Issue #70

Blog # 10-2018

Section: Writing Tips

Blogger: Joseph Clay

Well it doesn’t hurt and the writing goes a whole lot faster if you can type.

But don’t let hunt and peck typing or short comings with the English language, grammar and/or spelling hold you back. If your dream is to become an Author go for it!

“Do Not Let Your Weakness Define Who You Are and Stop You From Chasing Your Dream.” J.C.

I laugh inside when at book signings and/or other events, one person will always make the following comment.

“Man I wish I had your vocabulary and could spell as well as you, so I could write books also. It would take me forever oh. I hunt and peck when I type.”

Well if any of you remember me from high school, college or in the work force y’all know I can’t type, my vocabulary is that of an eighth grader most of the time, and I can’t spell worth a damn. I was told more than once and by more than one teacher.

“Joseph you need to buckle down in English, because punctuation, grammar, and spelling are important. Work on your spelling, its atrocious. Sound the word out syllable by syllable. You will need these skills to survive in the real world.”

Sounding out syllables is fine and dandy if you speak properly. I’m from the Deep South and spent some time in Texas and mixed the two dialects along with the drawl.

So I don’t speak the English language the way it is meant to be spoken. Sounding out the words with me doesn’t work. If I spelled the way I speak “Dog” would be spelled “Dawg”, “Climb” would be spelled “Clim”, and “Atrocious” would be “Nutrocious”. Toss in the fact that any word that ends in “ing” I drop the “g”, example “running” would be spelled “runnin’.”

Well to everyone’s surprise I graduated college and got as job. From day one there was always someone to check my work, mainly spelling and grammar. Sure it was shabby and I had to change a lot but my mechanical ability and math skills outweighed the bad English.  After the first year I was assigned a secretary and never looked back.

I know what you are thinking, how in the heck did he become a writer. Easy, that’s what I decided to do. Here is a blog I wrote about the change. Numbers to Words My Journey From Engineering to Writing.

I have two novels to this date in publication. I wrote those novels using Word and typing between 30 to 40 words a minute with half of those words misspelled.

My suggestion would be to follow the simple rules listed below and have out your disposal the resources listed. This will help you combat any short comings in spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

• Before publishing and/or turning in anything to anyone that is written  – Proofread your own work then have it proofed by someone else.
• Never publish anything that you are paid to write or carries a fee to read. (Ebooks, printed books, etc.) without having the writing edited and proofed by a professional.
• For blogs, essays, books reports or any other written media that you wish to be read by others at no cost – Use the available tools that come with your writing format choice. Most have a Dictionary and Thesaurus built in to the program.
• Be careful relying on auto correct as it will insert a word that is close to the spelling you typed, but has a different meaning than the word you choose to use. Read Writing Tips – 5 Tips For Better Writing/Blogging to see how this can easily happen and how to correct it.

Have at your disposal:

• Dictionary
• Thesaurus

Here are a few tricks I use to help me with my problems in spelling.

There are times I misspell a word so wrong that spell check or auto correct has no idea what the word is supposed to be. That’s when I turn to my personal assistant, Siri. Of course at times Siri doesn’t understand my drawl and can’t help me. That’s when I go old school on the electronic world and use the Dictionary on my desk.

As for as typing goes, you can take a class at your local college, online, or write. Yep that’s right, the more you write the faster you become at typing.

Writing, whether it be a book, blog, or or article is not about how well you know the English Language along with spelling and having a huge vocabulary. Writing is a passion that comes from within. Something you feel you must do.

Your reward is a simple one, you make peace with your soul.

The icing on the cake is your writing allows those who read it to escape to another world and forget what ever troubles are weighing them down, or bringing them pleasure on a rainy day.

-JC-

©2018 ThunderHorse Publishing