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This child will grow up to be an editor. He has printed out his letter to Santa and is tricking his mind's eye by imagining the neighborhood bully wrote it. That way he will see every error and correct it before hitting send. Santa appreciates error-free letters. |
Hacks for the holidays - our gift to you!
'Tis the season of giving and this year we're bypassing pricey presents to gift you something
so much better: invaluable editing hacks! That's right, our best tricks for producing error-free text.
If you're wondering how we can give this treasure away,
oh pshaw. We're just big-hearted editor types who sympathize with anyone who has labored to perfect the same text for hours, hit send, then found a typo when the text went public in print or on the web.
Most editing errors occur because you look at the text for so long you stop seeing clearly. The technical term for this condition is "word blindness." It means your eyes have lost their ability to detect errors because the brain thinks it knows every word in the piece.
Our holiday gift hacks fake out your brain so it can see familiar text with fresh eyes and detect errors. Here goes:
- DO read what you've written out loud. This makes you slow down, which helps you catch those devilish typos.
- DON'T proofread on a computer screen. Print out the text, proof it on paper and fewer errors will get by.
- DO bump up the font size. Extra-large text makes boo-boos harder to miss.
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DON'T always read from beginning to end. Reading from last word to first will absolutely force you to focus.
- DO pretend the copy was written by someone you don't like. Use your red pen as a weapon. You'll be amazed how sharp-eyed you'll become!
Quiz: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas editing challenge
How good an editor are you ... especially with text you have read many times? Take our
'Twas the Night Before Christmas editing challenge. Can you find the 12 mistakes in the first three stanzas?
For answers, click here.
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When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not creature was stiring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chinmey with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be their;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visons of sugar-plums danced in thier heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winters nap,
When out on the laun there arose such a clatter,
I spring from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the widow I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and through up the sash.
Need help with writing or editing content for your website, blog, email newsletter or brochure? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email kiml@hollistercreative.com.
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