Stepping away from your manuscript should be the first rule before beginning any self-edit of your work whether it is an article or book length. Looking at your work with a fresh pair of eyes will help you to pick out errors even if it is just for an hour, although a day to a week is better. If you are self-editing try to work from the back of the book, this will trick your brain into reading what is there and not what you meant to be there.
If you are proofreading or copy editing someone else’s work, read it through one time – without correcting any errors like spelling, punctuation or sentence format – just to understand the message that the writer is sending out.
Start by concentrating on finding one kind of an error at a time. The slip-ups you should be looking for include: spelling, repeated words, punctuation, paragraph breaks, beginning and end quotes and parenthesis, homonyms and the correct usage, and consistency (spelling, punctuation, number values, etc.) Make sure that you are consistent with the spelling of your characters’ names, descriptions and facts. Check for capitalization, verify hyperlinks, chapter headings, date formats and spacing. If you make a list of the most common errors you make, you will know to look for those.
You can find electronic aids to help editing such as spelling and grammar check (found in most word processing programs) but, do not make the mistake of letting it run on automatic; verify each potential error it finds and decide, based on the helpful suggestions, if you want to make the change or not. [I once had an automatic spell check change a family name to a part of the genitalia – luckily I caught it before it went into print.] There are software programs available, read reviews before making any purchases. There’s also a FREE Online Consistency Checker (http://www.proz.com/PerfectIt/Consistency_Checker); I ran this article through it and it found a typo I missed.
No matter what method you use to get from your first rough draft to ALMOST final copy, ask a trusted friend to read through the manuscript and/or read it out loud yourself. When reading the words out loud and taking the time to enunciate the words, you will slow your mind down and see and hear typos, uncomfortable speech patterns, notice punctuation errors and pick out missing words and thoughts. Check accuracy, even in fiction, make sure names are correct, verify accreditation, and look at organization.
Writing Exercise: Correct each of the following sentences: (1) The too fo us no that we have to much food two eat. (2) I live in N.Y. near NJ. (3) You and me is going to the sports’ stadium on tuesday. (4) I’m looking for a guy named, Chris. (5) It snowed for 5 hours and drops five inches on the ground. (see below for answers)
Writing prompt: Write a list of five goals you have for 2017 – put the list down for an hour and then come back and edit it.
Corrected sentences: 1) The two of us know that we have too much food to eat. [corrected usage of to, too & two; choose the correct homonym] (2) I live in NY near NJ. [keep punctuation consistent in state abbreviations] (3) You and I are going to the sports stadium on Tuesday. [correct use of pronoun; sports is not possessive] (4) I’m looking for a guy named Chris. [no comma use indicated] (5) It snowed for five hours and dropped five inches on the ground. [keep consistency in numeric values; use correct tense]
