I just sent the first draft of my latest novel through Word’s “editor,” a tool that theoretically corrects grammar and spelling. This is huge! It means the finish line is in sight on this 80,000-word mystery that has tested my creativity and logic as well as my ability to deviously keep multiple secrets from a reader while sprinkling hints and clues as well as distracting, red herrings. I’m juggling all that AND attempting to produce an overall good read, with likable characters and a compelling plot that you, the beloved reader, do not want to put down.

I only bother with proofing when I’m close to a final draft. I usually write pretty cleanly in the first go, but I see, during my proofing, that my most common problems are:

• No commas between the clauses of compound sentences (for instance, “She had to escape the killer’s attic but she really wanted a bowl of Fruit Loops.” It needs a comma after “attic.” And, in case you think I’m daft, that is not an actual sentence in my book.
• Making two words out of single words: “Hay loft,” “ware house,” “any more,” “over all.” For some reason, when I type, I automatically separate the two parts).

I also am pretty, very, definitely, actually sure I use overuse certain adverbs.

And I noticed I was guilty of using Stephen King’s pet peeve phrase: “brief moment.”

But I can’t just blindly trust the editing tool, or it would sterilize my dialogue, correcting speaking quirks that make characters realistic and interesting. It also is sometimes blatantly wrong, as when it suggested I change a sentence from “What’s he want?” to “What’s he wants?”

“What’s he wants?” Really, Spell Check? (or is it Spellcheck?)

It does object to creative license, as well. For example, it didn’t like my character putting a “blop” of ketchup on his fries. While I like the sound and feel of it, I have to admit that “blop” is a non-word blend of “blob” and “plop.” I will let my characters make up words, but I avoid them in non-dialogue prose, because they irritate some readers who then go on to write peevish reviews about the author’s reprehensible use of English If my use of English is to be deemed reprehensible, let it be reprehensible while following the rules of grammar and not because I like making up words.

Despite these spell-and-grammar-check issues, my excitement remains: My mystery is very close to making its first trip to the eyes of a reader. The first stop will be a development editor who will help ferret out the plot and character issues I’m too blind to see. Once it leaves my outbox, I will start on Book 2 in the series, which I have already started plotting as I move forward with this three-book series.