DIY Proofreading

There’s nothing worse than spotting a typo after you’ve hit the publish/print/send key. Argh. You kick yourself. You’re embarrassed. You’re frustrated.

You wish you could proofread better, but after staring at the page for so long, you feel you can’t see even the most obvious of mistakes.

Don’t worry, proofreading can be easy. It’s all about having a plan of attack.

Read out loud

Stand up (it does help) and read what you’ve written. You’ll hear if your words flow and you’ll probably also pick up both punctuation and grammatical errors, simply because they sound wrong.

If you are writing a blog, you’ll be able to tell if what you’ve written sounds conversational (if that is what you are after). If you’ve just finished off a brochure or media release, you’ll be able to cull those excess words that don’t add value.

Get someone else to read it

A fresh set of eyes is sometimes all you need. Build up a network of colleagues who are available for peer reviews when required.

Take a break and come back to it

Freshen up your own eyes and come back to your work after a break. Don’t be tempted to write at the last minute, you are bound to make mistakes. Give yourself enough time to review your work after some time has lapsed.

Have a check list and cheat sheet

When I proofread or edit a large document, I create a cheat sheet where I keep notes of any formatting, spelling or punctuation styles that I want to keep consistent throughout. Like a mini style guide. It’s especially important if you refer to product names or unusual words in the content. Also, develop a checklist of the things you must look at for each project. It may look like the following.