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The plethora of current spelling and grammar errors on the Internet is appalling. Do people not pay attention to their writing because there's no teacher standing over them, and therefore no risk of getting a "bad grade" at the end of the "assignment"? Oh, the risk is most assuredly there, friends, except now the entire online world will judge you.

Your writing may evoke vivid images, describe fantastic adventures, illustrate heart-wrenching loss, or encapsulate an easy "how-to" process, but most of your readers will automatically think less of you if they see spelling errors, non-agreeing verbs, or run-on sentences. Bad punctuation is another no-no, but that deserves its own article.

Most writers have great intentions, yet our natural human laziness will almost always get the better of us. It only takes a little while to proofread and edit (...such horrible words...) for typos and misspellings. No one said writing is easy, and if you want your message to get across, you must be vigilant and know the rules. Don't worry, you're not alone: Plenty of references exist to help you escape any writing quagmire. Here are some of the most common spelling and grammar errors to avoid on the Internet.

SPELLING

If you use MS Word and you see the squiggly red line under a word, it's a spelling mistake. Right-click on it once to bring up possible corrections. If you're not sure of which word you want, look it up. You can do this two ways: If you're tech-savvy, click on "Tools" in the top menu bar, move your cursor over "Language," and click on "Thesaurus," or if you're more the old fashioned type, you can physically thumb through a dictionary or thesaurus.

Your word processor's Spell Checker program does not know what word you intend to use, so you should always proofread your writing, even after your computer gives it a "once over." Remember, even though your word may be spelled correctly, it may not be the word you WANT. In each of the following examples, both words are correctly spelled according to any English dictionary, and therefore the almighty Spell Checker will not catch your misspelling.

- You misspell the word "plaque," and your Spell Checker changes it to read "plague" instead. Both are detrimental to our health, but one is quite a bit deadlier than the other.

"This is the best way to keep plague from forming on your teeth." Imagine if someone saw that in a dental pamphlet!

- You're writing about sound in a particular movie, noting that the "sound affects" were not high

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