Writing Better with Auto-Correct
February 7, 2008 by Lillie
In an earlier post, I mentioned that I use auto-correct in Word while writing the first draft even though I don’t edit until the first draft is complete.
Auto-correct gives you options to correct as you type – automatically capitalizing the first word in a sentence and the names of days, for example. Then there’s a list of words, symbols, and letters to replace as you type – such as inserting the trademark symbol when you type the letters tm in parentheses or changing yuo to you. The list includes many common errors, and turning auto-correct on can save you time so the program changes tellt he to tell the or teh to the.
Did you know you can customize auto-correct? If the words that you frequently misspell aren’t listed, you can add them. Just type in the way you wrongly spell the word in the “replace” field and the correct spelling in the “with” field. Of course, you’ll need to check the dictionary before you add an entry to make sure you spell it right. Otherwise, Word will “correct” it so it’s wrong every time.
You can also create abbreviations for words that you type a lot. For example, in my novels, I create abbreviations for the main characters. Just remember that the abbreviation will always be converted into the character’s name, so don’t use an abbreviation that is a real word. I learned this the hard way when I abbreviated Marilee as MA (the initials for her full name Marilee Anderson). In another document, I used MA (correctly) for Massachusetts, and Word addressed my letter to Boston, Marilee! I could use MAR, which works because auto-correct is case-sensitive. The word mar (to damage) doesn’t change; only MAR becomes Marilee. However, I find it easier to type mari and avoid using caps. This is especially helpful if you have a character with a long or difficult name. Not only does it save time but it avoids typos as well.
Learn to customize auto-correct, and you’ll write faster with fewer errors.
If only it would read my mind and insert the words I leave out …
[tags]auto-correct[/tags]
Being a writer as well, I also agree with you that auto correct is “the bomb”, as the youngsters say.
Hi, Lillie,
I’m enjoying exploring your blog. Just wanted to pop in with a suggestion. You might want to use a nonsense string of letters like “Xytphm” as your character’s name so that you don’t accidentally auto-correct something that isn’t part of the character’s name. You wouldn’t want to change this:
“Marinate the steaks, would you?”
to
“Marileenate the steaks, would you?”
Ask me how I know! Did something similar with search-and-replace on a business document one time. Thank goodness my proofreader caught it!
)
We customize our auto correct, too. For example, we only need to type PE for the company name. If we need the abbreviation for physical education, though, we type P.E., so these two are not confused.
This is awesome, can’t believe i have gone all this time without realising its potential.
I always forget the make the letter “i” into a capital spending 30 minutes going through each finished article correcting it…. now it does it all for me as i type.
woooooo
do you notice the intentional mistake? or maybe it wasn’t intentional…..
the auto correction thing that i’m using is from word
it’s the best at the moment but it does have wrong grammer now and then
Thanks for the tips on how to better utilize Autocorrect. I didn’t know I could customize it–This will definitely come in handy. Thanks for sharing.
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