Section: Commands Found in <b>More Advanced</b> Programs
...Subsection: Composition Tools

Many word processors have other advanced features that help a writer with the mechanics of writing properly. These tools can be instrumental in avoiding common writing mistakes.

Spell Checking

A spell checker is a program that looks at a document and compares each word in the document to an electronic dictionary. If it finds the word in the dictionary, it moves on to the next word. If it does not find the word, it stops and asks the user for guidance. Good spell checkers try to guess what word the user was trying to type and make suggestions. Even if you are a very good speller, you should get in the habit of running your materials through a spell checker. It is a quick and relatively painless way to keep typos from marring your paper.

Keep in mind that spelling checkers are not perfect, and they cannot catch every mistake. The following poem excerpt points out the problem:

				Ode To The Spell Checker

                             I have a spelling checker. 
                              It came with my PC. 
                          It plane lee marks four my revue, 
                           Miss steaks aye can know sea. 
                            Eye ran this poem threw it, 
                            Your sure reel glad two no. 
                           Its vary polished in it's weigh, 
                            My checker tooled me sew. 

(This poem can be found in its entirety at: http://selma.ucd.ie/~pdurkin/Jokes/spellcheck.html It is attributed to Jerry Zar, the Dean of the Graduate School, NW Ill. U)

Grammar Checkers

There are also tools available on most high end word processors that will check your grammar for common mistakes. Grammar checkers are wonderful at catching mechanical problems like incomplete sentences and subject-verb agreement. Grammar tends to be more subjective than spelling, so the advice of a grammar checker might or might not be useful to you. It is worth running to check your mistakes, but it will never replace the lessons you learned from your English teachers or a skilled editor. When grammar checkers first came on the market, a reporter tried testing the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. The program gave the speech extremely poor marks. Many people consider it to be one of the most beautiful passages of American English ever. Use a grammar checker if you have one, but also use your judgment.

Outline Editors

These features allow you to organize your thoughts in outline format. The advantage is that you can choose to see only your main ideas or headings, and have all the text hidden. This feature allows you to move the main headings around and all the text associated with the headings will automatically move appropriately. If you are going to do term papers or other serious writing, you should investigate this feature.