Tips to Avoid Typos

We’ve all been there. You spend time and effort to write an article you can be proud of, click publish, and then sit back and wait for the likes to roll in. Suddenly a comment pops up.

Oh crap, there’s a typo. And someone’s pointing it out.

How could that be? My guess is rushing. For me that’s par for the course because I rather fancy myself the queen of procrastination. The faster a deadline approaches the quicker my fingers fly across the keyboard at a fevered pace. Mr. Flynn, my eighth grade typing teacher, would be proud.

Yes, I know that dates me.

But that flurry to pound out an article, whether for self-publication or for profit, tends to sometimes cause us to skim over things instead of really proofing what we’ve written. What’s the solution? Well, it’s not foolproof, but these are my steps.

• After you’re completely done writing and formatting, run the document through a review. Have it spell-checked and tested for grammar. I read an article yesterday on LinkedIn where there were several words missing from a paragraph. Puzzling.
• If you have time, set it aside and come back to it. Even if it’s just a quick stroll down the hall for a drink of water, a few minutes away often provides fresh eyes.
• If you’re copying and pasting to another site like LinkedIn or WordPress, read your article again in the preview format. Sometimes funny things happen, maybe you’ll catch an error you missed in the first reading.
• Read it one more time—out loud. Yes, I know that’s a little repetitive, but you’ll be surprised how often you find errors when you read something out loud. Even if you’re mumbling it under your breath, if it doesn’t flow right, that is when you’ll catch it. And better then than after you’ve hit publish. This is where I typically find the their/there or your/you’re errors.

I’m not crazy enough to think all my writing has been error-free. But there’s a part of me that is extremely obsessive about typos. I cringe when I find them in past articles. And yes, sometimes I even go back and correct them, even though no one else will probably ever see them.

Reading and re-reading has made me a better writer. I don’t always agree with the grammar rules, but then I’ve always been a bit of a rebel. There’s a little bit of picking and choosing, but mostly I stick to the old school lessons and what is commonly accepted as the norm.

Before I step off my soapbox, if you’re going to take the time to write something, write it right. I’m not talking about posting a status update on social media or sending an informal email to a friend. But if you’re posting an article on a platform in which you would like to be seen as a professional, or someone capable of providing content, it’s worth the work.

If someone found a typo in your published work would you want to know? Just asking for my inner proofreader.

 

Roxanne Wilmes is a freelance writer, author, ghostwriter, and thirty year survivor of the restaurant and hospitality industry currently with AmericInn Hotel & Suites.

 

 

Putting the Focus on Focus

Yesterday I sat at my desk thinking about a project I’m putting together. My mind jumped from idea to idea, unable to really land on something firm where I could come up with a solid plan. I stared out my window, watching the snow melt for a few minutes. Oh, look, squirrel!

Finally I got up and took a walk back to the lunch room. I peeled a couple of Halos, filled my water glass, and looked over the crossword for a couple minutes. The smell of the citrus and taking the time to distract myself from my task gave me a new perspective. I wrote in a few answers on the puzzle, washed my hands, and went back to my office to lay out plans for the project.

Everyone has difficulty with staying on task now and again. Here are my top tips for getting and staying focused.

• Do one thing at a time. For years we were told that we had to multitask if we were ever going to get ahead and get things done. I call BS. When you’re committed to one thing and a new idea pops up (very common for me!) it’s easier to pause and evaluate it when you’re not doing several things already. Just keep in mind the original task at hand. Make notes on new ideas if they’re not going to be immediately implemented, you don’t want ideas slipping away.
• Do the hardest or most creative thing first. For me writing comes easiest in the morning. My brain is wide awake and the ideas come pretty fast and furious. I am most able to concentrate on more difficult things then, too. In fact, I rarely do difficult math past ten in the morning—at least if I am counting on accuracy in the numbers. That’s just how I’m wired. Laying out the most difficult tasks first enables you to get that part out of the way and focus on the rest of the project.
• Allow yourself the right amount of time. It can be tempting to schedule tasks back to back, giving yourself minimal time to finish them if they all run smooth. But what happens when there’s a hiccup? If you don’t have a little buffer of time in between or adequate time allotted in the first place, you have just set yourself up for failure.
• Be careful with your noise distractions. Certain tasks require me to have silence. Other times I like music fairly loud to stimulate my senses and bring about new ideas. For example, when I wrote my last book I listened to Dire Straits and R.E.M. so much I’ll probably have to give them a nod in the credits! But when I found myself twisting and turning through the climax of the story, I needed that familiar music in the background to keep me in the moment and undistracted by a new song. It also gave me enough noise in my office that I wasn’t distracted by outside sounds. Right now writing this piece, I have only the sound of a snoring Schnauzer and pouring rain. Balance.

Our brains are wired to be excited when we’re multitasking and there are lots of things going on to stimulate us. You can train it to be productive and focused on one thing at a time to get big projects mapped out and accomplished. It just takes getting to know your triggers and what works best for you.

Oh, squirrel!

 

Roxanne Wilmes is a freelance writer, author, ghostwriter, and thirty year survivor of the restaurant and hospitality industry currently with AmericInn Hotel & Suites.

4 Thoughts on Letting Go of the Past

For many of us the season of Lent began this week. It’s a time of sacrifice, reflection, and atonement. But for some people, things in the past torment them and they carry it around like overweight baggage that will never squeeze into that overhead bin. We all have things in the past we’d like to change; perhaps we’d like forgiveness for something we’ve done or to forgive what’s been done to us.

Yet somehow we just can’t let it go.

Why is that? Jack London said “To be able to forget means sanity.” I think he’s got something there. So here are my thoughts on letting go of the past.

• Do it for your health, both mental and physical. If you think having something gnaw at you for decades has no impact on your health, you could be in for an abysmal diagnosis in the future.
• Don’t agonize over mistakes. No matter how big, we’ve all made mistakes. I’m not saying you shouldn’t own up to them, acknowledge them, or apologize for them. By all means, you should try to make things right if that is possible, and say you’re sorry if you can’t. But then you have to let it go. (See paragraph above.)
• Everyone deserves forgiveness. Yes, that is how I feel. If someone is truly sorry, they deserve to be forgiven. And if you have a hard time forgiving something terrible, huge, then start by trying to understand Practice empathy, try to see things from their point of view, decipher why they did/said what they did. And if you just can’t forgive someone (yes, I know that is a reality) at least maybe you can find some answers for yourself and move on. Hopefully with less pain.
• If you don’t forgive yourself, you’ll never reach your full potential. Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds hokey. But it’s true. I’m not talking about being successful or wealthy, I’m talking about the whole picture. If you are carrying a load of self-loathing, you’ll never be truly happy or have meaningful and healthy relationships. (See paragraph above.) Or worse yet, you may go around blaming everyone else for things that have happened to you. That is not fun for anyone.

So no matter if you’re religious or not, take some time to reflect as we wait out the end of winter. Are there things you need to settle to really let go of your past? If so, take care of business. Do it for your health, for better relationships, and as Jack London said, for your sanity.

Roxanne Wilmes is a freelance writer, author, ghostwriter, and thirty year survivor of the restaurant and hospitality industry currently with AmericInn Hotel & Suites.

Ramblings of a Gen X Worker

Yes, I am over 40. *Gasp* I know, it’s not safe to admit it, but I own up to it. I’ve lived more than four decades and now finally am considering myself around middle aged. As a matter of fact, I do fully intend to see my centennial birthday, so to me it’s not a stretch.

Lately all the hype online is how to attract and keep the young employees. You know the ones, Millennials, Centennials, still in-utero, whatever; you know what I’m saying. But what of us in the sandwich generation, why didn’t we get our chance to have a great say in…well, in anything?

Coming behind “The Greatest Generation” and Baby Boomers, we had some big shoes to fill. Many of us were born during a war, had depression-era parents, and then lived through or participated in another war. I like to think that made us scrappy. We knew how bad things could be, so we tried to keep our heads down and get the job done.

What about now? Why is it so hard for many of our generation to find work in our fields?

Funny choice of words there, fields. Sometimes it seems many of us have been put out to pasture. Hey, we’re in our prime here! After all, fifty is the new thirty and all that. Yet many of my generation find themselves unable to secure employment, and everyone is focusing on how to get at the younger generation.

I have news for you; we’re still relevant.

Many of us are empty nesters or close to it. We’re not chasing after young children or fretting over babysitters. We have a renewed energy and the time and focus to get the job done. We also have the work ethic to find a job and stick with it. We’re not looking for quick riches in a shortened work week. We don’t expect to have everything handed to us. Some may even be looking to travel or relocate. Who knows!

Luckily I have a job that I really enjoy and a great gig as a freelance writer. Many in my generation aren’t as fortunate. And that’s too bad. So to all of the recruiters out there and human resources managers contemplating someone over forty, give them a shot. We bring experience and patience, logic and wisdom.

And if that internet thing doesn’t catch on, we Gen Xers will still know how to function.

 

Roxanne Wilmes is a freelance writer, author, ghostwriter, and thirty year survivor of the restaurant and hospitality industry currently with AmericInn Hotel & Suites.