  Noticing Newbies
This week: Yes, Spelling and Grammar Matters Edited by: esprit  
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Welcome to the Noticing Newbies Newsletter! Our goal is to showcase some of our newest Writing.Com Authors and their items. From poetry and stories to creative polls and interactives, we'll bring you a wide variety of items to enjoy. We will also feature "how to" advice and items that will help to jump start the creation process on Writing.com
We hope all members of the site will take the time to read, rate, review and welcome our new authors. By introducing ourselves, reviewing items and reaching out, we will not only make them feel at home within our community, we just might make new friends!
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Yes, Spelling and Grammar Matters
Unless you're creating a character who is uneducated, don't be too creative with your spelling. And, don't let anyone convince you spelling doesn't matter.
This is one fact that I cannot stress enough. No matter how well your story might be written, how thought-provoking the concept, nor how in-depth your characterization, bad spelling and grammar will turn off more readers than any other facet of your writing. Fortunately, spelling is one of the easiest problems to fix.
If you want to write, don't write on-line. Write on a word processor like WordPerfect (my personal favorite) or MS-Word/MS-Works. Open Office or IBM's Lotus Symphony are free programs that do the job well. You need access to spelling correction, checking, and grammar help, and these programs do that. It also saves the original on your computer so you don't lose it. Windows Notepad and Wordpad aren't your best choices, because they don't have spellcheck. There are good free choices that anyone can download, so not having a spellchecker is not an excuse for bad spelling.
If you question a word, pull out a good dictionary. The point is, good spelling will encourage your readers not to stop reading at 250 words. (the first page)
Keep in mind that you won't catch everything. Some word processors have grammar checkers. Use them, but don't depend on them. This is an area you'll need to study on your own. There is nothing shameful about not being able to spell, nor to confuse your tenses. However, if you don't do anything about them, you're going to catch well-deserved flak, and you might consider that shameful.
Finally, after printing the work and reading from the paper (hard copy) a few times, correcting and changing things until you are satisfied you have a pretty good first draft, you can copy/paste the story into your port.
There are good reasons for this. You want your reviewers to spend their time going through your story with a sharp eye, looking for story elements and content to comment on, not fixing errors that your electronic checker could have caught. There'll be missed errors enough, (there, their, they're--your and you're) being the most common that spellcheck won't catch. If two reviewers point to the same error, there should be no need for a third to find them in any future work. Fix them immediately, look them up in a grammar book or dictionary, study the differences and use them correctly from then on.
Spelling and grammar are not always easy to learn for English speakers, unless they were lucky enough to have very good teachers in their early school years. It's definitely not easy for those that have dylexia, or are learning English as a second language. It's not always logical.
If you're using a word unfamiliar to you, look up the definition before you decide to keep it. Words mean different things according to how you're using it. If you're unsure of it's meaning, don't guess. Your style and voice are best brought out by using familiar words naturally.
Make a good first impression by preparing the work to be as reader friendly as you can. I know you do, but do it one more time. Some errors and typos are expected because no one catches them all. Just remember to put some honest effort into finding them yourself.
Another issue is white space. Add space between the paragraphs (as I've done here) to make it easier to read. It's the proper online format anyway and you may as well get used to it. Remember, lines of dialogue of each separate speaker are considered new paragraphs - space between them. It will be greatly appreciated by your readers, and they will be able to concentrate on your story or poem.
Thanks for reading,
** Image ID #1528030 Unavailable **
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Remember to read your neighbor's work too!
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Helpful Links
A new read and comment list has opened for those who would rather skip the rating stars and the in-depth review suggestions for certain items, such as sensitive personal writings, early drafts, or items that you no longer want to rewrite.
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Comment on "Invalid Entry"
Submitted By: Ash
Submitted Comment: I found your question and answer section about upgrades very helpful. I am planning to get a premium membership once I have all my stories and poems better organized.
Comments on "Invalid Entry"
Submitted By: flex
Submitted Comment: I always appreciate the tips you give on reviewing. Thank you for another good read.
Kind regards,
Felix.
Submitted By: sarahreed
Submitted Comment: Thanks so much for writing those guidelines to reviewing. You've made several points that will aid me in my reviewing process. Like reading something twice, first as a reader then reviewer. Often times I try analyzing it the first time through and don't actually understand the piece I'm reading. Thanks so much for writing an very informative newsletter!
Submitted By: weekendnovel
Submitted Comment: Esprit,
I found your newsletter on reviewing skills a thoughtful and helpful one. As a professional columnist by trade, I make my living by writing daily columns on one opinion or another, and you hit the nail right on the head, nothing toots my horn more than when I receive feedback even if it is in the negative lite. My all time favorite comment was in regards to a gardening column I wrote in which I sarcastically suggested that ex-spouses made wonderful fertilizer...to which I received a reply "Klasner's Korner thank you for your most recent column on gardening, I particularly liked the suggestion of using my ex-wife as fertilizer, I wonder would she be best served in pieces or as a whole." To which I had a legal obigation to report to the officials even if it was in jest. Great job. Keep up the great work.
A Weekend Novelist
Submitted By: northernwrites
Submitted Comment: "Review as far as you feel comfortable, then end it."
An excellent point. Telling the writer what you don't know or what you didn't find doesn't help the writer in any way, and is completely unnecessary. Simply leaving that kind of comment or "blank" section out of your review is best.
Northernwrites
We always appreciate the feedback, thanks!
Editors:
Cubby 
laurencia
Your host this week is esprit
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Noticing Newbies: July 01, 2009 Issue [#3136]
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