During one of my Bible study conversations with some of my study partners, it was brought to my attention that there was a version of the Bible that stated
“Thou shalt commit adultery “
Yes, you read that clearly, the word NOT was omitted, obviously a mistake but it affected lots of people who read the print at that time.
A lot must have happened in the 17th century for it to be so talked about till date. lots of typos have happened in so many popular literacies but I guess this was prominent because it is the BIBLE.
Shocking!! but yes such mistakes happen
I remember when I had to write my resume for a job interview and I highlighted that I have excellent attention to details. it is still valid but at that time I sincerely wrote it because it is a prominent skill that most employers require and I am sure lots of us have that in our resume too when in reality, we know we are easily prone to mistakes. I believe mistakes are almost inevitable except proper measures are put in place to probe them.
since I started writing, I have come to understand that proofreading is not enough to avoid typo because most time one can read a write-up over and over again and never see any mistake till someone else point it out.
I remember one time I wrote an article in school, I was super excited about it. It took weeks to submit because I took my time to proofread and adjust. I was so confident with it and submitted it with my shoulder high up but my lecturer returned it with so many indicators of error. It demoralized me so badly, all my effort crushed and I became too weak to make corrections. Since then proofreading has become annoying to do, but it has to be done.
Generally, over time I have gotten better with my writing, but there are a few things I do that have helped me
I do not multitask when I am writing, I claim to be a good multitasker but when it comes to writing I try to focus more.
I take a long break after completing a writeup and come back with fresh eyes and if possible get a complete set of eyes to read it.
Next, I read it aloud, including the spaces and punctuation, I even try reading it backward too.
sounds funny😃, but I take every writing seriously because tomorrow it could be work-related, business-related, or even academic at least I need to try now to learn how to avoid typos.
I use grammar check applications too although most times they do not completely do the job, it even adds to the stress of proofreading.
Good thing hive blog has the Edit button because I can not imagine making typos and not having the means to do anything about it.
How do you avoid making typos? because most times it feels my steps are not enough and what is the worst typo you have ever made?