Proofreading for Professional Writing

Topics » Diva Toolbox Tips » Business Tips

by Beth Beaty

From emails to reports to blog posts, the quality of your written communication speaks volumes. The following proofreading tips can help make your writing sing:

Proof from a printed copy. Before printing, change the color, spacing, font size or font style. Make your corrections in red (or another easy to see color) ink.

Slow your reading speed down. Try:

Reading the piece aloud.
Reading the entire piece back to front.
Reading each page bottom to top.
Using a screen (such as a blank sheet of paper) to keep you eyes and mind focused on one line at a time.
Running your finger along the text to make it easier to read one word at a time.

Make a style sheet. Include:

People's names and titles of books, articles, etc.
Technical terms
Phone numbers and addresses
Correct form of common terms or phrases
Preferred spelling of words that can be spelled different ways
Preferred formatting and style of numbers, heading, urls, lists, etc.

Make several passes.

Use your computer's spell checker and grammar checker as a first pass, but don't depend on them.

Proof the body of the text. Be alert for homonyms (words that share the same pronunciation, but have different meanings such as accept/except or there/their/they're or to/two/too) and little words (such as or, of, it, is) that can be easily interchanged.

Focus just on punctuation. Does each sentence have a period or question mark? Is there a close quote or parenthesis for each opening and vice versa? Are you consistent in you use of comma before "and" or in a list? Circling every punctuation mark forces you to look at each one. As you circle it, ask yourself if the punctuation mark is correct.
Focus on your common errors. Keep a list of your most common errors and use it for this pass.
Make a pass for each of the special situations listed below.

Finally, look at the document as a whole. Are the margins consistent? How about the indents? Is it consistently justified and aligned? Is there correct and consistent spacing between sentences and before and after paragraph and section breaks? Is the font and size consistent?

Special situations

Instructions or procedures:

If possible, do every step in procedures to make sure they are complete, accurate and in correct order.
Count the number of steps a list promises to make sure they are all there.

Numbers:

Have someone read the numbers from the original source while you double check.
Do any math included in the text.

Tables:

Read down columns in a table if readers are supposed to read across the table. Read across if readers are supposed to read down.

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