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May 13, 2010
Proofreading: It's a client thing--not optional.
Proofreading [like cite-checking] is not an innate ability; it is an acquired skill.
High-tech never meant no-class. Even in world-weary but more rustic venues around the world like, say, Palizzi, Italy, Yell County, Arkansas, and apparently southern Manhattan--three venues where it's still considered pretentious to wear socks in municipal courts--proofreading is still in vogue and essential. A website at Virginia Tech catches the basics. Our favorite: "Read what is actually on the page, not what you think is there."
1. Cultivate a healthy sense of doubt. If there are types of errors you know you tend to make, double check for those.
2010 Summer Clerks getting "their learn thing on".
2. Read very slowly. If possible, read out loud. Read one word at a time.
3. Read what is actually on the page, not what you think is there. (This is the most difficult sub-skill to acquire, particularly if you wrote what you are reading.)
4. Proofread more than once. If possible, work with someone else.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at May 13, 2010 12:00 AM
Comments
Knowing your own weaknesses is crucial. For some reason, I have an inability to distinguish homonyms. I have literally written "eight" for "ate." Don't even get me started on your, you're, their, they're, or there, much less two, too, and to.
I've surmised this weakness is the result of having been part of an experimental group taught to read in grades K-2 in a purely phonetic, English-like alphabet called I.T.A. My understanding is that the study I was an unknowing part of concluded that I.T.A. helped the best readers, didn't hurt the middle tier, and severely hurt the bottom tier (by forcing them, in essence, to learn a second language when they transitioned to real English). I was always in the top tier verbally, but, still, there's that short-circuit in my brain that makes proof reading one of the most arduous tasks I engage in. Thanks for emphasizing its importance.
Posted by: Peter at May 13, 2010 03:31 PM
Professor--My fear on these "you-must-proof" posts is that some Murphy's law/karma says Holden (or me or anyone when we write these) must have misspelled or left out a word. He did it at 9 PM his time.
Posted by: Hull at May 13, 2010 03:39 PM
That's a great example of karma in action: I demand perfection knowing full well that very demand will kick me in the ass.
Which is why demanding perfection is perfectly consistent with graciousness, forgiveness, and humility.
Posted by: Friedman at May 17, 2010 09:32 PM