Writer's Workshop #2: Hau too Spel Gud

Hello everyone! It's time for another round of Writer's Workshop!
Today's Lesson: Spelling.

Honestly, spelling is really simple. I almost never have a problem with it. The trick, I think, is to think about words as having meaning, not just being letters grouped together to make sounds. For example, they're/their/there. It's pretty much impossible for me to mess those up. Why? Because each word has parts to it that click together to make a whole. They're is made up of these parts: they, are, apostrophe. Put the "they" in, add the "are," cut the "a." See how I built the word in my mind, rather than just wrote it? That's the key to spelling. It will work for anything, even antidisestablishmentarianism or pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Just build the words! Their is built like this: they, possessive. (You have to know how to form the possessive, but that's a different lesson.) And there is exactly what it looks like.

The same will go for other words that people mess up so frequently, like its/it's. It's is built like this: it, is, apostrophe. Its, likewise, is built like this: it, possessive. There's no apostrophe to worry about here. (This is probably a different problem, in that people confuse the possessive of pronouns, like its, whose, and hers, with the possessive of regular nouns, like Daniel's, the bridge's, or Luna's.)

Other words I don't want you to mess up any more:

Pinkie Pie: Okay, this one isn't that common, but I'll bring it up, being on FiMFiction and all. Just remember, there are no y's in Pinkie Pie.

breath/breathe: Breathe is the action. The way I remember this is that "breathing" drops the "e." Also, the extra e is what makes it a verb.

affect/effect: Oh, boy. This one. The general rule is "a is for actions." So you affect your surroundings, and effects wear off. ADVANCED ENGLISH ALERT! However, you can use affect as a noun and effect as a verb. When effect is a verb, it kinda means getting stuff done. Like, say, "effecting a hasty retreat." Affect as a noun is more of a psychology thing, and it means emotions. END AEA

read/red, lead/led: Thought I'd mention this. When "lead" goes to past tense, it becomes "led." However, "read" stays exactly the same. "Red" is a color, not a verb.

Than/then: Here's the best way for me to explain it: Have you ever done logic in math class? You know, "if, then" statements? That's what "then" is used for. First one thing, then another. If this is true, then that is also true. "Than" on the other hand, is always used for comparisons. I am stronger than you. I have nothing better to do than to watch you play. Once you keep that in your mind, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

thorough/through/though: No, those are actually three different words. It's hard to tell, so let me space 'em out for you. "Thorough" means "doing everything." "Through" (no O) is a preposition, like "through the looking glass." And though (no R) is used the same way you use "although," more or less.

To/too/two: Honestly, I hope this one is just typos. To is a preposition, too is an adverb, and two is a number. Today, I brought two toucans to class at 2:02, but two toucans was too many to bring. Oh, you two brought two toucans, too? Too many

Ah, while I'm here being picky, less/fewer. Less is for "collective nouns," like money, pride, or time. Fewer is for anything else, like coins, stars, or toucans. Same thing with much/many. Those aren't spelling mistakes, but they're worth mentioning, dang it!

Those are some basic ones to look at. Unfortunately, the "build words up" concept doesn't work for simple words with complex roots, like "rhythm" or "syzygy." You're just gonna have to learn those. And last tip for spelling errors: always check the red squigglies. If it's a pony-ism (like "forehoof"), a dialect issue (like "Ah can't see ya, Twi"), or character names (like "Fluttershy" or "Celestia"), then don't worry, but otherwise, your word checker is probably right.

Bonus Ending!
Have you ever seen anyone build "antidisestablishmentarianism?" It's actually really fun to watch.
establish
establishment
disestablishment
antidisestablishment
antidisestalishmentary
antidisestablishmentarian
antidisestablishmentarianism.
Whew! That was tough. And, just by watching it, you can kind of tell what it means! (Although, you do have to know that disestablishment is the separation of church and state.)
You can do it with pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis too. pneumono- means lung, -ultramicroscopic- describes the dust, -silico- is the material of the dust, essentially, -volcano- is straightforward, and -coniosis fits with pneumono- to describe a specific lung condition. By knowing what each little piece means, it'll keep in mind how to spell it.