The Art Of Proofreading

After all the research and the actual writing, next comes the need to proofread what you have written.  Proofreading lets you see and correct the errors you may have overlooked while writing.  You need to do this to ensure that your written work is accurate and flawless.  However thorough your research was and however good your writing style is, all these will be overshadowed by the errors you failed to correct just because you were not able to proofread your work.

In this era of computer technology, many of us are complacent regarding the need to proofread everything we write.  For one, Microsoft Word and other similar programs are equipped with spelling and grammar check functions that automatically flag certain grammatical and spelling errors as we type.  There are also many sites on the Internet that electronically check articles and other written work for any spelling or grammar issues.

Since computers have the said feature, many of us forego proofreading our written work.  More often than not, we just look for the red and green underlines to see if we misspelled a word or if there were any grammatical mistakes in our work.  Using online grammar and spell checking sites also have similar mechanisms.  We can just then right-click on the underlined or highlighted word or phrase and select from the correction suggestions of the computer in order to correct the error.  Voila, we are set to go.  This is one reason why many experts posit that the art of proofreading is dying.

However, there are many errors that can not be recognized by computers or by any software.  If we don’t proofread our work after having the computer check its grammar and spelling, we could be overlooking serious mistakes or errors in our written work.  When your work gets published, it could be very embarrassing.  Worse, it could even hurt your reputation as a writer.  Whatever convenience technology brings, there is still no beating the age-old art of proofreading.

Reading your written work once and correcting the errors as you go is not enough.  You need to read it again until you are satisfied with your work.  If you need to use certain citations styles for your work, you can double check them to see if you did it right.  You can also try reading your work aloud to check whether it sounds good.  There are times when you recognize certain errors, which you have not recognized before while reading it, because they don’t sound right when you read them aloud. 

If you have enough time, try sleeping on your work.  You can then proofread it again after you wake up.  After sleeping, you can see your work in a fresh and new perspective.  After being refreshed by sleep, you are then in a better position to be more objective.  Your mind has rested so it can see your work in another light.  This way, you can spot more errors that you have committed.  Only then can you make your work water tight and flawless.