Have you ever 'read backwards' to catch your grammar mistakes?

I just learned this from a retired teacher today and I was shocked I wasn't taught this in school.

Reading backwards is indeed an effective technique! It allows you to focus on each sentence in isolation, making it easier to spot mistakes without getting influenced by the context.

Start from the end of your text and read each sentence in reverse. This technique helps isolate each sentence, making it easier to spot errors.

Benefits of Reading Backwards

Enhanced Focus: You’re concentrating solely on the wording, not the meaning.
Mistake Isolation: Errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar become more apparent.
Improved Proofreading: Helps you develop a more critical eye for your own writing.

Tips for Effective Backward Reading

Segment the Text: Break your text into smaller sections or sentences for easier management.
Take It Slow: Allow yourself time to process each sentence, rather than rushing through them.
Mark Errors: Have a pen or highlighter ready to mark any mistakes as you read, making it easier to fix them later.

If you find this method helpful, incorporating it into your regular proofreading routine can significantly enhance your writing quality.

swirlie · 31-35 Best Comment

As a Journalist, I don't believe in this concept because grammar is not applied to a sentence backwards in the first place, therefore why read it backwards?

If you read backwards and separate each sentence and focus on it in isolation, you are treating each sentence as a different 'thought' unrelated to the previous sentence which would then require the start of a new paragraph if you were reading forward instead.

Each sentence within a paragraph applies to the ONE and only thought which started that paragraph in the first place.

Each time a thought is changed, a new paragraph is required.

Therefore, by reading backwards for the purpose of focusing on a sentence in isolation, of itself is self-contradictory. This is because paragraphs are not constructed in isolation. Each paragraphed-thought follows the previous paragraph in thought, both of which are typically related to the same story.

This means you cannot read a sentence in isolation because each sentence must be totally influenced by the context contained within the paragraph.

In other words, each succeeding sentence must be related to the previous sentence in some way and the way each succeeding sentence is written may be specifically written in a certain way to 'carry' the context of the original thought of the paragraph as a whole.

Therefore, to find grammar mistakes, you must read forward and read each sentence in the context it was intended to be read by it's Author, otherwise the true essence of the thought that is contained within the paragraph will be lost.

Sometimes, incorrect grammar within a following-sentence is intentionally used by a story's Author to purposely 'weight' the previous sentence with a specific bias that the Author needed to use to focus one's attention on what was written IN that previous sentence.

If however, you read the second sentence containing the intentional grammar errors backwards, there will be a tendency to correct the errors, thereby destroying the intended meaning of the first sentence that preceded the second sentence in sequence.

This is why reading a paragraph and each sentence backwards after correcting the obvious errors, will destroy the intended meaning of the preceding sentence and the entire paragraph as a whole.

Reading it forward however, will enable the intended meaning of the paragraph to remain intact for the benefit of the reader if a subliminal message was trying to be conveyed from the Author to the reader through the use of intentionally applied incorrect grammar.

If you are looking for grammar errors, apply the standard rules of grammar to each sentence while reading forward and you can never go wrong. If one doesn't know those rules, then reading a sentence backwards becomes irrelevant anyway and the entire exercise does nothing but serve a moot point!

HumanEarth · F

Thank You Just Made Me Feel A Whole Less Dumb

I always write what I think and feel and throw grammar out the window. I feel a whole lot better after reading your reply.

swirlie · 31-35

@HumanEarth
Oh, you're welcome!

To be a creative, descriptive Novelist, you must write how you speak when you are engaged in deep conversation with a friend, but not a stranger.

When we speak to strangers, we are less descriptive in our thought than how we are when we speak to someone we know intimately for example.

Therefore, when writing a novel, don't pre-choose who your audience will be. Your audience will instead choose YOU as their Novelist if they can identify with the ambiance of your creative thought.