I’ve written about how being a writer is like being on an emotional roller coaster ride in past writing tips. One moment I’m at the top feeling great, feeling confident, feeling successful; the next moment, I am rocketing to the bottom, wondering what I’m doing in the writing profession. Over the years, I developed a thick skin, but there is one thing in my writing life that sends me into a nose drive, it knocks me off my feet, sends me to bed—it’s like a stab in the heart. That bane is a simple, little four-letter word—T-Y-P-O.
I see a typo I made, especially something I’ve sent out into cyberspace, and I want to take my laptop and toss it into the bay.
When I was teaching school, all the teachers took an informal dyslexia test to understand what it was like for students to take one. I always suspected I was a little dyslexic, but the test showed I scored on the medium-high scale. Rather than hide this fact, I embraced it. I would give my students extra credit points if they found any of my typos. This worked well because it caused them to pay attention to the lessons. It also let them know that their teacher wasn’t perfect.
As a writer, I have yet found a way to embrace my difficulty. The truth is, my brain fails to communicate with my eyes. You can hand me a short paragraph I’ve written and tell me there is a typo in it, and even after reading it several times, I won’t spot the mistake. Sometimes those mistakes can be funny, like when I wrote the word “pubic” instead of “public.” Luckily, I discovered the error before I hit the send button. Once I wrote, “bowel” of apples instead of “bowl” of apples. Didn’t discover this one, though.
You’re probably thinking, how can I operate a manuscript evaluation business when I can’t see my own typos? RELAX. I can pick out another person’s typos just fine.
Here’s a BIG THANK YOU to all my eagle-eye readers who point out those mistakes. Believe me; it is very much appreciated.
Where’s the writing tip in all this yammering? There’s only one: if you’re passionate about writing, don’t let anything stand in your way.