The best proofreading advice I can give you is to slow down when you read your manuscript. Slow. Down. Ex. Treme. Lee. Take the time to literally focus on each and every syllable, letter, space, and punctuation mark (particularly the apostrophe). Concentrate and take in what is on the page as well as what isn’t.
Sound ridiculous? Tedious? Maybe, but this is honestly what it takes to spot elusive errors. It’s the single most effective tip to improve your chances of catching mistakes. Errors can’t slip past as easily when you’re not breezing through the sentences or words. Your eyes won’t be fooled into reading what isn’t actually there. Your brain will have time to register what’s wrong on the page.
Keep a special lookout for typos, spelling errors, misused words, contractions, and tricky homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently or have different meanings). You’ll be amazed at the mistakes you find! Hopefully this will make your plodding pace worthwhile.
If you’re having trouble forcing yourself to slow down, try pacing yourself by moving your finger very slowly beneath each word as you read.
Remember, the point of proofreading is to increase quality, not speed. You know the tired old saying: Slow and steady wins the race. Happily, the more you practice such intense proofreading, the more efficient you’ll become. Your speed will naturally increase—which is great, as long as you don’t out-pace your typo-catching abilities.
While this “slow down” method is simple, it may be too grueling for some writers. If the mere thought of such methodical reading sounds painstakingly tortuous (and torturous!), consider hiring a professional proofreader to do the job for you. To borrow one last cliché (which we should avoid in our writing 🙂 ): Time is money.
And even if you do proofread your own work until you think it’s perfect, hire a proofreader. I bet she’ll still wow you with the mistakes she finds!
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