Many people are under the assumption that proofreading is an "innate" ability. The reality is that it is actually an acquired skill. By following these tips, you can transform yourself into the expert proofreader you've always dreamed of becoming!
No one can judge you better than yourself. You will be able to determine exactly what your most common mistakes are. Once you familiarize yourself with your most common mistakes, proofreading will become much easier whether it's placing the "e" before the "I," or simply forgetting the semi-colon.
When it comes to proofreading, it's not just about misspelled words since most likely those are caught by the application you are using like MS Word spell checker. You must look for incorrect sentence structure, repetition, and text which does not flow well together.
For a while, leave the document and return with new eyes. You will find that your outlook has completely changed if you walk away from your work and take a quick break, then return.
Read out loud and slow down. There are a lot of errors that are caught when you read the text slow and out loud to yourself. You realize things like: this sentence sounds strange, or I repeated this word 5 times in the same paragraph!
Playing tricks on you is your subconscious. There are times when you read what you think should be there and not what is actually there. This means that you need to acquire the skill that overcomes the power of the subconscious. What is that skill? What you need to do is simply read what is actually on the page.
You shouldn't settle for one quick glance over your paper. In order to be sure that you have not missed any possible error, read it several times.
You can hire professional help or work with a friend. It would be great if you could have another set of eyes to look over your work for you. It becomes too familiar after working on a document for so long. It is also a good idea to have an unbiased party to view your paper.
Take note that once a misspelled word, always a misspelled word. This will then become faulty information that is embedded in your mind. Now it's no problem when the word is misspelled in a way that MS Word will catch it, but the absolute worst thing is when the misspelled version happens to be a word too! When that happens, then that error will not be caught by the application. For example: your and you're OR sea and see.
During the time that you are not paying attention or are on your guard, then you may end up incorrectly structuring a sentence or misspelling. Keep in mind that your mind works faster than your fingers. You also need to remember that you are more likely to detect errors than proofreading your own work when you proofread somebody else's work.
As for professionals, they proofread their work over 10 times. Now, by following these guidelines, you can too!
No one can judge you better than yourself. You will be able to determine exactly what your most common mistakes are. Once you familiarize yourself with your most common mistakes, proofreading will become much easier whether it's placing the "e" before the "I," or simply forgetting the semi-colon.
When it comes to proofreading, it's not just about misspelled words since most likely those are caught by the application you are using like MS Word spell checker. You must look for incorrect sentence structure, repetition, and text which does not flow well together.
For a while, leave the document and return with new eyes. You will find that your outlook has completely changed if you walk away from your work and take a quick break, then return.
Read out loud and slow down. There are a lot of errors that are caught when you read the text slow and out loud to yourself. You realize things like: this sentence sounds strange, or I repeated this word 5 times in the same paragraph!
Playing tricks on you is your subconscious. There are times when you read what you think should be there and not what is actually there. This means that you need to acquire the skill that overcomes the power of the subconscious. What is that skill? What you need to do is simply read what is actually on the page.
You shouldn't settle for one quick glance over your paper. In order to be sure that you have not missed any possible error, read it several times.
You can hire professional help or work with a friend. It would be great if you could have another set of eyes to look over your work for you. It becomes too familiar after working on a document for so long. It is also a good idea to have an unbiased party to view your paper.
Take note that once a misspelled word, always a misspelled word. This will then become faulty information that is embedded in your mind. Now it's no problem when the word is misspelled in a way that MS Word will catch it, but the absolute worst thing is when the misspelled version happens to be a word too! When that happens, then that error will not be caught by the application. For example: your and you're OR sea and see.
During the time that you are not paying attention or are on your guard, then you may end up incorrectly structuring a sentence or misspelling. Keep in mind that your mind works faster than your fingers. You also need to remember that you are more likely to detect errors than proofreading your own work when you proofread somebody else's work.
As for professionals, they proofread their work over 10 times. Now, by following these guidelines, you can too!
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