It occurred to me today as I was editing a client’s book
that I could offer some very simple but very good advice for anyone who writes
things for others to read.
If you write
- Books
- Newsletters
- Papers
- Articles
- Letters
- E-mails
What's my advice? Use a dictionary. Preferably Merriam-Webster’s (if you are
writing in US English). Webster’s is available for free online and it’s a very
user-friendly dictionary.
You might be surprised to know how many times I look things up
on Webster’s through the course of a day. I’m often surprised how many times I
use it, and I think often how lost I’d be without it.
I access it for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I just have
a brain cramp and need to double-check a spelling. Sometimes, I’m not sure if I
need the open version or the hyphenated version of a word, such as double-check
in the previous sentence. Double check is a noun. Double-check is a verb. I’ve
looked it up before, but I double-checked it just now to be sure I used the
right one.
Sometimes I access Webster’s when I’m not sure if I need a
hyphen between a prefix and its root. Sometimes I check on capitalization. (A
client recently used “promised land,” and I wanted to see if it should be
capitalized or not. Curious about the answer? Look it up!)
Webster’s is really helpful and it provides sentence
examples for most of its entries as well. Play around on it to see how useful
and friendly it is. If you care about your writing and can’t hire an editor to
check your work, Webster’s could be your new best friend.
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