Do you have writing blind spots?

Have you ever looked at your writing – and I mean really looked – and thought there was room for improvement? Maybe you’ve got fallback phrases you use a lot, like ‘what’s more’, ‘in fact’ and ‘let’s face it’. Or maybe you confuse contractions like ‘its’ and ‘it's’.

You could even be a speedy touch-typist who sometimes misses letters, like writing ‘poo’ instead of ‘pool’ or ‘chorine’ instead of ‘chlorine’. (Can you tell I’ve been writing for the pool industry lately?) That doesn’t mean you’re a poor writer. It just means you need an editor.

Tools like Grammarly and Hemingway can be useful, but they only go so far. They overlook words that are correctly spelled but contextually wrong. Or they recommend changes that make your copy sound stiff and corporate.

You could ask a colleague who was 'good at English' at school, but they might not understand the difference between a hyphen and an en dash, or UK versus US spelling, or the perils of a comma splice.

But you may be thinking, ‘C’mon, does it really matter? I want my copy to have personality.’ Look, intentional errors or quirks can give your writing personality, but writing blind spots may have a different effect. They can:

• bore

• confuse

• distract

• mislead

• look sloppy

• undermine your authority

• fill your inbox with snarky comments.

That's the last thing you need if you want to build trust, educate or prompt readers to take action.

5 common writing blind spots

To help you write more impactfully – and keep your reader engaged – here is a list of 5 common writing blind spots to look out for:

1. Pet phrases: If you've been writing for a while, you'll know what your fallback words and phrases are. Keep a list of them and use Find/Replace to correct them. One or two in a 1000-word blog is fine. Any more and you need to vary your phrasing to avoid boring readers.

   
   

2. Wordiness: When you're in flow, it's tempting to pour everything on the page, but you risk overwriting and confusing readers. Look out for fillers (sort of, by the way), filter words (I think, I feel), jargon, long sentences and overuse of intensifiers (very, extremely), moderators (quite, somewhat) or mitigators (slightly, a little). For more, see How to fix wordiness (without losing your voice).

   
   

3. Spelling errors: Some words are correct in some contexts and not in others – and they're easy to overlook. Check for homonyms (road/rode, counsel/council, toe/tow), commonly confused words (breath/breathe, loath/loathe) and incorrect regional usage (colour/color, realise/realize).

   
   

4. Jargon: While technical language may be appropriate for your peers, it's incomprehensible to a general audience. To avoid this, define your terms and write clearly and simply. Don't assume your audience has the same knowledge as you do. For more, see The curse of knowledge: How to write for readers who aren't experts.

   
   

5. Comma splices: This is one of the most common errors I fix. It's when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. While it can work (occasionally) in fiction or poetry, it can be confusing in non-fiction. For more on how to fix it, see What's a comma splice (and when can you use it)?

   
   

How to fix writing blind spots

The best way to fix writing blind spots is to put your work aside for a few days and then go through the points above. Ideally, this should be done during the self-editing phase.

If you're short on time (or you don't feel confident), consider hiring a professional editor. They can address other blind spots too, like convoluted grammar, repetition, missing apostrophes and inconsistencies. They'll even make suggestions on how to make your writing more direct (passive over active voice) or connect ideas more seamlessly.

Will your writing still have personality? Of course! It just won’t have errors that distract from your message.

Final thoughts: Do you have writing blind spots?

We all have writing blind spots – even me! But that's normal. We only see what we meant to write, not what's actually on the page. That's why it's important to audit your writing periodically. You'll identify any strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to do more of the former and less of the latter! If you want an editor to take this task off your hands, send me an email or request a sample edit.