Check That Spell … check
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
by John Bowers
Any writer who hopes to be published in any genre has, hopefully, consulted many sources of advice on how to proceed. Almost every such source, whether book, article, or blog, will tell you that before you submit (and this is especially true with fiction), you need to polish your work.
Polishing means many things; it includes proper grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and even formatting per the target publisher’s requirements. One of the biggest items in polishing is spelling.
Many people have trouble spelling. For some it’s just a matter of aptitude; for others it may be that they had no desire to write until they were already out of school, much too late to concentrate on those spelling lessons. And, I suspect, some people just don’t care.
But if you want to write - and get published - you need to start caring. (more…)
computer skills go beyond typing skills. Some writers were writing back when typewriters were THE advanced technology. There’s nothing wrong with this. Old school typists exude disciplined typing ability. While this is a good asset to have, computer skills separate professional writers from amateurs. Basic computer skills reduce the need for intensive production work during layout.
by Al Kalar Word processors are great. Make a mistake, just back up and correct it. Want to move a scene to a new place in your book, just “cut” it out and “paste” it in its new home. Those of us who grew up with typewriters really appreciate these features. But did you know that your word processor is more than just a glorified typewriter? It has hidden potentials that I wish everyone would use (since it would make my job a lot easier). 
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