Comments on: 4 Steps to Proofreading Your Own Stuff http://myofficezilla.com/nibbles/04/4-steps-to-proof-reading-your-own-stuff/ Helping you take a bite out of work! Wed, 19 May 2010 13:01:29 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: admin http://myofficezilla.com/nibbles/04/4-steps-to-proof-reading-your-own-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-25 admin Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:01:31 +0000 http://myofficezilla.com/nibbles/?p=180#comment-25 Oh Rita! You should have seen the list I started with...I promised myself I'd keep it to a minimum. The list could actually go on and on. And on. And on. You are spot-on regarding the consistency. I'm not sure how the reread and re-read came about. Honestly, the proof read and proofread happened because I had it as two words in the title and changed my mind the last minute - as women tend to do! :) I will go fix these two things right away. Hard to believe this whole post was generated by a newsletter I received via email that utilized not one stitch of punctuation for any of the contractions it contained. Humph! The other two were on purpose. You are the only one who has mentioned them though. This leads me to believe they either go unnoticed or people see them and click away. Frequent visitors know sassiness so maybe not... Oh Rita! You should have seen the list I started with…I promised myself I’d keep it to a minimum. The list could actually go on and on. And on. And on. You are spot-on regarding the consistency. I’m not sure how the reread and re-read came about. Honestly, the proof read and proofread happened because I had it as two words in the title and changed my mind the last minute – as women tend to do! :) I will go fix these two things right away.

Hard to believe this whole post was generated by a newsletter I received via email that utilized not one stitch of punctuation for any of the contractions it contained. Humph!

The other two were on purpose. You are the only one who has mentioned them though. This leads me to believe they either go unnoticed or people see them and click away. Frequent visitors know sassiness so maybe not…

]]> By: Rita M. Reali, The Persnickety Proofreader http://myofficezilla.com/nibbles/04/4-steps-to-proof-reading-your-own-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-24 Rita M. Reali, The Persnickety Proofreader Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:47:47 +0000 http://myofficezilla.com/nibbles/?p=180#comment-24 I absolutely agree with the four steps you outlined... but I must call into question the header of your first step: "Read your work out load." Did you deliberately include that gaffe (along with the use of what should have read "thereof") to make your point from step two? If so, nicely done. You hit the nail on the head with your advice to double check spellings of proper names, locations and any unfamiliar wording. By doing this, you not only ensure the correctness of your writing, but you learn information that -- if committed it to memory -- is stored there for next time you need it. One item you didn't mention, however, is the importance of consistency within a written piece. For instance, you used "proof reading" as two words and one word (proofreading); you also hyphenated the word "re-read" in one instance and left it unhyphenated in another. Choosing a single spelling (or form) and sticking to it makes for a more unified post. All in all, though, Sundi, a compelling and thought-provoking post. Thanks! I absolutely agree with the four steps you outlined… but I must call into question the header of your first step: “Read your work out load.”

Did you deliberately include that gaffe (along with the use of what should have read “thereof”) to make your point from step two? If so, nicely done.

You hit the nail on the head with your advice to double check spellings of proper names, locations and any unfamiliar wording. By doing this, you not only ensure the correctness of your writing, but you learn information that — if committed it to memory — is stored there for next time you need it.

One item you didn’t mention, however, is the importance of consistency within a written piece. For instance, you used “proof reading” as two words and one word (proofreading); you also hyphenated the word “re-read” in one instance and left it unhyphenated in another. Choosing a single spelling (or form) and sticking to it makes for a more unified post.

All in all, though, Sundi, a compelling and thought-provoking post. Thanks!

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