Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. 
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. Because we sound words out in our mind, it is easy to write the wrong word.
Let’s not forget typographical errors also, a slip of the finger on the keyboard can create a different word that may not be caught by a spell-checker. There are many groups of words that vary by only one letter, such as vary and very, or must, mist and most.
The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing your document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve. I find these invisible spelling errors in 95% of published books!

Now, onto today’s episode! First in the series of Quadruple Homophones.

Censor provides us with a word many of us are very familiar with: censorship, we have heard it in many places and commonly applied to the spoken or written word.  We tend to get riled up when faced with the specter of censorship!  The Constitution  and the Bill Of Rights guarantees our Freedom of Speech.
Censure this involves an official reprimand or punishment.  If a member of Congress is convicted of a crime, this member would also receive a censure from the other members of Congress.
Sensor This is a piece of equipment that responds to an external stimuli.  Many of us have an outdoor light that comes on automatically when dusk arrives.  Many of us have walked towards the door of a commercial establishment and a sensor causes the door to open automatically.
Censer This one is probably the least familiar to most of us, unless you are an avid attender at church .  A lot of churches have a person or persons that light the candles at the front of the church.  The title for the candle-lighter is Censer.
There we are, four words that sound alike; okay, you have to fudge a little pronouncing the second one, don't spoil our fun.  
I have avoided censure by replacing the sensor for the censer, so there is no need to censor my post.  

There they are, four words with identical sounds.  If you use the wrong word the reader might think they hit an invisible tree root and lose the reading momentum you worked so hard to build.  Use every tool available to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to not finish your story. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought.  Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for  #HomophonesHurtYourWriting or #TyposHurtYourWriting on twitter.
Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. I also offer an excellent value for authors seeking to promote their book, see the "Review Your Book" tab on my website.
​quadruple homophones

Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. 

​Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz 
​

Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. 
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. Because we sound words out in our mind, it is easy to write the wrong word.
Let’s not forget typographical errors also, a slip of the finger on the keyboard can create a different word that may not be caught by a spell-checker. There are many groups of words that vary by only one letter, such as vary and very, or must, mist and most.
The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing your document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve.

Now, onto today’s episode!

Altar and alter are words that are misused and misapplied by many authors.
Altar, is a noun and refers to a piece of furniture commonly made of wood or stone, the altar is part of religious worship. 
Alter is a verb, and refers to changing something.  ​Alter has gained another meaning, short for alternate. It has been frequently used when talking about someone with Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder: “She has four alters, two are male and one of them is only 8 years old”
If you forget which altar/alter is correct, you readers may think you suffer from MPD. Kidding.

There they are, two words with identical sounds.  If you use the wrong word the reader might think they hit an invisible tree root and lose the reading momentum you worked so hard to build.  Use every tool available to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to not finish your story. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought.  Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for  #HomophonesHurtYourWriting or #TyposHurtYourWriting on twitter.
Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website.

Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. 

​Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz 
​

   One of the biggest problems you face as a writer, is your eyes; or rather your brain.  
        "How can that be?" You ask, "Out of my brain came all these wonderful words on these pages." 
When you have written, written, and rewritten pages for the umpteenth time, the words can start to blur.  You see them, you think you see them.  But are you seeing what is really on the page or what you remember is there from four rewrites ago? You know these words so intimately you can almost quote them in your sleep.  The eye/brain fatigue that sets in allows mistakes and errors to reappear as if by magic.  All those old bugaboos that you had ferreted out start to manifest again, as if returning from the dead; and sometimes they invite a new friend or two.  The fatigue causes you to miss these errors, or a word inadvertently gets dropped during a retype, another mistake.
   You can ask friends and family to serve as readers, but the very same fatigue can affect them also; not to mention that their interest can flag rather quickly.  Truth be told, they are not nearly as committed as you are to this project.  At some critical point,  just before publication, you need a completely fresh set of eyes.    Many people have written quite knowledgeably about maintaining your focus and regaining "fresh eyes". Some of the ideas include taking vacations, frequently switching between projects, or even shelving a project for months at a time.  These are all good ideas, but at some point you want to publish your work.
   That is where I can help. The Hyper-Speller at Word Refiner is your last minute fresh eyes!  I do not want to see your first draft, nor your eleventh; I only want to see your last draft.  Just before publishing, contact me so I can provide the greatest value to you.  Now you can receive the most benefit by having the fresh eyes of Word Refiner scour out what remains of the dross from your masterpiece.

Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. 

​Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz 
​

The dictionary: refine- to remove impurities and imperfections. to make more pure.

Like a blacksmith with heat, hammer and anvil; we work the written word purifying all spelling errors to bring clarity to your message and voice. I have been doing this kind of work for all types of literature, fiction and non-fiction, casual and technical. For over 40 years I have refined many types of spelling errors which fall into 4 main categories:

1. Misspelled words- words that are commonly caught by the spellcheckers on our computers. Some computers apparently do not have a spellchecker or the writer chooses not to use it. I see this type of error quite frequently.

2. Misplaced words- words that are correctly spelled but used in the wrong context. Most spellcheckers are not very good at context.

3. Missing words- words that are not there, but should be.

4. Multiple words- a word used too too many times in a sentence; as in this sentence.

Of these errors, #2 is my favorite. There are many reasons that these errors are so prevalent, not the least of is that the English language is such a hodgepodge of bits and pieces of other languages, it is full of words that sound alike. These words are known as homophones.

Homophones that nearly everybody might be familiar with includes: to, too, two, or do, due, and dew. There are a lot of them in our everyday life, one of my favorites is right, write, rite, and wright. Quadruple homophones, as rare as a four leaf clover.

Because so many of us have become accustomed to thinking like we speak, we write what we hear in our head without taking cognizance of the proper spelling.

The downside here is that we are constantly represented by our written words, if these words are not accurate then we have not put our best foot forward. We may find that the first impression we give is the only opportunity we get. Poor spelling can cause us not just problems, but can cause us unanticipated hardships. In this competitive world we live in, it is very essential to our success to always be at the top of our game in every way possible.

So write right like a wright for a rite.

Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. 

​Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz 
​