Relax! Ignoring Microsoft Word Can Work!

Chao- Chao can imagine that nearly everyone uses Microsoft Word for one story or another. It's actually a great program even if many of us use it for homework. We have red underlines for misspelled words, green for grammatical usage, and blue for misused words. They have included programs like Comments and Track Changes for proofreading and editing. We can also see what our work will look like in web format or full screen reading by switching the layout. But what about when we write something and the program says it's incorrect?

Things to consider:

• If you have a reason to place a comma where it does not need to be place, keep it.
• Same for fragments. If you believe a fragment will do a better job in your story then making it into a sentence, keep it.
• Placing aside a paragraph, analyze an individual sentence and see if it can mechanically stand on its own.
• Right click the underline section. Read the information that had been given. If you understand why a mistake was made, you can fix it rather than just ignore it and possibly have someone call you out on it.

Chao- There are also some websites that you can look at regarding these features.

Spelling and Grammar Quick Check (About.com)

Chao- Even though not every program runs perfectly, chances are, Word is correct in their corrections. But it was design by people, and people are prone to mistakes.