Proofreading for Profits
How to avoid mistakes that undermine your credibility
You're probably already familiar with the spell checker built into your software. Some work automatically as you type, others only run when you activate them.
Spell checking is just the start of your proofreading tasks. Don't let simple grammatical errors, or text omissions, sabotage your message. Here are some things to check for that go beyond the capabilities of your software program's spell checker.
But, spell checkers are not infallible! Know what yours checks-and what it doesn't check. Does it check text imported from other programs? Does it flag words containing numbers?
Spell check limitations
Monitor your spell checker's recommendations. Make sure each suggested replacement is a correctly spelled version of the original word, and not an inappropriate substitution. Double-check the spelling of proper nouns and industry-specific terms. Use care adding them to your custom spell check dictionary, or they will be misspelled forever!
Grammatical errors
Watch for homonyms-correctly spelled, but misused words-such as to, two, and too, or affect and effect. Most spell checkers are not context sensitive. Watch for singular nouns paired with plural verbs, and vice versa. Make sure you have used correct punctuation, like Em dashes (-) to indicate duration, instead of two hyphens (- -).
Check all dates, times, prices
Have someone else verify dates, times, and prices. It's both costly and embarrassing to send out information that you have to immediately correct. Pay particular attention to numbers. Transposed numbers, i.e., 1,324 instead of 1,234, etc., are very difficult to notice. Before submitting a proposal, posting web content or distributing a newsletter, call telephone numbers, visit web sites and send e-mails and faxes requesting return confirmation.
Make sure you have included all ordering information necessary for recipients to respond. Order your own product, to check autoresponder performance.
Widows and orphans
Check for subheads and the first lines of new paragraphs, isolated at the bottom of a column or page. Ideally, at least two lines of a new paragraph should appear together at the bottom of a column.
Likewise, edit or rewrite to eliminate word or sentence fragments isolated at the top of a new column or page.
Hyphenation
Check that you have not hyphenated headlines and subheads. These look awkward and are hard to read. Make sure body copy has been hyphenated. In justified text, i.e., lines of equal length, hyphenation eliminates awkward word spacing. In flush-left/ragged-right text, (i.e., lines of unequal length), hyphenation eliminates alternating long and short lines.
Double-check hyphenation to make sure that words like "therapist" have not been split into "the rapist." Use non-breaking hyphens to keep proper nouns from hyphenating.
Word breaks
Check that you have used non-breaking spaces to keep first names and last names, or dates, together on one line.
Working links
When creating Adobe Acrobat PDF files, check that all links perform properly. Just because URLs and e-mail addresses appear in blue and are underlined doesn't mean that the links are working properly! Recheck links when you edit your original publication file and create a new PDF.
Updating information
When publishing a newsletter, check that issue date and/or issue number information are correct. Double-check headers, footers, captions, and pull quotes.
Formatting and spacing
Check for correct headline, subhead and body copy text styles. Watch out for short paragraphs that should be formatted as subheads. It's very easy to inadvertently change styles during editing. Watch for extra spaces between words and sentences. It is also easy to inadvertently add unwanted space when copying and pasting text. Use Find and Replace to replace two spaces with one.
Duplicate or missing text
Read text out loud to locate awkward or redundant words and phrases as well as omitted words that your mind inserts because it "knows what you meant." Watch for overflow text in text frames at the ends of articles. Often, hidden text is only indicated by a relatively small icon.
Roger C. Parker knows the secrets to promoting your business one page at a time. Find out the simple way to keep in constant touch with your customers, while saving you time and money. Visit http://www.OnePageNewsletters.com for your three free reports.
MORE RESOURCES:
'Becoming Americans': Immigrant writing San Francisco Chronicle ... short stories, novel excerpts, poems, letters and bits of memoir that this anthology of "Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing" collects. ... |
Local man wins prize in writing competition Iowa City Press Citizen A local man has won a runner-up prize in an international competition for writing. Zach Falcon, 37, of Iowa City, earned the recognition for his story "The ... |
Writings left behind by Vonnegut Philadelphia Inquirer As for writing left behind at his death, here we have Look at the Birdie, a collection of previously unpublished works that Vonnegut wrote in the 1950s or ... |
Idaho writing Race to the Top application KIVI-TV AP - November 22, 2009 9:04 AM ET BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho hopes to win $75 million or more in competitive federal grants for public schools, ... |
 Showbiz Spy | Steven Tyler Writing a Book Showbiz Spy STEVEN Tyler says he's taking time off from Aerosmith to write a book while his injured shoulder heals. The frontman sustained the injury after falling off ... |
Teacher 'suspended over 9/11 creative writing task' Telegraph.co.uk ... Oxclose Village Primary School in Washington, Tyne and Wear, after their children reportedly came home in tears following the creative writing lesson. ... |
West Ottawa implements curriculum that focuses on writing skills HollandSentinel.com Lucy Calkins writing curriculum — already in use by Holland Public Schools — is one of the latest trends in writing education, as teachers instruct students ... |
 PerezHilton.com (blog) | Steven Tyler Is Just Writing A Book! No Drugs (Allegedly) PerezHilton.com (blog) A spokesman for Steven Tyler has said that the Aerosmith frontman is just taking a quick break due to a shoulder injury and he is working on his ... |
Prof finalist for fiction writing Sioux City Journal Tricia Currans-Sheehan's "The River Road: A Novel in Stories" was named a finalist in fiction and received Honorable Mention in the Nashville Book Festival ... |
 Baltimore Sun | An appreciation for Sister Maura Baltimore Sun Here's an excerpt: Sister Maura considered writing to be work, and if nothing else, I was going to learn the value of that work during my numerous courses ... |
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