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Friday, April 12, 2013

Wordworking: K is for Keeping it Real with Janeal Falor

Our second guest post of the A to Z challenge is here. *launches confetti canons* I met Janeal Falor on twitter last August and she's one of the nicest gals on the planet. Plus, she can look at a half empty refrigerator and make a deluxe meal while she's writing. I can't wait to read her book YOU ARE MINE coming out May 6th.

Take it away, Janeal.

candle-rommance Thank you for having me here today, Robin!

 Today we're talking about Keepin' it Real. Even though I'm an author, the biggest reality is that I'm a terrible speller. When I was in elementary school spelling was my least favorite subject. I hated it with a passion. I could never get the right letters in the right places. And practicingplease smash my fingers in the door instead of making me relive those memories. Then there were kids in my class who'd get 100% without even trying. Disgustingly good spellers. Over the years, I've come to not only accept my poor spelling, but try and find the good in it. One of my favorite misspelled words that I'm forever typing is: Rommance. (and yes, I know that's probably bad grammar from Robin's awesome Colon Post, but I'm going for dramatic effect here). Any guesses why it's my favorite? I'll give you a hint, it has to do with how I feel about the word. Figured it out? Rommance is just so mmmmm, yummy! Which is why I always write rommances into my books. Sometimes I read a book without a love interest, but the only books I have a true passion for are rommances. This misspelling is one I think should become the correct spelling. Since it never will be, thankfully it's easily caught by spell checker. But I'm forever turning cheek into check and except into expect. Lame word issues that can't be caught by the computer. Two things really help me to catch these.
  • Search specifically for tricky spellings and nothing else. Looking for nothing but tricky words makes them a little easier to find. Notice I didn't say easy, but easier. And the more you do this, the better you'll get at it.
  • Help from others. Because I can't always see what my crazy fingers are typing in my own writing, I rely on others to help me find those sneaky hiders. Once I know what they are, I keep and extra close eye out for that problem and am able to find and correct them more often that not.
And while we're keepin' it real, yes, there was a bunch of grammar/spelling errors I hunted down in this. Probably still a few hiding in there. ;-) Do you have problems spelling any particular words or are you naturally a great speller? What do you think about mmmmm, yummy romances? How do you 'Keep things Real' with spelling?

Janeal FalorJaneal Falor lives in Utah where she’s finally managed to live in the same house for more than five years. In her spare time she reads books like they’re nuts covered in caramel and chocolate, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and enjoys the outdoors. Her husband and three children try to keep up with her overactive imagination. Usually they settle for having dinner on the table, even if she’s still going on about the voices in her head. Her debut YA Fantasy, YOU ARE MINE comes out May 6, 2013.

31 comments:

  1. Hello there...

    Bhavya fellow participant at the AtoZ Challenge blogging at Just Another Blog

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  2. I guess I'm one of those people you hated who got 100% on their spelling tests. :)

    But when I type words come out wrong. I did a blog post on this not too long ago. There are some words that when I type them, they almost always come out wrong. I know they're wrong, and I know how to correct it, but my fingers always seem to have a problem with those words.

    awknowledge, ackward: funny how I have problems with these too. I also often type nown wrong. Pretty sad, being a writer, huh? :)

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    1. I have words I always type wrong even when I know how to spell them too, as if my fingers are too excited and get ahead of each other. My take on writing and spelling-we don't write stories because we have good grammar, we write stories because we have this itch inside of us, these voices we cannot quiet. We write because it fulfills us. We improve our grammar and spelling as part of the process. :)

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    2. Glad I'm not alone!

      Suzi, I remember that post. It really hit home because I really have that problem. Good ol' muscle memory issues. Loving the ackward.

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  3. I'm a true believer in rommance too Janeal! I'm a decent speller (now that I've bragged, I will spell everything wrong all day!!), but my father, who was a near genius was the worst speller I ever knew. He held several patents in science, yet would yell from his computer, "How do you spell was? Really? That makes zero sense."

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    1. haha-your dad sounds like a riot. And I agree on was-wuz makes much more sense. My dad is a science genius too with a bunch of patents. He's a chemical engineer (his spelling is pretty decent though-lol)

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    2. Glad I've found another rommance believer! Too awesome about your dad. If a near genius can have spelling problems, we all can =D

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  4. I love that spelling of rommance. We should all just start using it and see what happens, lol. I have a tendency to mix up words that sound similar but have different meanings. Makes for some embarrassing times when my CP's catch them. o.O

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    1. Can we!?! I would love to see it around everywhere. I've done mixed up similar sounding words before too. Poor CP's. It's a good thing they like us anyway. ;)

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  5. Rommance! I do that with "tommorrow." I'm always catching myself and removing that extra m.

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    1. I do tommorrow all the time too! I always have to remind myself there's 2 r's not two m's.

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  6. I am not a good speller either but always get there in the end.Most enjoyable post.

    Thanks for the visit, much appreciated.
    Yvonne.

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    1. Glad you always get there in the end. Spelling can be a tricky thing. And also glad you enjoyed the post. :)

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  7. I'm a terrible speller too! Trying to get better. Great post!

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    1. Happy I'm not alone. It's hard work, but hopefully it will pay off someday. Glad you enjoyed reading it.

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  8. Spelling was something I was good at. Gym however, was not! Congrats Janeal on your upcoming release :)

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    1. Egh, gym. That brings awful memories too. I was always the uncoordinated one. And thank you!

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  9. I'm not too bad a speller, but typing's pretty bad. And spellchecker doesn't help with the homophones. In the end you have to read it everything slowly the old fashioned way to be sure. And a couple will still get through.

    mood
    Moody Writing
    #atozchallenge

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    1. Homophones are sneaky. I've got a lot of practice hunting them down, but mostly I'm grateful for people who excel at that sort of thing and like to share their talents.

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  10. Oh gosh, please don't hate me. I'm one of the ones spelling comes naturally. However, I did fail English in high school. Go figure, right? Great post Janeal!

    Mel at Writings Musings and Other Such Nonsense

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    1. No hating, just major jealousy ;) And high school English is a strange thing. I'm a terrible spell and bad with grammar but I did great. Strange happens. Thanks for stopping by, Mel!

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  11. Okay, I admit that I am one of those disgustingly good spellers you mentioned. We all have our gifts. That's mine, such as it is!
    During my postings on confusing words for the A to Z challenge I'll post on spelling a few times. Stop back by.
    Check out my newsletter where I answer grammar questions and feature new releases. You can view archived issues on my blog.

    Now, I'm off the read Robin's post on gerunds. Did I say I'm a grammar geek? You probably already figured that out, though, since you have visited my blog. MM

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    1. I'm glad some have the gift of good spelling. I really appreciate those who have a gift and can share their amazing talents. Grammar geeks are awesome!

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  12. I'm also terrible at spelling and sometimes I use the wrong word altogether - and not just the check/cheek thing, either. My online thesaurus is my best friend!

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    1. I love the online thesaurus. It's such an amazing tool so maybe we can share your best friend? ;)

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  13. I've always been a good speller, but I still fall into common traps. Grammar is where I struggle and have to scrutinize later thru constant revisions. But I'll take that over math anyday!

    Great post, Janeal! :)

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    1. It's nice to know that even good spellers can have problems with the common things. And I used to hate math and feel the same way as you, but now that I don't have to do them for school, I love numbers. Strange ho;w things work sometimes. Thanks for your comment!

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  14. Thanks again for having me, Robin! It's been fun. :D

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  15. Great post, Janeal. And great blog, Robin. I'm a new follower now. :)

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    1. Thanks, Margo! And Robin really does have an awesome, blog!

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