Small Misteaks Make A Big Deference
Typos and cut-and-paste errors are as common as flies. No matter how much I try to keep a hawk's eye out, sometimes those sneaky little bastards sneak through.
Especially when I'm in a rush.
Especially when I'm stressed.
Especially when I'm tired. Especially when I'm tired, stressed and in a rush.
Sometimes it's small things like they instead of the, other times, it's big things like misspelling a product name or writing cannot when you meant can. Things that can cost lost of money. (Check out this very expensive mistake someone at Macy's made.)
Four things to do to make sure what you've written makes sense:
Take a break: Seriously. Step away from the computer. Go outside. Look at the sun or something.
Read it backwards: Start from the last sentence and go from there.
Read it out loud: You will hear things your eyes won't see.
Give it to someone else to read: Most agencies have proofreaders, thankfully, so you can blame them if something slips through you.
Tips From Other Writers:
Know What You Don't KNow via Ramona Defelice Long
Stare It Down via Grammar Girl
Don't Trust Spell Check via Accu-Assist
Change Things Up via LKRSocialMedia.com
Not: In my research for this post, I came across Ginger that spell checks for you online and that you can add as an extension to your browser. It doesn't catch homonym or wrong word mistakes but it looks interesting.