Spelling

[Former Member]

I am a reasonably intelligent person; however, my spelling skills are sub-standard to state it mildly. I have seven dictionary & thesaurus apps on my iPad and I rely heavily on spellchecker in Pages, iWorks, Word, etc... I still have a very difficult time spelling some of the most basic words. This deficiency causes much frustration and at time embarrassment.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I may improve this? Does anyone else experience this?

 

It's bad enough that I am overly self-consciences about sharing my writings and this is only magnified whenever someone, albeit politely, points out spelling errors.

[layla]

My spelling is horrible most days, I rely on spell check, dictionary, google, and my editor to catch my mistakes and I do mean with basic words too, I was in my 30s before I started to properly use your and you're correctly, so I feel your pain. The more you write, the most you'll come to fix the more common mistakes you make, and for the rest, there's great technology and getting yourself an editor can help a great deal too.

[Cia]

Read, read, read. The more words you 'know' the more words you can spell. Our minds typically begin to know how to spell words by seeing them often. This works for most people, though not everyone, and it is the best when started as a young child. The second thing you can do is actively learn. Research common spelling mistakes and grammar rules like break and brake, theirs and there, conscience and conscious. The English language is a cluster of contradictory rules and exceptions, but a good writer should make the effort, otherwise they will never have great stories.

 

Relying on spellcheck isn't going to cut it because just putting in the wrong letters won't trigger a 'this is spelled incorrectly' if you are using the wrong word. It happens to all of us; you're researching, or writing, or reading, and you find out that you're doing things improperly. I used to use 'alright' all the time until I finally learned that is should always be 'all right'. I learned; I pass along that tip. Even if you're not in school, you can be learning, scratch that, you should be learning.

 

If you have a hard time figuring that stuff out on your own, find a beta or editor online or in your real life. Realize that everyone makes mistakes and if you don't want the masses to see-and comment-on yours then you need fresh eyes and a different person to help you find them. Finding a good working relationship means you have to be open to input and and learn to fix the mistakes you didn't know you were making.

[Andy78]

Layla and Cia are right.  The more you write, and the more you read, the more your spelling will improve.  There really is no quick and easy fix, though an editor or beta reader should be able to pick up most, if not all, spelling errors you may have missed.

 

The only problem with relying on spellcheckers is that they will only pick up spelling errors, so they won't flag up "you're" when you actually mean "your", or "saw" when you meant "sore".  Remember, nothing beats a pair of human eyes.

 

I used to write a large number of essays for English and history when I was in secondary school (high school), so my spelling improved quite quickly.

Edited February 11, 2013 by andy021278

[rustle]

Most spelling errors after you run spell check or = are homonyms - words which sound alike, but have different spellings and meanings. If somebody changes your spelling, look up the two spellings - the original and the correction. You may find the original spelling won't give your sentence the same meaning you intended, or your editor is wrong. Either way, you'll know because you did the research, not because somebody told you something. And you'll probably remember the words next time.

 

Editors are there to find mistakes, make corrections, and ask questions when your intent is not clear to them in the writing. It's too easy to overlook your own mistakes. If you always spell a word wrong, you won't catch it. You may assume you've already said something you haven't, by automatically "filling in the blank" mentally, and not realize you've done it. If you have somebody working with you, you have an opportunity to learn something. Don't feel like it's all one-sided. We've all got something to learn, and we've all got something to teach.

[MikeL]

I agree with Cia, Andy, and Rustle on spellcheck.  It really is limited in its usefulness.  It will only tell you if you have typed a spelling that doesn't exist.  Type any word correctly and it takes a pass, never mind that you picked the wrong word.  Your knowledge of the language is the only reliable tool.

[Ieshwar]

It happens to everyone, believe me. You don't have to feel very self-conscious, though I do understand what you mean.

 

Like the others said, the real solution is to read and write a lot. It doesn't have to be anything serious or a 500-page book. Choose anything you would like to read. Like a magazine, a children's story, or even celebrity gossips. It's just about reading and develop that thirst of reading.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Cheers

Ieshwar

[DarkestFey]

I agree with all of the comments above. And as a fellow mis-speller I rely heavily on dictionary.com to assist with many of my spelling errors. However, as has been pointed out above, language usage is just as confusing, if not more so, than spelling.

 

My favorite book on usage is called 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk, Jr. and E B White. It covers everything from punctuation issues to misused words. If funds are short or you just don't want to invest in the book, much of their advice can be found littered through the internet. Here is a pamphlet from WSU on commonly misused words and although it is attributed to a different book is nearly identical to the list in EoS: http://wsuonline.weber.edu/wrh/words.htm .

 

One last thing, writer’s write.  Don’t be afraid to ask someone to edit your work if you are self-conscious about your spelling errors, but please don’t let that inhibit your creativity.

 

Good luck and write on!

 

DF

[Xtro]

Generally I would agree with everything said in here.  Read and write as much as you can - it's the familiarity which makes it easier as you go long.  The only really good thing about spelinge chuggers is the autocorrect facility.  I'm an old copy typist, and sometimes the keys get hit the wrong order - classic is teh for the - it's part of what the keyboard layout is designed to do - slow the typist down (back when there were manual tripewriters with proper mechanics) - and don't forget, Shakespeare invented dozens of words that had never existed before he wrote them, so the same can go for your writing.

 

Strunk & White is something I am iffy about - there are no hard and fast rules regarding starting a sentence or a paragraph with 'But' or 'And' - and the use of a comma before 'and' has been something I look at (it is supposedly wrong, however, when used with punctuation and the rhythms of the words/material, it is often better to comma than to run on, and on, and on, and on... )

 

(Also brackets are a tool of the devil...) (Ooooops!)

[Rilbur]

Just to throw it in... I can't get it's vs its right consistently.  I seriously can never remember which is which.

 

What you have to do it just keep trying.  Read, read, read -- and read professional work.  Otherwise, you run the risk of 'encoding' common mistakes in whatever your reading (for example, I can tell when a writer reads a lot of nifty because their characters 'shutter' over something instead of 'shudder').