You know how it is, you’ve been staring at the same couple of paragraphs for (what seems) hours. The words are looking so jumbled – you think everything is spelt wrong even though you’ve run the spell check over the page a dozen times. You can’t even tell if it makes sense.
What do you do?
A simple tip an experienced editor once gave me is to read your work out loud. It’s a quick and easy way to make sure what you’ve written flows well.
You’ll probably also pick up both punctuation and grammatical errors, simply because they sound wrong.
If you are writing a blog, you’ll be able to tell if what you’ve written sounds conversational (if that is what you are after). If you’ve just finished off a brochure or media release, you’ll be able to cull those excess words that don’t add value.
Lastly, try standing up as you read. You’ve probably been sitting at your computer for a while without a break, so some extra circulation will make you feel better.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
Thanks a lot Alex, it’s nice to have some positive feedback so early in the journey. Cheers