Spelling mistakes on thedarkenedheart.com

If you caught a spelling mistake on thedarkenedheart.com, you’ve doubtless received a reply from the intern that hand-waves away the problem as something about spelling standardization, and a link to this article.

In the context of the Darkened Heart project, a few odd spellings make perfect sense, so the narrative stays intact. But while it’s all well and fun to enjoy the fiction, you and I both know that these letters don’t really hail from the 1890s, so what gives?

Truth is, you’ve caught me: I have severe dyslexia. I spellcheck everything I can, but I miss things from time to time and spellcheck sometimes hands me the wrong word. My text’d be a bit gibberish without the computer to hold my hand, and when it screws up, I screw up. When I’m in-character as the Intern, I can’t very well go around saying “Whoops, my mistake!” Which is why I linked you over here, out of thedarkenedheart.com‘s little reality bubble. So, now that you know the real-world reason, what should you do?

First – Please keep pointing out mistakes. You may be the first to notice, but you won’t be the last, and if it bothers you, it’ll bother other people too. Every time a mistake gets caught, I’ll need another chance to point more folks to this article.

Second – Don’t worry about calling me on spelling errors, I’m not bothered. I’ll take it as a kindness if you’re polite about them, but they’re not going anywhere and they need to be addressed.

Third – I’d love to go back and fix spelling mistakes, but the letters and journals aren’t photoshop trickery. You’re looking at actual scans of actual prop pages made for the project and hand-aged. To correct a mistake, I have to remake the entire page. I haven’t made all my pages yet, so I may go back and fix some of these mistakes later, but they’re going to have to stay, at least for now.

Fourth – Thank you. Seriously. Thank you for taking the time to read, and for taking the time to comment. It’s awesome to see people paying attention to the story I’m telling.

Sincerely,
Daniel Longwing

PS – This article was brought to you by Hydrargentium, who noticed the first error, and made me think about how to handle future mistakes. Thank you sir or madam.

6 Comments

  • First of all, I’d like to say how exceptionally fun and exciting thedarkenedheart project is. What a fantastic creative idea. I love it.

    B) The fact that you used one of Leonardo’s drawings at the top of your page here makes me love you a just a little bit. I am obsessed with Leonardo, probably to an unhealthy degree.

    And third, I noticed the spelling error, but assumed it was intentional. After all, people rarely write with perfect spelling or grammar. For me, it actually added a little more mystery to the letter. I sat there for a few minutes wondering if there was a hidden meaning in the “error”. Either way, wonderful job. I can’t wait to find out what else The Intern uncovers.

    Reply
  • Thanks!

    I wish I could fake the spelling mistakes into some aspect of the narrative, like a code, or simply have one character with imperfect spelling. Sadly, I have no way of predicting where they’ll crop up.

    As you observed, the supposed age of the pages means that spelling mistakes can still make sense, so at least I don’t have to break the fourth wall just to explain the slip-up.

    As for Leonardo, I’m also a fan of his work. I can’t claim credit for the banner though, that’s one of the included banners from my current theme: Aesthete. This site hasn’t had the kind of intense design-attention that got dedicated to thedarkenedheart.com

    Reply
  • Sir,
    Kudos on your outstanding work thus far on this endeavor. I always admire the amazing degree of professionalism that can be found in projects which are distributed gratis on the internet.

    I hope that the intern will not mind the suggestions of a slightly scatter-brained scientist

    Doctor Bill

    Reply
  • PS

    “I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.”

    Mark Twain

    Reply
  • “I hope that the intern will not mind the suggestions of a slightly scatter-brained scientist”

    Not at all, narrative gold, that is. I’ve not replied to it yet because I’m trying to figure the right approach to integrating the advice. It’s completely in-character for the Intern to have no idea what he’s doing, so you handing him a miniature manual makes for an excellent bit of serendipity.

    Reply
  • Hey Daniel,

    Doing a little self-Googling brought up a link to this page that I didn’t know about. Glad I could be of service, and thanks for the call-out. With enough references like this one, I may someday be able to legitimately maintain a Wikipedia entry!

    Hg

    Oh yeah, and the world needs more artists and creators with learning disabilities — they’re the only people with truly unique views of the world around them!

    Reply

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