Proofreading

Proofreading tips

In last week's post I noted that spellchecking software is a good start, but is by no means infallible. You'll need to check your text as thoroughly as possible for all the things that the spellchecker will miss.
Tip 1. Leave your writing and come back to it. If you just typed a paragraph, you'll think it is right because you just typed what was in your head, didn't you? So if you read it then, you'll probably miss some mistakes.
Tip 2. Read your text out loud. This helps to pick up things like long sentences, and subject-verb disagreement. It will also help with things that literally don't 'sound right'. I read one of my chapters and picked up the fact that no film should ever be described as an 'epic biopic' - not even Lawrence of Arabia.
Tip 3. Proofread on paper. when I print a copy for proofreading, I make some simple changes of format to aid readability. For example, I like to change to a serif font such as Times New Roman or Garamond, and also change the line spacing. This can help pick up the use of the same word in adjacent sentences.
Tip 4. Proofread one line at a time. Sometimes I've been proofreading and thinking 'gosh this paragraph is great', and get really into it. But when I do there's a tendency to skip a word or two. By using a ruler, or even a piece of paper, I can concentrate on one line at a time. This can feel like learning to read again, following each word with your finger, but that's a good idea too!
Tip 5. Take your time. A luxury we don't always have, but your success rate for catching errors will fall if you rush things.
Tip 6. Read a sentence at a time, out of sequence. There's a psychological idea at work here - if you read sentences in sequence, your brain knows what is coming next, and will 'error-correct' for you - so you might miss something. By reading sentences out of sequence, you avoid this trap. Naturally, if you try to read sentences completely at random, it can be difficult to keep track of which sentences you have checked. I mark the end of each sentence with a tick to show I've read it.
Tip 7. Do it again. One pass won't be enough for all but the shortest of pieces. You should proofread several times, concentrating on different aspects of your work, such as spelling, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and so on. It's also worth noting another reason for proofreading several times - your work may be publication-ready, but you may find yourself adding things. Since my book is about achievements of people at particular ages, if there's a news story about a 70-year-old mother, or a 97-year-old skydiver, I want to change my book to include them. And new text, or even amended text, requires proofing again.