Absolutely agreed. You're just killing your own chance at making a sale when your grammar isn't clean and error-free.

I have a helpful little paperback that sits at the side of my desk when I write. It's called "Improve your writing from A to Z" by Ross Edwards and it is basically an alphabetical index of writing rules.

Don't know whether to use "that" or "which?" I look up either word and it has the answer. Don't know whether to use an apostrophe? I look up "apostrophe" and all the rules of usage are right there. Not sure whether I am supposed to hyphenate "third-party?" I look it up and it tells me whether I need a hyphen or not based on how I'm using the term. It's easy as dirt and I wish I had a book like this back when I was an undergrad.

Anyway, I got it from Amazon. I'm not sure what the etiquette is for links here, but you all know how to use Google anyway, so knowing the author and title should be sufficient for anyone interested in getting it.

I constantly have to fight the urge to smash my desk apart with my own head every time I see someone use 'your' for 'you're'.

Just because it's the internet doesn't mean you still don't look like an idiot.

And if I ever saw that in a script, I'd probably stop reading, regardless of how awesome it was. I just can't stand it.

I'm not perfect, either, but at least I proofread.

I learned a proofreading trick (albeit a slightly painstaking one) a few years back.

Read the script backwards. Not necessarily word by word, more like paragraph by paragraph or sentence by sentence. From the last page to the first page, bottom to top. That way you're not paying attention to the story, rather the grammar at hand. It seems to work like a gem.

Also, having the automated voices read it on Final Draft is handy. I know it's cheesy, but they sure pick out words that are misspelled wrong, because the computer doesn't know how to pronounce them.

Sounds like a good tip, Johnny Boy.

When you lament over a creative piece of writing, such as a script, it's amazing what you learn about human psychology - primarily around delusion.

I don’t know how many times I’ve read my script but I can’t, for the life of me, proof read it myself! Apparently there are a gazillion spelling mistakes in it. Who knew?

I get a professional to weed out "the rest".

like johnnyboymalloy's tip. will try it out

Best tip I have. Have someone else read it. I have a friend that has zero interest in being in the business. But he's a shark about spotting mistakes. I'll give him a printout and a red pen and send him to it. He finds everything the spellchecker and my brain missed.

Short of that, put it away for a week and do work on something else. It gets the thing out of your head so you don't read something as what you meant instead of what you wrote