Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)
wired.com
wired.com
I find reading the text back in a different font often helps, particularly switching from mono-spaced to variable or vice-versa, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I remember the shape of the words as correct because that is what I just typed, and when all the words have a different shape I'm forced to think about it differently. It is why I often immediately spot a typo without even really looking after hitting "add comment" here, or flip down to look at the preview of a stack exchange post. The effect seems less pronounced when both texts are in view the whole time as with some markdown editors I've tried, which is why I think an unconscious "it looks like what I saw as I typed so is correct" thought is a factor.
Some time ago I tried having my posts read back to me via TTS but found the low quality voices and mispronunciations of actually correct phrases irritating enough to run any productivity gain. I should try that again, as I get the impression from posts here & elsewhere that freely available TTS options have improved significantly in recent years.
Archived copy: https://archive.today/ziE8c
I noticed this mainly with emails, where after pressing send I would quickly read it again and spot errors that didn't catch before. If you read a text several times your brain "learns" the position and pacing of the ideas, so it skips words. By changing the layout (on emails this happens because the "write" screen is different than the "read" one) the brain treats the text as new.
A related technique I use with LaTeX documents is to proofread the output PDF. Of course, that only works if you use LaTeX or similar.
Start by finding somewhere quiet and reading the document out loud yourself, you will catch so many issues this way (though you still risk your mind filling in blanks or missing your common errors). Ideally this will be to someone else, they can help you find issues or question where things aren't clear - but even alone you will get value if you take your time.
As others have said, I then use a 'read aloud' tool such as the one in review in Word, sadly PowerPoint doesn't have the same tool.
Do a search for things you know get missed - one for us is double spaces and using a hyphen or minus sign - in place of a long dash —
Search for all common abbreviations and replace with the full word
Make sure there is a single date format throughout the deck
Check bolding, alignment and fonts
...
The list could go one, but I find that just concentrating on one thing at a time really helps - don't try to look at a whole page and find all the issues. And don't stop - make sure you keep reviewing as the final edits go in, the worst thing is someone pasting an update in from an email and messing with fonts/alignment etc. Just before you submit.
And give yourself time - maybe 20 percent of my time is spent writing a deck, 80 percent is spent editing, refining, validating and getting levels or approval.
The point of a great paper or deck is to be respectful of your audiences time. Make sure that you don't offer them the chance to get distracted by something - you want to keep their focus on delivering the answer you are looking for.
In the past I've seen so many meetings thrown as people get hung up on errors in the materials which eats into their confidence with the presenters - wasting time and focus.
I'd hope it at least reached two or three :thinking:
Yes, I do this as well, using a multi-pass approach. E.g. quickly flicking through checking that all the bullet points have consistent indentation and terminal punctuation, then checking headings for consistent capitalisation, checking that all acronyms are expanded on first use, etc. Actually reading the words is usually the last thing.
- Use a tool like grammarly. Use tools to help you.
- Print out your book for editing. Don't edit in the same environment as creation.
- Read it out loud. Use a different part of your brain.
But it doesn't end there you can ask it to re write it and improve it. You decide how much editing it will do for you.
I've never done much writing primarily because I can never be sure how many typos will get through. I'm a horrible proofreader. I feel more confident now and will be doing more writing since I now have a proofreader.
I have no idea why this is happening. I keep wondering if it's tied to aging, our increasingly digital society, something else, or a combination of factors.
Way in the past I remember the absolute most deadly feelings I got when an actual editor for the first time jumped and killed half of my text before I had done any of my own edits on some website copy.
Writing is highly personal, and others, especially in a basic email, might consider you just excessively nitpicky while focusing on all but the relevant stuff at hand.
The worst thing that the person gets when writing wrong or excessively or whatever is that they will be misunderstood. Eventually it will come back to them in one way or another and they’ll improve and it’s their problem. If someone asks or you ask nicely on the other hand, that’s the way to go, is respectful, friendly and appropriate. Just be careful that they don’t start to keep coming to you with grammar checks :-D
What is the return on investment, so to speak, in business terms, of getting your colleagues to fix their grammar in internal systems? If they take the time to do so, will business goals be better achieved? Will it bring the company more revenue? Probably not. It might satisfy your perfectionist tendencies but it is not your colleagues' job to do that.
Ticket comments are ephemeral, so let it go.
It's nice and makes it their decision.
I'm less worried about tickets; they're read much less often, and need to be quickly written without lots of thought.
If you make detailed comments the whole way through, you run the risk of encouraging the writer to submit sloppy first drafts. Unless it's your job to be the writer's servant, think carefully before taking on that role.
Which is why reading text backwards can help to find typos, or so I've heard. (Typos tend to jump out at me, even in my own writing.)
What’s Up with That: Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14003973 - March 2017 (1 comment)
Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8177997 - Aug 2014 (19 comments)
I've concluded that the overnight clearing of my brain cache — as it were — plus seeing the post fresh in its cleanest version, without the publishing markup functions strewn about the draft box, makes those typos visible to me.
Then why is having fewer types correlated with generally high IQ? I am not buying this, sorry. It's an interesting theory but typos tend to be indicative of lower intelligence, all else being equal. The smartest writers I know of have very few typos (talking about bloggers, so no editors).
But if you don't want or can't pay for it, gpt3 is actually also a good proof reader!