Re: Proofreading your own material

[Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net>]

Shawn,

Rick Lippincott hit the nail right on the head, because when executed properly (and not RUSHED), this technique forces you to look at EVERY word individually. THIS is when you find double occurrences, misspellings and even incorrect homonyms.

One of my former coworkers refused to proofread his work and I consistently found in his work instances of ". . . do not attempt to (name a procedure) on this machine in any manor." (He meant "manner".) So, I guess you COULD do the procedure in the servant's house, though <grin>.

My China-based employer manufactures and exports heavy construction equipment worldwide including here to the U.S., so this stuff is of major importance.

-- Ken in Atlanta



On Monday, February 16, 2015 7:42 PM, Rick Lippincott <rjl6955 -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
 

>
>
>What makes the "reading backwards" technique work (if it works for you) is that it forces you to look at the words individually instead of seeing them as part of the sentence that you know you wrote.  
>
>I find it helpful. Been using it for a long time now. 
>
>--Rick Lippincott. 
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Feb 16, 2015, at 16:35, Shawn <shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello Raphael,
>> 
>> 
>> I don't get it either (re: proofreading backwards). I am probably not
>> understanding because I just tried that method and I cannot see how this
>> method could possibly be effective.
>> 
>> Since I have spend many years as a sole writer and proofreader, my
>> technique works pretty well:
>> 1) Allow a number of days (i.e. a week) to elapse after writing and before
>> proof reading.
>> 2) Copy and paste the content into a separate/different editor (I copy my
>> content to Google Docs and read from my tablet or print out)
>> 
>> Repeat, if necessary.
>> 
>> I find that by using this technique, I not only find and correct errors, I
>> also improve the overall quality and clarity of the copy (i.e. move around
>> content, new content, remove redundant content, etc.).
>> 
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> Shawn
>> 
>> On Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 8:14 AM, RaphaelWorkman -at- comcast -dot- net <
>> raphaelworkman -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:
>> 
>>> Ken,
>>> 
>>> Forgive my ignorance, but I have a follow up question in reading the
>>> document from end to beginning.
>>> 
>>> Do you read every word (e.g. The previous sentence would read, "beginning
>>> to end from document the reading in question up follow...").
>>> 
>>> Or do you read the last sentence then the second to last sentence and so
>>> forth? Or paragraphs?
>>> 
>>> I'm interested in achieving the results you have achieved.
>>> 
>>> -Raphael
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 14, 2015, at 9:04 AM, Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Way back in late 1979 and early 1980 -- in the days of phototypesetting
>>> and before desktop publishing -- while I was an associate editor at what
>>> was the American Society for Personnel Administration (now the Society for
>>> Human Resources Management), the editor of the association's monthly
>>> magazine showed me her own tried-and-true proofreading method.
>>>> 
>>>> Reading every story backwards, from end to the beginning. And I don't
>>> recall her ever failing to have the cleanest, error-free copy.
>>>> 
>>>> It was Catherine (Cate) Downes-Bower and if this ever gets back to her,
>>> kudos to her. I do it when time permits and consistently pass the tip along
>>> to my coworkers.
>>>> 
>>>> -- Ken in Atlanta
>> -- 
>> *Shawn Connelly*
>> Technical writer
>>  <shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com>
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