How to Edit Like You Have a Ph.D. in Computer Science

Our brains are fabulous pieces of work. The brain loves filling in gaps. This ability can be helpful when we’re trying to solve problems and what not. However, what can be considered a gift in one context, can be considered a curse in another. Case in point: writing. How many times have you, thoughtfully, put together a writing masterpiece only to find that you’ve left critical words out of some sentence?? “One way to (missing words) algorithm, is through memoization.” And not only do our brains love to fill in gaps, they also love to delete what’s there too! “What causes causes Quicksort’s worst runtime?

So, how do you fix these kinds of issues? Read what you’ve written OUT LOUD. This is fine advice, and some search engine results will espouse the same thing. However, the reality is that by page 2 (okay maybe 3, :o), you will be reading in your head again without even knowing it. Well, if somebody else were to read it to you, that would be awesome wouldn’t it? Huh? What was that? You don’t know some loser who is sitting around all day waiting for you to ask him to read your document out loud to you? Then what can you do?

Dun, Dun, Duuuuuun! Text-to-Speech (TTS) to the Rescue!

On a Mac, do the following:

1. System Preferences --> Speech
2. Choose the System Voice You Want (there are male and female voices)
3. Choose the Key Combination You Want to Activate TTS When You Highlight Text On Your Computer

Now your computer can be your flunkie! After you write a document and you want to proof it, try having your computer read it out loud to you. I guarantee you’ll save yourself all kinds of embarrassment.

FYI: I eradicated 3 different errors in this post alone using this strategy. The proof is in the pudding.

Windows Users: I don’t know if Windows has a similar TTS built into the OS (leave a comment indicating how for Windows if there is a way to activate TTS). If there’s no way for Windows to do it, then there’s plenty of vendors that make TTS software for Windows. Note that Web-based alternatives may be undesirable if the information to be proofed is sensitive.