“To err is human, to forgive divine“, wrote Alexander Pope in 1711.
We all err at times in our writing.
A typo here. A misspell there. A slide into the passive voice. A run-on sentence containing too many ideas.
But this headline is an err too far. It’s not forgivable – for the newspaper, the ad agency, or the university that bought the advertisement.
In our Get It Write program Kylie Miller and I provide tips that help writers reduce their ‘errs’.
I share them now in case they’re helpful for you:
- Avoid last-minutism. Step away from your writing for an hour or a day and review it fresh. You’ll see things you would have missed at first.
- Print it out. It’s amazing what you can pick up on a page compared with a screen.
- Employ a second set of eyes. Ask a colleague, a friend, or a family member (maybe not your dog) to review your work. They’ll identify things that you might have thought crystal clear.
- Use tech tools. Programs like Hemingway App, Ginger, and our favourite Grammarly would have called out the incorrect ‘seaking’ on their first pass.
How do you tighten your writing and avoid ‘errs’?