Self-Edit Tips Pt 6: "Mind Your Homophones: Words That Sound the Same But Ain't!

Ah, homophones.

Those sneaky little devils that can wreak havoc on even the most well-written piece of prose. 

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

You know, like "there" and "their," or "to," "too," and "two."

Now, I know what you're thinking.

"Big deal, Ray. It's just a few little words. What harm could they possibly cause?"

​Well, my dear authors, let me tell you - a LOT of harm.

Example:

"Jim and I went to Sarah’s house to exercise the ghosts.” 


From this sentence, can you tell if whether Jim and the speaker are priests who are going to drive out

some pesky poltergeists from poor Sarah’s house?

Or are Jim and his friend are paranormal personal trainers and the ghosts are just out of shape and

they’re going to spend the afternoon doing pilates or hot yoga with them so they spend their

​afterlife toned and in shape?

No one really knows!

​

⚠️🚨Misusing homophones can make your writing confusing, unclear, and downright unprofessional.

Imagine a reader trying to make sense of a sentence like,

"Their going to the store two buy some bread."

Are they going to the store to buy some bread?

Is there a person/persons called "their" who are going to buy some bread?

Is there some sort of mystical bread-buying ritual that involves the number two?

Who knows!​

Not only does this kind of mistake make your writing hard to understand,

it also makes you look like an amateur.

And in the cutthroat world of fiction writing, that's a death sentence.

Readers want to feel like they're in good hands, like they're being guided through a story by a skilled

and knowledgeable writer. They don't want to feel like they're slogging through a swamp of

grammatical errors and confusion. And let's not forget about the all-important Amazon reviews.

One or two slip-ups with homophones, and you'll be seeing those one-star ratings pile up faster than

you can say "there, their, they're." It's not just about sales - it's about your reputation as a writer.

​So, my dear authors, do yourselves a favor and double-check those pesky homophones.

Read your writing out loud, use spell-check, and if all else fails, consult a dictionary.

Your readers (and your bank account) will thank you 🤑​

Quick Reference: Common Homophone List

To end this section here’s a list of common homophones you should look out for

​(Grammarly, above, and spell-check often miss these too!):

Bear/Bare
They’re/Their/There
No/Know
Already/All ready
rays/raise/raze
Stare/Stair
hole/whole
to/too/two
peace/piece
here/hear
brake/break
here/hear
complement/compliment
stationary/stationery
you’re/your
heard/herd
pray/prey
discrete/discreet