3 Things You Should Do When Speed Proofreading

We’ve all been there—mortified by the consequences of our own lack of care. Catching typos after you’ve hit send can limit your personal and professional opportunities at worst or be just plain annoying at best. You know that you should proofread but don’t because it requires an English degree (right?) and is time-consuming (right?). Actually, almost anyone can quickly and easily reduce (dare we say eliminate?) post-send mortifications by following these three proofreading tricks.

1. Copy your text into a different editor or change the font. One of the biggest reasons that writing errors make it from draft to sent copy is because your brain is so familiar with the text that it literally auto-corrects the mistakes it sees—making them almost invisible to you. Unfortunately, the longer you work on a text, the more likely this is to happen. Changing the way your text looks helps your brain perceive your writing as something fresh so that it can more easily spot oddities.

2. Read your text backward. If you don’t have time to step away from your writing for a few hours (or, better, a day or more), try this hack. Read the sentences in reverse order. Instead of reading from top to bottom, read bottom to top. This will add novelty to the sentences, making it easier to find errors.

3. Read your text out loud. Even if you’re just whispering away at your desk, reading aloud is a great way to find and spot mistakes, especially missing punctuation or repeated words. As an added bonus, you will likely hear when something doesn’t flow properly or sounds awkward. While not necessarily incorrect, these phrases can be reworded for better clarity.

This is a pared-down version of what we would recommend for more substantial proofreading tasks. However, if you are writing for social media or on a tight timeline, these tips should make a big impact. What is your proofreading process?

Here Are the Top 10 Slang Words of 2016

We’re a lil obsessed with slang, y’know?

According to multiple studies conducted in 2016, the English language is becoming less formal in several contexts. It’s time to talk about slang.

While grammar pedants love to decry slang as lazy or sloppy, in reality, slang often represents the next English language trend. As this infographic shows, words often go from trendy and edgy to mainstream in a relatively short period of time. In light of this knowledge, we examined the most-added slang words to the Grammarly dictionary by our millions of users to determine which words “trended” in 2016. We found some surprisingly old words! Let’s take a look at the top ten slang words for this year. Maybe we’ll learn something we freakin’ luv.

10 Luv

It’s no secret that English lacks words for different types of affection. Whereas a language like Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love, English is stuck with just one. A solution proposed by web denizens and youths is a misspelling of “love,” used primarily in a familiar, friendly sense. In 2016, “luv” saw record popularity, probably owing to the Tory Lanez song of the same name, which topped hip-hop charts and reached no. 19 on the Billboard Top 100. Like many other words on this list, music drove the popularity of “luv” this year.

9 Freakin

Although this word trended in 2016, it’s far from new. The first written instance of “freaking” (presumably the precursor to “freakin”) was in the seventeenth century, when it was used as a descriptor for people who loved odd pastimes, not as an intensifier. Even though this word is nothing new, Grammarly users still added it to their personal dictionaries in 2016. And that is freakin’ incredible.

8 Insta-

According to our users, “insta” isn’t quite its own slang word yet. Instead, it’s a beloved prefix meaning “instant” that has produced dozens of Frankensteined terms like “insta-death” and “insta-fam.” Since the launch of Instagram in 2010, this prefix has also gained a new tech-friendly meaning that specifically denotes something that happens on the platform, as in “insta-lurk” or “insta-worthy.”

7 Bestest

Many have called this superlative lazy or unnecessary, and yet, Grammarly users seem to love it. English superlatives are notoriously fickle, since some need intensifiers like “more,” while others can take the “-est” suffix. Do you think we should welcome “bestest” into the English language in 2017? Let us know in the comments below.

6 Dat

via GIPHY

English has been and will always be a multicultural language. Any one group that claims full ownership over every word in English is simply mistaken, as shown by words like “dat,” which has its origins in “vernacular poetry of the 19th century and was popularized by black entertainers,” according to The Root. Although this word has a checkered past, its popular usage as a chant for the New Orleans Saints has given it new life, and its popularity is expected to rise even higher in 2017.

5 Nah

via GIPHY

Colloquial alternatives to “no” are nothing new, but “nah’s” cultural moment actually happened in 2014, when the chart-topping song “Or Nah” was released. Since then, “nah” has remained consistently popular among Grammarly users, although Google Trends suggests that its overall popularity is waning. Do you think “nah” will continue to be popular next year, or nah?

4 -Esque

We’ll be honest, “esque” threw us for a loop. Until we looked at data from our users, we had no idea this was such a common suffix! If you haven’t seen words like “Kafkaesque” or “statuesque” before, you can learn more about how to attach this suffix to names, descriptive words, and even old, archaic terms.

3 Y’know

We think this one is self-explanatory, y’know?

2 Lil

Image Credit: Buzzfeed

Even if hip-hop artists like Lil Jon have adopted this word as a title, it remains on the fringe of English grammar. But you might be surprised to know that “lil” was first used in the seventeenth century as a contraction of “little” and has existed in some form or another since then. Like many of the trendy words of 2016, “lil” has a surprisingly long history for such a short word!

1 Zzz

via GIPHY

Did you snooze through this list? If so, you’ll love the onomatopoeia that dominated our users’ dictionaries this year. The transition to primarily text-based communication (social media, texting, messaging, email, etc.) has caused English speakers to find new ways to denote body language and actions that would be readily apparent in an in-person conversation. For our users, words like “zzz” and the ever-expanding “hahahahaha” help describe actions you can’t see behind a screen.

Of course, none of these slang words are accepted in formal written communications, and you’d probably be smart to steer clear of them in your next important email. It’s also important to note that while grammar pedants decry slang as “ruining” English, many of these words have existed in some form or another for centuries. Even if it’s not acceptable in formal contexts, slang was an important part of language in 2016 and will continue to be for years to come.

What do you think about the rise of words like “zzz”? Share the luv in the comments below.

Grammarly Announces Add-in for Microsoft Office Suite

Today, the Grammarly team officially announced the availability of its Grammarly® Add-in for Microsoft® Office Suite. The add-in combines the power of Grammarly’s automated proofreading technology with Microsoft® Office Word™ and Microsoft® Office Outlook®.

In addition to checking for more than 250 common grammar errors and enhancing vocabulary usage, the Grammarly add-in offers unique features such as citation suggestions. Unlike the spell and grammar checking tools native to the Microsoft Office Suite, Grammarly provides real-time context for each suggested edit. Writers can easily select the type of errors they want to focus on, then edit their work throughout the entire writing process.

Check out a short video of the product in action.

To download the Grammarly add-in, visit http://www.grammarly.com/office-addin/. Immediately begin checking your text for potential writing errors by clicking the “Enable” button. Then, review errors as they appear in your text and decide whether, and how, to correct these issues based on the background provided by Grammarly.

See the full press release here, and let us know what you think!

 

Ernest Hemingway Liked to “Do It” Standing Up

I know it’s dirty and unconventional, but I liked to do it outside in college.

The first time was spring semester of my freshman year, and once I started I just couldn’t stop. Because I went school in Wisconsin, the passing of the seasons limited when I could indulge in the grassy common areas around campus — but when the weather was right I’d do it outdoors for hours. As a young, open-minded philosophy student, it didn’t take much to turn me on — to writing.

(Please take a moment to remove your mind from the gutter before continuing on…)

There is no wrong way to write: Maya Angelou wakes up early to do the deed. James Joyce, author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, wrote lying on his stomach in bed. Ernest Hemingway liked to do it standing up. Agatha Christie admits to munching on apples in the bathtub while mulling over murder plots. Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables in his — ahem — birthday suit.

As we speak, there are thousands of writers participating in #NaNoWriMo, hundreds in #GrammoWrimo, and countless others putting pen to paper just for fun. During this month of literary abandon, hipsters are taking to the parks to clack away on vintage typewriters, novelists are grasping quill pens at dimly-lit mahogany desks, and travel writers are boarding trains and planes to rest their feet and recap new worlds. Writers are doing it everywhere, and (let’s face it) we love to watch.

So, whether you’re editing from your bed (colloquially known as bediting), co-authoring from the kitchen, journaling in a java house, or crafting prose from a yoga pose, we want to hear how you’re “doing it” this month. We’ve created a meme generator to help!

Share on Twitter or Facebook: Where does the magic happen for you?

The Editing Process: How to Get Started

by Georganna Hancock, M.S. editor at A Writer’s Edge, and special guest in this week’s #GrammarlyChat

When we speak of “editing” a manuscript, people generally have in mind copy or line editing. That concerns a variety of elements frequently labeled “grammar,” but in fact includes punctuation, capitalization, syntax and style matters.

Large publishers offer several other types of editing but independent editors also provide them on a freelance basis. At The Bay Area Editors’ Forum, you can learn about the different types of editing and what each entails with definitions of various editorial services.

To get an idea of what some of these editing services cost, consult the Editorial Freelancers Association and its rates. However, charges can vary considerably depending on the job and the editor, location, special needs and the timeline for the work.

A good description of copyediting is Scott Berkun’s “What copyeditors do.” Take time to read through the comments and Berkun’s responses at the end.

If an author decides that professional services are beyond the budget, maybe you can swap editing work with another writer. Getting a different pair of eyes to review your writing is important. When you read what you’ve written, you know what it means. Unfortunately, your meaning may not be evident to others who aren’t privy to the inner workings of your mind.

Any list of writing mistakes is endless. Some, like typos, spelling errors, repeated words, and missing punctuation marks are mechanical. Others can be grammar goofs like mismatched subjects and verbs. Most vexing are the logical issues involving homonyms (disk/disc, you’re/your) and words you may have heard but not seen spelled. Deeper mistakes include point of view (head hopping), timelines, characterization, pacing, internal consistency in story and similar analytic matters.

What to work on first is a personal choice. I suggest you start with the deeper problems (they may require a rewrite), then tackle the common mistakes we all make. Some writers and editors use electronic tools like MS Word’s grammar and spell check or Grammarly’s automated proofreader, which checks for over 250 kinds of grammatical errors. Even Google can help check individual words (although at a terribly slow pace). Professional editors invest in programs that comb an entire manuscript electronically to find errors and make corrections.

Most people would call my final pass through a manuscript (there may be up to five!) “proofreading.” This is when I do the final polishing of the prose, checking little details according to whichever style guide applies to that type of writing. The more well known ones include Chicago, Modern Language Association, New York Times, Associated Press, American Psychological Association and American Medical Association. Find more information on style at the venerable Purdue OWL.

No matter how you go about the editing process, make sure you’re consistent and thorough. No one’s writing is perfect the first time, so edit carefully!

As a #GrammarlyChat bonus, for the rest of this week my Kindle ePub “Editing Your Writing” is reduced to 99 cents. Find it on my Amazon Author Page or directly here.

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About the author Georganna Hancock finds joy in helping other writers along the path to success. She’s a prolific tweeter @GLHancock who blogged for years and offers editorial services at A Writer’s Edge. She reviews books for writers at Blogcritics and publishes on Amazon.