"Mistakes, I've made a few..."

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At certain points of my professional life, I've been an editor: in print, radio, television and for internet projects. The technical requirements are subtly different, but the principle is the same: to provide a piece of work that is clear, concise, consistent and 'captivating'.

The craft of an editor requires many months...if not years, of learning the basics of grammar and how words hang together (see collocations.) You also learn that words and language are 'alive' and that rules need to be broken now and then. Which brings me the long way round to the issue of mistakes, errata, errors, the mea culpa, screwing up, etc...

Is it ever acceptable to sign off a piece of work that you know has errors?

John Hunt, my dear, departed journalism lecturer would have responded with an emphatic, expletive-laden "No!"

Although I'd agree with him (bar the spicy language), it has to be a qualified agreement. My experience has taught me that: "it depends..."

It depends on the circumstances: on whether you have a deadline...or the material is time-sensitive...or a host of other factors.

In these days of rapid 'information turnover', the human factor is another consideration with the question. People, no matter how professional, make mistakes - some of them big ones.

I have a huge number of books, now mostly digital, and every one of them contains a mistake or ten. Yes, books which have gone through several editing cycles and have been seen by many eyes. I was taught to see this as unforgivable, but, given my editing experience and the grinding pace of the production process (even with digital books), I've become less 'precious'.

Digital media means we can print immediate retractions or revisions when a mistake has been identified.

This bodes well for writers in all media. Readers have already become part of the extended editing team and often let you know - sometimes in no uncertain terms - when you've got it wrong.

Write on...