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.