Considering the way people can screw up the pronunciation of words they read, even though the words may be ones they hear all the time (failure to connect the written words with the words they hear), it strikes me that "noone" would be very easy to get confused about in terms of both meaning and pronunciation. With "no one," the meaning is clear and the pronunciation is obvious. Dictionaries often disagree about a lot of words and word combinations, but I've checked half a dozen different dictionaries I have on my shelves, some on the internet, and several style manuals, and I find no disagreement among them. As far as I can see, spelling it any way but "no one" is merely asking for confusion.

One may set great store by free-flowing creativity and keeping one's psyche unbridled by custom or convention, but when it comes to writing with the intention of making one's ideas clear and understandable, using standard, agreed-upon spellings helps to avoid possible confusion.

I stick to the conventions, not because I lack creativity, but because I want what I write to be read and understood. Being "creative" about superficialities can be costly. I know a couple of writers whose writing is excellent and highly publishable, but they don't get published because they have some half-assed idea that having to type their stuff up in standard manuscript form somehow infringes on their artist integrity. I've talked to editors who, when they see a manuscript that is not in standard manuscript format and/or is filled with misspellings or unconventional spellings, figure that the person submitting it is a rank amateur and is going to have to be coached a lot (for which, the editor simply doesn't have time), or is one of those "artistic integrity" types and are going to be difficult to deal with. They know they may be missing a potential Hemingway (they also know that there is a damned small chance of that, however), but they send it back with a rejection slip, unread. They get dozens of easy to read manuscripts from seasoned writers, and when a new name shows up and the manuscript shows that the writer at least knows how to format it properly, they wind up on the "to read" stack. It's like the difference between wearing a suit to a job interview, or slouching in wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

I'm sure as heck no Hemingway, but I do manage to sell a few things now and then.

Don Firth