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Thursday

6 tips for perking up your proofreading skills




Maybe no one’s proofreading is 100 percent bulletproof. Every writer needs an editor, largely because our eyes seem to take liberties with our own writing. Sometimes we just seem to see what we think we have written, missing typos and other goofs. Still, we can refine our own proofing skills and catch plenty of errors before they go to print or go live online.


NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.



Try these six tips for perking up your own proofreading skills.

1. Read your writing out loud.

Reading silently, we may zip too quickly over entire lines, missing errors. If we read aloud, we are forced to slow down and pay better attention. We may catch run-on sentences, fragments, misplaced words, and other mistakes this way.

2. Zoom in for proofing.

When we write a piece on our computers, we can increase our chances of locating any mistakes by increasing the size of what we have written. Using the ZOOM IN feature (usually found under the VIEW pull-down menu), we can change our whole editing perspective.

3. Go multi-media for proofreading.

Read and re-read your own work on the screen and on paper. Most of us compose on our computers. We can do a significant amount of editing right on the screen. However, printing items out allows us the opportunity to view a written piece in a different medium. We may look at it a bit differently, and we often will spot typographical errors or other issues.

4. Don’t trust spell-checkers.

Not only are they far from infallible, but computer spell-checkers will not catch homonyms. Remember elementary school? Homonyms are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently. (Examples: nun and none, lone and loan, yore and your and you’re, and so on.)

This is a heightened concern for those who dictate copy audibly for auto-transcription. Like your smart phone texting feature, computer transcription programs frequently misunderstand spoken words.

Also, if you type the wrong word, but it is still a real word, your spell-checker will miss it.

5. Everyone needs another pair of eyes.

I’ve been an editor and proofreader for decades. I’ve made my living at it. Still, I rely on others to proofread my writing. You see, the human brain takes shortcuts. When we write, we tend to see what we meant to write, instead of what actually appears on the screen or page. Plus, if we have worked with the material enough, we will subconsciously skim. Thus, we may miss our misspellings and typos.

The most skilled proofreaders practice their craft frequently, which keeps their alertness to errors sharp. It’s an ability that can certainly be learned, but must be exercised often.


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Tuesday

7 ways to sharpen your spelling skills




Skilled spellers aren’t a magical breed. Sure, some folks seem to be endowed with an innate ability to memorize and recognize correctly spelled words. Others have to work at it a bit. But it is certainly possible for anyone to hone his or her own spelling skills.

Try these seven tricks for perfecting your own spelling ability.

Adapted from public domain photo

 NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.



1. Read a lot.

Reading boosts your vocabulary and sharpens your spelling skills. The more you read, the more you will notice and remember correctly written words.

2. Work crossword puzzles.

Daily newspapers offer these. The Sunday crosswords are the most challenging (especially The New York Times variety). You can also find crossword puzzles online and on various phone/table apps. Basically, you cannot complete these criss-cross puzzles, unless you spell words correctly. They simply won’t match up.

3. Play word-related games.

Enlist your friends and family, and increase everyone’s word power by playing Scrabble, Boggle, Words with Friends, and other word games. Choose board games, or play internet or electronic versions. Get out the dictionary to check unknown words. Watch everyone’s spelling abilities grow.

4. Do word searches.

Word find puzzles are fun to solve, and they provide excellent practice in working with correctly spelled words. Books of puzzles are widely available, and you can play with these online or on your phone for free.

5. Practice word games online.

Many puzzle sites offer word games that you can play solo, against automated opponents, or with other actual users. Popular ones include Bookworm, Hangman, Tumble Bees, Wheel of Fortune, Word Whomp, and more.

6. Purchase a word-a-day calendar.

Remember those page-a-day calendars? Why not learn a new word (along with its proper spelling and definition) each day? The entire household can benefit from this bonus. Stick the calendar on your desk or right on the kitchen counter, where everyone will see it often.

7. Explore etymologies.

By looking at the roots (and histories) of words, you will quickly spot similarities, which will make you a better speller. Consider the following words and how they are linked.

  • accommodations, commodities and commode
  • because, causal and causative
  • cessation, procession and recess
  • confuse, defuse and refuse
  • contest, pretest and testing
  • creator, recreation and procreation
  • deliberate, liberation and liberty
  • digest, congest, ingest and indigestion
  • frigid, refrigerate and refrigerator
  • insist, persist and resist
  • lax, laxative and relaxation



SPELLNG IZ IMPORTINT. IF YOO CANNUT SPEL RITE, PEEPLE WILL KNOT TAYKE YOOR RITING TWO SERIUSLY.


You get the point. The ability to spell words correctly is like a muscle that needs to be exercised. Why not make it fun?


Image/s:
Adapted by this user
 from public domain image

Feel free to follow on GooglePlus and Twitter. Please visit my Amazon author page as well.