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The presentation I compiled for the Media Trust's June 2011 Proofread Like A Pro seminar - a crash course in proofreading for charity communications professionals.Produced while employed at Redhouse Lane Communications Ltd - www.redhouselane.com
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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 [email protected]