Proofreading involves the thorough checking of copy for any errors once it has been laid out on the page. It is the last editorial procedure before the page is printed. So although it is the uncreative end of the production process, it is extremely important. Good proofreading results in a document with a professional polish; bad proofing can lose your organisation or publication credibility very easily.
What do proofreaders need to check?
Everything! Proofing is not just about the words. The proofreader is also responsible for checking that everything from the page numbers and typefaces to the house style and picture credits are correct. This means having a bird’s-eye view of the pages as well as a meticulous attention to the fine detail.
What does it require?
Proofreading requires a sound knowledge of punctuation, spelling and all aspects of grammar. It also requires a close familiarity with house style, so that each published item has an editorial identity that establishes it as part of the company brand.
Apart from this factual knowledge, proofreading also requires a good deal of patience and a heavy dose of scepticism. Patience is the key attribute as you need to slow right down, put your creative impulses on hold and concentrate on the medium rather than the message. Unless you put aside your assumptions and question everything on the page in front of you, it is easy to miss things that the educated reader will spot.
Developing the skills
Some people find the mindset required for proofreading easier to adopt than others and that is partly a matter of personality. But all the skills can be acquired.
Most important is to develop the discipline of reading like your reader. In other words, as if it is the first time you have read this piece of text. Be dispassionate but enquiring – and read it with your hands by your sides. Marking errors is the second stage, after you have taken that all-important detached overview.
Never assume that something is right because it has already been checked or because the author is an authority: if it looks suspicious, double-check it. Ultimately, it is the proofreader who is responsible for any errors that slip through.
Developing a system
Having a disciplined ‘top-down’ procedure will help: read first for sense, then for accuracy (factual and grammatical), then to check your changes are clear, and on the subsequent proof to check they have all been taken in. Then check it all again, being sure to read one word at a time (despite your best intentions, skim-reading happens all the time when reading in your own language).
Mark-up symbols
There are standard mark-up symbols to use when you proofread. Using the symbols saves space and time and facilitates the hand-over of pages in production. The symbols vary a little between countries and even publishing houses but the most common ones are standard. These include the marks for delete, insert, transpose, check, replace, change case and new paragraph or sentence. So make sure you are readily able to use these (see Useful Links to find a comprehensive list of marks).
Top 10 tips
Unlike other stages of the editorial process, proofreading isn’t about inspiration but about practical application. If you follow the rules below religiously, your proofing should be almost foolproof:
1. Proofread from hard copy: you will notice things you can miss on screen.
2. Leave time between editing raw copy and reading the proof. Your assumptions and memories of the sense have time to recede, so interfere less. This is especially important if you have written the copy.
3. Read everything just for sense first – without a pen in your hand.
4. Start with all the display copy. The reader will, yet mistakes are surprisingly easy to overlook when you’re distracted by the fine detail in the body copy.
5. Read it again, slowly, for detail. If you’re not a habitual proofreader, use a piece of paper to mark the line you’re reading (yes, like you did in primary school!). If it is a short document – and if you have understanding colleagues – read it out loud, as you can pick up certain errors better this way.
6. Mark corrections in the margin as well as in the offending word or space itself.
7. When you have marked a correction, read the whole sentence again: after seeing a glaring error, the eye has a tendency to skip over the adjoining words or phrases.
8. Watch out for homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently, so have a different meaning). Even though you’re not reading aloud, they are easily confused and overlooked – by the spellchecker as well as you.
9. Watch out for typos that are orthographically similar to the intended word but change the meaning, eg causal/casual relationship; ingenuous/ingenious; alternatively/alternately.
10. If possible, when you’re done, have a colleague give it a final read: yours might be a trained eye, but it will benefit from a fresh one now. (Alternatively – if you have the patience – read it backwards: sidestepping the semantics enables you to concentrate on each word.)
Useful links
Interactive Training Ltd at http://www.interactivetraining.co.uk has an exhaustive list of tips as well as a comprehensive proofing marks chart.
Fact sheets, worksheets and a proofing quiz are available at www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/writing/proofreading/
You can find more advice at www.plainenglish.co.uk/proofreading.pdf as well as a wealth of other related information on English usage.
At www.copyediting.co.uk/ click on ‘Proofreading test’ on the left-hand toolbar and you can do a quick test and check your answers.
Content provided by Tessa Thomas, journalist and trainer
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