Three Cheers for Word’s Grammar Check

Grammar Check is not perfect, but it keeps improving, and I’ve come to rely on it as a polishing tool. The short video above gives you a bird’s eye view of how the combination of Spelling and Grammar Check work in tandem.

Until recently I ignored the Grammar Check function in Word, because only a small percentage of the items it flagged were relevant, and my writing style is, well, some might say quirky. That has changed largely changed. My writing is still quirky, but Grammar Check's improved analytical tools now accommodate that better. The percentage of relevant flags has improved to the point they are all worth considering, though some will still be off-base.

Whether I’m working on my own document or someone else’s, I polish the piece as well as I can the traditional way. Then I click over to the Review tab and click Spelling & Grammar to check grammar. I leave it off while I’m writing for two reasons. It’s distracting, and it can stifle creativity. Grammar Check is rule bound. Spellbinding phrases may transcend rules. Give your Inner Artist free reign. Write with colorful creativity, then use Grammar Check to tweak the results rather than stifling them.

I keep Spell Check on all the time, but only run Grammar Check as a last pass tool. It picks up easily missed things like periods outside quotation marks or missing Oxford commas. It alerts me to passive sentences. Or not. You can set the factors you want it to check. You can select a specific one, or you can activate all 35. Depending on what I’m working on, I use about six.

This next video shows how to select which factors to activate. This is especially  helpful for rechecks where you only want to check one or two things.

These videos are based on Word 2013. You may find slight differences in older or newer versions. Never forget that any time you have tech questions about software, YouTube is an entire university at your fingertips. Some videos are more helpful than others, so if you don’t find an answer on your first try, watch another.

When you look at the list of options, or read explanations in the Review panel that opens on the right side of your screen, you may see things you don’t understand. Look them up. You will always find the answer online. Use a search engine, not the help button in Word.

You may decide you won’t bother with this step because you plan to pay an editor. Please understand that your editor may well be using these same tools, and you can save time and money by doing this yourself so your editor can focus on what really matters. A few times I’ve been baffled about what the heck a client was trying to say. That invoked an additional round of editing and extra charges. Grammar Check would have red-flagged those areas, saving that client lots of money and both of us frustration.

You can find other grammar checkers online. Grammerly.com may be the best known and gets high ratings. Teachers often use it to check student work for plagiarism, but that won’t be a problem for you.  It’s now available as a free Chrome extension and plug-in for Word that seems to work even better than Word's native grammar checker.  Although the installation process is well-explained, many find it intimidating. If you are one of those people, pasting your story into the online window may work well for you.

Here’s to clear, flowing rivers of writing, thanks to the help of sophisticated digital editors.

Succulent Writing

Some people are deterred from writing about their lives because they feel more comfortable with a paintbrush than a pencil. SARK* is the poster child for such people, showing how to combine a few words with compelling images that enhance the message. I refer you to books by SARK and her Planet SARK website for examples of another way to express yourself. Click on the image of her latest book (to be released in April) to explore the wonders of her way with words and art. Even those of us who are artistically challenged can benefit from SARK's succulent views on life.

She breaks all the rules about typing and formatting in an extraordinary, unique, hand-written way. I’d never advise anyone to copy SARK's specific style, but I urgently suggest that you emulate her general approach. Her work spills directly from her heart and passion as it colorfully splashes onto the page. Unless you have the gift of drawing or painting, you’ll likely confine your efforts to colorful words, but hopefully they will come straight from your heart and your passion for life.

Should SARK’s example inspire you to experiment with embellishing hand-written sagas with your own art, turn to your scanner to electronically consolidate your output. Combining your scanned images into a PDF document (think Adobe Acrobat Reader) allows you to print all the pages at once, and/or share them as an e-book via CD or downloads.

The high-ticket way to do this is to purchase a copy of Adobe Acrobat (standard or professional, not the free Acrobat Reader). Most individuals will find Adobe's prices prohibitive. Fortunately there is an affordable alternative: The Pdf995 Suite. You can download and use this full-featured suite of pdf creation tools for free, without any time limit. If you want to avoid pop-up ads for their other products, you can purchase a key for a mere $9.99. I definitely recommend key purchase as a gesture of support for those who make such powerful software available at no charge.

With either of these programs, you can incorporate dozens or hundreds of pages of text and/or graphics into a single PDF document, suitable for sending to a Print-On-Demand (POD) publisher such as Lulu, or sharing as an easily viewable e-book.

I’m about to grab my Crayolas™ and some paper and try a little SARKish succulent writing. Will you join me?

Write on,

Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal

* It took some digging, but I discovered that SARK, the name this creativity maven always uses, is derived from Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy. Truthfully, I like the ring of SARK better than simply Susan, but remember, I'm partial to my own chosen moniker of Ritergal.