Unfortunately the linked site removes some punctuation marks (like apostrophes) in my article. Irony? I'm writing about proofreading!
Proofead. Poofread. Proofreed. Proofread!
We spend a third of our time at the office writing emails, reports, letters and other documents. In our haste to meet deadlines, we inadvertently make spelling, grammatical and typographical errors. We’re also guilty of “cut-and-paste” jobs which show inconsistency in font type, size or colour.
Proofreading – or the lack of it – says plenty about our work attitude. We all know colleagues whose shoddy standards leave much to be desired and we end up correcting their mistakes. While we can’t always be perfect, we can minimise errors by proofreading our work.
1) Check the squiggly lines. Don’t ignore the red lines (spelling mistakes or unrecognisable words) and green lines (grammatical errors e.g. sentence fragments) as these help in editing the first draft. Be careful not to be over-reliant on them because they won’t pick out wrongly-used words that are spelled correctly.
2) Review on a hard copy. The glare from computer screens can be strenuous on our eyes, making it difficult to edit. Printing out your document and reviewing it on paper helps you catch errors you could have previously missed.
3) Take a break. Put away your work for a few hours, or even days, if possible. The rest will do wonders to your mental and physical state, and you will gain a new perspective to your document.
4) Get “a fresh pair of eyes." It’s tricky picking out your own mistakes if you’ve been staring at it for too long. Ask someone to review the piece. It helps if this person hasn’t read it before and may be able to spot errors which escaped you, especially when editing for content.
Acquiring proofreading skills isn’t just for writers and editors. It’s useful for anyone who understands the importance of producing and delivering quality work.
Written by Teo Yuan Ching
Temasek Polytechnic's Division of Communications & Media Management
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