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How do you improve your spelling and proofreading skills? The first step is to read a lot and learn the mechanics of grammar.

Reading:

By reading, you expand your knowledge. This is done in two ways. In fiction writing and non-fiction (not including articles/books on grammar), you should always be studying how words are used and how sentences are structured. If you study sentence structure, then you should also get a good feel for where the correct place to insert a comma is. The beauty about writing though is that sentence structure, grammar and the general style that books are written in changes with each you read. So, it's a good idea to read what you deem to be both bad and good writing. By doing that, you know what to do and what not to do. It also helps train your eyes for when you're proofreading your own work and also helps you while writing.

Secondly, there are a lot of articles available on the web to read regarding how to improve your spelling, grammar and proofreading skills. Basically, there's no better advice than what you hear passed down a lot: read anything and everything. It helps with everything.

A tip while writing:

When writing, it might be tempting to not edit anything until the draft you're working on is complete. While this might not work for everyone, I find it easier to write a sentence and then look it over for typos and missed words before moving onto the next. Generally, don't spend forever on one sentence unless you feel it's necessary or else you won't get anywhere. But, do give it a quick glance over. It can help you make fewer mistakes and does leave less work to do once the draft is finished.

Text reader software:

Below are two web addresses where you can download some software that reads any text you input into them aloud:

http://www.naturalreader s.com/

http://www.nextup.com/Te xtAloud/

They're free to use. How are they used? It's pretty simple. Install them first and run whichever program up that you prefer. Once done, open up your word processing program, highlight the text with the mouse and then press ctrl + c. Go back into the reader program and make sure the text cursor is blinking inside the text box, then press ctrl + v. You should then be able to click on play and have it read whatever you've written out aloud. If it doesn't work, you might need to highlight the text first before clicking play.

While the voices might not be too great that read the writing, they do the job. Also, it's recommended to use them because sometimes it's easier to recognise sentences that need editing when they're spoken. If you just read them, there's a chance the errors could be missed. Plus, it stops anyone from wondering why you're talking to yourself.

For editing purposes:

When you come to edit, a handy tool to use is the track changes option in MS Word. Simply click on tools at the top of the screen, go to track changes, and then highlight changes before checking the track changes box. By clicking on options, you can also choose what colour deletions are represented by and what colour additions are represented by. Once you've edited, you can either reject or accept the changes made. Also, you can save the file and open it up again to resume editing at a later date.

It's handy so that you can keep track of changes made. Plus, if you dislike an edited sentence and prefer the old one, you have a record of it in case you forget. The only downside is that documents can get a bit messy with too much editing.

Learn more about this author, Dan Cartwright.
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