Pitfalls of using a spelling checker

By Jen McKee

Proofreading is a vital part of any writing process. I credit my mother with my nearly obsessive need to proofread. As a child I had to submit my assignments to her before turning them in at school. If she found something wrong, she would tell me she found an error (or errors), but wouldn’t tell me what or where it was. It was up to me to read it over again (and again if necessary) until I found the mistake(s). As a result of several years of this, I went on to earn a livelihood finding and fixing other people’s writing errors.

Over the years it has become apparent to me that there are many people who don’t share my belief in the importance of proofreading. This leads to fewer people willing to pay to have their work checked, and more errors going to print. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard, “I have SpellCheck…” And yet even with a spelling checker, errors make it to print.

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