Proofreading your
own work is incredibly important and doable. It's about examining what you have
written carefully to correct typographical faults. Prior to proofreading your
document, ensure you have given yourself some space from the text especially if
you have just finished writing it. Print it off and read it aloud. This can
help with picking up run-on sentences and other issues you might miss reading
to yourself. You can also read it backwards, the words come in a strange and
unusual order and will make it easier to pick up errors. It is easier to pick
up mistakes from a printout rather than on screen. You are also able to feel
more intimate with the work on paper. You can use a computers spell check
however, but this may not discern variances between US English and Australian
English and may miss some properly spelt words in incorrect places such as
their, there and they're and weather and whether or which and witch.
Proofreading is
done following editing, which involves inspecting content to make certain that
concepts are expressed clearly, logically forming an intelligible and
meaningful whole. Proofreading is done in finer detail and is last so needs to
be flawless. This is why often, it's worth looking at an independent
proofreader. When you proofread work that you have written yourself, you are so
familiar with it that you see what you think you have written rather than what
you really wrote.
A professional
proofreader examines text critically and carefully and is expected to be
consistently accurate in focusing on surface errors like spelling mistakes, or
errors in punctuation, syntax and grammar. A proofreader will also check your
clarity of expression. A writer of any document works hard to get the right
words down and after working on something for some time, can start to miss
common slip-ups and often don't have the time to spend to ensure professional
and high quality work. Fresh, qualified eyes on a project can make all the
difference with regards to a writers reputation, making a proofreader
indispensable. Proofreaders can proofread novels, academic papers, people whose
second language is English, corporate or government official papers, business
documents such as manuals, websites, marketing materials, personal documents
such as resumes, letters and emails.
In any case, it is
important to be clear and avoid embarrassment. It's important to get merit for
your work not your English writing ability. Get marked for your ideas rather
than your grammar. Work with someone who consistently returns timely documents
that have been proofread and/or edited with precision.
Please see my
website for all your proofreading work. http://kirstieanders.com
I use Microsoft
Word's Track Changes. Every suggestion I make on your document will be
'tracked', and any query or comment will appear in the margin.
When I return your
copy edited documents with the tracked-changes and the completed copy, it will
show all changes and queries. This will give you, the author, complete control
over the final version. You can go through the tracked-changes, and accept or
reject any changes, reading my comments in the margin, and you can choose
whether or not to take on my suggestions. It will always be your work and your
say.
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