Proofreading your work is one of the most important things that you can do to create a professional and powerful body of work. Unfortunately, the majority of people consider proofreading to be little more than quickly scanning their work and then moving on to the next project. In the high speed world of article writing, it is easy to understand how this might could happen. The truth is, you can effectively proofread your work without losing productivity if you only know how to do it.
The first thing to understand about proofreading is to understand the value of reading out loud. When you verbalize your own writing, it takes on a different sound. This will help immensely with recognizing awkward phrases, missing words and other common writing mistakes. Simply read the text out loud. If any part of it sounds a bit off, or remotely seems confusing, you can be sure your client and their readers will find it to be the same.
Another very important step to proofreading is to use a spellchecker. Spellcheckers are a valuable way to catch common everyday spelling issues, but they are by no means a catch all. You still have to go through and use a human eye to insure that your spelling is on point. Some words do get by the spellcheck so make sure you check them yourself as well.
Grammar checkers are out there as well, but they are largely unreliable. As an editor you would be shocked at how many times people will say that they ran the article through a grammar checker, as though that were the only thing necessary to guarantee an accurate article. These grammar checkers can be helpful to a point, and are particularly good when you are dealing with trying to avoid tense problems within a single sentence. The problem with grammar checkers is that they do not have common sense. Some things get by, and only a human eye can catch them. Do not rely on grammar checkers for a perfect proofread.
Using another person to help edit your own work is also highly effective. You are writing your articles for other people’s eyes, and getting an upfront read from a trusted friend or family member can be very valuable. Never underestimate the advice of a new set of eyes.
Finally, and most importantly, you should get your work onto a schedule to where you have time to proofread the next day. Write your article, and then set it aside until the next day. The time that passes will allow you to see your article in a new light. You will see errors that you otherwise would not have seen. If you work on a tight schedule and have to write and submit in the same day, then you can still leave an hour or so between writing and proofreading. Write an article, set it aside, and write another article. Then you can go back and proofread the first article before you submit it. Either way, it is good to put some time between writing and proofreading the same article.
