14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips for Bloggers

This is a GREAT article by CopyBlogger.com that gives we bloggers an understanding of how to proofread. I suggest everybody bookmark this posting.

Note: This post contains 25 misspelled words, and I bet you can’t find any. Ready? Begin proofing!

“Proofreading is vitally important, hard to do well, and tedious as hell.” ~Brian Clark

That’s the best quote I’ve ever heard about proofreading, but I’d like to extend Brian’s remarks a bit. In fact, I’ve got 14 tips that are just about guaranteed to make you a better proofreader, and maybe make the task a tad less terrible.

Ready? You’re still watching for those typos, right?

#1: Assume a proofreader mindset.

Proofreading is tedious, but so is exercise. Who really wants to do 25 pushups right? I don’t.

But, imagine someone challenged you to do them. Would you refuse the test and let the antagonist think he won? Or, would you take the challenge just to prove him wrong? I’m betting you’d take the challenge and you’d no longer think pushups were tedious either. Your mind would be in a different place where resolve, confidence, and a heightened sense of attention and focus replaced the tedium. You’d be in the zone and you’d finish the set with perfect form to prove your worth.

Well, why not transfer this mindset toward your proofreading?

In fact, you may already be in that mindset. In the first sentence of this post I challenged you to find 25 misspelled words (I lied; there aren’t any).