PROBLEM: In one instance, inside of a quote we use the word explained when we meant to use exclaimed. Any misspelling inside of a quote is considered a fatal.
SOLUTION: Check all quotes word for work against our notes to make sure what we wrote is correct and what you intended to write. And don't simply rely on spell check; spell check wouldn't have helped here because our misspelling of exclaimed created a correctly-spelled explained, which was an unintended word. Spell check is a supplement to, but not a substitute for, checking our stories line-by-line, item-by-item and (in the case of quotes) word-by-word.
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PROBLEM: In another instance, inside of a quote we used the word ere when we meant to use were.
SOLUTION: Same thing. And no, spell check is worthless here, because ere really is a word, meaning, "previous to; before; sooner than; rather than."
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PROBLEM: One of us cited the school as MSU, when in your instructions you were told it was Lansing Community College. Then, we spelled the professor's last name as Brooks, even though we (1.) were given two different spellings in the text, indicating there was a problem, and (2.) we were then told the correct spelling was Brookes.
SOLUTION: Make sure you know what you're writing about before you start writing. Go over your interview notes (or, in this case, the text and assignment instructions) before you do anything else to make sure you correctly understand the facts.
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