I am actively researching something I call "emerging writers". An emerging writer is a person who has finally gone beyond just saying they want to be a writer and is actively working on their first manuscript.
It's a lot like learning programming. There is a lot that is unknown, but learning is exciting, and the potential is clear to the budding author. Unfortunately, the available tools and feedback systems for writers are extremely primitive compared to what is available to programmers.
In the cases I've observed, emerging writers often can intuit errors in their writing, but lack the skillset to correct said errors. Lacking tools like spelling- and grammar-check then causes anxiety for the user. And in my own personal development as a writer, I know that my spelling skill only improved with the introduction of ubiquitous spelling-correction indicators in browsers. I would often try to correct the spelling mistake on my own so I wouldn't have to grab the mouse to right-click the broken word.
So, against my initial judgement that spell-check was a detriment to mean-time-to-first-draft, I eventually came to re-enable spelling check in my own writing tool: https://www.justwritedammit.com.
If you're serious about helping writers be more productive, please consider joining me. JWD is open-source, free software. https://www.github.com/capnmidnight/JWD.
It's a lot like learning programming. There is a lot that is unknown, but learning is exciting, and the potential is clear to the budding author. Unfortunately, the available tools and feedback systems for writers are extremely primitive compared to what is available to programmers.
In the cases I've observed, emerging writers often can intuit errors in their writing, but lack the skillset to correct said errors. Lacking tools like spelling- and grammar-check then causes anxiety for the user. And in my own personal development as a writer, I know that my spelling skill only improved with the introduction of ubiquitous spelling-correction indicators in browsers. I would often try to correct the spelling mistake on my own so I wouldn't have to grab the mouse to right-click the broken word.
So, against my initial judgement that spell-check was a detriment to mean-time-to-first-draft, I eventually came to re-enable spelling check in my own writing tool: https://www.justwritedammit.com.
If you're serious about helping writers be more productive, please consider joining me. JWD is open-source, free software. https://www.github.com/capnmidnight/JWD.