Making mistakes in writing isn’t a big deal. But if you submit the paper with these mistakes, you are likely to lose marks. This is where the significance of manuscript editing comes in. You can’t give a blind eye to proofreading under any circumstances. If you let it go, your write-up will contain several mistakes. Proofreading is an art as there are several steps involved in it. Editing corrects the typos, wonky sentences, missing words, and other mistakes before sharing your writing with the audience. Given below are the top eight hacks of proofreading:
Concentration is the key: You need to concentrate while editing a write-up. This will help you spot the mistakes in writing. Focusing on the write-up means getting rid of all distractions and potential interruptions. It’s always advisable to switch off the cell phone and turn off the television during proofreading.
Put it on paper: It is common fact that people read differently on paper and on screen. So, it’s always better to print out a copy of your writing. If you read the copy aloud, your ears will catch more errors that your eyes have missed.
Check out the homonyms: Homonyms are words that share the same pronunciation or spelling. However, they may have different meanings. So, you should be careful while switching words, or otherwise, the results can be disastrous. Get in touch with experts offering English editing services if you want to know more about this aspect.
Watch out for apostrophes and contractions: People tend to mix ‘their’ and ‘they’re’, ‘its’ and ‘it’s’, and so on. So, if there is something that hurt the credibility of the text, you should always eliminate it. You need to remember that apostrophe is never used to form plurals.
Go through the punctuation: Yes, you should focus on the words, but at the same time, you can’t give a blind eye to punctuation. If you neglect the punctuation, you have to pay a big penalty afterward. So, pay attention to missing or extra commas, capitalized words, and incorrect periods during the manuscript editing phase.
Change the font: When you are proofreading a write-up on screen, this tactic will come in handy. It is another way to trick your brain into paying new attention to a bunch of vocabulary. By changing the font and the text size, you can point out more mistakes that otherwise will not meet your eye. All that you need is to alter the way that words are laid out on the page by spreading out or freezing lines and paragraphs.
Read it loud: Sometimes, reading the paper loud will also help you point out the mistakes. Reading it loud means you shouldn’t do it in a quick and mumbled fashion. Rather, you have to read it aloud with enunciation and emphasis. You should read the document as if you are standing in front of the audience.
Manuscript editing doesn’t mean going through your write-up all over again. But, there are several facets to it. You have to point out the errors in writing in this phase, and more importantly, correct the same before submission. Implement the above hacks if you are willing to go with in-depth proofreading.
