Our writing lesson for today is on editing and proofreading. Even though some people use them interchangeably, they are two different stages of the writing process. Editing is the first thing you do after your first draft.

Here, you reread your work to check for content, problems in grammar, good and smooth transitions between paragraphs, clarity, style, syntax, etc.

Proofreading is the final stage of the writing process; its focus should be on surface errors such as minor grammatical mistakes, wrong spelling, and punctuation errors. We can't go deep into the nitty gritty of editing and proofreading because of space constraints, but let me spend some little time to help build your proofreading skills in spelling.

Spelling mistakes could be awful, and can mar your great ideas in print. Many spelling mistakes are caused by careless haste, and so it is advisable not to only proofread difficult words, but also simple words that may have been misspelt through carelessness.

As a rule, write "ie" when the sound is long "e"; for example: grief, relieve, and believe. An exception is when "ie" is used after a "c"; eg. deceive, conceive, and receive.

The second rule is to write "ei" when the sound is not a long "e"; eg. sleigh, freight, and foreign. Exceptions are friend, soldier, and mischief.

Folks, I want to continue today’s article with a brief history of the Gonja Kingdom. The official title of the Gonja Traditional Paramountcy is Yagbonwura which means Owner of a large household. The founder of the Gonja Kingdom was Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa. Currently, Yagbonwura Tuntumba Boresa 1, known in private life as Sulemana Jakpa is the King and Overload of the people of Gonjaland.

With President Mahama as a Gonja, I found it interesting when Opana and Yaanom crowned him Naa Dumsorwura. What a fantastic name! If he is the Owner and Overlord of dumsor, then praise the Lord! This is becoming scientifically interesting, an Overload of dumsor has absolute control over dumsor and can turn it around at will. And that was why he was able to fix it in 2016 before exiting office.

But almost 8 years down the lane, Akufo-Addo and Bawumia could not sustain the solution proffered by President John Mahama, plunging the entire country back into prolonged indeterminate outages which are affecting not only residential consumers but also businesses. This is having a severe negative effect on productivity and economic growth.

That notwithstanding, there is good news! The Overlord of dumsor, John Dramani Mahama has the wherewithal to handle this biting energy crisis if he becomes the next president of the Republic of Ghana because he has done it before.