For a long time, I have been writing my blog posts in notepad or in the wordpress editor. It works, and it very easy to do. I have been looking at making it a bit easier by using software designed for writing. All of them looked good, but some  are very expensive. I do write some, but it isn't something I do every day.

All I was looking for was a way to write where I could make sure my spelling was correct and that my grammar was decent. What I discovered was that I already had that capability on my computer.

I subscribed to Office 365 a few months ago. The monthly price is under $10 and it includes Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, which I wanted access to. What I didn't realize is that the software has a feature that does exactly what I was looking for, and I didn't even know it. 

All I have to do is open a new black document, and from the home tab at the upper right of the screen is a tab called "Editor". This opens a side panel.

At the top of the panel is a banner that lists how many suggestions the software has. This will obviously change as you write your content. Below that is the corrections area that shows any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Below that is a section called Refinements that cover clarity, conciseness, formality, punctuation conventions, and vocabulary. If there is a green checkmark, the editor has found that the document is good in that area. A red X means that there are improvements to be made. 

After using this for some time, I have come to like using the editor. It is convenient and helps to make sure that I have a readable document. 

One thing that I have noticed is that I don't always agree with what the editor suggests I correct. Sometimes I will leave a sentence with three dots after it. This isn't a big deal. At the bottom of the editor there is the option to ignore anything you don't agree with. 

The software is there to help, and it won't make you change a thing. You don't have to open it at all to use Word to write your articles and posts. What I like to do is write the article first, and then open the editor. I can then go through the suggestions, and edit the piece at the same time. 

It has helped me to write more and better articles. If you have Word and didn't know about the editor, give it a try. And if you already knew about it and wonder why I didn't, I have no good excuse. Happy content creating...