Proofread Like A Pro (June 2011)

Proofread Like A ProMedia Trust21 June 2011

Welcome

Matt Boothman• Copywriter• Redhouse Lane

Aims

After this session, you should know:

• how to spot spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes• how mistakes happen and how to fix them• which common mistakes to look out for, and which aren’t

mistakes at all• when to be a pedant and when to walk away• how a house style can help to keep your organisation consistent• plenty of techniques, tips and tricks to help you proofread

efficiently and accurately

Agenda

• General principles• Spelling• Punctuation• Grammar• BREAK• Proof correction marks• House style• Put it all together

General principles

What does a proofreader do?

Do:• correct spelling, punctuation

and grammar errors• enforce existing house style

and consistency guidelines• eliminate unintended

ambiguity• query facts and figures

Don’t:• rephrase, restructure or

rewrite• countermand existing house

style or consistency guidelines

• alter facts or figures

The proofreader is the last line of defence

A different way of reading

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

A different way of reading

• First, skim for sense• Second, deep-read word by word

• See what’s there, not what you expect• Four eyes good, two eyes bad• Take a teabreak• Try it backwards

• Blind or against copy?• On-screen or hardcopy?

When to leave ‘good enough’ alone

• Is it actually wrong, or just horrible?• Does it get the message across?• What would be the knock-on effects of changing it?

• Consistent sometimes trumps correct• Unnecessary corrections are a waste of everyone’s

time and money• Only grammarvangelists use proofreading as a

pulpit

When to leave ‘good enough’ alone

•Conjunctions beginning sentences

•Split infinitives

•Sentence-ending prepositions

•Oxford commas

•Numbers and figures

Spelling

Typographical errors (typos)

• Missing characters (sticky / faulty keys)• Extra characters (multiple keys pressed at once)• Case / number / symbol confusion (shift key errors)• Repeated text / orphaned words (copy and paste errors)• Correctly spelled misspellings fool spellcheckers• American Spellchecker Syndrome• Overenthusiastic Autocorrect Syndrome• Copy-typing from handwritten text

Orthographical errors (spelling mistakes)

• Phonetically correct, technically not so much (guessing)

• Homophones: same pronunciation, different meaning / spelling

• Made-up words• Incorrect / misunderstood word usage

• Effect / Affect• Further / Farther

Variable spellings

British English• manoeuvre, aesthetic• defence, offence, pretence• centre, theatre, sceptre• sulphur• sceptic, mollusc• appal, fulfil, distil, enrol• mould, smoulder• catalogue, analogue• colour, humour, honour• analyse, paralyse, cosy

American English• maneuver, esthetic• defense, offense, pretense• center, theater, scepter• sulfur• skeptic, mollusk• appall, fulfill, distill, enroll• mold, smolder• catalog, analog• color, humor, honor• analyze, paralyze, cozy

Variable spellings

~ise versus ~ize endings• Both acceptable in British and American English• Oxford University Press traditionally uses ~ize• Some words always take ~ise:

• advertise• chastise• demise• disguise• exercise• premise• surmise• advise

• circumcise• despise• enfranchise• improvise• prise• surprise• apprise• comprise

• devise• enterprise• incise• revise• televise• arise• compromise• disenfranchise

• excise• merchandise• supervise

Variable spellings

Spaced out

• swear word• best selling• day to day

• film making• forward slash• in depth• grown up

Hyphenated• co-operate• swear-word• best-selling• day-to-day• e-mail• film-making• forward-slash• in-depth• grown-up

Closed up• cooperate• swearword• bestselling

• email• filmmaking• forwardslash• indepth• grownup

Variable spellings

• Consult styleguide

• Flag in pencil

• Make a note

• Watch out for other uses

• Consult or make a decision

• Make it consistent

• Add to styleguide

Exercise 1

Punctuation

Commas

• A short pause at the end of a clause or list item• The most overused punctuation mark in the English language

• The Oxford Comma• For breakfast he ate eggs, bacon, and tomatoes.• Attending the funeral were her parents, the vicar and his dog.

• The comma splice• I like swimming, I go to the pool every week.

Apostrophes

• Indicates:• Omission• Possession

• The greengrocer’s apostrophe• Apple’s, turnip’s and pomegranate’s for sale!• Dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

• Its / It’s• She fed the fish its food [the fish’s food].• It’s [It is] a seriously greedy fish.

Dashes

Hyphens: “-”

• Soft or discretionary hyphen• Bridges the separated halves of a word divided across two lines• Beware bad breaks: Arse-nal, read-just, leg-end

• Hard hyphen• Joins together words or parts of words to form compounds• “First-class report” or “First class report”?

Dashes

En dashes: “–”• Some people – mostly Britons – use them parenthetically• Used in ranges: “Pages 19–45”• To / And / Or

• The Dover–Calais crossing• The Murray–Federer match• An on–off relationship

Em dashes: “—”• Some people—mainly Americans—use them parenthetically• Omission or redaction

• It was in the year 19— that I first encountered the Earl of M—.

Colons and semicolons

Colons:• introduce lists• deliver the goods invoiced in the preceding phrase• are equivalent to words like “namely”, “that is”, and “therefore”

Semicolons:• are stronger than commas but weaker than full points• divide list items introduced by colons• divide clauses that are related, but could stand alone as

sentences

Screamers and interrobangs

• Rarely justifiable• Not a shortcut to an attention-grabbing statement• Advance warning of amateurish copy• Would the sentence be exciting without the bang?• Flag or query suspected overuse

“Chancellor to cut tobacco duty by 0.1 per cent”

“Chancellor to cut tobacco duty by 0.1 per cent!”

“Chancellor to cut tobacco duty by 0.1 per cent!!!”

“Chancellor to cut tobacco duty by 0.1 per cent?!”

Exercise 2

• Dear Jack I want a man who knows what love is all about you are generous kind and thoughtful people who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior you have ruined me for other men I yearn for you I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart I can be forever happy will you let me be yours Jill

Grammar

Common grammar gripes

• Comma splice / fused sentence• Sentence fragments• Split infinitives• Tautology / pleonasm / double negatives• Conjunctions beginning sentences• Passive voice

• Actually wrong, or just horrible?

Sentence-ending prepositions

• Often something that’s ‘good enough’ to leave alone• Best avoided, but not by tying the sentence in knots

“A preposition is a bad word to end a sentence with.”

“This is something everyone wants to be a part of.”

“This is the kind of language up with which I will not put!”

Subject–verb and pronoun agreement

• Identify the subject and the verb• Is the subject singular or plural?• Does the verb “agree”?

• If the subject is a pronoun…• What noun is the pronoun replacing?• Is the noun singular or plural?• Does the pronoun “agree”?• Does the verb?

• Is your organisation singular or plural?

Dangling modifiers

• A word or phrase that tries to modify something not present in the sentence

“Sipping cocktails on the balcony, the moon looked magnificent.”

“Sipping cocktails on the balcony, I admired the magnificent moon.”

“Once recognised, the proofreader can fix the dangler.”

“Once recognised, danglers are easy to fix.”

Exercise 3

Break

Marking up corrections

Marking up corrections on paper

• Agree symbols with whoever will make the amendments

• Red ink stands out, except when it doesn’t• Not 100% sure? Pencil it in• Circle your comments• Use both margins• Be unambiguous

http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~bstahl/CORRECTION_MARKS.pdf

Marking up corrections on screen

Microsoft Word• Tools > Track Changes

Adobe Acrobat• Review & Comment > Text Edits

• Resist the temptation to copy-edit• Global Find and Replace is the nuclear option

House style

House style

• Tone of voice• Patterns of capitalisation• Expressing numbers and dates• Acceptable abbreviations• Formatting rules• Punctuation idiosyncrasies• Rulings on variable spelling• Rulings on variable hyphenation

House style

Yes• Read it first• Note additions• Query deviations if

necessary• Bundle list of additions

with marked-up proofs

No• Compile it as you go

along• Ensure it’s available to

proofreaders in the future

Is there an existing house style guide?

Final exercise

Proofreader’s checklist

• Pencilled corrections erased, confirmed or flagged as queries• Running heads / footers, page numbers• Graphics, charts, illustrations and other figures• Table of contents, index, footnotes• Placeholder text• Marked-up proofs dated and initialled in a circle• Page lengths / widths• Section headings / chapter titles• Last-minute alterations• Update or compile styleguide

Thank you

14 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA t +44 (0)20 7462 2600 f +44 (0)20 7462 2601 w redhouselane.com e mail@redhouselane.com