Hello there! 👋
I know the subject line probably brought up the memory of an embarrassing typo for you.
Or, you’re the cool writer on the block with a flawless record of minimal typos. Either way, welcome to the letter, err, typo-killing spray formula of a letter.
Here are your tips for the week (best applied when you’ve completed your draft):
Read it aloud. This helps your brain process information in a new way, helping you catch typos (and even fix your flow as you trip over sentences).
Use the text-to-speech feature to read text aloud for you. Don’t prefer reading aloud yourself? Use the Screen Reader Chrome Extension or enable the reader in your Gdoc (Tools → Accessibility settings → Screen reader support → Ok. More info).
Use Grammarly or Hemingway Editor. Both the tools are great pesticides (typocides?). And, they’re free.
Let the draft rest overnight. Typos usually escape surveillance because your brain glosses over them — half reading from memory. That short-term memory is lost when you leave the draft overnight (or for a couple of days), helping you catch typos better.
Edit word by word. Actually read each word. One good way to get yourself to do so: change the font type or size or both. This challenges your brain, putting it in a new environment so you read carefully and thoroughly.
Change the background color. Again, this works because you put your brain in a different setting (it’s also why you catch a typo post-publication — the setting changes and that typo shines).
And that’s a wrap.
Have mastered another unique way to catch typos? Hit reply and share it with me.
P.S. Typos happen not because you aren’t smart enough to catch them. But because putting your ideas on paper and breathing meaning into them uses LOTS of brain fuel — so much that the brain has to simplify other tasks like correctly spelling words or catching typos in your proofreading rounds.
Adios, amigos.
Subscribe to Content Workshop
Weekly emails unearthing the stuff that ridiculously good product-led content is made of ✨