How To Improve Your Online Proofreading Skills
There is more to good proofreading than just checking the spelling and
grammar of a piece of work, you also need to look at the overall piece
of work, the type of writing it is, the tone of voice, the tenses used,
and all of this in the context of the piece.
Of course, how much of this your proofreading assignment requires will
vary by employer, but that's not the point here. Here are seven tips to
help you brush up on your proofreading skills.
Look at the Whole Piece
Depending on the type of writing you want to look at the overall
structure of the piece you are proofreading to ensure the piece is
structurally sound - check for a beginning or introduction, a middle or
body, an end or conclusion.
Read Slowly
Our minds have the tendency to 'skim', even when we are reading
something for the first time, we see whole words, not individual
letters; we see phrases instead of the component words. Slow your
reading down and take time to look at each word.
Read Out Loud
Use two senses instead of one, read the writing out loud. Hearing the
words helps you to identify words used out of place, run on sentences,
incorrect use of contractions, and sometimes even simple spelling
mistakes.
Zoom In
If you are doing proofreading on the computer, pretty much every
application, and all current web browsers, you use will have a zoom
feature to make the text on the screen larger. Even if they don't zoom,
you can always reduce the resolution of your computer monitor while you
work.
Don't always rely on your spell checker
Spell-checkers are great for identifying words that aren't spelled
correctly, most even check basic grammar rules too. English is a funny
language, however, and it's possible to have the wrong word in a
sentence and for the checker not to see it. Use them, but don't rely on
your spell checker.
Read, Read, Read
The more you read the more familiar you will become with words and
grammar. If you find yourself proofreading the same kind of material
every time - scientific journals, fictional writing, technical
specifications - you should try reading more of the same - become very
familiar with your subject matter.
Write, Write, Write
Writing a lot is another awesome way to learn how to proofread - might
sound back-to-front to some, but the more you write the more you think
about the words you are using, the sentence structure, tone of voice and
tenses.
