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You are here: Home / Blog / Proofreading—Feel the Pain

Proofreading—Feel the Pain

October 4, 2014 By Fran

bigstock_Researching_Woman_Holding_Head_199244If you are a business owner, you write every day. Emails, notes, newsletters, articles, blog posts, Facebook updates, you name it, you’ve gotta write it. And as far as writing correctly, you either chew your nails over “its” versus “it’s,” or you don’t—you write what you think is right and hope the reader will forgive you if it isn’t.

You might think that it’s easy as an editor to proof my own stuff, but no. It’s even more painful, because I check everything I write thoroughly and still make mistakes. I’m here to tell you, though, how important it is to make sure everything you write is as accurate as possible, because it all reflects on you as a business person and professional.

I have seen much in my years of editing for businesses. Believe it or not, I have seen people misspell their own company name–which to an editor is like fingernails on a chalkboard! So here’s my advice.

Don’t trust that computer program. Forget spell check and grammar check; you won’t like it when they turn “publick” into “pubic” after you’ve sent out that nasty letter to your local library. Do the work. Use Merriam Webster for spelling and a free online writing guide like Paradigm .

Check for more than spelling and grammar. Check font for consistent size; check headings (a typical place for errors); check your phone number, email address and company name. Proof also for clarity and tone.

Read it over. Don’t ever, ever, ever send anything out without reading it carefully first. The simplest email can turn off a customer if it’s full of errors, an attachment is missing, or you sound angry or snotty when you really aren’t.

Let it sit. The best thing you can do, if you have 24 hours, is to let it sit and read it again tomorrow. Pretend it’s wine and let it ferment (all right, a really cheap wine). You won’t believe what you find if you read it with fresh eyes.

Get help. If you aren’t good at writing, get help—have a trusted friend proof it, or pay someone to do it for you. We’re fast, we’re reasonable and we’ll help you look marvelous. Good luck!

 

©2011, 2014 Fran Fahey

Fran’s Fine Editing

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: editing, editor, proofreading, writing

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Fran's Fine Editing Fran Fahey, Owner 6 Cedarwood Avenue, Easthampton, MA  01027-1906 Tel (413) 529-1189  |    fran@fransfineediting.com     Save Save Save … [Read More...]

Fran Fahey

Fran Fahey

Fran Fahey is an editor and copywriter with over 30 years of experience in human resources, government and business. Since 2008, she has operated Fran’s Fine Editing, helping business owners perfect their web copy, brochures and other communications, and individuals with editing of resumes, books, articles, dissertations, etc. Fran has a BA in psychology, and her previous career was with the Massachusetts Human Resources Division, where she won a governor’s award for excellence. She is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer, a board member of the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce, and a member of various professional and networking organizations. Fran writes her blog “Free Association” to share ideas about her work and the challenges of operating a small business.

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