Typoglycemia - Or Why We Shouldn't Edit Our Own Writing

Everyone knows (in the back of their mind) that they should NOT edit their own writing. They've been told it since day one. "Get a professional to edit it for you."

But why?

Some sources state that research was carried out by a Cambridge researcher which proved that if the first and last letters of a word were correct, but the rest of the letters were jumbled, you'd still be able to understand what was meant. This is what they call Typoglycemia (Typoglycaemia) Try this.

At first glance, you'd assume that it must be true (most of us can read it, right?). But is that the whole story?

First, there was no Cambridge researcher - that part was myth. But, yes, it would appear that these words are understandable despite being jumbled.

Much of what is happening involves the brain "expecting" to see certain letters in a certain order that it "assumes" will make sense. In simple terms, it sees the first and last letters and fills in the blanks to make a word that it "expects" to see in that sentence.

There is a lot of finer detail as to why (and how) this happens in the following article. HERE

But, how does this affect self-editing?

Imagine you've spent months writing your novel. You know it inside out. You could almost recite it word for word. What if you misspelled a word? Would you spot it?

Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't. But the point is, your brain is familiar with the content. It will "expect" to see a certain spelling, and if the first/last letters are correct, it will "assume" that it is correct. You miss the incorrect spelling, and your book is published with errors.

By using the services of a professional editor, there is no guarantee that they won't miss it too, but it is extremely unlikely. They are professional. They have years of experience and practice at looking for these things. And, most importantly, they are a FRESH PAIR OF EYES that haven't seen the content before and so are not "assuming" any particular spellings.

The moral of the story, take advantage of a professional book editor.

Just for fun, here's another bit of text to practice your Typoglycemia skills.