The art of proofreading
When it comes to selling copywriting services, a lot of clients’ first reaction is “why should I pay for that? I can do it myself!” The same is true of proofreading and yet so many people send out letters, upload web pages or even issue novels with typos, grammatical errors and phrases that are just wrong.
I’ll talk more about the value of copywriting in another post. For now, here are some considerations about the value of proofreading!
Get a fresh perspective
I helped out a colleague recently who had become so close to her work she knew she wouldn’t be able to pick up on any errors. This is common when you’re writing, especially for projects that take a long time and require you to become deeply involved. When you read through, you see what you think you’ve written or what you meant to write. You won’t necessarily spot obvious typos or repetitious text.
That is why it always helps to get a fresh perspective.
But what about Word?
You know what I mean. I’m talking about the red, green and purple squiggles that tell you exactly where you went wrong. Well guess what! They won’t tell you if you’ve used the same word too many times in the same sentence, paragraph or page. They won’t tell you if your paragraph divisions are correct. They won’t tell you if your writing is meaningless or if your sentiments and ideas are muddled. In fact, there’s a lot they miss.
The art of proofreading is as much about making sure a document is readable and does what it is supposed to as it is about checking the spelling and grammar!
Just because your writing is clear and makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will be the same for others!
If you need help with copywriting or proofreading you can call or email me via the contact form. By paying for just a little bit of my time you can save yourself a fortune in reprints and make a good impression on your customers first time around!
- Make your copy bloom - Kathryn Wright
