Before I get into the tips, I want to start with something a little controversial.
You don't have to proofread everything you write.
Proofreading, done well, takes more than a feww minutes. And the time you spend might be
time you'd rather spend on writing something new.
When it matters, I spend the time on extensive proofreading (and in some cases, like with my novels, I pay for a proofreader).
But not everything needs that level of proofreading. I don't spend a lot of time proofreading posts for the Aliventures blog or articles for the newsletter. I'd quite like to, but you'd end up getting them even later. And I recognise that, in the grand scheme of things, the occasional typo in a post on my own blog really doesn't matter.
So when does thorough proofreading matter? I'm more careful with articles for clients, though even these are generally passing through an editor after I turn them in. And I'm particularly careful when I'm submitting short stories to competitions.
With your work, it's up to you to decide how much proofreading you want to do. You don't need to follow every single tip below every single time. But for the pieces where it really does matter, these should help you catch typos and mistakes.
Tip #1: Take a Break Between Finishing the Piece and Proofreading It
If it's at all possible, take a break between finishing your final draft and proofreading that draft. It's so hard to see your work with fresh eyes if you jump straight into the
proofreading.
Tip #2: Use Grammarly or Another Spelling/Grammar Checker
I find that the free version of
Grammarly does a great job of catching most errors (not just misspellings, but also issues like accidentally typing the same word twice). These days, I run everything I write through Grammarly, including blog posts and newsletters.
Tip #3: Change the Font or Preview Your Piece in Published Form
Struggling to spot mistakes? Put your whole piece into a different font ... simply making it look different can
help you to slow down in your proofreading. Another great option is to preview it in its published form: for instance, you could preview a blog post as it'll look on your blog, or convert a novel manuscript to a Kindle-compatible format.
#4: Read at Normal Speed, Then Slowly
If you've got time, read through your piece twice: once at a normal speed, then once at a slower speed. You might find you spot different types of mistakes each time.
#5: Read Backwards (Sentence by Sentence)
For something truly important, reading backwards (sentence by sentence, not word by word) can help you spot spelling mistakes or typos that you might otherwise have missed. I wouldn't bother doing this unless it's
truly crucial to catch every possible typo, though.
#6: Look for Common Mistakes (e.g. Its vs It's)
Are there any mistakes you find yourself making quite a lot? For instance, plenty of writers struggle with it's (short for "it is") and its (belonging to it). If you frequently get that wrong, do a quick "find" for those words when you're proofreading, and check each instance.
Proofreading is probably my least favourite part of writing ... but for important pieces, like work you're submitting to a new client, or a novel manuscript you're submitting to an agent, then it really does matter. The six tips above should help you do a great job of catching as many errors as possible when you proofread.
