For most of you, this is preaching to the choir.
I don’t know of anything that stops me quicker, when looking at a new writer’s work, than bad spelling.
Yes, I know, in the world where a great many of us type on tiny devices using only our thumbs, spelling, full words, even, aren’t so important. But the world of texting is on a different planet from that of writers. That is so, at least, as far as most forms of literature go.
Spelling and Grammar checkers abound, and while they do not make way for creative word usage, they can be a great help.
The really hard part in cleaning up your manuscripts is finding and correcting words which are spelled correctly, but used incorrectly. Your for you’re, for example, or it’s for its.
No one who types quickly, so far as I know, is immune from this kind of error. It’s the forgetting to look back over the page to catch and fix the problems that separates the novice from the pro.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said that you don’t have to worry about spelling and grammar, because “that’s what editors are for”. OK, but consider this, the more error-ridden your work is, the less chance it will GET to an editor. The slush pile is tall, tottering, and rife with poorly edited work, and that old circular file is so much closer, sometimes.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio... and isn't it time you experienced some of them?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great “grabber” title. Its you’re advise peaces I lern the most from.
I’m afraid I put a lot of trust in spell check. Some day I’ll find the paper we used to have in court reporting school full of errors that spell check didn’t catch.