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10 Most Misspelled Words in Blogs January 30, 2007

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Communication, Productivity, Studies, Words, Work, Writing, Blogging, Reading , 280 comments

Ok, so technically the following words aren’t misspelled. They’re misused. The reason you should review this list is because a spell checker won’t correct these for you. Make sure that you’ve got foolproof control over them (especially if you tend to write around 3:12 AM like I am now). Extensively misusing them throughout your posts may actually cost you a visitor or two every now and then because some folks do get caught up on these, which means they won’t focus 100 % of their attention on your incredibly valuable content!

1. Your - You’re
As mentioned above, your message might lose impact if you’re not paying attention to this number one word maltreatment. If you find it particularly difficult to separate them from each other, stop using ‘you’re’ altogether and notice how you are starting to improve your spelling.

2. Then - Than
The next step is then to tell yourself that it’s better late than never to get that vowel placement in order. Then your readers might find something more useful to comment on than your apparent spelling impediment.

3. Its - it’s
It’s best to write an article and its words properly for optimal reader engagement. Again, if you still fail to tell the difference without effort, just write how great it is not having to worry about misusing or misspelling words.

4. To - Too - Two
To write two posts per day, or not to write two posts per day. That too is the question.

5. Were - Where - We’re
Where in the world were you? We were at Billy’s and we’re staying for another day. Make sure your blog visitors do that too.

6. There - Their - They’re
They’re moving their cursor over there. By focusing more attention on proper word use, your visitors won’t highlight and pinpoint your mistakes.

7. A - An - And
A flawlessly written article serves as an eye-opener and should provide lasting value. Remember also that an abbreviation like SUV starts with a vowel pronunciation and requires an ‘an’ in front of it.

8. Off - Of
Of all the mistakes you could prevent from appearing, start off by checking out this common mix up. You should have paid attention at school when they told you not to write ’should of’. Or off your visitors go.

9. Here - Hear
Hear ye! Hear ye! Here is a blog worth reading. You can almost hear the distant clicks of new visitors finding their way over here this very moment.

10. Lose - Loose
But if you’re too loose on your writing discipline, you will end up losing those readers after a while. You’d have a bolt loose if you don’t apply these 10 writing rules from now on with greater care. You win some and you don’t lose anyone.

Can you find the misused or misspelled word in this article?

(95 votes, average: 3.82 out of 5)

Putting Self Growth to the Test November 16, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [News], Consciousness, Creativity, Personal Growth, Blogging, Reading , add a comment

After a month of effort in creating this blog/website from scratch I’m starting to see this process forming into a new direction. And that is to not only write about tips and thoughts about improving reality, awareness and gratitude towards life, but to also put it all to the test and then write about my experiences.

There are lots of information to be found elsewhere on the same issues that I take up in this blog, but very few of them actually report in first person perspective how much effort it takes to apply them, how much they really improve the quality of your life and if it’s all worth it in the end. Here are some of the examples of what I’ve been thinking about doing.

I’ve decided on adapting a polyphasic sleep pattern during the Christmas holidays. Briefly put, instead of sleeping once per day in an eight hour chunk I would be sleeping six times per day with 20-30 minute naps. If you want to know why it strikes me as a good idea, expect an article about it sometime in December.

Another idea I’ve been contemplating is a Dale Carnegie Experiment, where I would each week strictly follow a principle in “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and every Saturday report my results for you to read. Some of them are tougher to apply in everyday interactions so I might squeeze two or three principles for one week as well.

I’ve also received all of the books I ordered and one of them, “Brain Building in just 12 Weeks”, as stated follows a three month schedule. The test would then be to read the book according to the plan, follow the advice in it and at the end go check my IQ on a test provided by Mensa. As many of the other books I ordered also concern personal development, those would also be put to the test.

If you’ve found the topic of lucid dreaming interesting, then stay tuned for further updates. It’s no easy task turning lucid and although during this experiment I’ve had four experiences, they haven’t been very long in duration or great in significance. Practice makes perfect. I just have to try and clear my mind from trivial clutter and focus on more essential tasks like tuning into my intuition and subconsciousness, which isn’t that easy for a newbie.

Things are a bit hectic a month onward, but at least I have the time to do some planning for the next year. I really want you as a visitor to comment on what kind of experiments you want to read about. There are of course plenty of other topics I have in storage waiting to receive their content - about 60 at the moment. I’d also appreciate it greatly if you rate some of my entries as that’s the only way they will start appearing in their own pages in a descending order.