Proofreading is a must! It’s difficult to copy edit your own work because you’re so close to it – you know what’s coming next which often means you unconsciously skip along, missing typos and misspellings completely.
Or at least I think that’s what happens to me, so I’m guessing that’s how it works for many of you.
Spell check helps, at least some, but we all know it isn’t the full answer. Learning how to copy your own work is part of becoming a successful freelance writing.
These tips can help:
- Pay extra attention to your word processor’s spelling check. It’s easy to miss the cues when you’re in the heat of writing or editing. And if you’re blogging using WordPress, it’s awfully easy to miss the red underlines showing problematic spelling.
- Print the manuscript and read it out loud. This slows you down so it’s easier to spot errors, and your ear will also pick up other things that need to be changed.
- Put the manuscript aside for at least 24 hours – several days is even better. You will see it with fresher eyes when you return to it.
- Ask someone else to read it. Make it clear you only want them to spot spelling errors and totally unclear sentences, not their opinion or editing.
- Read the manuscript backwards, from the last word to the first. If it’s too long to do this efficiently, read difficult passages backwards.
- Proofreading or copy editing is the last step before submitting a manuscript.
Proofreading is a must! It’s not fun, and it’s not easy, but it often makes the difference between rejection and acceptance.
What proofing tips do you use?
Write well and often,
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All of those tips are great: editing aloud catches so many mistakes! You asked what tips we use… well, I have one that is particular to my situation: I ask my partner to read important work. Nothing special about that, right? Wrong! She’s French, so even the tiniest little weirdness or bad sentence LEAPS out at her and grabs her by the throat. The only down-side is all the rewriting it means I have to do… d’oh!
SpikeTheLobster’s last blog post..The Word Philes 7
My editing secret is the AutoCrit Editing Wizard. It finds TONS of things that my eye misses.
One of my jobs requires me to write in a template online. No matter how often I look over the writing in the template, I never seem to catch any mistakes until I read it in the “preview” mode. The preview window simply changes the font and gets rid of the lines between paragraphs, but somehow any spelling/grammar errors are much more obvious in that mode, so I’ve learned never to skip it.
Autumn’s last blog post..5 Beneficial Writing Habits
Here’s one more tip: when proofreading, assume there are mistakes and pretend that your “job” is to find as many as possible. This little mental shift makes a big difference.
Lesley’s last blog post..Piano lessons, life lessons – Part 2
Spike, if you’ve got a partner who is good at this count yourself extra lucky.
Jay, I looked at autocrit – http://www.autocrit.com/ free to try and could be very helpful
Autumn, changing things helps
Lesley, I always like tips about mental shifts
Terrific post! Getting an outside set of eyes or a Professional grammar editor to proofread ones resume is the surest way to get all the misspelled words and awkward phrases corrected.
true
This is a wonderful post. My advise is not to count on MS Word spell checker or any software. Just get someone else to look at your work.
thanks