For those of us who have ever pushed the “send” button and noticed a typo or misspelled word as our copy flew out into cyberspace, having spell checker is a good thing—you just cannot rely on it 100%. Most people who write for a living think much faster than they type, so keeping up with the flow of words from the brain is near-impossible and also much more likely to result in misspellings and typographical errors.
While Spell-Check is an amazing tool it’s important that writers use their eyes as well.
For example, for whatever reason I find myself typing “form” instead of “from” time after time. My Spell-Check is perfectly happy with “form,” since it is, after all, spelled correctly. Unfortunately, even spelled correctly, “form” makes little sense when it is standing in for “from.” It is hard for readers to trust your content, your brand or your product when there are spelling or grammatical errors on the page. Faithful readers of a blog may forgive the occasional spelling error, but particularly on pages which are attempting to sell a product or service, spelling and grammatical errors can completely derail your efforts. Proof-reading is a crucial part of writing—albeit a tedious one—so never skip giving your writing the once-over (or even the twice-over).
Potential Problems with Spell-Check
While a spell checker can do lots, it doesn’t differentiate between the three forms of “their, there and they’re,” and will not flag you when a word is spelled correctly but used in a nonsensical manner. Spell check cannot help you with proper names and can (annoyingly) flag certain words as errors which are spelled correctly. When a word is spelled especially badly, a spell checker may not offer any suggestions for making it right. Because of differences in formatting from one program to the next, it can be a good idea to proofread both on your own computer as well as previewing what your content will look like once it’s published—before you publish. For some odd reason, while many of us can catch spelling mistakes made by others nearly a hundred percent of the time our own errors may escape us. It could be the many hours we’ve spent writing and re-writing, but whatever the reason, you should either print the content out and proofread from a hard copy, or even read your content aloud as it forces you to take note of each word.
Getting the Most from Your Spell-Check
Back in “the day” we had typewriters and carbon paper if we wanted more than one copy. While I would never want to return to that era, the tediousness of the system ensured that the spelling, grammar and personalization were perfect on each sheet that went out. Today’s PC’s and laptops with their incredible word processing programs have changed the entire game, yet there is still no excuse for poor spelling or grammar. While a spell checker is definitely a handy tool and should not be abandoned, writers should avoid relying on it to catch every mistake. Most spell checkers include options which allow the user to customize the dictionary to include often-used proper nouns, names and acronyms. Some feature “auto correct,” which allows you to tell your program which words you traditionally misspell and the spell checker will correct them as you type. The only problem with this type of technology is that relying solely on spell checking programs can make us lazy, causing us to become dependent to the point where we’ve forgotten how to spell words we surely once knew. So, use your spell checker, but use your eyes and your brain as well if you want to turn out pristine content.
Tags: legal website content
