Wish you could become an expert proofreader? You can! While some people may seem to be born editors, proofreading is an acquired skill that you can become an expert in if you work at it. Whether you already are or want to become a professional article writer for hire or a published author, proofreading is a must-have skill you need to develop  Follow these 8 ways to improve your proofreading skills, and you’re well on your way to becoming an expert proofreader!


Know Your Own Common Writing Mistakes

Becoming an expert proofreader starts with you! Knowing your own common mistakes in your own writing is the first step in becoming an expert-level editor. It might be forgetting “i before e except after c,” leaving out punctuation such as commas or semicolons, or overusing certain words. Being familiar with your own common mistakes makes them much easier to spot in other people’s writing. It also helps you improve on your own writing significantly.


Be Aware of Common Misspellings and Commonly Misused Spellings of Words

Most word processors have spell checkers that catch most misspellings. Of course, spell checkers don’t catch words that are correctly spelled words, but are misused by accident. That includes cases like “sea” and “see.” be aware of as many common spelling errors as you can. Even expert writers may have certain words they commonly misspell without thinking about it. Once a writer misspells or misuses a word enough times, it becomes a very difficult, if not impossible, habit to break. 


Proofreading is More Than Misspellings

Proofreaders must not only catch misspellings and misused words. You also must watch for things like incorrect sentence structure, unnecessary repetition, and awkward wording. As a proofreader, you not only want to watch for bad or awkward grammar, but the flow of the text as a whole. Writers depend on proofreaders to make sure their text reads not only correctly, but also in a clear and understandable way. If it sounds like it reads wrong, it probably should be worded differently.


When Proofreading, Be Sure to Take a Break and Return with Fresh Eyes

Especially when proofreading your own work, leaving the work for a while then returning with fresh eyes is important. During that break, your mind will have refocused. You’ll be able to spot errors that may not have been obvious before because you were too close to the work. Even if you’re proofreading someone else’s work, it’s good to leave it aside after a first pass. You never know what you may have missed when you come back for the second look.

Reading Aloud While Proofreading Helps You Read What’s Actually on the Page

It’s true that our subconscious mind has a way of making us read what we think should be written on the page. But, as a proofreader, you need to not let your subconscious trick you and read what’s actually on the page. The best way to overcome this is to read out loud and do so slowly. You will catch far more errors and awkward things this way, realizing when sentences read strangely or words are repeated too many times in a paragraph.


Having Extra Help With Proofreading is Good

Especially when proofreading your own work, having a friend or another professional gives you a fresh set of eyes to check your work. Even when you’re proofreading others’ work, after awhile you become too familiar with the work. Having an unbiased third party gives fresh perspective. Even a quick glance can afford you extra insight you wouldn’t otherwise have. Even expert proofreaders will ask for an extra set of eyes on occasion. 


Remember the Mind Works Faster Than Your Fingers as a Writer

As we writers get into the flow of writing, we sometimes don’t pay attention to how we are spelling certain words or structuring sentences. Especially when proofreading your own writing, you may not even catch some of these things. In your mind, you know what you were meaning to say. As a proofreader, you will run into passages that either are confusing or make no sense at all. In that way, proofreading others’ work can be easier, because you can catch mistakes others make much more easily than your own mistakes. So, when you’re proofreading and run into some passages that make no sense, the mind being faster than the fingers is probably why.


Never Proofread Your Work or Others’ Work Only Once

Don’t just settle for glancing over work just once, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. In fact, some writing professionals will proofread their work ten times or more! It’s important to read over a piece several times to make sure that it’s free of spelling and grammatical errors. It also ensures that you ensure that the text reads well. Expert proofreading, like any skill, takes lots of practice. If you do it enough, not only will your own writing improve, but you’ll be able to help many other writers, too!

by Lyn Lomasi; Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

You spend hours on a submission perfecting every little detail when along comes an editor to mess with your masterpiece. If you're going to make it as a writer, you will have to work with editors. A necessary part of the publishing process involves dealing with editors.

Learn to compromise. Editors can and often do change things. That's what they're there for. They catch the little mistakes we make (and we all make mistakes). They also may make edits that are better for structure, your audience, the web, and more. Though you may not always agree with them, you will have to deal with many editors. Learn to compromise on what your final piece will look like.

Let it go. That may be easier said than done in many cases. Writers often see our works as our little babies, if you will. We work hard on what we produce and it means so much to us. Altering it can feel like someone is trying to change us. After all, it does often have our names on it and we made it. But at some point, we have to learn to let it go. If the work never bypasses an editor, it may never get out in front of the intended audience. Try not to get too attached and learn to just let the work go once its complete.

What's the change? Instead of becoming to attached to the way the piece is written, focus on the message. If the edits do not take away the message, don't be so hard on the editor. It's perfectly fine to address the editor if you feel that the changes are unsatisfactory or take away from the message. But if the change is nothing that takes away the message, why waste all that energy getting upset? Write another article.

Report the editor. This is only for extreme cases. As a writer, you will need to learn to deal with the fact that your writing will be changed by editors if you want it published with major companies. If the editor really is making changes that are unreasonable (and not just changes you don't like - changes that affect the quality of the work significantly), that's when you report the editor. I advise not taking this route unless necessary because a writer and editor need to be able to work together peacefully. But obviously, if there is an injustice it should be reported.

Switch venues. If you just cannot deal with a particular editor, write somewhere else. Ultimately, you should be happy with your writing (or any) career. If that's not happening, you haven't found the right venue/s to write for yet. Realize you should not be switching venues every time you don't like what an editor does. But if there is a true problem, remember that you can move on.

Write for yourself. If you truly cannot deal with anyone at all messing with your own work, only write for yourself. When someone is paying you to produce work, it should be what they want, hence part of the reason for the editors. If you create your own venue, such as your own website or blog, you make the rules. Even if you go this route, it can still be a wise move to have an editor (or at least a writing buddy) that is willing to be a second pair of eyes. But you'll have the most freedom when writing for yourself.

Bottom line: Editors are a part of the writing and publishing business and writers need to be able to adapt to that fact. Work with (not against) your editor, unless you have a legitimate claim against them.

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