PROOFREADING
Overview
Writing is a process and proofreading is one small but vital step in the process (see Figure 1). Most people are introduced to the writing-is-a-process concept in high school English classes. College students are reminded of this in their first year composition classes. In upper division writing classes, students are assumed to have internalized this concept and to have adopted effective writing habits including proofreading. However, we are always in a state of gaining a deeper understanding, so consider the following: One trick to understanding the writing process is to visualize it like a traffic circle, see the figure below, with an entry point and exit point but no requirement to be strictly linear. The steps may seem linear because they are easy to present in order; however, in practice the steps may overlap, recirculate, and seem never ending. The parts of the writing process include research and planning during which time a document analysis is performed, drafting and testing during which time usability tests are the desirable form of testing, and polishing and reflections during which time proofreading takes place and writers plan for future editions. Proofreading can happen anytime in the process. Proofreading while drafting tends to hinder the creative process and should be avoided. Eventually, proofreading should always happen immediately before publication. Think of it as a YIELD sign for exiting the traffic circle.
Figure 1 Doc Process
What's Wrong with Us?
We cannot always see our own errors. Proofreading requires attention to detail to the point of every character and every space. Methods include using a ruler under printed lines to help slow the proofreader, reading backwards starting at the end of the document to help the reader focus on every character, and employing readers umnfamiliar with the text. This last method is best because our minds have a nasty little habit of self-correcting what we have written when we read it. There instead of their and site instead of cite are common errors that, when the author reads a passage, he or she sees the correct version rather than what is on the page.Native English speakers as readers (and provided they have not before seen our text) are good at spotting such errors for us.
A more complex but effective method of proofreading is to print two copies of the text and ask someone to read from one copy without stopping. The writer follows the reading on the second text with a pencil in hand making slash marks in the text where the reader pauses or hesitates even slightly. Those spots in the text are frequently the location of text problems including typos, confusing punctuation, wrong words, confused modifiers, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences.
Until we locate a method that works close to a 100% for us, we need to continue to try different approaches to proofreading because in the professional world, mistakes can cost millions of dollars, the loss of lawsuits, the loss of customer confidence, and in some cases the loss of life.
A more complex but effective method of proofreading is to print two copies of the text and ask someone to read from one copy without stopping. The writer follows the reading on the second text with a pencil in hand making slash marks in the text where the reader pauses or hesitates even slightly. Those spots in the text are frequently the location of text problems including typos, confusing punctuation, wrong words, confused modifiers, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences.
Until we locate a method that works close to a 100% for us, we need to continue to try different approaches to proofreading because in the professional world, mistakes can cost millions of dollars, the loss of lawsuits, the loss of customer confidence, and in some cases the loss of life.
FIFTEEN PLUS TWO
The copyblogger infographic is accurate with his list of errors, but consider this. If they are wrong in informal writing, think how much more wrong they must be in the formal writing we do in business documents and academic documents.
I like his list, but I must add two items to the list of common mistakes that you want to avoid, at least in the classes I teach:
#16 Unreferenced pronouns followed by vague verbs, usually a form of the verb, to be.
Examples include these:
Notice that the first word in these sentences is a pronoun. A pronoun, by definition, is a word with an antecedent--a word that precedes the pronoun in the text and for which the pronoun is standing.
An example of a pronoun with an antecedents is as follows:
The news event took place in the subway at 4th and Park. There we saw, afterwards, the debris of a massive labor strike. [There =in the subway at 4th and Park]
Fixing the error is not as easy as simply substituting an appropriate noun for the pronoun. Appropriate nouns for those pronouns do not always exist. Sometimes they do, as in It must be raining today because I left my umbrella home. That can be edited to The weather turned rainy today because I left my umbrella home.
Most instances of the error, however, require more drastic measures such as a a real sentence subject, an actor who is doing something and an active verb that is what the actor is doing. Using the first list of three examples, here are some possible fixes:
The Experiment
Take a single page out of solid text out of the middle of a paper you have written that is three or more pages. Put this text in a new file. Use your word processing program's Find & Replace function to locate instances of whole words: there and it. Replace those with these whole words including the asterisks: ***THERE*** ***IT***
For the full effect, use pink highlight on all those words. If the page looks like it has a bad rash, you have a problem. If you have more than one on a page, you should start treating them as a writing problem that you can work on. I do not recommend that you worry about this when you are drafting. Do not mess with the creative flow of putting your thoughts and ideas into words. However, during the editing process, use the Find & Replace method described above to help you find all instances. In some cases, you will see that the pronoun has an antecedent and is perfectly fine as you wrote it. For the other cases, mark with them pink highlight. You will only have to do the color coding a few times to become sensitized to hating those expressions and finding them more easily than before. I still struggle with this error in my writing, and I have been consciously eliminating it for about 10 years.
#17 Misusing adverbs, specifically the word, hopefully. If your sentence could read I hope where you wrote hopefully, then change the text to I hope.
If you enjoy good humor and like looking at lists of writing errors (some of us do), you may also enjoy this Internet oldie-but-goodie: Academic Jokes
The copyblogger infographic is accurate with his list of errors, but consider this. If they are wrong in informal writing, think how much more wrong they must be in the formal writing we do in business documents and academic documents.
I like his list, but I must add two items to the list of common mistakes that you want to avoid, at least in the classes I teach:
#16 Unreferenced pronouns followed by vague verbs, usually a form of the verb, to be.
Examples include these:
- There are six things I wish to accomplish today.
- There is no reason why the traffic cannot be re-routed for the two hours of the parade.
- It is clear to some people why time equals money.
Notice that the first word in these sentences is a pronoun. A pronoun, by definition, is a word with an antecedent--a word that precedes the pronoun in the text and for which the pronoun is standing.
An example of a pronoun with an antecedents is as follows:
The news event took place in the subway at 4th and Park. There we saw, afterwards, the debris of a massive labor strike. [There =in the subway at 4th and Park]
Fixing the error is not as easy as simply substituting an appropriate noun for the pronoun. Appropriate nouns for those pronouns do not always exist. Sometimes they do, as in It must be raining today because I left my umbrella home. That can be edited to The weather turned rainy today because I left my umbrella home.
Most instances of the error, however, require more drastic measures such as a a real sentence subject, an actor who is doing something and an active verb that is what the actor is doing. Using the first list of three examples, here are some possible fixes:
- I must accomplish six tasks today. Martin assigned me six chores that must be finished today. Juan inspected the building and wrote a list of six safety violations that must be corrected by next week.
- Traffic can easily be re-routed for the two hours of the parade. We re-route the parade route every year without any major complaints. The parade does not monopolize too many streets for too long.
- Some people grow up with the idea that time is money. Some people learn from bitter experience that time is money. Some people will never accept the idea the time is money.
The Experiment
Take a single page out of solid text out of the middle of a paper you have written that is three or more pages. Put this text in a new file. Use your word processing program's Find & Replace function to locate instances of whole words: there and it. Replace those with these whole words including the asterisks: ***THERE*** ***IT***
For the full effect, use pink highlight on all those words. If the page looks like it has a bad rash, you have a problem. If you have more than one on a page, you should start treating them as a writing problem that you can work on. I do not recommend that you worry about this when you are drafting. Do not mess with the creative flow of putting your thoughts and ideas into words. However, during the editing process, use the Find & Replace method described above to help you find all instances. In some cases, you will see that the pronoun has an antecedent and is perfectly fine as you wrote it. For the other cases, mark with them pink highlight. You will only have to do the color coding a few times to become sensitized to hating those expressions and finding them more easily than before. I still struggle with this error in my writing, and I have been consciously eliminating it for about 10 years.
#17 Misusing adverbs, specifically the word, hopefully. If your sentence could read I hope where you wrote hopefully, then change the text to I hope.
If you enjoy good humor and like looking at lists of writing errors (some of us do), you may also enjoy this Internet oldie-but-goodie: Academic Jokes
For Discussion
What resources do you use to settle your grammar, punctuation, and mechanics queries?