I don't know about the rest of you but I have a real problem finding typos or even word omissions. By the time I get to the final proof read, my brain doesn't distinguish between what I actually wrote and what I think I wrote. Any Suggestions?
Does your computer have a speech function? Macs do, but I don't know if Windows machines do, but I'm guessing probably yes. That helps things stand out that your eye glosses over and auto-corrects. Other than that: time.
I have the same problem. I think most do. My answer is to take time away from your piece and have others read it.
Even without a text to speech function, reading your work out loud to yourself can be a big help. Also, printing it out (although for a longer work this goes through a lot of paper and ink), something about seeing the words off the screen makes it easier to spot errors, I'm sure there's some neuroscience involved.
Similar to printing out, but with less ink, looking at the work in a different typeface and a different application helps me. If I Compile from Scrivener (single spaced Palatino 13) to a PDF (double spaced...er.., some monospaced font) I find a lot of errors while reading the PDF. The increase in error visibility is good for about three readings of the PDF at one sitting, and then the PDF is so familiar that the help fades until the next session.
Failing that, the next best thing is Kindle. If you have a Kindle, you can send your document to your Kindle. Somehow reading from a Kindle is different from reading from a computer screen. It helps pinpoint certain kinds of mistakes. (Spelling and grammar, leaving words out, etc.) What it's not so good at doing is catching formatting errors (too many spaces between words or sentences, etc.) For that, you really need to break your story down into very small bits ...a paragraph or two at a time ...and do your correcting on your computer screen. Make the print really large, and 'show invisibles' or whatever the Microsoft equivalent is. That's where your paragraph turns, quote marks and other punctuation, and all the spaces between words show up ...usually with little blue characters. You can usually turn these on and off via your menu. This method isn't so great for correcting content, but it's unequalled for correcting formatting issues. As soon as you feel your attention wandering from this taskāstop. Give yourself a little break. Then go back and keep going.
The Word key for that is the solid reversed "P" just before the styles on the home page. That helps for a lot of things in layout. Getting a good reader is important if you are still having trouble finding errors like you describe, very hard to catch because your mind just fills in the blanks for missing words. I have spell checker turned on to underline misspelled or grammar issues, but "dew knot trussed yore spill chequer." It won't catch everything.
Following the neuroscience Iain brought up, it helps to change your formatting significantly -- pick a new font, new spacing, trick your brain into thinking it's a different thing entirely and give it another look-over. I also do the reading aloud thing, but mostly just give it a few days, work on something else to get the first thing out of my head.
Thanks Izzybot: Back in the day, a thousand or more years ago now, I was a computer programmer. I wrote myself a little editing program that does just as you suggested and it really does seem to help.
Yes, they do. Or at least any modern one does. I think the best way is, as had already been mentioned, reading it aloud or even better, have someone else read it back to you aloud.
WORD has a read-aloud function. It takes a bit to get used to it, because it's an odd sort of voice, but I find that helps a lot because it makes you pay close attention. Also, WORD has a Review function for spelling and grammar (not the automatic tool, the one launched from the Review sub-menu). This is useful because it also flags punctuation errors (although you still have to make some judgment calls--it will always flag certain words as needing a following comma) as well as wording that isn't as concise as it could be (again, judgment is needed in the case of dialogue, internal monologue, and even POV descriptive voice, which the writer may want to be less concise and thus more common). I use both of these, plus reading aloud myself.
I just had it read about 5 paragraphs of a really smutty scene I wrote and I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair. Very cool tool though - thanks for pointing it out!