Some of my most embarrassing moments have happened with typos. I’ve been writing professionally since college graduation. I won’t mention exactly how many years that is. But, it’s plenty. Plenty of time to make a few mistakes.
1. I made a typo on SwimSwam. I left out a number on my tips.
My process began with a small idea. Then I’d write a rough sloppy draft. Then I’d hone it down into something tight and simple. Along the way, I cut out one tip that didn’t seem to fit. But, the story didn’t automatically renumber itself. Making a mistake like that on a busy forum like SwimSwam was decidedly embarrassing. The readers most definitely let me know in the comments section that I had made a typo.
You can read that story here. 12 Parent Tips on How to Behave at Practice.
On the bright side, I got a RT by Natalie Coughlin. I was super excited about that, so the story still worked even if it was not perfect.
2. My second worst typo was when I worked for a PR and advertising firm. I wrote eight newsletters a month, plus three or four press releases daily. It was a busy, intense job. I was in charge of a fundraiser for abused women which was held at a local country club. In my press release that ran just about everywhere — I mistakenly put in my own phone number instead of the club’s to RSVP! There was no taking that one back. I lived through it by hooking up an answering machine.
I felt humiliated though, when my co-workers relentlessly teased me.
3. My all-time worst typo was when I had my own PR and advertising business. I had some super-duper clients including the hospital’s cancer center and a local branch of a major Wall Street firm. When the boss at the Wall Street branch was promoted to corporate headquarters on Wall Street, he still used me for all of his work. I was SO excited! Then I made a typo on a Power Point presentation. It was on the new logo he had me create for the Western Region of the United States of America. Ugh.
He was so angry with me, because I made him look bad. I’ll never forgive myself for that one.
The thing with typos is your brain can trick you into seeing what you want to see.
My tips to catch typos are:
1. Read the piece from the bottom, sentence by sentence.
2. Read it out loud.
3. Put it away for a few days to get a fresh view.
4. Have other people proofread for you.
5. Don’t forget to proofread the title and headers. Numbers, too.
What tips do you have to catch typos?
What’s the worst mistake you’ve made in writing?
So much to love here…I’ve made so many stupid mistakes by moving too fast and my brain tricks me into overlooking the boo-boos. I love your suggestion to read ‘bottom to top’.
That makes sense! 🥰
I think that’s what it is. Moving too fast and not catching the errors.
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That’s the case for me–typos always happen when I’m feeling too rushed to go double-check my work.
I’m sure I was rushing, too. I like to get things done and off my list.
Oh, Elizabeth! I feel you on those typos. And the last one? So hard when we make mistakes for our clients. Dang! But I hoping airing it out helps lessen the sting.
And great tips for catching typos. Thank you!
I’m glad you like the suggestions, but you’re correct those mistakes do sting.
Great suggestions EA. I get the Wall Street exec being upset, no one wants to look bad, but I also think there’s something for providing great past service and having a strong reputation. The end of the day you do the best you can and you move on!
Yes, that’s it. We do the best we can and realize mistakes do happen.
I like your advice. The worst typos I’ve made had to do with misspellings in titles. And when you do that it is OBVIOUS to everyone, no hiding the mistake. 😵💫
So true! Somehow I would skip proofreading titles or logos, and concentrate on the body of the work.
Good points. For me the worst is texting with autocorrect. The words autocorrect comes up with are terrible. They used to be right on target. LOL
Yes, I agree with texting. One of the worst things is when I’m texting with someone and a message goes off to the wrong person. I’ve had some real doozies with that!
Oh yes, I did that with my daughters. NOT GOOD! Depending on what we were talking about. LOL
I can’t repeat what I did. It was that bad.
Oh boy, we’ve ALL been there.
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When I was in Copr Accounting I we in the group that did the SEC fillings… OMG it was horrible, a typo would get you fired. A group of us would sit in a room and read the 10-Q outloud. Then hand it to the next person and read it again, and again, and again. The same thing for internal publications to the Board of Directors.
Wow. That would be scary!
Although it’s not always possible, #4 (Have other people proofread for you) is so important. It’s hard to proofread your own writing. You knew what you meant to say so your mind sees it that way.
You are so correct. When I worked in a PR office and in-house, we always proofread other people’s work.
Oh, the dreaded typos! Those are some horror stories, for sure. Good tips, though. We live and learn. Reading out loud is very good, if done slowly and more than once. It isn’t typos that get me so much, just structure. I go back and read some of my posts that still get viewed regularly and really want to rewrite some of them. But too little time right now.
I look back at some of my old posts too and want to rewrite them. We must get better at writing through the years.
I’m certain of that!
I do make many typos but doing it in professional capacity can be embarrassing. I do read what I write from bottom up. It’s a good tip.
Yes, reading from the bottom up isolates the sentences so I don’t rush through them.
Good tip. Thanks. 🙏🏼
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I am a typo Queen! I totally agree at how your brain sees things the way they are supposed to be instead of the way they are. When editing the manuscript for the book I co-authored it did that all the time. I could read the page 3x and was sure that the right word was there when it wasn’t! My brain just put it there as I was reading.
I can understand how professional typos would be embarrassing. I have had enough embarrassing typos as a blogger! Spell check or Grammerly doesn’t catch when you put in the wrong name! LOL! Can’t say how many times that has happened. I am thinking of a name as I write a story similar to the name I used and I write it.
Talk about confusing my readers! Sorry!
Yes, our brains trick us into seeing what we meant to write, without seeing what word we skipped over. I’m working on a manuscript and am having the same issue with names.
I am glad I am not the only one that has trouble with names.
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If I want to really check, I read it out loud. But I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants person. I also rarely catch errors in what others have wrote. I read too fast and I’m focusing on content
I do see typos in others writing. I think it’s because of my decades in in PR having to proofread other people’s work.
Yes it is not easy to write without making small mistakes. We have to read and go through and correct and edit what we write!
Yes. Sometimes I see things in old posts and want to correct them.
When I was a proofreader, I found that after I found one typo on a page I would sometimes miss the next one. It’s like you speed up after finding one, because you doubt you will find two on the same page. After you find one typo, keep alert. There are probably more to follow.
That’s interesting. I didn’t realize that our eyes would skip over the next typo. Thanks for commenting.