Proofreading Hacks

Proofreading Hacks

Proofreading Hacks

query_builder March 30, 2015

We have all experienced the feeling of mortification for finding typos in our essays after pushing the send button. This lowers our marks, limits our professional opportunities and is simply annoying. Undoubtedly, the process of proofreading a piece is boring, but essential. , a professional in this sphere, proposes you the proofreading hacks to get unstuck:

• Change the font of your text or paste it to another editor. The reason why writing errors leak from the draft to the sent original is rather banal: during the writing process our brain gets so familiar with the text, that it, let’s say, auto-corrects the errors it sees, which makes them invisible for the author. Using such a trick will allow your brain to perceive your piece as new information and spot oddities in it.
• Read backwards. If there is no possibility to do a proofreading in a day or two, try this method. Instead of reading your piece from the top to the bottom, try to read it from the bottom to the top. In such a way sentences will be perceived from a different perspective and it will be easier to point out mistakes.
• Read your piece out loud. Your mouth voices every word and the errors are sensed better by ears. Repeated words as well as missing punctuation can easily spotted when using this method.
• Ask someone to read your piece. It can be anybody who can read. English as his or her major is not required. Chances are high that in such a way stupid mistakes you missed can be easily noticed as the person unfamiliar with your essay is reading it from a different perspective. Moreover, it is a human nature to try hard not to miss anything while proofreading someone else’s piece.
• Proofread a printed variant of your piece. Using the method of scanning through the text for errors on a printed piece of paper will improve the speed of proofreading. It is much easier to follow lines on a physical piece of paper than on a computer screen, which helps to save time without loosing quality