Never Trust Spellcheck
Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Writing Basics and other Copywriting topics.
Never Trust Spellcheck
Have you ever come across a piece of content on the web and wondered if the copywriter learned how to spell in a truck stop bathroom or by watching the Police Academy movies? Chances are the writer in question left their spelling and grammar checking to the trusty, old spell check on their computer.
While spell checking systems do an okay (read horrible) job of checking the writer's spelling they often leave much to be desired. Even if your spell check catches all of the misspellings there is a good chance it will miss grammatical errors and when a wrong word is used.
The best way to ensure your web copy is the best it can be you should avoid publishing it until you perform the following:
- Read the copy aloud and listen for writing that doesn't sound right.
- Get a second set of eyes to look at your writing and ask them to point out mistakes
- Put the copywriting down and come back to it later. Sometimes you will notice things you missed the second time around.
Comments
4/22/2010 9:12:56 PMJack Busch said:
c-c-c-c-case in point:
"PENGUIN Group Australia turns over $120 million a year from printing words but a one-word misprint has cost it dearly.
The publishing company was forced to pulp and reprint 7000 copies of Pasta Bible last week after a recipe called for "salt and freshly ground black people" — instead of pepper — to be added to the spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto."
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/hot-water-over-spell-check-20100417-sksv.html
Don't eat the pasta! It's people! PEEEEOPPLE!
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jeffery Loquist |
