Typos Of The World Unvite

Aocdrndicg to rscheearch at cmabrigde uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt thing is that the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. This is bcuseae the human mind deos not raed ervery lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.

I snagged the above paragraph from a post on fceaobok. I thought writers could relate to this because I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say, “so and so found another typo” or “I can’t believe I missed that. I’ve been through it a million times.”

I’m sure we’ve all done it. I know I have. I have on this blog, in fact.

If we have this built-in autocorrect button in our heads, imagine the other things we’re missing simply because our brains are one-step ahead of us, filling in the gaps and “fixing” our typos. This is a great reason to have a beta reader.

If you’re afraid of your feelers getting hurt, have someone proofread for mistakes and typos only. But seriously, if you plan on publishing and are too afraid of criticism—you have no business publishing in the first place. Sorry, but there are mean people out there who will eat you for breakfast just because. Then there are those who genuinely don’t like what you’ve written. A great example of this is a book club. Nice bunch of people—well read--and ready to find something wrong. I guarantee that someone will have at least one negative thing to say. Someone’s gotta bitch, right?

One of the highlights of critiquing or editing is finding one of those gems, the typo that made it through the spell check and into my heart. Nothing like a funny typo or a misplaced modifier to brighten up my day, especially when it’s one of my own.

I have to share a couple of my daughter’s typos, although she’s seven so I don’t think you could classify them as such but they are great nonetheless.

Not sure how well you can see the writing above, but for my daughter's birthday shindig at school the kids drew pictures of a gift they thought she would like. This kid thought a good gift would be "a dick." He must've realized his error and quickly scratched out the "d" and replaced it with a "b." 

Another one of her funny goofs was around Halloween when she wrote what she was going to be. 

"I am going to be a witche for Halloween. With a orange broom. And with my black boots. And a poofy scrt. Me and my mom is makeing it. And black tits." 

The best part about her little story was imagining her teachers expression when she read it. I know I'd be giggling, but I am the mom who rearranged the flashcards so "under" always preceded "wear." 

Here are some favs from the web too. 

So is there any magic trick to avoid typo? There are a few things you can try, but no matter what typos are here to stay just like MC Hammer pants. (You know you want some)

--Wait at least 6 weeks and let your ‘script simmer. The time away might help see what you missed before.

--Write your script in one font, then switch for editing. I start out with Arial, then switch to Times or Courier. It might help trick your brain a little.

--Make sure you watch out for the “find/replace” trick. A friend of mine submitted her memoir to a publisher who didn’t like profanity. The most profane language she used was hell, so she did a quick “find and replace” and switched all her hells to hecks. Too bad she forgot to click on “whole words only” because she also changed a “Michelle” to a “Michecke.”

Do you have any tips or favorite typos? Please srhae. 

Do You Trust Your Intuition?

Two years ago, my son wouldn’t stop fevering and had an itchy rash all over his body. I went to the doctor and in just a few minutes, they diagnosed him with scarlet fever, even though his strep test was negative. I took him home and started the antibiotic regimen, but two days later, his fever persisted. My husband wanted me to wait it out, let the antibiotics go to work, but I insisted something was wrong.

So, we took him back to the clinic and saw a different PA, who thought my son had Kawasaki’s Disease. I had heard a little about the disease before and knew John Travolta’s son had it as a child. It scared me to death because I knew if it wasn’t Kawasaki’s it was something bad. We did some blood work and by the next day, we were on our way to the children’s hospital with one of the strongest cases of Kawasaki's our doctor had seen.

Kawasaki’s is rare and so much is unknown about it. In order for it to be considered Kawasaki’s a child has to have a high fever for five days, spots on the tongue, persistent rash over the body, red eyes, peeling of hands and feet, cracked lips, swollen lymph nodes, etc. In my son’s case, he needed to have five of the previous symptoms in order to receive treatment. The docs also rule out other “like” illnesses, but for the most part, it is a guessing game.

The tricky part of this disease is catching in time. It’s estimated that if treatment isn’t received within fourteen days heart damage is almost certain. I was lucky. Through persistence and a PA who paid attention to detail, my son received treatment and is healthy. So many times, however, we don’t trust our instincts or let others talk us out of what we know or believe.

Although the health and well-being of our children is far different thing from writing instincts, I wanted to use this example to show persistence and intuition mean a lot. I can’t tell you how many times doctors have told me to wait and see what happens with a certain illness. “Call me in seven to ten days.” Well, if I would’ve waited that long, my son’s life would be dramatically different.

In writing, we use beta readers to test our story's worth. Sometimes we get great feedback--good or bad--and sometimes we don't. We can't please everyone, nor will everyone like what we do. I haven't been in one book club that every reader has a consensus. We all pull so many different things from any situation, and it's up to us to decide what we cut, add, or embellish. I think it was Stephen King who said the tie goes to the writer.

Do you trust your gut when it comes to writing? Do you try to please your beta readers to the point of losing “you” in your work?