By Dray Breezy

November 12, 2020

In the process of reading one of my recently self-published articles, I was distraught to see a consistent nemesis in my quest to become the world’s most “better than mediocre” writer. This nemesis spelled backwards is sopyt. That’s typos for those that don’t want to do the mental gymnastics. Seeing the all the misspelled words and improper grammar was slightly shocking. I made a lot of friggin typos and let all of them slip through the gaze of proofreading eyes. How did I not see them during edits? Imposter syndrome began to creep in the edges of my psyche, we all know that sinking feeling of inadequacy that manifests at the worst moments. You know what I want you to do? Punch that feeling in the face. and go wash out your mouth with mouthwash. Not that it will help you with the typos, but it’s after lunch and your breath is probably a bit funky.

Typos are small mistakes, nothing more, nothing less. Mistakes teach you to do better, to write better. The fact that we even notice our mistakes is a huge step in the right direction. 

Horrified by my failure to proofread, all I could think about was all the people that would be judging me. How many views did I have on LinkedIn? 42!! Any one of them could have been Bill Gates, or a prospective employer that has now thrown me in the figurative trash bin of unqualified writers. Because of this typo littered post, I would be destined for poverty for the rest of my life. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel and work as a wage slave at Amazon, and/or sell my organs on the black market. But what did I mention earlier? Yes, the face-punching of those feelings. Do it.

Typos ain’t affecting the Stock Market

If you’re a writer and you have these moments…. chill out. Typos are not the end of the world. In fact, what do typos harm or change? Do they affect the price of rice in China? Do they have a hand in worldwide political corruption? Has anyone ever been falsely incarcerated over a typo? Perhaps in North Korea, but otherwise, I would think not. We’re human, our time is precious and valuable. Typos only interrupt the flow of your content , rarely do they change the meaning. To be human is to be imperfect and typos are a reflection of that.

Typos are just an indication that you are human (Sorry Martians).

Typos are the natural combination of being pulled in many many directions. As a business owner, I have to manage payroll, ROI, workload, personal life, love, family, debt, and annoying ass social media. It’s a lot of work and maybe typos are the subconscious urging you to be more present. I’m choosing to listen to that voice.

Typos are natural, no one writes perfectly. They’re not the end of the world.

Think about all the mistakes you’ve made in the grand scheme of life. Do typos rank as a major mistake, or minor mistake? How much have typos controlled the fate of your life until now? Do your high schools teachers remember you by all the typos you ignored in your essay submissions?. The answer is no they don’t, unless you were truly atrocious with the pen, so why are you stressing?

Learn your Process

How can you fix your typos? The best method is to take your time. Don’t rush yourself. Learn your process. My process is that I usually jolt everything out ,I write it really quickly and then take a break. After my break, which usually consists or walking on the beach, riding my bike around, video games, or doing anything that’s NOT writing, I get back to the work and do an intense round of edits. Honestly, I’ve just developed this method, it needs some tweaks. Try a couple different options to discover your process. develop a method, stick to it eventually you’ll improve and then be able to produce quality content more quickly.

Reading books isn’t just for nerds

Researching a topic makes your work look smarter. Some typos aren’t because you just fell asleep on the keyboard, some are due to the fact that you didn’t do one bit of research, yet you want someone to trust you as the expert. Use the Internet. It is a tool and a resource and all the information that man has ever collected in on there. Take your time to learn the facts. The age of fake news is dead. Personally, there’s something inherently unattractive about a person that doesn’t read books. Don’t be that person. Pick up a damn book, it could be a comic book, and commit yourself to reading it.

It’s the Terror of knowing what this World is About

Don’t look at pressure as a bad thing. Don’t look at mistakes as a bad thing. There’s probably a handful of typos in this piece, who knows. Use the challenge of pressure to motivate you. Figure out your schedule, and own it. That’s all the tips I have for now. Welcoming any and all feedback, just don’t be a dick about it.