I learned when I was still in school that it is difficult to proofread your own writing. Especially in the moments immediately after writing it down, your mind will not only supply the missing words and read the transposed lettering correctly, it will also impose the meaning you had on it when you wrote it, blissfully unaware that it might be construed differently by someone else, or that the inference you thought was so obvious is not.
I have learned to proofread immediately for the easy things, then put it aside for at least twenty-four hours before trying again. Then as long as a week later, proofread again. Every time I still manage to find things to correct. If I have the luxury of waiting a month before I need to use the writing, I will suddenly see the needed connections my mind supplied but which I left out of the writing, leaving the reader to ponder, “What in the world is she referring to?”
No, the best way to proofread your writing is to have someone else do it. They come to it totally unaware of your mindset and can see, not only the homophone errors and transposed letters, but also the places where you have been less than clear. Their perspective helps them to see things you cannot see.
And therein is the value to having someone else proofread your life. I may think I know my own motivation, when often I am simply rationalizing a wrong. I think I know the situation best because I am standing in the middle of it when, instead, I am only seeing it from one angle and missing the bigger picture.
I often, in haste, type “there” for “they’re” or “to” for “too.” I know better, but I am in such a hurry my hands take over for my mind and type the wrong thing. Other times I hit the space bar in the wrong sequence and “three swings and a miss” becomes “threes wing sand amiss.” The correct elements are there, they are just misplaced, and what a difference it makes.
The next time someone tries to help you proofread your life, be grateful. They can make all the difference in your world, both this one and the next.
Better is an open rebuke than love that is hidden. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse, Prov 27:5,6.
Dene Ward
I have learned to proofread immediately for the easy things, then put it aside for at least twenty-four hours before trying again. Then as long as a week later, proofread again. Every time I still manage to find things to correct. If I have the luxury of waiting a month before I need to use the writing, I will suddenly see the needed connections my mind supplied but which I left out of the writing, leaving the reader to ponder, “What in the world is she referring to?”
No, the best way to proofread your writing is to have someone else do it. They come to it totally unaware of your mindset and can see, not only the homophone errors and transposed letters, but also the places where you have been less than clear. Their perspective helps them to see things you cannot see.
And therein is the value to having someone else proofread your life. I may think I know my own motivation, when often I am simply rationalizing a wrong. I think I know the situation best because I am standing in the middle of it when, instead, I am only seeing it from one angle and missing the bigger picture.
I often, in haste, type “there” for “they’re” or “to” for “too.” I know better, but I am in such a hurry my hands take over for my mind and type the wrong thing. Other times I hit the space bar in the wrong sequence and “three swings and a miss” becomes “threes wing sand amiss.” The correct elements are there, they are just misplaced, and what a difference it makes.
The next time someone tries to help you proofread your life, be grateful. They can make all the difference in your world, both this one and the next.
Better is an open rebuke than love that is hidden. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse, Prov 27:5,6.
Dene Ward
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