Tip #3: Catch typos by altering habits

Content editing covers a whole range of issues: structure, argument, style, phrasing, grammar. Sometimes, though, the smallest things trip us up — especially when we’re facing a tight deadline. Typograhical errors, or typos, can be the most damaging because they are so easy to make but can distract the reader so much from the point of the text.

There are several methods you can try to cut down on misspelt words and other kinds of typos in your writing. Most of them involve getting you out of the habit of reading the content over and over on your computer screen, which is the worst way to try to catch typos. Here are some:

Read out loud

When we read, our brain uses context to fill in missing words and make tiny corrections without our even realizing it. If you read aloud, these gaps are less likely to slip by.

Take a break

Put away what you’re writing for a while. Work on something else. Sleep on it. Get some distance somehow. When you come back to it, it will almost be like reading it for the first time, and all kinds of areas for improvement (not just typos) will pop out at you.

Show a colleague

If you don’t have an editor on staff, ask a friend, or even a stranger, to check what you’ve written. Most anyone will be able to catch those silly little slipups that we overlook from having read our own writing too much.

Try another format

Print out your content and read it on paper. You’ll see your writing in a whole new way. Even transferring your content from the word processor to your web publishing platform will make a huge difference. Admittedly, printing is the least environmentally friendly solution on this list, but for high-priority content, it may be worth it (and you can always use paper that is already headed for the recycling bin).

Start at the end

This one’s not for everybody. It involves reading your content in reverse, either by sentence or paragraph. Again, the rationale is to break you out of the habit of reading your content over and over until you become immune to it.

Use the spell checker

It does help. Make sure your language is set to the appropriate region (i.e. Canadian, American, British, etc.). But don’t rely on it solely — and we’re not just saying that because we’re an editing company. One of the limitations of spell checkers is they don’t work well with homophones; for example, the weak in “investigations took one weak” is a proper word, just the wrong one for this sentence — a spell checker won’t catch that.

Not all of these methods will work for everybody. Pick one or two that work for you and see if typos decrease in your content.