Proofreading Tips
Oh, those typos! They get you (and me) all the time. Or rather, we make typographical errors when writing with a keyboard. What to do about them? Obviously, we must read over our work before submitting it; but does that always fix all the mistakes? Automatic grammar/spelling checking software isn't much help. The errors are often using the plural or singular of a word when the other number is needed, or the mistake creates a legitimate word, or we have simply used the wrong word that sounds like the one we wanted. In the latter case, we need to know more about words. If you're not certain you have the right one, look it up. To help with the proofreading, here are four tips and an acronym for remembering them, TRPO:Time -- if you can, let the writing rest. The mistakes will rise to the surface where they'll be more visible when you reread the piece (just kidding about the rise to the surface part.)
Reverse -- instead of reading from start to finish, read the last sentence first and proceed up to the start. Again, this technique makes the mistakes stand out because you're not caught up so much in the logic of the work.
Print -- instead of trying to proofread on the monitor screen, put your words on paper, at least double spaced, maybe in a larger size font, like 14.
Other -- best of all is to have another person also read your work just looking for errors. Something in our minds rebels against noticing mistakes like double words (and is notoriously invisible when it appears twice in a row.
[editing]
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 9:33 AM
5 Comments:
Wonderful tips. Printing out the text is really the best way to proof it. As a rule, it reveals more errors than the eye can ever catch while reading on the screen.
Georganna,
Even as I typed your name and checked with the one on your site, I noticed I typed your name as 'G E O R G E A N N A' and had to drop an 'E'. Must be my British influenced Indian education.
Twenty years after automation, one finds that machines still cannot write for you. We still cannot inject flavour and context into proofing tools. But they are good for an initial hand hold.
And the double words typo scenario is so true..
Nicely written.. :)
Thanks for your comments, ladies.
Lakshmi, the problem is not your British influence but my mother's ignorance. She named me for my father, George, but didn't realize that a following vowel is needed to make the second "g" pronounced softly. I would have loved to be the veddy British "Georgina" or "Georgeanne" or even the French "Georgette". You should hear how the Asian telemarketers and health care workers mangle my name! Sometimes I can't even recognize that they are asking for me. And the Latino restaurant employees insist on spelling it with a "J".
Thanks for the emails too!
I completely agree, especially with the bit about time. That lesson has been nothing but beneficial for me.
Several contributors to the forum on the Writer's Digest website testified that they find typos by reading their writing out loud. If it works for them, so much the better, and I'll add it to my list. Let's see, should that become TARPO or TRAPO?
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