Do not post unedited work anywhere, ever. Spelling and grammar are one of the biggest cues available through the written medium, which is one of the few cues available online. Any writing mistakes will make you seem either lazy or uneducated. Because cues such as body language, or other subconscious behaviours are missing in an online environment, cues such as grammar, spelling and writing style are often seen as more meaningful about you as a person than the actual message. You're not going to turn anyone off because your spelling is perfect, but you will definitely turn off a large proportion of people because your spelling is bad.
Feeling panicked yet? Here are some tips on proof reading work.
1. Cut 10%. Comb your profile and cut out as much as you can while retaining the original message. Are there superfluous words that add nothing to your message? The cleaner and sharper your writing, the clearer your message will be. Make sure that every word is fulfilling a vital purpose. If it doesn't, get rid of it.
2. Sepll-Checker. Sounds stupid, but make sure there is a spell-checker wherever you are writing. You should be writing everything in a Word document (or similar), so that you can think about it, work on it, edit it etc. You should never be writing it directly onto the webpage, because it means you aren't taking long enough. Also, some browsers still don't have a spell-checker built in, so you would need to copy and paste it into a Word document anyway.
3. Read it aloud. Try to always read your work aloud. It is even better if you can get a friend to read it aloud, because then you will be able to hear where other people struggle with phrasing or meaning. If you have to explain to your friend that it should be read a certain way, then you have failed in your writing. You never get a chance to explain to your reader, so make sure you don't need to. If you can't get someone to read it aloud to you, you can always try a text to speech feature where the computer reads it to you. Not as good, but it will highlight mistakes that you might have skimmed over yourself.
4. If you didn't get a friend to read it before, get them to do it now to make sure your profile says what you think it says. This is particularly important if your surveys shows you didn't have a great understanding of your unintentional cues.
5. Now, I want you to read it aloud in a stalker or pornstar voice. Is it offensive? Then change it. Creepy? Change it! No one is going to be doing you any favours online, so don't make them need to. If it could be misinterpreted in any way, change it.
After you have done all that, it's time to take it live!
Feeling panicked yet? Here are some tips on proof reading work.
1. Cut 10%. Comb your profile and cut out as much as you can while retaining the original message. Are there superfluous words that add nothing to your message? The cleaner and sharper your writing, the clearer your message will be. Make sure that every word is fulfilling a vital purpose. If it doesn't, get rid of it.
2. Sepll-Checker. Sounds stupid, but make sure there is a spell-checker wherever you are writing. You should be writing everything in a Word document (or similar), so that you can think about it, work on it, edit it etc. You should never be writing it directly onto the webpage, because it means you aren't taking long enough. Also, some browsers still don't have a spell-checker built in, so you would need to copy and paste it into a Word document anyway.
3. Read it aloud. Try to always read your work aloud. It is even better if you can get a friend to read it aloud, because then you will be able to hear where other people struggle with phrasing or meaning. If you have to explain to your friend that it should be read a certain way, then you have failed in your writing. You never get a chance to explain to your reader, so make sure you don't need to. If you can't get someone to read it aloud to you, you can always try a text to speech feature where the computer reads it to you. Not as good, but it will highlight mistakes that you might have skimmed over yourself.
4. If you didn't get a friend to read it before, get them to do it now to make sure your profile says what you think it says. This is particularly important if your surveys shows you didn't have a great understanding of your unintentional cues.
5. Now, I want you to read it aloud in a stalker or pornstar voice. Is it offensive? Then change it. Creepy? Change it! No one is going to be doing you any favours online, so don't make them need to. If it could be misinterpreted in any way, change it.
After you have done all that, it's time to take it live!
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Want more advice on writing well? Check out Buffy Greentree's website 100 first drafts
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