{"id":1481,"date":"2024-07-02T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2024-07-03T17:09:22","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:09:22","slug":"how-to-improve-your-proofreading-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/2024\/07\/02\/how-to-improve-your-proofreading-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve Your Proofreading Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
With every blog post, newspaper article, book, magazine, or other reading materials, editing and proofreading are essential steps. If no proofreading was done, you would notice.<\/strong> Proofreading happens after editing and before printing or publishing. It\u2019s the process that helps reduce mistakes or inconsistencies in a piece of writing.<\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s quite rare to find a piece of writing that is flawless and free from errors \u2013 even dictionaries are known to contain mistakes<\/strong> missed by their editorial team. But if you don\u2019t want to frustrate your readers, you cannot<\/em> skip proofreading your posts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The key to proofreading is to detach yourself from the work<\/strong> or to review it in unfamiliar settings.<\/p>\n Why? Well, the brain is a know-it-all that likes to fill in the blanks<\/a> for us, making us miss things that are \u201cright there\u201d.<\/strong> When we are familiar with the work, the brain predicts the next scene. Under these circumstances, it becomes easier for us (or our brains) to miss typos<\/a> that are hiding in plain sight.<\/p>\n Check out this simple exercise<\/a> to understand how our brain often misleads us.<\/p>\n The easiest way to get proofreading done is to get someone else to do it for you<\/strong>. Fresh eyes pick up more mistakes, and just about anyone can do a quick proofreading job. They just need to have a good enough grasp of the language to catch the typos and irregularities.<\/p>\n If you want to go in-depth with proofreading or do your own proofreading, here are some tips and techniques that may help.<\/p>\n You can read the post out loud or to yourself (if you are in a public setting). If there is dialogue in your writing, give it voices so that you can attach different personalities to your characters. If it is a speech, read it like you are in front of your audience \u2013 dramatize it, strive for perfection, and your mind will become more sensitized towards mistakes and typos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For lengthier posts or assignments, I would suggest printing out the post to read. More importantly, hold a pen<\/strong> while you read, and don\u2019t be afraid to use it<\/strong>. When you allow yourself to \u201cmark\u201d your own article, you will \u201caccept\u201d the fact that the post is not yet ready, and there is still work to be done.<\/p>\n You will be amazed at how many typos you can find with this method. I find bright-colored ink works better than black or blue, but that\u2019s just me.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t want to read out loud or don\u2019t have a handy printer around, you can do proofreading on-screen, but you will need to change the \u201cin-house environment\u201d of the piece.<\/p>\n It is okay to depend on the spellchecker for most spellchecks, but remember that it cannot recognize context, which means it will block words like \u201cinfinitesimal<\/em>\u201d or \u201ccompartmentalization<\/em>\u201d whenever there is a typo but allow a mistake like this too<\/em> go through. Like a traffic light, spellcheckers should not be trusted fully \u2013 they are tools, and tools have limits and faults too. Don\u2019t let your trust in them be the reason for your mistakes.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a sample routine you can adopt:<\/p>\n So that\u2019s that!<\/p>\n Up to this point, we\u2019ve looked into basic techniques that you can use in a proofreading exercise<\/strong>. However, if you want to go deeper, here are a few areas you have to be careful with.<\/p>\n The next section deals with English, the language, which I am far from being a subject expert in. With that in mind, please double-check anything you are not sure of using external sources from other sites or blogs, or with your grammar teacher, if you have one available.<\/p>\n Truth be told, some of the most common typos appear in the shortest of words. Here\u2019s a short list of the usual mistakes we make not only in articles but also when commenting or chatting:<\/p>\n This happens to a lot of writers and often occurs in comments as well.<\/p>\n Tip<\/strong>: If this is a common problem for you, avoid contractions and write out the full phrase. \u201cit\u2019s\u201d becomes \u201cit is\u201d, \u201cthey\u2019re\u201d becomes \u201cthey are\u201d and so on. Continue this until you have earned the right to use apostrophes again.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t judge a book by its<\/em> cover. Unless it\u2019s<\/em> (it is) a really, really bad one.<\/p>\n Homophones are words that sound exactly like each other but are not spelled the same way, such as:<\/p>\n Tip<\/strong>: Sometimes you catch them, sometimes you don\u2019t. I have no magic bullet to solve this problem. However, you can identify your weak spots and run a special check just for that word and its homophone.<\/p>\n Then, there is this group which just gets you when you are not looking. They don\u2019t sound the same and carry totally different meanings but you see them misused in (too many) places on many occasions.<\/p>\n For an explanation on how to differentiate some of the words listed above, check out this poster by the Oatmeal<\/a> (if you need it desperately enough, buy the poster and slap it on your wall; don\u2019t worry, I don\u2019t get paid anything if you do or don\u2019t).<\/p>\n Another easy-to-miss typo hotspot is in the words that have the potential to carry two of the same letters, such as:<\/p>\n You may have noticed the use of \u2018color\u2019 and \u2018colour\u2019 in many publications, online and offline. Which of the two is correct? Well, it depends on who you are writing for. If you are writing for a U.S. audience, then words like<\/p>\n are spelled:<\/p>\n Notice the missing \u2018u\u2019? I\u2019m not sure what the reason is for this personal vendetta against the 21st letter of the alphabet considering that in both<\/em> British and American spelling<\/strong>:<\/p>\n American spelling also snips words like dialogue<\/em>, catalogue<\/em> and programme<\/em>, leaving you with dialog<\/em>, catalog<\/em> and program<\/em>. And let\u2019s not forget the preference for \u2013re<\/strong> in British spelling (centre<\/em>, litre<\/em>, fibre<\/em>) while it is \u2013er<\/strong> in American spelling (center<\/em>, liter<\/em>, fiber<\/em>).<\/p>\n If you listened to your grammar teacher, you might have heard of the \u201ci<\/em> before e<\/em> except after c<\/em><\/strong>\u201d thing \u2013 it is what you use to remember if it is spelled recei<\/strong>ve<\/em> or recie<\/strong>ve<\/em>.<\/p>\n Basically, this rule is used to explain why i<\/em> comes before e<\/em> in words like<\/p>\n and e<\/em> comes before i<\/em> after a c<\/em> in words like:<\/p>\n (Note to self: maybe we should change the rule to i<\/em> after e<\/em> only before v<\/em>.)<\/p>\n The problem arises with words like<\/p>\n as well as in:<\/p>\n (Note to self: Okay, this throws before-V<\/em> out the window.)<\/p>\n The frustrating thing with this language is that it gives off the feeling like it is making up rules and breaking them as it evolves.<\/p>\n We are now splitting infinitives, ending sentences with prepositions while beginning them with conjunctions \u2013 things that will make purists and grammar enthusiasts lose it big time.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most important thing I can share with you about proofreading is this: don\u2019t get too pedantic about it \u2013 that means overly fussy. Once you\u2019ve gotten the hang of proofreading, you might see mistakes everywhere \u2013 in blog posts, headlines, mail, emails, shop signage, brochures, etc. Refrain from trying to correct everything<\/strong>, for the sake of your sanity and for everyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n Secondly, chances are the things that drive proofreaders nuts are things regular readers like you and me don\u2019t really notice. Don\u2019t let the technicality of proofreading destroy a good story worth telling<\/strong>. Like the editing process, proofreading should help improve a post, not impede or ruin it.<\/p>\n Disclaimer<\/strong>: I am not<\/em> an English teacher, please do not<\/em> direct English grammar questions my way. If you do, I\u2019d approach the problem like how the IT guy does it \u2013 I would Google it.<\/p>\n a<\/p>\n The post How to Improve Your Proofreading Skills<\/a> appeared first on Hongkiat<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With every blog post, newspaper article, book, magazine, or other reading materials, editing and proofreading are essential steps. If no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1482,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/1482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/suimy.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}So How Does Proofreading Work?<\/h5>\n
How to Proofread<\/h4>\n
1. Read It Out Loud<\/h5>\n
2. Print It and Read It with a Pen<\/h5>\n
3. Change Elements of the Piece<\/h5>\n
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4. Don\u2019t Trust the Spellchecker. Not Fully.<\/h5>\n
5. General Tips on Proofreading<\/h5>\n
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Problem Areas<\/h4>\n
1. Dealing with Contractions<\/h5>\n
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2. Words that Sound Too Close for Comfort<\/h5>\n
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3. Our Favorite Mistakes<\/h5>\n
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4. Too Much of the Same Thing<\/h5>\n
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5. Separated By A Common Language<\/h5>\n
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6. Rules Are Made to Be\u2026<\/h5>\n
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Conclusion<\/h4>\n