Words to Edit By
Typos and missing words are the first kind of error to hunt for. But don’t trust yourself to find them—especially not your own.
A Realist Take
Typos and missing words are the most straightforward errors to catch, and they’re the most obvious to your readers (i.e., the most embarrassing if you miss them).* Alas, they can be especially tough to see in your own writing. Oh, how well I know this, as an indie author! Your brain likes to fill in the word it knows ought to be in a particular spot—because most folks don’t focus on each individual word they read.
Thankfully, finding typos and missing words is one of the best legitimate uses of the mechanical brain hiding in your word processor. Don’t take spell-check’s word for it (is that a pun?), of course. But if you can’t get another pair of human eyes on your writing, at least have a look at whatever’s on spell- and grammar-check’s mind.
I find that reading aloud—even mumbling under my breath to save time—helps immensely with finding these kinds of errors, too, especially missing words. Just be prepared for passersby to stop and ask whether you’re feeling all right.
If you discover you’ve missed a typo, it’s perfectly natural to groan or grumble. However, remind yourself that it happens to the best of us. You’re only human. Fix it when you can—and move on.
*I’d generally lump duplicate words in with typos and missing words, but consecutive instances of the same word are relatively easy to spot yourself. Maybe they awaken the part of our brain that knows how to play word-matching games?
For Instance
I produce a blatant typo nearly every time I publish a story snippet. And because I relied only on myself and spell/grammar check when I published my novella Dustsong, it too was printed with this lovely typo:
Like the first, this man carried a pointed stick, but he was clearly younger. as well as rounder and ruddier of face.
I tend to feel more comfortable the less intelligent a machine is, but I’m a mite disappointed in grammar check for failing me here. I don’t blame myself for missing it, though. Heck, that typo was literally small enough, a speck of dust on my screen might’ve obscured it. In print, though—yuck! I knew the risk I took, not getting another human editor to check the final manuscript, and I’ll certainly plan better the next time around.
Related Editing Guidelines & Tips
[Specific guideline and tip articles will be listed here as they’re published.]
Godspeed and happy rewriting!
(Art ©2016 by Clonefront. Duly licensed by Vaporous Realms Publishing LLC.)