Writing styles are invariably unique. Excited by a topic though, many of us often rush to get our work published and as a result our style may suffer. Microsoft Office 2003 has a neat little function that can alleviate some of these pains (not sure if this works in earlier versions). With a little tweak to the options settings, you can get on-screen advice for some or all of the available issues that MS can identify. If the sea of edit marks annoy you to no end, then you can also use this option to turn all of them off.

If you don’t yet have this software, you can find Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 for around $130 and the Academic Version of MS Office Professional for $180 at Amazon (You can also read my review of the Academic Version of the product here).

Here’s how:

In MS Word 2003, Open the “Options” window under the “Tools” menu at the top of the screen.

Click on the “Spelling & Grammar” tab. Under the “Grammar” section of this tab is where you’ll make your adjustments.

In the drop-down box titled “Writing Style” it should default to “Grammar Only.” You can now switch this to “Grammar & Style,” click “Close” & That’s it!

Specific changes to the particulars of this function can be made by clicking the “Settings” button directly below the aforementioned drop-down menu. Check the boxes to turn-on or off any of the features.

I’ve just set this up and haven’t had much of a chance to use it yet, but I’d love to hear how it works out or if you’ve had any prior experience with this. It also seems that this is a global setting; meaning that changes in MS Word are also reflected in MS Outlook (assuming MS Word is set as your email editor). Good Luck!
[UPDATE: 02.21.06]
Here’s a link that describes what each element actually does in the “Grammar and Style” options menu. You can also find this list by searching the ‘Help’ menu in MS Word.

Poynter Online – Fifty Writing Tools

A great reference for students, journalists & bloggers looking to give their writing skills a boost (as well as some added inspiration for good measure). The article above contains a treasure trove of knowledge; it is one of the most workable & useful lists on writing that I’ve found in a long time. As you’ve probably noticed, I need all the help I can get in that department. A big benefit…the short learning curve; these tips can be immediately put to work & the results will be clearly evident. As with most things, I’d imagine that by referring back to this (made easier by the summary I will soon provide) with enough frequency, these new methods will become routine practice.

…Soon I’ll summarize the “Fifty Writing Tools” series when time permits; that is, of course, unless you’d like to do it yourself and leave a link in the comment below? Also, thank you Lifehack.org for pointing out this great resource!