So what if Shakespeare couldn’t spell his own name?

Executive Writer

Business Writing Training

So what if Shakespeare couldn’t spell his own name?

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Everything you write on the job will go faster and involve fewer headaches if you focus on your message (what you want to say) instead of the mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation). Nothing inhibits writing and causes writer’s block more than proofreading while writing. Take a tip from Merry Olde England. In Shakespeare’s day, spelling wasn’t a big deal. In fact, of the six known signatures of Shakespeare, each one is spelled differently. Back then, what you wrote was more important than how you wrote it. (Spelling wasn’t standardized until 1755 when Samuel Johnson published the first English dictionary.) Times have changed and spelling is extremely important today, but it should be of last importance in your writing process. Don’t spell check until AFTER you have a clear, concise document in hand!

Everything you write on the job will go faster and involve fewer headaches if you focus on your message (what you want to say) instead of the mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation). Nothing inhibits writing and causes writer’s block more than proofreading while writing. Take a tip from Merry Olde England. In Shakespeare’s day, spelling wasn’t a big deal. In fact, of the six known signatures of Shakespeare, each one is spelled differently. Back then, what you wrote was more important than how you wrote it. (Spelling wasn’t standardized until 1755 when Samuel Johnson published the first English dictionary.) Times have changed and spelling is extremely important today, but it should be of last importance in your writing process. Don’t spell check until AFTER you have a clear, concise document in hand!