Miss Spelling: The Queen of Proofreading and Spell Check

Miss Spelling: The Queen of Proofreading and Spell Check

Software, Spell-Checkers, and Bots. Oh my!

Nein Things Ewe Knead Two No.

Won (1.)

Do a spell check.
Spell checking is one of the first things you should do to your completed manuscript. Correction of common spelling errors is a first step in the self editing and/or organic editing process. Editing services, book editors, and discount manuscript editing professionals will usually run a spelling check before doing anything else. There are lots of programs out there, but they vary widely in quality, user-friendliness, and accuracy. Whether you are writing a term paper, essay, thesis, dissertation, article, book, or a presentation, you will need to use a spelling program at some point in the process. If you are one of the gifted few who never has to look up the correct spelling of a word, bully for you. Stop here and go do something fun. The rest of us look at spell-check programs as annoying necessities, with emphasis on “annoying.”

Too (2.)

Know the program basics.
One more caution: This article is not a spell-bot “how to.” I assume the reader already understands basics. I’m offering warnings that even seasoned e-spellers may not be aware of.

Three (3.)

Maintain consistent spelling.
Remember, each spell-checker uses its own dictionary. If you prefer a specific one, be aware that your spelling program may not be consistent with the rest of your text. Make sure to use the same spellings throughout your document. Do not say “travelling” on one page, and “traveling” on another.

Fore (4.)

Watch contractions and possessives.
Spell-checkers are notoriously terrible when it comes to contractions and possessives. That is because the ambiguity of the English apostrophe throws their little electronic brains into chaos. As a defense, the bot will flag almost every apostrophe in your document, which leads to tons of false positives and wrong suggestions. Believe it or not, a rather popular high-end application routinely returns the word “can’t” with the suggestion “can blame.” Be prepared for some truly nutty output from your e-speller.

Phive (5.)

The red flag is your friend.
Okay, given that the technology of spelling correction is far, and I mean seriously far, from perfect, there is a way we can make this glitch work to our advantage. Spelling-correction programs almost always over-suggest. Studies have reported that, on average, spell-bots point out 75% more faults than actually exist, (like my Jewish Grand-mother did, though I suspect her over-shoot rate was up in the 90% range). As writers, we can make note of this, yet continue to monitor each suggestion, one-by-one, as we go through a document. Better to have too many flags than too few. At least this way we can use our human brains to filter out the garbage.

Sicks (6.)

Blind spot in the bot.
Alright, you say, the bots typically err on the side of over-correction. What do they miss? Which areas do they under-correct? Good question. Glad I asked it. Thank me very much. I’m welcome. Seriously, this is the habit of spell-checkers that annoys people the most. It is their greatest failing. Huge batches of corrections can be sorted through, and evaluated for their usefulness, but an item that is not reported is not seen. We have no way of knowing, for certain, what the omissions are. A convenient place to start is with a list of commonly confused words. Hundreds of lists are available on the net. Do a basic search and you will find the “top 100,” which include such golden oldies as their/there, too/two, are/our, rose/rows, tiger/cheater, etc. (Just kidding. Rose/rows is usually not included in the top 100). As a regular screen, use the “search” function of your program to root (route?) out these words. It takes some time, but the payoff is enormous.

Pseven (7.)

Danger, Will Robinson! Note! Warning! Attention!
When self-editing your document, avoid using the “change all” function of the spelling program. Do the fixes on a case-by-case basis. Not every “there” should be changed to “their,” nor every “too” to “two.” Best to scroll each and every suggestion and evaluate it on its own merit.

Ate (8.)

Other things the bots miss.
For starters, proper names tend to drive spell-bots nutso, as do trade names, product names, social jargon, non-standard words, foreign words, humorous language used for effect, slang, colloquialisms, and generally anything that is not standard English.

Nein (9.)

This is your final warning.
Remember that spelling checkers are not designed to locate grammar and usage errors, so do not expect them to! In addition, keep in mind that all the popular online search engines are accurate spellers. Do not hesitate to plug in a questionable word and watch for their suggestions in the drop-down listing.

Spell-check programs are a valuable tool for writers, as long as we remember to actively participate in the process every step of the way. No matter how mechanized the process becomes, I’ll always hear the nun’s voice which has been stuck in my head since first grade, “It’s i before e except after c, and when sounding like ‘a’ as in neighbor and weigh.” The lady in the habit never told us there was more than one weigh.

Related Spell Books Articles