All version of Word since 98 include what is by now a rather sophisticated
grammar checker and reading level evaluator.

You can specify what style you want it to hold you do, and then it will
underline in green the things it doesn't like.

I didn't used to pay any attention to it because I didn't want the machine
telling me how to write. But I now keep it on because it helps me notice
things like fragments and passive voice that are easy to slip into.

It of course has limitations that if you are writing in a particularly
literary or obtuse academic style it may not work well.

The spell checker in Word is now pretty advanced, and can be set to exclude
acronyms and such. It still will flag proper nouns and names and that can
get annoying, although you can also create an ignore list so that they won't
be tagged all the time.

Having been a college writing instructor and an editor and writer for many
years, I have to agree with the people who have said that these little
things can stand out like a sore thumb and call the competence of the writer
into question faster than anything else.

I realize that not everyone has perfect spelling and grammar skills; call me
old-fashioned, but I still think they're important and they are the first
thing one should focus on when trying to look polished. Don't blame
corporate America, blame our skool sistim.



On 10/2/02 11:55 AM, "John Martinson" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> So does anyone have or know of such a program, besides the "spell check"
> that comes with
> your Word or Works program that will go beyond the normal spell-check

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