Proofreading is an essential part of the writing process. It’s usually very obvious to markers when an essay hasn’t been carefully proofread. Taking the time to polish your final draft is likely to result in a better grade; conversely, not proofreading your essay is likely to negatively impact your mark.
The problem is, even though proofreading can have a big impact on your grades, many students forget to proofread. Why?
Sometimes, students don’t proofread their essays simply because they run out of time. It’s important that this doesn’t happen to you. Always allow yourself time to go over your essay, rather than submitting a piece of work that is potentially full of careless and easily fixed errors.
On other occasions, you may have plenty of time to proofread your essay but you’re not sure how to go about the task, or even what to look for.
Fortunately, there are many easy techniques which allow you to effectively proofread your work, whether or not you think of yourself as a good writer. Have a look at the recording of our Lightning Session on the subject and then scroll down to see some tips and techniques.
[To skip the intros, jump straight to 2:05]
Here are our top tips to begin developing your proofreading skills.
1. Learn from your mistakes.
A useful starting point is to re-read your feedback from previous assignments. It’s never fun to read about things we’ve done wrong, but try to see feedback as advice on how to get a better mark next time. Often, as well as pointing out errors, markers will suggest ways of correcting these issues. So, start the proofreading process by looking out for the things your marker picked up on last time and try to avoid making the same mistakes again.
2. Proofread from the page.
It makes sense to begin proofreading on screen, using spell check or other software to look for obvious errors. However, after you’ve done your initial online check, you should consider printing your work out and proofreading from a hard copy. We read very differently on screen and from on the page, and errors which you don’t notice online may become obvious when you see them on paper. If you don’t have a printer, or don’t like to waste paper, it can also help to change the font on your word processor. Just like looking at paper rather than at a screen, changing the text font or size helps you see your work in a new light.
3. Read your work out loud.
You can gain a very different perspective on your writing by reading it out loud. When doing so, you’ll notice a lot of errors that you don’t spot when you’re reading silently to yourself. For example, you may stumble over spelling errors, lose your breath when sentences are too long, or realise that something you thought made sense when you were reading in your head sounds unclear when verbalised.
Finally, remember that the Academic Skills Centre can help you to develop your confidence in writing and proofreading your own work. Check out some of our other online resources and if you’d like some more help with your proofreading skills, consider making an appointment with one of our tutors.