Ninja Typos (a.k.a. Stealthy Typos)

What does this post serve? Not much. Consider this a public service announcement:

"Warning! Beware ninja typos!"

"Well," you ask, "what is a ninja typo?"

Let me demonstration. Say while writing you miss a letter or two, and Word autocorrects it to the nearest approximate word, and sometimes you just honestly type the wrong word (while thinking the correct one). Whatever their origination these sorts of typos are hardest for me to catch. Why? Because my brain sees "demonstra...", registers the meaning, and moves on to the next word before I've even had a chance to see that it's spelled "demonstration" instead of "demonstrate". There are smaller, sneakier words that also frequently bother me: me/my, express/expression (auto-correct loves this one), scrapping/scraping, dare/date (hilarious!).

The best/worst part? Most adults are bad at catching them. Most of these words are "sight words" for us now. Compare these words to less commonly used words like "inchoate, ethereal, ornaments." Our minds glaze over the sight-words, but they're no less susceptible to typos!

Never fear, I've thought up a solution: give your manuscript/essay/research paper to a elementary school student. Sounds wacky, right? But then these small "sneaker" typos are glaringly obvious to a child who isn't used to seeing sight words like "demonstration" and "demonstrate". Can't find a kid willing to read your novel? Then make a list of all these words, a check list of sorts, and ctrl+F all of them. Are you using them correctly in every instance. Unlikely! At least... unlikely for me!

Remember! Editing can be fun if you approach it with good humor. If you're willing to change the most disastrously bad/embarrassing typos and laugh at yourself. "Oh, Arreana!"

Oh, Arreana indeed!

"I date you!" -> "I dare you!"

Hilarious, no?

(Current length of Farro's Checklist [in typed pages]: 7)