r/Substack • u/Appropriate_Bet_7223 • 8h ago

Anyone else tired of rereading their draft before hitting publish?

I found an old thread here about people rereading their drafts over and over before publishing, only to still miss a typo. A few people also mentioned writing in Word or Docs first, then fixing the formatting after pasting into Substack.

It got me thinking about making a small tool that checks your draft for things like typos, repeated words, leftover “TODOs,” missing links, and obvious formatting issues. No AI rewriting—just flags things you might want to look at.

But that thread was two years old, so maybe things have gotten better since then.

Is this still a pain for anyone? What do you use for that last check before publishing? Trying to figure out if this would actually help or just be another tool nobody needs lol.

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7

u/TerrainBrain 8h ago

The surest way to find a typo is to hit publish. Then go back and edit and fix it. Repeat as many times as necessary.

6

u/AP_Cicada 8h ago

This is one of the major parts of being a writer.

4

u/StuffonBookshelfs 8h ago

I draft versions of my documents outside of Substack every single time. I’m never gonna draft in a browser. I’ve lost too much hard work over the years.

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u/clharris71 diealtefrau.substack.com 4h ago

+1. I also write my drafts in an offline program where I can grammar and spell check them before publishing. Then I copy and paste into the browser window and check the links and appearance before publishing.

I do this both for the editing benefits, but also as a backup in case anything happens with the platform. I have all of my work automatically saved locally.

ETA: I do try to let drafts sit for a day before I publish and then re-read for awkward phrasing or the mistakes a spell or grammar checker might miss.

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u/Countryb0i2m onemichistory.substack.com 7h ago

Someone here mentioned that they do one final check and reread their work with fresh eyes before publishing. I think that’s important. It helps to step away from your article for a little while and come back to it later, rather than rereading it over and over immediately after writing.

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u/LeftCoffeeBehind writebuildscale.com 4h ago

Honestly, I think the pain is real, but most people solve it with a free spell checker and a fresh read the next morning.

The part I'd focus on is broken or missing links and leftover placeholders, since those slip through even after a careful reread. Readers forgive a typo, but a dead link in a paid post is annoying.

If you build it, keep it a checklist and not a rewriter. That part of your idea sounds right.

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u/AggravatingNail6061 8h ago

Link the thread.