Copy editors know this truth: 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫. Quick editing tip: After your first pass, change how you read the text. Read it out loud or review it sentence by sentence, out of order. The shift in rhythm helps catch errors your eyes skip when they see what they expect. It’s simple. It’s effective. And it works more often than you’d think. What’s your favorite editing trick? Drop it in the comments. #TuesdayTIp #CopyEditing #EditingTips #ProfessionalWriting #ContentQuality #TheEditDerr
Fantastic tips. I just find coming back to the document first thing the next day with fresh eyes helps.
I try to do the final check first thing in the morning. If you want to be a perfectionist, read it backwards word by word (start from the final word).
Many years ago in one of my college editing courses, we read manuscripts backwards word for word and out loud. We also read punctuation as their words period, comma. It’s a slow process, but so helpful. I don’t do this often now but on occasion I will especially for passages that I know had a bunch of changes.
I primarily use the "read aloud" trick. I've found hearing the sentence spoken helps more than reading it on a screen. 😄
I read manuscripts on my IPad in a completely different font than what I have saved on my Mac. It’s amazing how you find the little errors that way!