A Different Perspective on Proofreading
As many of you might know, proofreading is an effective way to ensure yourself that you can send high quality articles. However, it is probable that some of you do not know that it has other beneficial effects. They do not apply to your articles only, but they do apply to you as a writer also. You might search those things on the internet, and find that no other benefits exist.
Instant Gratification
Truth be told, many articles online tackle the instant gratifications, which proofreading can give to writers, only. You might reflect upon the times when you have done it, and recall no other thing besides the benefit of removing the flaws in your submissions. Nonetheless, they do not see the long-term effects that proofreading can give.
- The Privilege of Time
To be honest, who has the time to set up an outline, create a rough draft, and rewrite that draft to make sure that the submission will not be mediocre? Well, novelists have that kind of privilege, but article writers do not have it. You have a day or two to finish your assignment typically, and clients expect that you will not delay your submission, which they need to be first-rate also.
To achieve the quality required by your clients in a short span of time, you must perform proofreading. Doing that process can make your rough draft suffice as your final paper. As long as you do it properly, you will not need to do more (but effective) time-consuming writing processes.
The Opportunity to Practice, Improve, and Unlearn
Writing nonstop is not the correct way to improve your writing skills. And reading tons of books and loads of articles online are not enough to make someone become an adept writer. Proofreading is an opportunity wherein one can practice writing correctly, know the things one must improve, and unlearn the bad writing habits one has acquired.
- Proofreading As Your Training
During proofreading, you will rewrite, re-outline, and edit your work properly to eliminate the errors that your paper has. At the same time, it allows you to practice how to write and structure your articles correctly. And its positive effects on your ability are better than the improvements that the actual writing process can offer. - Discovering Your Weaknesses in Writing
Proofreading is the best way to learn and improve your writing skill, as mentioned a while ago. In its essence, this process revolves around finding the mistakes you made in your paper. If you take note of all the mistakes that you make, of course, you will realize your writing ability's weaknesses. Making it easier for you to focus on the things you need to improve. - Training Your Eye and Consciousness
As you do it every time you create an article, it will train your eye gradually to detect errors immediately as you write. And since you have discovered your weaknesses, you will be more conscious of preventing yourself in making your usual mistakes. After some time, it will hone you to be proficient at writing with lesser errors. Moreover, the time you allot in proofreading will decrease.
Ineffective Proofreading
You will not get most of the benefits mentioned above (and the other unmentioned advantages) if you do not have any idea about the right way of proofreading. In case your clients requested for revisions, or rejected your articles, you might be doing it the wrong way. And if you think you are not, you are.
- Proofreading Tools
Using proofreading tools like the one integrated in MS Word is one way to make your proofreading task faster and easier. Fortunately, tools like that are capable of detecting 50% of the mistakes that exist in your essay. However, they miss 25% of the errors, misunderstand the other 25%, and make you create an extra 50% if you follow it blindly. - Lack of Knowledge
Of course, if you do not know the things that you are looking for, you will never find it. The same is true with proofreading. For example, if you do not know the grammar rule about subject and verb agreement, then you cannot correct the instances that violated it. - Ignoring Criticisms
If you have somebody that gives you feedback on your work, you are lucky. Never waste any comment given to your essays. Accepting and reflecting about the criticisms you receive right away will allow you to save your time and ego – before you realize that they were right.
In a nutshell, proofreading is essential to your writing career. Luckily, it does not take much of your precious time, and it lets you save more instead. Never forgetting all the things stated here will allow you to become skillful in this profession faster, especially if you are willing to improve and learn.
