How to proofread better?

Question

I'm getting into trouble in work because I make occasional typoes in work that goes to clients. I read and reread the work several times, but often miss 1 or 2 things. I've done a search for prooreading tips and I'm wondering if the Yahoo Community might have some solid prooreading tips that can help me avoid such mistakes in the future. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Wait several hours before proofreading. Otherwise you might be thinking about what you just wrote, rather than watching for typos and punctuation errors.

Eliminate distractions. This is very detailed work so you need to be focused.

Print out a copy of your work, rather than reading it on a computer screen. To make it even easier, print a double-spaced draft copy.

Read the document aloud. This helps to highlight punctuation errors and missing words.

Use a piece of colored paper as a guide. This will help to keep your eyes on the line you're working on. If you don't have any colored paper, use a ruler.

Read backwards for spelling mistakes. Yes, that's right! You'll find spelling errors much easier if you're going from right to left. Otherwise you might unconsciously start reading, and not 'proof' reading.

Use a different colored pen such as green or red to make your correction marks. These colors are much easier to see than black or blue.

Carefully check numbers and totals. Refigure all calculations and look for misplaced commas and decimal points.

If you have a lengthy document to proofread, rest your eyes every 10 to 15 minutes.

When you're absolutely sure there are no mistakes, have a partner check your work. Sometimes all it takes is a second pair of eyes.

Answer 2

After reading your question it is apparent that you do not use "Spell Check" Although you can't depend on it especially if you use technical terms it is a place to start. Many people (me included) never sent a document out to a client without it being proofread by someone else.
It is much harder to catch your own mistakes than the the mistakes of others.

Answer 3

What you want to do is read it out loud. Have a pencil with you. Speaking it lets you process it and hear it, so if something sounds funny, you'll recognize it. Then you just fix it on the paper and make changes later on the computer. Works for me, it'll work for you. Good luck!

Answer 4

Oh no, you've done it again. You have typed "solid prooreading".
I'm a proofreader. There's no magical formula; it's just a matter of reading things - not too quickly - and staying alert. You really do have to concentrate.

Answer 5

Well for one thing, Make sure you know all the correct procedures to correct e.g., Triple underlining when a letter needs to be capitalized or putting a slash through it if it needs to be decapitalized. Also, after proofreading, you should recheck to make sure you caught EVERY SINGLE ERROR and corrected them with the proper marks. that's how i do it and It works for me so it will Probably work for you.

Answer 6

Proof read it a couple times. First, look at the content and how the words flow. Don't get distracted by punctuation. Then go back and look only for punctuation.

Answer 7

After reading it over once forwards, read it backwards, starting with the last word. That way your eye won't try to make sense of a word in context.

Answer 8

It's time-consuming, but if reading backwards and aloud don't help, then cut and paste each sentence into a separate word document. Then correct each sentence separately.

Answer 9

I do the painful proofread crawl, going word by word, page by page. it is worth it

Answer 10

Everything that was said above, in addition to having someone read it aloud TO you.