Remember Life Before Automated Spell Check?

Can you imagine present day life without spell check?

I sure as heck can’t!

As I was thinking about what I wanted to share in today’s “untangling” episode, it got me thinking back to my own writings … I know I rely on spell check a heck of a lot in every platform I use here at VU to help me catch those stumbly words that end up with an extra or missing letter from typing so dang fast! But one piece of wisdom a writer quickly learns — even though typos caught after the fact can make you feel crappy and even embarrassed, they keep you humble.

Yes, some of us still remember the life before automated spell check, where if I wanted to check my spelling, it required a dictionary by my side. And a thesaurus too! But nowadays, even verbivores can’t imagine a life without it. It’s handy and free and prevents us from making a lot of embarrassing mistakes.

If you think about it, with the amazingly wonderful ever-growing waves of technology, this was one of the earliest conveniences that technology had to offer as it’s something we always have at the tip of our fingers with ease. I personally feel it makes writing so much more pleasurable … helping us effortlessly type messages, make design creations, and write copy with our handy automated friend following along with us to make sure we don’t misspell anything along the way.

Without our automated friend, we would have to take extra time to double check our work which would decrease our level of productivity. Can you imagine the amount of time that would take? With the variety and number of written pieces we send out into the world on a daily basis, I couldn’t even possibly imagine that time suck! So, we really do need to give our spellcheck friend a bit of credit for the time it saves us in the long run.

Not to mention, it would force us to take the time to slow down and be intentional with our writing. Which makes me now think back to when typewriters were the only means! Which I thankfully never had the pleasure. My pages would have been filled edge to edge with whiteout as I wrote and re-wrote all the pieces I was working on, LOL!

Without spell check, I feel one would be way more intentional about making sure the right words are being used, in the right places, and of course, correctly spelled.

Now let’s go back a bit further for a second with some fun facts!

Did you know …?

The 1970s is when the first spell checker was developed.

A study was then later completed comparing papers from students from 1988 to 2008, and it was found that there were 20 common errors students were making. While doing research on these commonalities, I was extremely intrigued to know what they were — as I imagine you may be.

So, here’s what they were from most common to least …

• Missing comma after an introductory element
• Vague pronoun reference
• Missing comma in a compound sentence
• Wrong word
• Missing commas with a non-restrictive element
• Wrong or missing verb ending
• Wrong or missing preposition
• Comma splice
• Missing or misplaced possessive apostrophe
• Unnecessary shift in tense
• Unnecessary shift in pronoun
• Sentence fragment
• Wrong tense or verb form
• Lack of subject-verb agreement
• Missing comma in a series
• Lack of agreement between pronouns
• Unnecessary commas with a restrictive element
• Fused sentence
• Misplaced or dangling modifier
• Its/it’s confusion

Then jumping into 2008, the use of the wrong word jumped three spots to become the most common error in students’ papers; misspelling, which didn’t even place in the top twenty in 1988, jumped to number five.

It seems like spellcheck can even guide us in the wrong direction if we allow it too! Therefore, having human eyes on your writings — in addition to spellcheck — is so incredibly important to ensure accuracy. I should also stress that I mean having different eyes other than your own on your work is what makes a huge difference — considering it is easier with a fresh pair of eyes as they say!

When we tend to stare at our work in the virtual face too much, too often, or for too long, we tend to glaze over the page and can miss the small stuff, which in the end can be quite important.

But … if you are in a time crunch and don’t happen to have an extra set of human eyes around, I want to share one of my favorite tools when it comes to checking my spelling, and it can be used for anything and everything … blogs, social blurbs, contracts, emails, you name it! It’s a free tool called Grammarly, and it has happily always had my back. For those of you unfamiliar, it is a free writing app to make your online writing clear and effective. And it easily catches your spelling errors and misuse of words. I feel it’s a great tool to add into virtual rotation.

Another great virtual sidekick is Hemingway, an app that not only helps you simplify your writing, but also gives you a prose numbered score for directness and clarity.

Truthfully now, any form of spell check is a handy tool, but it can’t differentiate between intentional errors and contextually crafted literary muck-ups: some of the most common examples are simple words we use every day: things like loose and lose; passed and past and — my personal favourite — advise and advice. In fact, spellcheckers are only as good as their programmers’ comprehension of what constitutes the “right” word in the first place. Now for a moment, imagine a world full of spell-checked words … Doesn’t make much sense personality-wise, now does it?

I truly do believe that perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can achieve excellence.

With that being said, I want to share some tips to keep handy in your virtual pocket as the help you may need from time-to-time, to take your efforts to the next level … But before we dive into the tips themselves, consider this … How awful are grammatical errors and typos when you are writing for an audience?

It could be a matter of opinion, but if you are new to this style of writing, perhaps using blogging as an example where you are looking to establish credibility, then carefully editing, and proofreading your work can help you in that effort. For me, blogging was about sharing information — and sometimes questions — with my faithful readers. My main goals were always to communicate my ideas and provide information. If I am having a very good day, I might make readers think more deeply about the topic at hand or share a personal experience or story — and perhaps question something they thought they knew. Being completely honest here, most bloggers have these three goals over a period time: to increase the number of followers they have, gain new clients, and increase their ROI.

So, whether you’re a blogger, copyrighter, author, or a business owner or VA writing important copy for various reasons, it’s very important that it be “letter-perfect” with excellent grammar and no typographical errors.

I do also believe that the virtual world can be forgiving … meaning if you communicate your ideas clearly, the occasional grammatical error is forgivable.

For example, you do not want to publish an error that changes your meaning or creates ambiguity. While that can happen, for the most part grammatical errors and typos do not lead to much confusion.  More likely, they create a distraction, and the reader will then shrug it off and move on.

Okay, now let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this topic …

TIPS FOR EDITING AND PROOFREADING 

First, be mindfully aware that editing and proofreading are not the same thing.

If you are editing a rough draft of your written creation, your best option is to read it out loud as your sole focus will not be on proofreading at this point, it will be on content.

Here are things you will want to look for as you read:

• Have you included everything you intended to say?
• Has the content become a run-off and become too long?
  • If so, could it be more effective if split into two (or more)?
• Does anything you have written so far need further clarification?
• Can you find redundant remarks?
• Can you find more concise ways to phrase your points?
• Does any of your material need to be rearranged for better flow?
• Do you need to insert smoother transitions?
• Would using a bulleted or numbered list for some of your material to make it easier to read?
  • The reader’s eye appreciates these cues.
• Does the material end abruptly and need a more developed, organic ending?

With that top of mind, now here are 11 PROOFREADING TIPS …

Keep in mind, you do not need to use all these tips I’m about to share with you. So, try several so you can figure out which ones work best for you.

1. Read your work out loud to yourself — twice. Once so you can hear how it sounds, and the second time more slowly as if you were giving a speech or presentation to an attentive audience.
   
   
2. If your mind wanders when you read your own writing out loud, find out if the program or device you are using offers a text-to-speech feature. With that feature, you can have your device read the content out loud to you. It helps to hear it in a different voice.
   
   
3. Proofreading requires concentration, so if you cannot focus at first, come back to it later when you can give the text your full attention.
   
   
4. Use the spell check feature of the program you are working in. These features are not always correct, but they do catch misspellings you may have missed. And if you happen to disagree with a suggestion, look it up to be sure you are correct.
   
   
5. Look up the spelling of words you are not certain about. Examples would be “compliment” and “complement” or “affect” and “effect.” If you hesitate, you need to look it up and be sure.
   
   
6. Test any and all hyperlinks if you have included any.
   
   
7. Print the material and proofread it on paper instead of on screen. Some people find they can spot errors on the printed page that they miss on the screen. This is one I do quite frequently as I feel it make me read the piece a bit differently.
   
   
8. While working with a printed copy of your article, place a blank sheet of paper over everything except the top line. Move the blank sheet down the page as you read each line. This keeps you from skipping a line.
   
   
9. Take a breather and walk away from the material so you can see it with fresher eyes when you return.
   
   
10. Ask a colleague, friend, or virtual assistant to proofread it for you. A second set of eyes is valuable. You can also pay it forward and return the favour when it’s their turn to need a fresh perspective and set of eyes.
    
    And lastly …
    
    
11. Read the material out loud backwards. This is a drastic step and only necessary if your written creation must be “letter-perfect” or if none of the other tips worked to your liking.

All this being shared, we can’t just rely on automated spell check applications as they won’t always …

• Catch homophonic errors
• Catch typos that are actual words
• Help you learn from your mistakes
• Be up to date with slang terms or marketing jargon

That’s why every tip in this episode is important to implement during all your writing processes.

So, to wrap this all up in a neat virtual bow, it’s important to go through your creation thoroughly to ensure that it’s error-free: relying on a program that will only catch typos will surely land you in trouble. Bad spelling and errors will likely make you look less credible and intelligent than you actually are. The harsh reality, people will judge you on this. So, it would truly be a mistake on my part to tell you that spelling doesn’t matter …