6 steps to efficient proofreading

Another expectation you may or may not be aware of as a first generation college student is that any written work that you turn in for a class in college is expected to be free of any grammatical or spelling errors. It is expected to be your very best work, so only relying on good ol' (or bad ol') spellchecker is a surefire way not to present your best work. Spellchecker is not your friend!
 
When it comes to the last steps of the writing process, you cannot put all your faith in a machine to do your very human task of proofreading and final editing. Spellchecker will tell you that principle and principal are spelled correctly, but which one did you intend to use? Same thing goes for their, there, and they're, compliment and complement, two, to, and too, its and it's, and so on. 

Photo credit: www.oxbridgeediting.co.uk

You may fear the evil red pen used to correct your papers in the past. You might assume your paper will look like it's hemorrhaging with all of the red marks on it. Regardless of how you feel about it, you can avoid being screwed over by spellchecker dependency by following these 6 steps to efficient proofreading: 

1. Print out your paper. People tend to notice things more when reading a hard copy, so don't just sit and stare at your monitor. 

2. Read it aloud.  Don't just read it, say it and pay attention. Does something sound off or doesn't flow just right? Hearing yourself can help you figure these things out far better than a cold reading. 

3. Begin at the end. Go sentence by sentence from the end of your paper and work your way to the start. Reading it backwards will keep your mind from assuming you know what's on the printed page.

4. Share your work. Ask someone you trust, someone who will be honest with you, to read it to see if he or she can pick out any mistakes. Better yet, get a few folks to look at it. You might even be spellchecker buddies with a friend, where you both help proofread the other person's work.

5. Take it to a pro. If your campus has a writing or tutoring center, have your paper reviewed by someone there. And don't forget to actually follow their advice.

6. Wash, rinse, repeat. Now that you've gone through the above steps, do them all again after you've made any changes to make sure your changes were for the better.

These 6 steps will help ensure that you are turning in your very best work!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.