Asterisk before or after word correction

The asterisk is the most amazing symbol ever created!*
If you use an asterisk, your writing will win tons of awards and make you world famous!*
There is nothing that the asterisk cannot do!*

OK, those last couple of sentences could use a bit of clarification: these are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent everyone who uses an asterisk.

For that type of clarification, we luckily have the asterisk.

The asterisk is a symbol many people are likely familiar with even if they’ve never actually used one in their writing. The asterisk sometimes gets a bad rap—it’s got ties to dubious claims and naughty language—so let’s clean up this starry symbol’s reputation a bit by explaining how to properly use it.

What is an asterisk?

An asterisk is a star-shaped symbol (*) that has a few uses in writing.

It is most commonly used to signal a footnote, but it is sometimes also used to clarify a statement or to censor inappropriate language.