Why Proofreading Matters
Your writing leaves an impression. Readers will come away from your work feeling informed, entertained, inspired, even moved.
Or will they?
Proofreading might not be the heart and soul of the writing process but it is an essential element.
When I was in high school and even during my early college days, I wrote papers and turned them in without giving them so much as a second glance. No revisions, no editing, and no proofreading. Often my papers came back marked up, and the markings almost always pointed out grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules that I already knew – but because I hadn’t bothered proofreading, I’d accidentally broken the rules and turned in an unpolished piece of writing.
The Value of Proofreading
In time, I learned the value of proofreading, but it was a lesson that did not arrive in the form of essays hatched with red markups. I learned the value of proofreading as a reader.
The first time I caught a typo in a novel, I felt smug. I thought myself quite smart to have found a mistake that the author had missed. Later, when I understood that each novel is reviewed by a copyeditor, I felt even more smug when I’d find errors in the text of books or articles. Not only had the writer missed the mistake, the editors had too!
I also noticed that each error was a speed bump, which interrupted the flow of my reading. I’d be enjoying the story and all of a sudden, a blatant misspelling would throw me off course, and I’d be yanked out of the tale.
That was enough for me to develop a careful practice of proofreading everything. When people read my work, I don’t want them to pause to contemplate the rules of grammar. I want the reading to flow smoothly and totally uninterrupted.
The Lack of Proofreading
I’ve learned that in the world of blogging, proofreading is sorely lacking – and it’s easy to tell when a blogger doesn’t understand the rules of proper English or is simply being careless. In some cases, the work contains information that can’t be gotten elsewhere, so the value of the content overrides the necessity of good grammar. In other cases, the material is so riveting and entertaining, minor mistakes are easily forgiven.
Some readers will ignore these grammatical hiccups. Others won’t notice them at all. But there will always be those few who are so completely turned off by an error-riddled piece of work that they’ll simply stop reading whatever you publish. Is that a harsh reaction on the reader’s part? Maybe. But if your work is so peppered with mistakes that it’s actually difficult to read, then why would anyone waste their time?
As writers, and especially as bloggers who produce tons of written material on any given day, week, or month, it’s nearly impossible to hire a professional proofreader to check every single thing we publish, and no matter how carefully you proofread, chances are that a few typos will slip through over time. But if you aren’t proofreading at all, and your writing is weighted down with grammatical mistakes, you’re sending readers a message that you don’t care very much about your work or the impression that it leaves.
Your Proofreading Habits
I’ll leave off with a few questions that you can ask yourself about your own proofreading habits. Feel free to share your responses in the comments section or simply share your thoughts about proofreading, grammar, and typos (or lack thereof).
- Do you proofread every piece of writing that you submit, share, or publish?
- How many times do you proofread a piece?
- How careful is your proofreading? Do you do a quick scan or a careful review?
Remember, proofreading leads to better writing, so be sure to make it an elemental part of your own writing process.
If you have any proofreading tips to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.
Proofreading Services
Writing Forward has tons of excellent writing tips and ideas, but did you know that I also offer proofreading services for writers?
Do you have a writing project nearing completion? Are you tired of polishing your work and continuously finding typos and grammar mistakes? Have you run into problems with editors and publishers because your writing wasn’t thoroughly proofread?
My proofreading services might be the answer.
Professional Proofreading Services
I provide proofreading services for all types of writing – fiction, poetry, nonfiction, business and marketing materials, blogs, and even technical documents. Service is fast, affordable, and meticulous.
By adhering to traditional rules of grammar and using the Chicago Manual style guide, I ensure accuracy and consistency. And if yours is a creative writing piece that requires a little grammatical flexibility, then I can accommodate you. After all, rules were made to be broken.
The Proofreading Process
The process is simple. First, your piece will be read from beginning to end. Then, it is proofread for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Finally, the piece is reviewed again and again until no errors can be found. That’s thorough!
To learn more and to check out my rates, visit the proofreading services page.
Creative Writing Services
Proofreading services focus on grammar, spelling, and punctuation – the mechanics of writing. If you’re looking for more elaborate writing services, then you might be interested in one of the other services that I provide:
If you’re getting ready to send your work off for publication and need someone to review it for you, then you know who to hire. Contact me to learn more about proofreading services.
18 Do-it-Yourself Proofreading Tips
The human mind is a funny thing; it likes to play tricks on us.
For example, when we proofread our own writing, we tend to read it as we think it should be, which means we misread our own typos and other spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.
If you have a friend or family member who has good grammar skills, maybe they can help you out by proofreading your work before you send it out or publish it.
For special submissions and publications, hiring a professional proofreader, and retaining proofreading services is the best way to make sure your writing is free of errors.
But for most of us, it’s not likely that anyone’s going to proofread every single piece of writing that we create. That’s especially true for writers who put out a lot of material – like bloggers, copywriters, and freelancers. Proofreading services can get expensive and friends and family probably don’t want to spend all their evenings checking your work.
Proofreading Tips
Sometimes, the only option available is to do it yourself. Here are 18 proofreading tips that you can put into practice for proofreading your own work.
- Proofread every single piece of writing that will be seen by another set of eyes. No exceptions. Even if you do hire an editor or professional proofreader, check your work first.
- Understand the difference between editing and proofreading. Edit first by making revisions. When the piece is done, proofread to check for proper grammar.
- Step away from a piece of writing before you proofread it. The longer the piece, the longer you should wait to proofread it. Let a novel sit for six weeks. Let a blog post sit overnight.
- Before proofreading, run spelling and grammar check. The less you have to fix, the more you’ll catch.
- Read your work aloud as you proofread. Pronounce each word slowly and clearly as you read and check for mistakes.
- Proofreading should never be a rush job. Do it s l o w l y.
- Don’t just proofread once and then send your work out into the world. I recommend proofreading everything three times or more. At the very least, proofread until you don’t catch any more errors.
- Read the piece backward so you can see each word separately and out of context.
- Look up the spelling of proper names, scientific, and technical terms that you’re not familiar with to make sure you’re spelling them correctly.
- Don’t make any assumptions. If you’re not sure about something, then look it up so you can fix a mistake if there is one, and learn the correct way.
- Don’t forget to proofread titles, headlines, and footnotes.
- Pay attention to the mistakes you’ve made in your writing. You’ll find you tend to make the sames ones repeatedly. Keep track of these and work on avoiding them during the writing process.
- Choose one of the many style guides and stick with it. This will make your work more consistent, and you’ll have a great resource to use when you have questions about style and formatting.
- Start building a collection of grammar books and proofreading resources so when you do run into questions (and you will), you have a reliable place to get answers.
- If you let grammatical mistakes slip through, do so by choice and have a good reason. It’s okay to break the rules if you know you’re doing it, and it makes your work more compelling.
- Proofread when you’re fresh and wide awake. Proofreading doesn’t go over well when you’re tired or distracted.
- Proofreading can be tedious so break up your proofreading sessions by doing other tasks that help you clear your mind: exercise, play with the pets or kids, go for a short walk, or listen to some music. Try to avoid reading or writing on these breaks.
- Make it your business to develop good grammar skills. Read up on grammar or subscribe to a blog that publishes grammar posts (like this one) to stay up to date on proper grammar.
Some people love the world of grammar and proofreading. Others find it boring. If you’re into this stuff, then proofreading will be easier for you since you’ll find it enjoyable. If not, just look at it as part of your job – something that goes along with being a writer.
By checking your work, you’ll be able to put out writing that is crisp and easier to read. Nobody likes stumbling through typos, punctuation crimes, and spelling mistakes as they’re reading. So, proofreading is considerate to your readers, and it speaks volumes of your professionalism and how seriously you take your craft.
But once you’re done proofreading, get back to your writing.
Got any proofreading tips to share? Leave a comment!
5 Simple Proofreading Steps
Proofreading is a basic and essential part of the writing process. After the outlines, the drafts, the revisions, and the editing, proofreading is what gives a piece luster. It makes your work shine.
When your work is polished, readers, agents, and publishers will know that you take your writing seriously, and they’ll be more likely to take your writing seriously too.
That doesn’t mean your stories can’t be packed with humor, but it does mean that your readers will laugh at your jokes and not the sorry state of your grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
For many writers, proofreading is a drag. Some enjoy proofreading because it’s usually the final step before a piece is completed and ready for submission or publication. In either case, it’s one of those things that has to be done.
Proofreading Steps
If you write regularly, it would behoove you to develop a regular method for proofreading. You can take various proofreading tips and build your own strategy, a set of steps that you can go through for each piece that you proofread.
Over the years, I’ve built a few different proofreading methods. The method I use for proofreading blog posts is not the same one that I use for proofreading copy, and there’s yet another that I use for poetry. You might find that one method works for all of your writing, or you might be like me and discover that you have a core process, but you tweak it for each type of project.
The steps below are the most basic ones. I use these for almost all of the proofreading that I do. Try going through these steps the next time you are proofreading one of your writing projects. Add some of your favorite proofreading techniques to these steps to customize them to your own personal preferences.
1. Gain a Fresh Perspective
When writers proofread their own work, it’s not unusual for them to misread their own material. Your mind knows how the text should read, and it will insert missing words, adjust misspellings, and gloss over punctuation errors. Try setting your writing project aside for a few days before you proofread, and you will be able to read it with a fresh perspective. That means you’ll be able to catch more of those annoying little mistakes.
2. Spell Check
I keep spell check on as I’m writing, so I don’t run it when a piece is complete. However, many writers turn off spell check so their inner editor won’t be tempted into taking over the project during the writing phase. If you do keep spell check off, make sure you run it manually before you start proofreading.
3. Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation
Spell check won’t catch all of your mistakes and typos. For example, it won’t call out homophones. The grammar check on word processing software (such as Microsoft Word) might falsely identify grammar mistakes. Read through your piece slowly, and fix all those mistakes.
4. Read it Aloud, Backwards, and Sideways
Reading a piece aloud is one of the best ways to catch the sneakiest typos and mechanical errors in a piece of writing. Reading aloud also forces you to read slowly, which is a big help during proofreading. Some proofreaders will read a piece backward, word by word, which is particularly helpful for catching spelling mistakes.
5. Review Until It’s Error-Free
Once you’ve finished proofreading, read the piece again (preferably aloud). Chances are, you’ll catch one or two more mistakes, or you might find areas that you want to clean up or spots where you want to change the wording. Keep reviewing the piece in this manner until you get through it a couple of times without needing to make any changes.
That’s when you’ll know it’s done.
Proofreading Services
You might not be able to go through all of these steps for every single thing you write. In some cases, you might want a second pair of eyes to over your work. You may be in a time crunch, and unable to thoroughly proofread a piece.
You can always ask a friend to check your work for you. However, make sure you find someone who has strong grammar skills and good command over language. If possible, find someone who knows more about grammar than you do, and ask them to check your project for mistakes.
Or, you can hire a professional proofreader. Here at Writing Forward, I offer affordable proofreading and editing services to creative writers. Check out the proofreading services page for more information.
And keep on writing!
Got any proofreading tips to add? Share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment.
Shouldn’t You Be Proofreading?
They say you can’t edit your own work. However, you can certainly do your best by proofreading it.
As a writer, I make it my business to understand the rules of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. However, I try not to be a stickler about those rules as a reader. I have several friends and family members who are positively intelligent despite the fact that they don’t know the difference between your and you’re.
I know better than to equate intelligence with proper spelling, and I’ve read plenty of material that presented smart points and valid rhetoric even though the writing itself might be considered a crime against the English language. I can’t even imagine what it was like before spell check.
When You Don’t Proofread
One of my favorite blogs is witty and informative; the author’s voice is friendly, and the content is relevant. There’s no doubt the writer knows the material, but I’m constantly snagged by typos and other minor infractions in the language as I peruse the posts.
Let’s face it, nobody’s perfect. Even professional writers have days when the apostrophe lands behind the wrong letter. But the blog I’m talking about is peppered with such errors — in every single post. Clearly, there’s no proofreading going on. I still enjoy it, but every time I cross one of those grammatical speed bumps, I do a double take and it breaks the flow of my reading.
You don’t have to be a grammar master to be a good writer. However, readers will have a hard time making it through your work if you don’t give it the once-over (better yet, give it the thrice-over) and proofread before publishing or submitting, so you can minimize syntax errors.
Proofreading Makes a Difference
That’s why proofreading is one of the most critical steps in the writing process. It’s a shame for an eloquent piece to be discredited because all the ares and ours are mixed up, because subjects and verbs disagree, or commas are used too liberally.
Like many writers, I am frequently possessed by my Inner Editor. When writing a novel, the Inner Editor is loathsome, but she comes in pretty handy during blog writing sessions. I usually proofread each sentence as it’s completed, then each paragraph, and finally give the entire piece two or three reviews to check for any little mistake I might have missed.
Plus, if I learn that I’ve been writing or punctuating something incorrectly, I will go back through my archived posts to dig up all instances and fix the errors. No, I’m not anal. I just know how to use the find and replace shortcuts with unbridled speed and agility.
Be Polished
It’s worthwhile for writers to remind themselves every so often that the value of proofreading should not be underestimated. There are people who will literally click away from your website, close your book and toss it onto the donation pile, or choose not to read or buy a particular publication – just because basic writing rules aren’t being adhered to. I may not be one of those people, but they’re out there. So, to all you writers and bloggers: proof, proof, proofread your work. That’s three times (because then it’s a charm).
Need Professional Proofreading Services?
Proofreading is best done with a second set of eyes. When you hire a professional proofreader, you’re double-ensuring the accuracy of your written work. Here at Writing Forward, I offer proofreading services, as well as editing and professional critiques. Visit the services page to learn more.
What’s your stance? How important is proofreading? Do you find yourself shunning work that contains too many grammar hiccups or do you overlook them, favoring the quality of the content over the mechanical errors in the writing? If your blog was fraught with such errors, would you want to know? How would you feel if another writer brought such mistakes to your attention?
How many times do you proofread your work?
