Proofreading - How To Avoid Easy Mistakes

Proofreading is a skill and basic to this is skill is the fact that we do not see our own mistakes. Our eyes read the first and last letter of a word and your mind will then recognise the intended word. It does not matter in what order the letters are, as long as that first and last letter are correct. Of course in the English language there are many words that start and finish with the same letters but are very different words.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? (Rawlinson, G. Cambridge University, 2003).
There is however, some tricks you can adopt to improve the proofreading of your document.
� Put your document away for as long as possible after you finish writing. A minimum would be 24 hours but longer is better.
� Print your document. Your eyes will identify errors easier with print than online. Mark your changes on the printed document.
� Divide the review of your document into steps. Step 1, step 2, step 3 and so on.
� Do final proofread checks a minimum of 24 hours after you finish your previous check.
At each step, review one thing in your document. You may make step 1-spelling. Step 2-grammar and punctuation. Step 3-the logic of your document. Step 4-check all tables, illustrative material, labels and captions, footnotes and endnotes.
Step 1-spelling. The spelling can be approached in a few ways. Firstly, do not rely on spellcheck.
� Spellcheck is a little like your brain. It will look at the first and last letters and then change a word. Therefore, bear/bare, their/there, pair/pare/pear are just some examples. Use spellcheck but use it with care and observation.
� Get two pieces of white paper and isolate each word in your document. It is time consuming but you will trick your brain into reading each word.
� Start at the end of the page and read each word backwards. Time consuming but worthwhile if you want a perfect document.
� Do not rely on memory for your spelling. Have a good dictionary on your desk and check each word even if you think you know it.
� Browse some grammar sites on the web and bookmark one that you find easy to understand. A search capacity will help you go straight to your grammar or punctuation question.
� Develop a personal style guide. In the style guide record all the words and grammar points you look up. You will then need to refer to your style guide to check your words.
Step 2-grammar and punctuation. These two go together.
� Read your document aloud and listen to what you are saying. Ask someone else to read the document to you. Be critical. "Does that make sense". "Who said that".
� Your grammar and your punctuation will come off that reading. The trend is for minimal punctuation. Take note where you need to stop for a breath, and that is where you will probably need a comma.
� A sentence of several lines is probably confusing. Your sentence should have a subject, a verb and an object.
� A sentence should have one concept.
o The dog sat on the brown mat which the cat was previously on before he caught the bird on the table with the gold collar which was on the TV stand the day before yesterday and then ate his dinner.
Do you know who did what in that sentence? Are you confused?
� Make sure you are consistent throughout your document.
Step 3-the logic of your document. A good way to do this is to make a table about the progress of your document.
� Paragraph 1. Introductory paragraph.
� Paragraph 2. The dog and his habits.
� Paragraph 3. The cat and his habits.
� Paragraph 4. The bird and the cat.
� Summary Paragraph. Bring everything together. Summary should align to the document title and introduction.
Step 4-check all tables, illustrative material, labels and captions, footnotes and endnotes. Be systematic and painstaking with this. Follow through on any links or cross-referencing and make sure they work.
Most important tip of all is to take frequent breaks. Looking at your document for hours does not make it error-free.
Best tip of all is to plan your writing and your editing stage. Allow time.
The editing and proofreading are as important as the planning and writing.