Why Proofread?
Why is proofreading important in business communications, copy writing, manuscripts, academic papers and personal documents? The importance of proofreading cannot be understated and there are a number of essential steps to proofreading which examines the various elements of textual content and their function in order to ensure that our content receives the attention it deserves and as intended.
One of the most essential elements of publishing today is proofreading and editing of textual content. Why? As an author or writer of content that will be ‘published’ to a targeted audience, whether we are an author, a copywriter, business professional, content marketing specialist or any other vocation where our content sales or engagement is the critical objective, before that content goes live to its audience it needs polish to a high standard. In this article I will share tips on the essentials of effective publishing today.
I have seen comments where a writer feels the most critical element of reader engagement and responsive action is the content itself…write highly engaging, convincing content and all the peripheral attentions are unnecessary right?
Content is indeed important however from a reader perspective today, especially if they are purchasing our content, the impressions they develop engaging in your content are equally, if not more, important. The presentation of the content in a clear, concise and error-free way implies professionalism and authority while at the same time allowing the reader to focus on the content free of distraction by errors in spelling and mistaken applications in punctuation and grammatical issues.
From a marketing standpoint, a publication that lacks polish, highly relevant and usable information or a powerfully compelling storyline will very likely be a turnoff for most purchasing customers. After all, it is their impressions that must be first and foremost in our minds from the outset. You don’t want your readers put off by such errors and can be sure they won’t return for more of your product.
As writers we spend countless hours writing out content, honing our skill to make that content the best it can possibly be and then become overly anxious to get the content published or otherwise delivered to the intended customers without the due diligence of proofing our work as the final step to the process.
A careful, focused proofing of our work is time-consuming but essential. When we proof our own content we tend to be less than objective, rushing the process and only catching intermittent issues. Our objectivity is to an extent biased as we feel that as a professional writer, author or business person we are more that capable of producing clean, polished content. By undertaking our own editing and proofreading we are helping to reduce the occasion of errors and unclear content structure. The next step should include a secondary editorial process by a hired professional, in itself a multi-phased process.
Finding ways to be mindful of typical content errors during the writing process helps to streamline the project’s conclusion. A writer’s first priority should be to get the ideas down on paper to ensure that critical touch points to the presentation or story are not overlooked; then go back to re-read all content with a critical eye.
Is Proofreading Not The Same as Editing?
There are distinct differences between editing and proofreading even though the two content analysis processes are frequently given reference by some as one and the same. Editing revision addresses the more developmental elements of textual content including structural, substantive and stylistic aspects while proofreading is focused primarily on spelling, punctuation and grammatical issues, sentence and paragraph composition and clarity.
Tips for Effective Editing & Proofreading:
- Allow some time/distance before editing. Hard on the heels of the intensive writing process, allow yourself a measure of time before commencing the editing and proofing process. Don’t jump into the re-reading of your content the minute your project writing has concluded. Take a day or two fully separated from the project and come back with fresh eyes and a clear mind so that you can fully absorb and evaluate what you have written. Many authors/writers share their new content with a friend or associate for an advance read to feel them out on their own initial impressions…invaluable commentary on what you have produced.
- Revising the content for its intended audience. Know that the readability of content is important, especially the more in-depth the material may be. Keep in mind that statistically, the skill level of the average reader is in the order of grade seven or eight. Shocking as that may be it is statistically proven. Make sure you design your content for its intended audience.
- Manage content pace and flow. Long, drawn out paragraphs which express more than one idea or concept/element of a story can lead to reader distraction. Focus on those elements individually within the context of each paragraph. Keep sentences relatively short, up to a dozen or so words at most and each paragraph structured to two to three sentences each. Create Visual breaks (single-line separation, white space) for momentary pause and digestion of content between paragraphs. These breaks are easy on the eyes for the reader. In the digital publication world white space separations are a rarity with a focus on preference toward elimination of that paragraph separation and the inclusion of first line indenting to distinguish new paragraphs, a formatting element which, in tandem with page breaks, improves fluid readability of content when viewed on electronic formats such a eBooks, tablets, iPhones and numerous other electronic media.
- Proofing on the computer vs. printed copy. Choose a medium for this process that you are most comfortable with. Some find that they are most effective reading their content on-screen while others prefer to print out the entire copy and do a manual markup of any needed revisions. When doing a manual proof, one of the best ways to stay clearly focused on all content is to place a ruler at the base line of the content being read. That way, content to follow will be obscured and thus less of a tendency for you to glaze of text during the proofreading process. Another trick I use without exception is to increase the viewing size of the content; click on ‘View’ at the top of your Word document screen, then click ‘Zoom’ to adjust the viewing preference to a more comfortable perspective that is easier on the eyes for such intense scrutiny of your content.
- Avoid distraction. This is self-explanatory and goes without saying but it’s important. Editing and proofreading is a most exacting exercise and takes complete, undistracted focus to get it right. Don’t sit in front of the television or have music blaring in the background. If working from home, separate yourself from the usual distractions associated with home surroundings including children playing, noisy kitchen activity or the family pet wanting to play. Editing and proofreading effectively demands a fluid focus free of interruption.
- Schedule comfortable blocks of time to edit. Marathon sessions of editing for hours at a time lends itself to an increased level of distraction, eye fatigue and overall focus on the content being proofed. Take short breaks every hour or so to rest the eyes, physically stretch and work out the aches and stiffness common to prolonged activity at a work station.
- Content – Begin the content analysis process with editing your content. Are all of the essential elements included in the content? It your content factually accurate and in that regard has all necessary advance research meted out any discrepancies in information provided? Has your concept or storyline been fully developed? Is your content highly relevance-focused or is there superfluous ‘fluff’ through in that could be eliminated to tighten the content delivery? Avoid content redundancy (repeated elements) and excess embellishment of ideas. Be on point without being overly descriptive.
- Structure – Each book manuscript or business presentation needs an effective introduction and conclusion with solid content in between to support those opening and closing elements. Does the body of your content stand in clear support and relevance to your overall concept or message? Does your content progress in an effective sequence of ideas or storyline? Is there natural flow or transition between paragraphs and chapters? As previously mentioned, has each concept or element of the story/document been clearly contained and expressed in each paragraph?
- Clarity – Does any of your content read back in a confusing way? Are concepts, relationships and message/storyline clearly presented or do certain sentences seem vague or conflicting?
- Style – Is the overall tone and feel of your content centric or conveyed as it is intended? Does your content clearly represent the individuals or situations you are conveying? Is passive voice used with too much frequency?
- Citations - Are there a lot of unnecessary words used and repeated throughout the content? Are non-fictional citations (quotes, paraphrasing, ideas or concepts) suitably referenced to their source?
- Spelling/Grammar Check Software – Such software is useful to a point but do not rely on them to effectively address all issues that arise. There are numerous elements of textual content that software, whether built-in Word editing or purchased, fails to identify or recognize such as proper names for people, places, real business entities etc. Their reference design has its limitations and inability to identify validity/accuracy in certain words is restricted. Such software tend only to offer suggested alternative wording or punctuation while not providing any information as to why certain flagged elements are unsuitable or wrongly applied.
- Proofread in Phases – Establish this process in phases. Read through for a limited number of issues for each proofing round, otherwise things can easily get overlooked and the process much less effective. Spelling and grammatical elements are complex and need individual focus. Effective editing and proofreading is most often undertaking a multiple of times for optimum results.
- Editing and Proofreading is Painstaking – This process cannot be rushed for any reason including a hard publishing deadline, minimizing cost etc. The developmental phases of the project should be planned in advance to ensure last minute haste is avoided. Read every single word. It is natural to glaze over content out of or haste when scrutinizing one’s own work. The eye quite naturally skips over words with frequency unless there is a focused effort to check with complete thoroughness.
- Read back out loud – when the read back is too hasty or done in silence we have a tendency to skip over content and miss inadvertent errors or confusing sentence structure etc. When we hear the content read back aloud we more readily pick up on even the more subtle mistakes or oversights in our content.
- Punctuation – This element is one of the more contentious of issues for authors/writers/business professionals. Copy tends to be over-punctuated and/or misplaced and for the discerning reading critic can become a serious issue. Advance research into proper punctuation is prudent due diligence for anyone functioning at a professional level where content development is part of their vocation or principal source of income.
- Reading in Reverse Order – This will come across as strange to many but reading content backwards actually is an effective way to force slow and methodical scrutiny of individual words and deter glazing over content by its very awkward nature…slower but effective.
- Use of Dictionary, Thesaurus Grammar Handbooks – As effective and prolific as we may be as writers there are bound to be times when we question the use of certain words during the writing process. Best practice is to keep hard copy or online resources such as dictionary and grammar tools/guides close at hand at all times. A thesaurus is also an essential reference for raising the bar in terms of alternative word use to enhance the reading experience and better convey ideas.
- Develop a System – Your approach to the editing and proofreading process should never be haphazard. Develop consistent methods for your approach to effective proofing and revision of your work. Doing so will streamline the process and bring about better results with current and successive writing projects.
- If unsure, check it out – When reading back textual content, if a word or phrase seems misplaced or otherwise not quite right or as intended, there is a good chance there is an error in application. That is the time to search online, use hard copy reference material and other available resources to clarify your concern. Style Guides i.e. Canadian Press Style Guide and the Chicago Manual of Style are but a few of the numerous reference guides that offer guidance of accepted standards that should be among resources used for the writing process. It should be noted that such Guides are localized to a specific country to an extent and as such contain word spellings and usage that may be at variance to those standard to other regions and often construed as ‘errors’ in content.
Re-reading your content will raise issues that need clarification or editing to round out a clean, well-presented body of work. The need and importance for careful attention to all of the forgoing details through the editing and proofing process, across multi-level examination, becomes increasingly evident and qualifies the self-editing and hired professional editing processes to ensure that your work is well-received by the publishing community and the consumer as the end-user/recipient of your work.
The bottom line to consider is how satisfied your reading audience is with the product and how consistently those consumers or business clients return for your expertise or repeated purchases of your exceptional non-fiction…again and again.
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