The key to quality proofreading is to read, re-read, and read the text again. It’s not uncommon for a professional proofreader to read a text 10 times. Each time you’ll be reviewing the content with a different singular purpose in mind. If proofing your own writing try to allow 24 hours to lapse between the writing and proofing to give your mind’s eye time to detach from being immersed in the writing and refocus to editing and proofing. You’ll catch mistakes, misspellings, and grammatical errors more easily when you’re seeing it fresh the next day.
- Read the entire writing to determine the purpose of the piece and whether everything written supports that purpose.
- Search for obvious spelling and punctuation mistakes, watching especially for words with various spellings, such as “their,” “they’re,” and “there.” Check for grammatical accuracy. For example, make sure all the verbs match the nouns. Check the punctuation and capitalization. You may have to fix some sentences as well as have to rearrange some. Make a note of the errors, if you are fixing other’s work. The writer may want to get his original ones back.
- Print the document. If it’s practical based on the size of the document print it out and proofread rather than do this on the computer screen. You will find it much easier to spot mistakes on printed copy. If it’s not practical then copy/paste the content to another page in a different font style and size. After reading the text in Arial, font size 10 you’ll be surprised how quickly the eye will find additional mistakes when you re-read in Times Roman, font size 12. The new font style and size forces your brain to refocus and make errors glaringly standout.
- Read aloud. While your eyes may skim over a misspelling, your lips may stumble and help you catch a mistake. Similarly, pronouncing words carefully as you commit them to text will often help you get closer to the correct spelling so your spellchecker can more accurately guess the correct word. Regress to childhood and follow each word you read with your finger. This will encourage you to look carefully at each word as you read it being able to hear how they actually sound. This will help you to identify problems with sentence structure.
- Read from the bottom up. Read the document from the end to the beginning. When performing this type of proofreading, you are not looking for incorrect sentence structure (this should have been identified in one of the earlier readings), you are slowing down and focusing on each word in turn. This will hopefully help you to look carefully at individual words and recognize spelling and typographical errors.
- Find a friend. Asking someone else who knows how to proofread to help you to check your work is a really good idea because a second set of eyes can be very effective. If you can’t afford professional proofreading services, then ask a friend for help. They will be able to take an unbiased look at what you have written and will be much better placed to spot mistakes.
Remember that it is harder to detect mistakes in your own work than in someone else’s! With these tips at your ready you’ll feel like you have an ace up your sleeve. Let the proofreading magic begin . . .