January 25, 2025 / 1 Minute Read

endearing errors

The following sentence is found on page 61 in The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan:

But I wasn’t going tell Zia that.

Did you notice it?

The typo?

I know I did…

And I adore it!

How odd.

While the sight of my own errors makes my skin crawl, I have seemingly boundless grace for my fellow wordsmiths.

All writers want their work to be perfect.

And I want to fly like Superman.

Both of these scenarios (at least to my knowledge) are impossible. 

And maybe that’s a good thing. 

Seeing that grammatical error excited me, not because the author made a mistake, but BECAUSE the author made a mistake!

The typo didn’t make me think that Rick was a bad writer or that his skills were poor; it made me think, “Hey, this guy is human too!”

For those of you who are unaware, Rick Riordan is the mastermind behind the Percy Jackson franchise, one of the most beloved children’s book series in modern history. 

If you ask me, Percy Jackson tops Harry Potter any day of the week, but that’s a story for another day.

In short, he has achieved heights that most writers can only dream of.

It’s encouraging to know that despite years of experience and a plethora of editors, even the best of us are not immune to the occasional literary misstep. 

So to all the beautiful souls out there brave enough to reveal their hearts through words…

Embrace the reality of endearing errors and touching typos.

Bye Chance.