What do you do once you’ve finished a piece of writing for study or work? Do you submit it straight away or do you put it to one side, then come back to it and make sure that everything is correct, a process we know as proofreading? If you submit it straight away, you could risk losing marks for silly errors if it’s a piece of academic writing, as you’ll be marked on how accurate your work is. Or, if it’s for your employer, you could risk making yourself look unprofessional if you hand him a piece of writing that’s full of errors. You don’t really want either situation, especially when they are errors you’d pick up if you just took the time to put it to one side and then proofread it.
But what is proofreading? Well, have a read through this article to see what proofreading involves and how it can help you. But, that’s not all. If you’ve ever read through newspapers, magazines or books and spotted errors, you’ll soon see how it’s possible to put your new skills to work for you doing proofreading part, or full- time, for others. So, I’d advise you also have a read through How to Find Work as a Proofreader to see if you could earn yourself a little extra cash too!
A great way to see if you have a good enough eye, and the necessary language skills, to become a proofreader is to take the Society for Editors and Proofreaders test. It’s just a bit of fun!
And if, after all that reading and testing, you decide to have a go at learning how to proofread professionally, keep your eye out for the next Course of The Week. You’ll not be surprised to hear that it’s for our Proofreading and Copy Editing course and you’ll get £25 off your course fees!
Written by Shelley Bowers
