Now, you've probably all heard the classics.

There (a place, like 'over there') vs their (a belonging, as in 'their bike') vs they're (they are, as in 'they're happy')

Dye (dying a shirt a colour, hair dye) vs die (death)

Than (as in 'better than') vs then ( as in 'well then' )

And so on

But some less common ones are:

Phase (as in 'mom this isn't a phase') vs faze (as in 'this doesn't faze me')

Bear (as in the animal and 'bear with me') vs bare (as in 'bare naked')

**** Defiantly is pertaining to defiance.
Definitely is the spelling for the word that is an appropriate response to the question "want to hang out?" (If you do, in fact, want to hang out.)

There's many more but I don't have the time to type them all out (no-one does).

Basically, spelling errors in your story will discourage readers.

There's various things you can do to prevent misspellings from being published. I'll list a few, which are, in my opinion, the easiest and best.

-proof read before you post
- get an editor
- look up any words you're iffy on

Misspellings aren't that big of a deal. A few here and there is nothing. Everyone falls to this sometimes, maybe you're tired and don't have time to proof read, or you just overlook the mistake, it's okay. However, if your story is riddled with errors, to the point where it would suggest that you don't look over your stories or know basic grammar, it can make you look bad and chase away readers.

Now, on to the important thing - correcting spelling errors.

When you're reading a story and see spelling errors, you may ignore it.

However, if you do comment, first of all, be absolutely sure that you're right about it being an error. I've had countless instances where people have 'corrected' my spelling, only to be wrong. It's a very awkward and potentially uncomfortable and hostile thing to experience.

And, the most important, in my opinion, is to be polite about it. You can easily just say "hey I think it's actually supposed to be ' --- ' " and more often than not, the author will simply thank you and correct it. But, if you're rude about it, it's insulting and honestly doesn't seem helpful. You're bound to get a negative reaction if you go about it the wrong way.

So please, be polite about corrections. Constructive criticism is far better received than you blatantly saying, in so many words, "You're stupid, learn how to spell, blah blah."

I've had quite a few instances in which I have had some tense arguments with people incorrectly correcting me.

Remember to be polite, and do your best to be confident in every word you spell

x Traumer