Thursday, February 4, 2016

The Dreaded Typo

Typos are the last thing you want to see in your writing. Not only are they embarrassing, they make it look unprofessional and sloppy. Kind of like this horrendous typo I discovered in Anne of Avonlea. Twice! 


If you're a Anne of Green Gables fan you understand why this is such a big deal. It's Anne with an 'e.' The main character even says so herself! Sheesh. Typos, see what I mean? They're bad.

As a writer (or just someone in general), you should work hard to avoid typos at all costs. Which is why I'm going to offer a few worthwhile tips, young padawans.

Emily Layne's Tips for Typo-less Texts:

1. Read your book in a different format. Print it out. Stick it on your tablet/Kindle (how to here). Seeing the words in a changed venue will make things pop out that wouldn't before. I'm noticing tons reading THESE WICKED WATERS on my tablet!

2. Listen to your book aloud. Not only does this guard against typos, it helps you pinpoint awkward phrasing. Of course you can read aloud to yourself, but the voicebox wears out after awhile. A bunch of free text-to-speech options exist. I use NaturalReader and have it downloaded to my computer. The basic version is free. Which makes using it even sweeter. If you don't mind clicking "close" every five-ten minutes.

3. Get a beta reader. Confession time. Sometimes, we're just too close to our work. We need an outsider to read it and point out things we miss. Which is why beta readers are so valuable! Get yourself one (I even beta read; you can ask me!) ASAP!


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