How to Write Well. Step 4: Let it be

When learning to write well, it is important to have some tips and tricks for editing well. For one great editing tip, I turn to the Beatles: “Let it be.”

We’ve already covered how important it is to edit after you write instead of while you write, but it’s equally important to give your work a little time to rest before you go back and edit it. Let it be.

The reason you have to let your writing rest is the same reason it’s a good idea to have someone else help you in the editing process: you’re too close to your own writing.

Researchers have found that our brains tend to ignore typos and errors in our own writing because we’re already familiar with what we’re trying to say. In your own mind, you already know that you meant to write “You must expect mistakes,” so when you edit and see that you accidentally typed “You must accept mistakes,” your brain is already familiar with your intended meaning. So what does your brain do? It fixes the error.

Your brain knows what you’re trying to say, made an assumption based on that knowledge, and has already jumped ahead to the next thought.

But a new reader isn’t familiar with your subject or your writing. His or her brain can’t make as many assumptions. The brain can’t fill in as many gaps. So they’ll notice all those little mistakes your brain likes to ignore.

Think about how you read. When you were first learning to read, you had to sound out each and every word. Do you have to do that now? Most likely not. Without even realizing it, reading has become second nature. We read whole words at just a glance because we recognize them. You may remember – from way back in kindergarten – the term “sight words.” Instead of taking the time to sound out each individual letter, our brains recognize whole words all at once.

Sight words are great for speed reading. They’re terrible for editing. Your brain has been trained to glance at a word, and make an assumption about what that word means. To do that quickly, it doesn’t bother with whether that word is spelled correctly or not. If your brain is already familiar with what it is reading, it can make far more assumptions.

 

You may have even received an email forward demonstrating this phenomenon, in which the wrods are srcambeld but you can still raed the wolhe eamil.

Typos aren’t the only problem with editing your own work. Your writing might make absolutely no sense, but you’d never know it. You might be missing key information, but because you are familiar with your subject you don’t notice all those holes. I think we’ve all read news articles that leave out important information, especially in the age of rapidly-developing news stories.

“They caught ‘The Virginia Cow Tipper?’” you ask yourself. “That’s great, but who in the world is ‘The Virginia Cow Tipper?’” The writer of that article is already familiar with the background of the article, and didn’t even realize how much information the article was missing.

So that’s why we let our writing rest. The longer you wait between writing and editing, the less familiar you are with your own material, and the less your brain can fill in the gaps. It’s important to look at your writing with “fresh eyes” so you can catch all your mistakes and see which parts of your writing don’t make sense.

So when editing, remember to “Let It Be.”