20 Proofreading Tips From Hemingway

Hemingway wrote the end of A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times. Proofreading is not only about grammar and punctuation, but also content, style, and tone. Here are 20 tips and techniques to proofread your documents, blogs and emails.

What is proofreading?
Proofreading is the difference between calling someone a manager and the mange. Its one letter. The spellchecker wont (not wont) find it but others will.

20 Proofreading Tips
Heres a framework for proofing any kind of business document. Let me know if this works for you and what youd add. 1. 24 Hour Break After youve finished writing, put it aside for one day.
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Resist the urge to hit Publish when feeling the white heat of inspiration. Instead, cool down, give yourself some distance and look at in the morning. Youll be glad you did. Its easy to confuse affect and effect, currently and momentarily and other subtle beauties. 2. Print it Then find a quiet place where you can edit the document slowly. Notice how you see things on the written page that you missed on the screen. Your (not youre) eye will catch these when printed. If this isnt practical for all documents, at least print out those that must be checked thoroughly. Some documents are more important than others! 3. Increase the Onscreen Font Size Dont have time to print it out or dont have a printer? Workaround. Increase the point size or use the zoom tool to make the text easier to read. Another trick is to use a non-standard font. This forces you to slooooow down and read more carefully. 4. Facts Assume all facts are wrong. Double check every fact on the page its your name that goes on the byline. Likewise, check percentages carefully. Did you really mean he got a 200% payrise or was it 20%? Also, be careful with dates. Dont write Tuesday, May the 7th when May the seventh is actually Thursday. Spellcheckers dont find these mistakes.

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5. Headers and Footers If youre using an internal company template, make sure to change the default settings in the header and footer. Also check that they dont refer to the previous document, i.e. if youve went File, Save As to save time. 6. Document Properties Change the File, Properties if youre sending a MS Word document. Otherwise the setting will show the previous documents details. Also captured during PDF conversion. 7. Read Backwards Dont start on line one, page one. Start at the very end and, using a ruler, work your way back to the top. This forces you to pay attention and stop momentums. 8. Use a wooden ruler Put it under each line as you read. Again, this forces you to pay attention and stop your eyes jumping ahead. 9. Look for Gaps Check for the most obvious piece of information and see if its there. For example, have you included the date on an invitation? Have you mentioned the name of the site and included a link? Have you included the persons job title. Have you dated the press release? 10. Achilles Heel We all have problem areas when it comes to editing. Create a list of those that trip you up. Print it out. Put it on the wall. Check this after youve completed the first round of edits. Congratulate yourself when you find one.

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Thats what its there for! 11. Read it aloud Maybe not in the office but book a meeting room, print out the document and read it aloud. Your ear will pick up where the tone is wrong, transitions that dont work, and sections that need to be revised. 12. One problem at a time Dont try to proofread the entire document in one go. Instead, proof it several times. Each time focus on a different area. For example, check the spelling, then grammar, then format, then tone, then facts and so on. 13. Use proofreading checklists I know editors that keep checklists next to their desks and use them when proofing documents. Why? Nine times out of ten, youll catch all the mistakes. But, when youre working late, under pressure, feeling unwell or stressed out its hard to think clearly. Checklists are there to remind you what youd usually remember to check but may overlook when stressed. Dont let pride undermine your efforts. 14. Get Help Proofing your own work is a recipe for dysentery, sorry disaster. Phew! Ask someone else to review it for you. Dont just hand it to them. Get! them started by saying, for example, Im not sure if I covered all the angles. Whats do you think I missed? Theyll tell you and catch a few gremlins in the process.

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15. Proofreading Spelling Mistakes

There are three problems here. ! ! ! One is that something may be spelt incorrectly. Easy to fix. The second is when its spelt (or is it spelled) correctly but used in the wrong content. A third is when foreign words enter your text unawares, usually when copy and pasting. Unless your spellchecker is setup correctly, it wont catch it. Some repeat offenders include: ! ! ! ! ! their (possessive form of they); there (place); theyre (contraction). accept (verb, meaning to receive or to admit to a group) instead of except (usually a preposition, meaning but or only) whos (contraction) v whose (possessive form of who) its (possessive form of it) v its (contraction of it is or it has) affect (verb, meaning to influence) v effect (noun, meaning result)

16. Punctuation
Youve probably read the book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Adding or deleting a comma in the wrong place changes the meaning of a sentence.

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Use a comma to: ! ! ! ! Signal a pause between the start and main part of the sentence. Join two independent sentences with a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Signal the presence of a nonrestrictive element. Separate the items in a series.

17. Apostrophes
Apostrophes are the glue that tags one word onto another. Hes, its, users,!! schools and so on. Apostrophes show that one thing belongs to another. Its also used to contract words. This allows us to compress cannot into cant but not cant, which is a different word.

18 & 19. Active and Passive Verbs

Nothing wrong with active or passive verbs. Each have their own place. However, be careful when you use this construction. ! ! verb. For example, the car was crashed by a member of government.
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In active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb In passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb.

If you want to avoid naming someone or something, then use the passive

is softer than, a member of government crashed the car.

20. Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers

One way to proofread misplaced or dangling modifiers is to highlight them with a pen. Then connect them to the word theyre describing. This helps you track which is the correct word (i.e. being modified). To fix this, move the misplaced modifier closer to the word it describes.

Conclusion
In proofreading, take nothing for granted. Unconscious mistakes are easy to make, especially when proofing what youve wrote. Reading aloud forces you to slow down and hear the words as well as see them. Two senses are better than one! Finally, its twice as hard to find mistakes in your own work as in someone elses so assume that there are mistakes in there. Now go hunt them down! What else would you add? Whats the one thing that trips you up when proofing your documents?

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About Ivan Walsh Got a question about improving your business? Contact me on Google Plus, @KlaritiDotCom, or Facebook

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