing a word, our minds have to 'filter out the noise'. Some minor errors won't matter, and we won't even notice certain spelling mistakes. But the more mistakes, the more our brains have to work to 'decode', and reading becomes like driving through a fog. We're no longer paying attention to the scenery, we're getting too focused on figuring out what the next bit of road marking means.
But... it's hard!
I don't want to think about format and spelling, I just wanna write!
Yes, it is hard. But if you want to be read, and you're not one of those ultra talented, superior outliers, with tons of luck, then that's what it takes. Sorry.
It doesn't mean your writing has to be perfect from the start. Writing is something you can learn, and you can improve on over time. And you can always improve your work later on. (That's called editing, the bane of every writer 😁)
Nog imagine this... It's twice as hard for non-native speakers, as they have to learn another language as well.
It's only an early draft for my beta readers
... and you think they are different? They don't deserve easy-to-read stuff?
They might accept more mistakes, but their brains ain't wired any differently. So I suggest that anything you share should follow proper format, punctuation and spelling, if only to train yourself to do it right from the start. It will save you a lot of time further down the line.
More information...
... is everywhere on the Internet. I have a few posts on this site that might help you as well.
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