Because the solution is hidden behind "subscribe to wired to keep reading"!
I find reading the text back in a different font often helps, particularly switching from mono-spaced to variable or vice-versa, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I remember the shape of the words as correct because that is what I just typed, and when all the words have a different shape I'm forced to think about it differently. It is why I often immediately spot a typo without even really looking after hitting "add comment" here, or flip down to look at the preview of a stack exchange post. The effect seems less pronounced when both texts are in view the whole time as with some markdown editors I've tried, which is why I think an unconscious "it looks like what I saw as I typed so is correct" thought is a factor.
Some time ago I tried having my posts read back to me via TTS but found the low quality voices and mispronunciations of actually correct phrases irritating enough to run any productivity gain. I should try that again, as I get the impression from posts here & elsewhere that freely available TTS options have improved significantly in recent years.
Or just changing the textbox width (if possible) like changing the window width.
I noticed this mainly with emails, where after pressing send I would quickly read it again and spot errors that didn't catch before. If you read a text several times your brain "learns" the position and pacing of the ideas, so it skips words. By changing the layout (on emails this happens because the "write" screen is different than the "read" one) the brain treats the text as new.
> I find reading the text back in a different font often helps, particularly switching from mono-spaced to variable or vice-versa, though I'm not sure why.
A related technique I use with LaTeX documents is to proofread the output PDF. Of course, that only works if you use LaTeX or similar.
For code, I review my solution both in the IDE and on the review page (e.g. In github). The different layout and font helps me better spot errors/typos.
I find reading the text back in a different font often helps, particularly switching from mono-spaced to variable or vice-versa, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I remember the shape of the words as correct because that is what I just typed, and when all the words have a different shape I'm forced to think about it differently. It is why I often immediately spot a typo without even really looking after hitting "add comment" here, or flip down to look at the preview of a stack exchange post. The effect seems less pronounced when both texts are in view the whole time as with some markdown editors I've tried, which is why I think an unconscious "it looks like what I saw as I typed so is correct" thought is a factor.
Some time ago I tried having my posts read back to me via TTS but found the low quality voices and mispronunciations of actually correct phrases irritating enough to run any productivity gain. I should try that again, as I get the impression from posts here & elsewhere that freely available TTS options have improved significantly in recent years.