Oops, My Brain Did It Again: When Writers Trip Over Their Own Words

Today, March 4th is National Grammar Day, so I think this is the perfect day to discuss how imperfect the writing process is for almost every author.

Look, I know grammar. You know grammar. We all, at least in theory, know where commas go and how apostrophes work. But sometimes, when the words are flowing, our brains sprint ahead, and our fingers betray us as they try to keep up. And suddenly, we’ve got a rogue “your” where a “you’re” should be, and our credibility as a writer takes a nosedive.

I’ll let you in on a secret. Most of us know the rules, and we know them really well. I have a degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing. I taught rhetorical writing at a college level. Does any of that matter when my fingers are flying on the keyboard trying to transcribe the words coming from my head? Nope. Those rules occasionally get drop-kicked out of my working memory when inspiration strikes. And honestly? Some mistakes happen so easily, I could swear the keyboard is in on it.

Even with critique partners, beta readers, editors, and proofers, some of these errors slip through the cracks. Nobody is perfect. No manuscript is perfect. No finished book is perfect.

But I can always count on readers to find the boo-boos that have been missed. (Believe me. If they saw the books before all the editing, they would be like, Whoa…you only have four grammar mistakes?) LOL.

The Classic Slip-Ups

1. Your vs. You’re
   Oh, the betrayal of a missing apostrophe. One minute I’m typing with the confidence of a seasoned wordsmith, and the next, I’ve get an email from a reader saying, “It’s “You’re amazing, not Your amazing,” which makes me feel not so amazing.
2. Its vs. It’s
   Every writer has had this moment: You know “it’s” means “it is,” but somehow, your fingers are like, nah, let’s mix it up today. Suddenly, your sentence reads, “The cat licked it’s paw,” and now you’re questioning all your life choices.
3. To, Too, and Two
   We’ve been using these words since kindergarten, yet somehow, “I’m going too the store” still sneaks into my first drafts. My brain assumes I’ll fix it later—except my brain doesn’t know I’m an idiot who will see the correct word and not the wrong one.
4. Who’s vs. Whose
   Oh, this one. Every so often, in a moment of weakness, I’ll write, “Who’s ball is that?” and immediately feel like I should hand in my writer’s badge.
5. Then vs. Than
   Nothing makes me question my intelligence faster than realizing I wrote, “This cake is better then that one.” No, past me, it’s than. I know this. We all know this. But apparently, my fingers did not get the memo.
6. The Double Word – The The, and and
   Talk about the brain farts. I will often cut and paste a sentence or paragraph and move them around, or delete a sentence to rewrite it, and inevitably when this happens, I will have typed a word twice. These these (jk) don’t usually make it past any edits, but it makes me want to pull out my hair…twice.
7. Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Word
   Homophones are the bane of an authors existence. It’s easy for our fingers to type in a word that sounds like the word in our head, even if it’s a homophone (a word that sounds the same as another word, but means something different). For example: “I just need you to bare with me for a second while I work this out.” Whoopsie. Now, I’ve accidentally invited you all to strip down instead of asking for a little patience (not patients). What I meant to write was bear with me. But hey, at least I didn’t type barre—unless my character is suddenly doing ballet. There are so many words like this, and since we hear the words in our head, they can sound right when we type them and when we read them back later.

The Tragic Truth

No matter how much writers write, how much we edit, or how much we scream at the computer screen when our grammar check fails us, these little slip-ups are inevitable. They lurk in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to humiliate us…usually right after we’ve pushed publish on a new novel.

But here’s the thing: Making mistakes is part of the process. The key is to proofread, laugh at ourselves when we mess up, and always, always double-check before sending that snarky tweet about someone else’s grammar fail. (Because let’s be real, it’s a bit rude and karma is always watching.)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure I haven’t accidentally written “there” instead of “their” in this post. Again.

What grammar errors do your brain and fingers fight about?