My assistant used to work as a secretary in two Philadelphia area hospitals and she said that the infection control department at both hospitals regularly told clinical and nonclinical staff members that there were three things they could do to limit the spread of germs. Those three things are:

Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.

This shows how important infection control is in hospitals and how something as simple as hand washing can go a long way to limit the spread of germs from one person to another.
Similarly, if you want to improve your writing there are three things you can do:

Proofread your work.
Proofread your work.
Proofread your work.

If you want to look like the intelligent and talented person that you are, make sure that your writing is correct. Some tips for writing that is both error-free and reads well are as follows:

1. Print it out your work and read it line by line (using a ruler or the edge of a book helps with this). Reading a paper version of your work line by line will help you to catch any typos or misspelled words that come up.
2. Use a dictionary and also run the spell check option to look up any words you may have misspelled or aren’t familiar with. Computers only know what a person puts in them, so if you want your written work to shine, be sure to put in language that works.
3. Use a thesaurus to find appropriate synonyms so that you aren’t using the same word to describe something over and over. Again a computer only knows so much, it is up to you to make sure your writing is good.
4. If possible have someone else look over your work to both make sure your work is correct and to see that it makes sense. No matter how brilliant you think you are, there is always the possibility that you made a mistake or that there is a better way to phrase something that you wrote. (Shocking, but true.)

Unfortunately, it easier than you think for a typo or misspelled word to slip past you and on to the printed page or computer screen. So, if you want your writing to be the best possible reflection of you, proofread it, proofread it, and proofread it again!