Arts & Humanities >
Writing for Success
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs being a good speller critical to being a successful writer
Title endorsed in part by:
Results so far:
| Yes | 71% | 62 votes | Total: 87 votes | |
| No | 29% | 25 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesWhether you're writing for school, as a journalist, or as an author, having a good grasp of proper spelling is critical. Being able to spell properly shows, for one, that you have good command of the language you're writing in. Another reason is that the reader wants to read what you have to say, not decipher it and then read what you have to say. I know my parents used to think I was trying to create my own language when they would read my writing.
Isn't technology amazing? We can go to the moon, fly long distances, and talk long distances at a keyboard and so much more. A lot of word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word (which I use to keep track of my word count) have spell-check programs designed to pore over your document and check for spelling mistakes. But you still have to know how the word is spelled in order to use it properly.
Like everything else that is built into programs like this, spell check, grammar check and other such things is a tool, nothing more. It does not replace the need to have good command of proper spelling habits. Largely these tools are overused, and as a result people have become lax in maintaining their good writing and spelling habits.
Dictionaries are a fantastic invention. If you don't know how to spell something you can easily look up the word and not only find out the words proper spelling, but you can also see its pronunciation breakdown, the type of word it is (such as noun, verb, adverb and so forth) and even see examples of its proper usage. This is good because you can refresh your memory from what you learned throughout school. After all, they say if you don't use it you lose it! And it's very true, not everything is like riding a bike!
Besides which, why would one want to type up a paper, and then have to run through it and see a handful of stupid spelling mistakes that need to be corrected when the writer could have avoided those mistakes in the first place by simply knowing how to spell the words he was using. Or if they didn't know, they could have easily looked the word up to be sure. Spell-check is good program to catch anything you accidentally miss, but shouldn't be used as a replacement for spelling it right in the first place or looking it up.
Learn more about this author, Jeffrey Wright.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Being a good speller has always shown professionalism in writing, but is the ability to spell mandatory to be a good writer? The ability to spell without using an aid and the completion of a good finished product need to be addressed as two separate parts. The finished product is what is read and graded. The writer's ability to spell is not directly tied to the finished product if writing programs are used as a writing aid. This is why spelling is not a prerequisite to good writing. This is why new ideas are being heard. New writers are breaking onto the scene everyday.
The thought process has been in the past that the ability to spell shows writing knowledge. Knowledge is the true key to great writing. You can't have great writing without the proper knowledge of spelling and grammar. Editing with a pen or re-typing a page on a typewriter can be time consuming. Writing programs have come to the rescue with spell check! Word by misspelled word, it moves through the paper pointing out spelling and grammar errors, and giving helpful suggestions. The fixes are usually fast and painless, changing very little. If the writing is poor, the spelling will not matter. If the spelling is poor and the writing is great, the story will be bought and edited.
To the reader, attention to detail shows the writer spent time editing. The reader is not distracted by errors. The finish product is the final goal and should be the only yardstick to measure competent writing. Does it matter that one writer sat, and in one shot, went from blank page to a finished product in hours? Another might have spell checked his paper to death after multiple reads over multiple days. Either way, they will achieve their final destination, and a final product.
These days, ideas are written through the internet at break finger speed. It is the quality of the idea that will truly make the writing successful in this new environment. If the writer is good and the idea is complete, they will succeed. If the writing lacks and the idea are poor, it will not succeed. Proper spelling will not move the needle in either direction. Poor spelling cannot sink a good article, just as great spelling cannot save it. Worry about the structure quality before the writing quality is putting the cart in front of the h-o-r-s-e.
As my wife and I cheered our daughter through a spelling bee just recently, I made the comment that I thought spelling didn't really matter anymore, and a spelling bee could in fact be a waste of time because of computers and writing software. My wife did not care for this idea, and she told me if I said anything around the kids, it would be the last thing I would say at all. I would ask her about this side point if we were talking! I think she would agree with me in this one aspect, computers have made it much easier for the immature writers to write proficiently.
In looking at a few of the writing programs, the price range can range from $29.99 to $269.99. Some of the options include: Structure templates, import and export, brainstorming, reviews, story illustrations, outline, spell check, word count, word processor, and story development. The top three writing programs as reviewed by www.toptenreviews.co m show that Dramatica Pro, Power Writer, and Story View are their highest rated writing software. Choose wisely and get the options that help you the most.
I say, throw the physical act of writing directly out the window, and speak every golden thought into existence. Use Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 as it is the top reviewed voice recognition software. It works will with Microsoft. It transcribes spoken words into printed words. This completely nullifies spelling concerns. The program cost about $85.00. Macspeech Dictate works well with Macintosh. It runs on the same Dragon Speak platform and costs around $150.00. This is a great way to write if you can't write!
As we do not write with quill pen anymore, the amount we are able to edit writings before they have reached perfection is helpful to successful writing. If you were unlucky enough to read the first versions of this article, I am sorry. www.helium.com You would have given me the rating version of a middle finger. Understanding that, I edited, and ran a few more spell checks. I double checked my grammar (I probably need a quadruple check)! I made the finished product better than it was at the start with the different tools available to me. Now if I were more professional, I would have done this before I published the first time! You live and you learn. The main point is that even without the ability to spell, a writer can be successful. Writing programs will give a writer the basics when it comes to format and spelling. The creativity and the use of the language are still up to the writer. The actual words and information is the reason for critique and not any miscellaneous spelling errors. The depth of the writing should be the focus of the new writer. Spell check helps keep the spotlight on just that!
Learn more about this author, Gavin Wyatt.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
