Proofreading

Posted on September 23rd, 2009 in Style by PR Mace
18

Tips and advice for self proofreading.

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Ask any writer what they think is the hardest part of the process and most will tell you proofreading. Unless you can afford a professional editor, most writers do their own proofreading. It can be a long and arduous task and just when you think you have it, you find another error.

I was recently looking back on some of my first stories and articles and found several errors I missed the first time around; my biggest problem is misused words. These are some of my common errors: it for is or if, me for my, my for mine, made for make and I for A at the start of a sentence. So to help myself and my fellow writers, I would like to share with you some tips for self proofreading.

Read more in Style
« The Truth About Writing
A Simple Technique in Writing: Free-writing »

                      COMMONLY MISUSED WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS

  1. a, an, and
  2. affect, effect
  3. alright
  4. amount, number
  5. as, like
  6. bring, take
  7. different from
  8. don’t , doesn’t
  9. due to
  10. fewer, less
  11. had ought
  12. its, it’s
  13. kind of, sort of
  14. lay, lie
  15. lead, led
  16. reason is because
  17. shall, will
  18. their, there, they’re
  19. who’s, whose
  20. your, you’re

                         GENERAL TIPS FOR SELF PROOFREADING

  1. Read it silently and out loud.
  2. Read backwards to focus on spelling errors or misuse.
  3. Use spell and grammar checker but don’t depend on them. Keep a dictionary, thesaurus and handbook on English grammar and writing style handy.
  4. Read slowly.
  5. Have another person read it.
  6. Cover the screen and read one sentence at a time. A blank piece of paper or a ruler works well.
  7. Use your finger to point at and read one word at a time.
  8. Keep a list of your most common errors and proof for these on a separate trip.
  9. Don’t proof for every type of mistake at once, do one for spelling, grammar, spacing, font sizes and consistency of word usages.
  10. Print it out and read it.
  11. Read down in columns rather than across.
  12. Give a copy to another person and one for yourself, read aloud to each other while following on your copy.
  13. Be careful that your eyes don’t skip from one error to the next obvious error while missing subtle errors.
  14. Double check proper names and little words which are often interchanged, for example: or, of, it and is.
  15. Whenever you are positive everything is correct, check again, certainty is dangerous.

               HOW TO PREPARE YOURSELF FOR PROOFREADING

  1. Write at the end of the day and proofread first thing in the morning. Usually getting some sleep in between helps.
  2. Proofreading is a boring task and while it does not require critical thinking, it does require extreme focus and concentration. Listen to music or chew gum anything to relieve your mind of pressure but still allow you to focus.
  3. Don’t use fluorescent lighting. Your eyes can’t pick up inconsistencies as easily under a fluorescent light.
  4. Read something different between edits to clear your mind.
  5. At least once a month review basic rules of grammar.

Hopefully these tips and advice shared by experienced proofreaders and editors will help as we go forth with our writing careers. Happy proofreading.

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