One of our local employers was on the front page of the Monadnock Ledger last week regarding a $400,000 settlement with OSHA for worker safety violations. Ouch! They not only have to pay the fines, but they also must take corrective actions & improve the safety of their workplaces for all of their employees. They have agreed to get a full time safety &...
Proofreading: What to Look for When You Check Your Writing
Submitted by TWP on Mon 12/5/11 12:30 pm
Proofreading is one of the most important parts of writing. Professional writers know that the hardest work to proofread is your own: you see what you expect to see. Your mind tricks you into reading a preposition, even verb, that isn't actually there on the page. You believe that you've transitioned smoothly from one thought to another because you know what you meant to say.
When you are proofreading, pay particular attention to:
- Consistent content. Check headings, subheadings, headers and tables of contents in particular; they should be consistent with each other. If you are addressing "you" the reader, don't suddenly change to the third person ("they").
- Verb tense and agreement. The best verb tenses to use in a document are present and past. Use the future tense only if the subject really will happen in the future. Stay away from complicated constructions like "will have been." Make sure a singular subject has a singular verb. Don't trust your grammar checker! Grammar checkers are always wrong.
- Format. If you begin with justified text, stick with it. If you use round bullets, don't switch to square.
- Spelling. Some words can be spelled two ways. For example, "judgment" and "judgement" are both right. Be especially careful to always spell your own products and services consistently and to refer to your own company consistently (for example, if you call yourself "the Company," make sure "Company" is always capitalized).
- Punctuation. If you want a comma before "and" in a series (called a "serial comma"), make sure it is always there. If you divide subheadings from the text with a period (as in these bullets), make sure the period is always there.
Proofreading is a skill. When I proofread documents like the MIT School of Science newsletter, I make corrections and changes that add value, clarity and consistency. If you want to be sure that your website, newsletter, brochure or manual is mistake-free and communicates clearly, send me an write [at] twriteplus [dot] com (email) and find out how professional proofreading can help.