First, the main point of this post is to simply tell you how I edit my posts in case you were looking for some tips. Also, I want to hear what you do before making a post go live. This post is just my opinion. I know we don't get paid to write reviews and run our blog and I understand that, but we also take pride in our work... so let's talk editing blog posts.
At what point do you get annoyed with errors in blog posts? I'm not just saying blog posts either, what about Facebook statuses or tweets on Twitter? If someone occasionally has a typo or error, that doesn't bother me, but when it happens just about every time they post something... all I do is let out a huge sigh. It can be so frustrating!
Maybe I care too much because I'm a wannabe book editor, but I think having error free blog posts is important to your credibility. I know that I still have some minor errors in my blog posts, no one can be perfect. I mean I had a pretty big error once when I switched two authors' last names in a list, how embarrassing! But does it ever bother you when you read a blog post or status update and it is filled with errors? It won't necessarily keep me from reading that blog but it can give me a bad impression.
I am not perfect and it is hard to catch every single error, and I am not suggesting that anyone is perfect, I have however come up with a pretty good system of editing my blog posts before I publish them. This system has helped me catch many little errors (and sometimes big embarrassing errors) before making my post live. I figured I would share it with you just in case you need some editing ideas. Here is what I do:
Editing/Proofreading My Blog PostsWhat do you do editing wise before publishing a post? I can always use some more helpful tips!
- Type it up in a word document first
- The few times I didn't type a post up in a word document first I found the most mistakes in them later.
- Read it out loud
- I know you have probably all heard of this advice before and I know I always push this in my editing advice posts, but it never hurts to repeat it.
- Have my husband read it (obviously you can have anyone read it)
- One time when my husband was reading a post before I made it live, he pointed out that it was confusing and hard to follow. Once I reread that paragraph I realized he was right. See, husbands can be very helpful for some things. ;)
- Read over it in preview mode before making your post live
- For some reason seeing the post how it would actually look like once published helps me catch small mistakes I missed earlier. I don't know why but it just does.
- Use Spell Check
- You would think this was obvious, and a lot of you probably do this already, but I have forgotten to use spell check on occasion and realized that was a mistake. I totally missed fixing a word that I had quickly typed and it was totally misspelled Although it doesn't catch everything it is totally worth using.
These are some great tips! I usually don't start my posts in a Word document, but I really think I should start since I imagine the spelling/grammar check there will catch more mistakes. I always read posts aloud (or under my breath, so I don't look too crazy!), just so I can hear how it sounds to someone reading it. One of the mistakes I correct myself on the most is overuse of the same word. When you listen to how it sounds to use the same word 3 times in 3 sentences, you can hear how repetitive it is. That's usually when I start deleting stuff or finding some synonyms! I also read my posts once after I hit publish (just in case!) and fix grammar/spelling problems if I see them, though it's usually minimal at that point.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think I actually over-edit since it drives me nuts to see silly, obvious errors. I wish I could spend a little less time on editing, but I just can't help myself! I know I'm not perfect, but I am much more forgiving of other bloggers than I am of myself. It would take a lot of pervasive errors for me to unfollow, but I'm still going to notice. The one thing I really dislike is reading posts that use incorrect words. Sometimes the wrong word is spelled or sounds similar to the correct word (there vs. their; specific vs. pacific -- yes, I really read that mix-up once!) or the blogger just chose a word they don't seem to know the correct definition of -- in those cases, I just cringe!
You have a good method yourself! I usually always end up reading it after it goes live as well. I don't always but maybe I should since when I do I usually see a silly mistake. I too sometimes think I over-edit. I am a little OCD with some things. :)
DeleteI wouldn't unfollow someone for having a lot of errors in their post, but it can be very frustrating. My biggest pet peeve is their vs there vs they're and the your vs. you're. That drives me crazy when it isn't used correctly.
Your vs. you're is another one I forgot about! As much as that particular error (and there vs. their vs. they're) annoys me, I think it's almost worse when someone tries to use a fancy/long/complicated word and they do it incorrectly or in the wrong context. You look a lot smarter when you use simple words correctly that fancy-schmancy words incorrectly! I guess I'm a little OCD too, but like I said, I'm not nearly as harsh on other people as I am on myself :)
DeleteI think I'm the same...I'm way more harsh with myself.
DeleteI type it in blogger. Read it over once. Edit. Read it aloud. Edit. Publish and move on with my life. Once in awhile I'll go back and revise if it's something I expect to get more traffic on, but for the most part I think as an English teacher I'm hanging in there. I wish I had time to spend more time on editing, but I don't. My husband is a writer/editor for an ad agency and I think he'd kill me if I regularly asked him to look over my for-fun blog on his off time!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking he probably wouldn't like that much. ;)
DeleteI type it in word, edit, then read it and re-read it, then schedule it, then re-read it the night before and still find errors after it publishes. I am also fantastic at finding errors in my emails, tweets and stats or comments after i hit enter..GAH! It bothers the heck out of me, but I do not have an editor, nor am I paid. *shrugs*
ReplyDeleteI hear ya... I somehow always seem to find mistakes no matter how much I edit. I hate that moment after I hit enter on a tweet and realized I had a bad typo...sometimes I'll delete it all together and start over because I'm a little OCD like that. :)
DeleteI am such a Grammar Nazi it's crazy! Of course, like you said, no one is perfect, so I'm sure I have errors here and there, but I try to double and triple check my work so that the chance for that is minimal. I normally just read over my posts a few times as I'm writing it and then after I'm completely done writing, I read over it and check for any formatting, grammatical or spelling errors.
ReplyDeleteBut spelling errors and punctuation errors drive me crazy! If it's a friend it normally doesn't bother me as much, unless they do it ALL THE TIME. Same goes with bloggers that I follow. If I follow a blog and they have way too many errors, I just won't want to read their blog anymore. There's one big blog that I follow and I'm not sure why I haven't unfollowed it yet, because she posts a lot of blogger tips and she always tells bloggers to spell check and read over their blogs, but she has spelling and punctuation errors in EVERY SINGLE POST. Argh!
Sorry I've gone on a rant in your comments! :/ But I know how you feel. And I feel like the more professionally you take your blog (even though we don't get paid for this), the more seriously you should check for errors. It just makes sense. I'm glad you feel the same way! :)
And of course I had to leave a grammatical error in my comment about grammatical errors. Yeesh. ;)
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your rant. :) I'm glad I'm not the only one out there that feels this way about errors in their blog posts! I know we don't get paid, but I mean I love my blog and I care about the content I publish. When a blog has a crazy amount of errors all the time I will shy away from reading any more of their posts.
DeleteP.S. I always seem to have the most errors in my comments not my posts. lol
I really need to start writing my posts in Word. I'm still getting the hang of html and blogger though and I find sometimes copying and pasting into the post field can screw with formatting. But I don't think the blogger spell check is the best (one of the many things that doesn't work flawlessly) and I am a TERRIBLE speller. I hope this post topic doesn't count for comments because I wouldn't be surprised if my rants contained an error or two :(. I get what you mean though. I consider myself to be pretty decent when it comes to grammar and what not. I don't always pay the same level of detail to my book reviews as a I might something for work but I probably should because you are right when you talk about credibility. What I usually do is re-read my post a few times in preview mode so that I can see how it looks and check for errors. I catch quite a few then but still find some later that slip through. It helps that Ashley and I can also read each other's reviews with fresh eyes and catch some mistakes - kind of like your husband reading yours. I don't know how much I've noticed lots of errors in other blogger's posts (i might more so now after reading this) but whenever I do notice errors, incorrect grammar, etc. in other things, it does irk me a bit. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ The Quiet Concert
Sometimes it has screwed up my formatting, but never too badly. I didn't even realize that sometimes blogger's spellcheck isn't always turned "on." Like in word, because I swear one time I posted a blog and realized a spelling mistake and had to click the spellcheck button to fix it. So now I'm always clicking that button. I too am a not so great a speller.
DeleteI think reading your post over in preview mode is the best! That is how I find most of my errors.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and that you enjoyed the topic!
p.s. I have so many errors in my comments sometimes that I will go back and delete them and try again. :/