GrammarPhile Blog

What can I say about 2020? This has and continues to be the most different and difficult year I’ve lived through. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I’ve had a hard time getting into the holiday mood. But I realize that as difficult as the past months have been, I do have lots to be thankful for. And I owe it to my family to uphold some of our holiday traditions.

When you envision a proofreader reviewing your writing, what do you see?

Do you see a person wearing a pair of coke-bottle glasses and an oversized sweater hunched over a stack of papers? Does he have a giant red pen in his hand and a condescending glare in his eye, a smirk on his face, just ready to tear your work to shreds? Is she setting out to edit your work until it fits her idea of perfection, even if it’s far from your original vision? Is he also using grammar and spell check technology to do all his work for him? If this is how you view a proofreader, you’re not alone. Luckily, however, this vision of a proofreader is simply a myth.

Read the common myths about proofreaders debunked below so you’ll have a clearer and more positive vision of what a proofreader is really like.    

Myth #1: A Proofreader Is an Editor

Proofreaders review a piece of writing in its final draft meticulously, word-by-word and line-by-line, typically after it’s already been edited. They look for accurate spelling and grammar, and fix issues with the formatting and overall layout of a piece of writing. They also fix punctuation errors, typos, or incorrect use of language.

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On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveiled its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord. Try our word quiz and see how high you can soar and how far you can glide.

As a writer, you need to trust your editors and proofreaders, but you should still spend at least some amount of time polishing your writing before handing it over to them. Sure, this makes things somewhat easier for your proofreaders, but it also ensures clearer, better writing overall.

Do you have a clear review process that you follow before passing your work along to your proofreaders or editors? If not, here are a few things to consider if you want your writing to be the best it can be before giving it to someone else to edit.

According to information parsed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be little to no change for editorial occupations in the next few years. So, landing an editorial or proofreading position in 2019 wouldn’t be a bad career move, whether you’re just starting out or are already well-established in the industry.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that there will be more competition for traditional editorial roles for job seekers who want to work for well-established print publications, due to the rise of online media publications and online media consumption—which means that you’ll still want to make sure you stand out against other job candidates. And whether you’re a beginner or an established editorial professional, there are a few things you can do to set yourself apart from the competition.

Here are some things you’ll want to consider doing if you’re interested in landing an editorial or proofreading job this year, whether you’re a beginner or a pro.

Editors and proofreaders have many responsibilities and work extremely hard to make sure that every piece of writing they touch is as perfect as it can be before it’s published. They work hard to fix everything from the smallest of typos to the most egregious errors. However, they are still human. And sometimes they make mistakes; not very often … but sometimes.

Here are the top six mistakes editors and proofreaders make, that you’ll want to avoid making yourself.  

1. Not Verifying the Intended Audience

It’s important to know the intended audience for the document you are editing or proofreading. The intended audience will dictate the tone and voice of a written piece, as well as its overall syntax. And an intended audience will dictate which style guide and editorial guidelines are followed as a piece is being written, edited, and proofread. In addition, the intended audience will dictate what type of information needs to be further explained and what terms and acronyms need to be spelled out, kept abbreviated, or omitted.

When you write about a niche or an industry on an ongoing basis, it’s inevitable that you’ll eventually find yourself in a situation where you’ll need to write about something that others have already covered ad nauseum. You’ll want to write about trending or worn-out topics to focus on search engine optimization (SEO), to demonstrate your thought leadership, and to continue to write about things your audiences care about. But you’ll also want to avoid simply regurgitating what everyone else is writing about, because that will only disengage your audience.

Here are some things you can do when writing about trending or worn out topics, to keep your writing more stimulating and your audiences engaged.

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Regardless of your professional experience and educational background, it’s important to rely on proofreaders to help you fine-tune your written work. Whether you need them to proofread a detailed quarterly report or a simple business memo, their expertise and objective insights will always improve the quality of your writing.

We’ve all had to write, or at the very least read, a cold email before. Whether you’re trying to reach out to a potential customer or client, make contact with a prospective employer or employee, or connect with someone to extend your professional or personal network, you’re familiar with sending cold emails.

When sending a cold email, you’re reaching out to a stranger, asking for their attention and a response. Writing cold emails isn’t easy to do and can be very time consuming. But there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

1. Do Your Research

First, research the individuals you’re reaching out to, to make sure they’re likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Essentially, make sure you have targeted leads, or you’ll end up wasting a lot of your time (and others’ time) and potentially giving the wrong people the wrong impression of your brand.

Once you know your prospects and what they care about, discover what specific information you can include in your email that’s tailored to them, their experiences, and what they care about. This will allow you to personalize your message. This also shows that you genuinely care about reaching them specifically and that you’re not sending out impersonal emails to a large group of prospects. Prospects will be much more likely to respond to a message that resonates with them on a personal level.