Grammarly Schammarly
Tip Of The Day — On spell-checking, Grammarly and proof-reading
This is part of a series of daily tips for writers published to share ideas and suggestions on our craft. Everyone will have different advice on writing, so the tip below is just a personal selection which I hope you will find useful. Do share any of your own in the comments.
Before you breathe a sigh of relief, and hit the “publish” button, be sure to proof-read your work carefully to check for spelling, grammatical, and, punctuation errors.
Since Medium does not have comprehensive built-in editing tools, it is best to compose articles in an application such as Microsoft Word, which not only has a spell-checker but provides synonyms, translation, and formatting.
I have also found Word’s dictation feature very useful when wanting to input text quickly: it is far better than early iterations of dictation, though you still have to check carefully for literals. Once you have finished and checked your composition in Word, you can then just copy and paste your pièce de résistance into Medium.
Grammarly Schammarly
I am a late adopter of “Grammarly”, slightly arrogantly assuming I didn’t need its assistance, and also wary of its tendency to purée output. However, having become used to it, I have come to value it and it has saved me from numerous faux pas and typos. Being on a Medium-sized budget I use the free version which works fine for me.
It is worth noting that many of the publications on Medium you may want to submit articles to, insist on the use of Grammarly, so it is good practice to ensure you have it switched on whenever you are composing. You don’t want to publish something that looks like it is homework done in a rush at the back of the school bus.
American spelling? Mustn’t grumble
One thing to be aware of if writing in English, is whether you want to use American or traditional British English spellings. As a Brit, it pains me to see American spellings, but since the Medium platform is based in the US, and most subscribers are based in the States, it is just one of those things one has to endure, like the British weather. Annoyingly some publication editors may regard British English spellings as errors.
A fresh pair of eyes
Another tip with proof-reading is to get one or more friends to read through your work: it is easy to repeatedly miss our own errors as our brains seem to often see what they expect to be on the page, rather than what is actually there, like the old example that is often used, of “Paris in the the Spring”, which I note has upset Grammarly!
Reverse gear
Another tip used by some editors, is to read articles backwards. This sounds bizarre, but it is a way of overcoming the tendency referred to in the previous paragraph, though on its own is not enough, as when reading backwards we often lose context. These articles explain more about the pros and cons of the technique:
The benighted bots
If you are tempted to use AI, which is included in Grammarly but also available in a plethora of other programmes, I would suggest writers on Medium should avoid it like the plague it is. AI threatens the livelihood and hobby of large numbers of aspiring writers, as well of course as numerous other employment sectors. The temptation will now always be there, when tired or when inspiration is waning, but using AI diminishes your own value as a writer, and the platform as a whole.
I hope you found this article useful, and any tips of your own in the comments.
Previous tips:
Day 21 — The five unspoken commandments of Medium
Day 20 — George Orwell’s six tips on writing style
Day 19 — The importance of interaction
Day 18 — Replying to comments
Day 17: Engagement
Day 16- Attention-seeking behaviour — the importance of your first sentence –
Day 15 — Keep it snappy — headlines —
Day 14- Subject selection —
Day 13 — Making time —
Day 12 — Deadlines —
Day 11 — Layout —
Day 10 — Niches for Riches —
Day 9 — Do your own research —
Day 8 — Choosing your subject —
Day 7 — Reverse engineering success —
Day 6 — Planning —
Day 5 — Location —
Day 4 — Dictionary and thesaurus —
Day 3 –Quotations
Day 2 — Mind your language — learning new words
Day 1- The Notebook
As always, thank you for reading.

To join a new Facebook group “Medium Matters” where writers can support each other and share articles.