My eleventh secret to writing well is to always proofread your work before submitting it. I know this sounds intuitive, but I'm continually amazed at the quantity of simple mistakes I find. It's no surprise that spelling is the most common. After proofreading my work several times, I will always ask a friend or co-worker to proofread it as well. Although time consuming, it's a great habit to adopt. There have been so many times when I have accidentally misspelled a word or typed a sentence only to read that it doesn't make sense at all. It has happened to all of us, and is an easy fix with proofreading. Using correct grammar and punctuation are imperative to writing well.

Lynne Truss, author of "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" said it best: "The rule is: don't use commas like a stupid person. I mean it." This quote made me laugh! It pretty much sums up punctuation, but could also be applied to spelling and grammar. One could easily replace the words "use commas" with "misspelled words".  If you don't know to how to spell a word, or when to use a comma, look it up and don't be stupid. We have so many resources at our disposal, there's no excuse!

With that in mind, I'd like to share some examples I've come across that have misspelled words.

This example was from a nonprofit organization's website.


Although I don't have an image to attach to this example, it's from a fashion blogger that I follow. She wrote, "Happy Wednesday everyone! After a very busy and exhausting week in NYC, I'm back home and it feels so good! I'm playing catch up on emails and letting my feel soak in a warm bath."


Seriously people? Please don't be stupid. Ask a friend or co-worker to proofread your work before putting it out there for thousands of people to read.