Proofreading and Copywriting – The Perfect Pair

Many copywriters tend to overlook the importance of careful proofreading. They tend to think that their job finishes once the creative side of the job is complete. Nothing could be further from the truth as your readers will judge you by the number of mistakes they find in your copy as well as the writing itself. Here are five hints to make sure your proofreading is effective.

Look Out For the Most Common Mistakes

We all do it. We put “their” instead of “there”, or we insert a word twice, “the” is a favourite, all because we are trying to write as quickly as possible. You probably have a good grasp of English grammar and spelling but you are still capable of making the most obvious and simple errors in your writing. Don’t forget that your reader doesn’t know you and doesn’t know that the mistakes you make are just that – mistakes. Take your time to really read each word that you have written slowly and carefully. You will be amazed at the silly errors that will have crept in.

Use a Hard Copy

Trying to proofread from a computer screen is difficult for most people. If it’s a short piece print it out. It will be so much easier to spot any errors if you do. Don’t think of the cost – if you’re pricing your work appropriately then the cost of printing paper and ink will be negligible by comparison to the value of your copy.

Take Your Time

As mentioned briefly above when discussing looking for the most common mistakes, don’t rush when proofreading. Really read each word on the page so that you are not automatically “fixing” any errors that are there because you’re reading what you know should be there rather than what is actually there. A useful little trick is to read each sentence backwards. The unfamiliarity will allow you to focus directly on what is written and you should be able to better spot any mistakes.

How Does Your Copy Look

As well as spelling and grammar mistakes, a piece of work often contains a few formatting errors. Check the word spacing, font regularity, capitalization and so on. Nothing looks more slapdash than copy that is sprinkled with this type of oversight. Many problems arise from the auto-correct function of the most popular word processing programs. This feature will change things as you type and they often go unnoticed as you are concentrating on the keyboard and not looking at the screen.

Spell Checkers

Whilst on the subject of the functions of word processors, don’t forget to use the built-in grammar and spell check facility. Don’t make the mistake of relying on it, however. Although they are useful as a first step in checking your work, they are not capable of the discerning the subtleties of the English language to the same degree as a human reader and will often allow the silliest of sentences to pass by unnoticed. For example, try running this little poem through your favorite spellchecker.

“Eye strike a quay and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar rite
It shows me straight a weigh.”

Most of them will give that piece of nonsense a perfect score.

Two Pairs of Eyes Are Better Than One

Where proofreading is concerned, two eyes really are better. After you have given your work a thorough once-over, have someone else do the same. Make sure it’s someone who is at least as capable and knowledgeable about the use of the English language as you are. A major advantage that another person will have is that they won’t be familiar with what you have written and will not have that automatic correction problem when reading.

So there you have it. A few simple tips to help you get the most out of your proofreading. Don’t ever skimp on this important task. No matter how good your copywriting is, if it contains a lot of basic errors then your reputation will suffer.

To learn more about how copywriting could be the job you’ve always dreamt of visit The Copywriting Revolution.