Do typos matter? Humans have been making blunders in writing ever since they first put chisel to stone or pigment to papyrus. And I mean all humans – even professional writers and editors. The difference nowadays is that the blunders can be seen around the world within nanoseconds of their creation.
So if everyone does it, can’t we just accept it? If you correct a friend’s typo on social media, the response might be, “Yeah, but you know what I meant.” (That’s if you have polite friends.) But what if your writing is more public or important than a tweet or an email?
If you are a writer of websites, adverts, leaflets, newsletters etc, you may mentally put your readers into one of three groups, as follows:
- They won’t notice my typos.
- They’ll notice, but they’ll know what I mean.
- They’ll notice, and they won’t know what I mean.
“Hey!” you may think. “That means I’ve got a 2 in 3 chance of my mistakes not mattering much. Great odds! Publish and be damned.”
Let’s not dwell on Group 3. We all know it isn’t desirable for readers not to understand what you’ve written. No; I want to focus on Group 2 – the ones who notice but know what you mean, really. The chances are it’s the biggest group of the three. Doesn’t that give even better odds of your typos not mattering? Not so, and here’s why.
Driving readers to distraction
The very act of noticing a typo distracts readers from the main message. If eyes and brain have latched onto that amusing spelling mistake (although typos encompass far more than errors in spelling or punctuation), then they’re less focused on your sales pitch or your persuasive argument.
I once spent more time moaning about the placement of an apostrophe on a new house sign than admiring the million-pound barn conversion it referred to. OK, I’m fussy. But it was an anomaly, and it drew my attention away from what should have been more important.
On screen or on paper, the cumulative effect of several little errors and inconsistencies is incalculable.
Well, almost. By my calculation, there’s at least a 2 in 3 chance that it does matter, whether people know what you meant or not. Add in the readers who get the impression that you just don’t care, multiply by the number of lines on the page and…
I’m sure you know the answer. Get your writing checked, and the odds will always be in your favour.
If you’d like a fresh pair of eyes on your writing, please get in touch today!