It’s no secret that I’m not exactly proofreading’s biggest fan.  I get why it’s important but that didn’t stop me from wanting to pluck my eyes out with a rusty spoon during the process.  So I thought I’d put together some tips from what I’ve learned as I proofread The Book of Days.  Hopefully they’ll help to keep your squidgy bits safe from any kitchen utensils.

1. Read backwards.

It may sound stupid, but it really does help you to focus on each individual word instead of the flow of the paragraph.  It’s easy to get into a trance as you read – especially if you’ve gone over the paragraph many times before in previous drafts – and forcing yourself to slow down and read each syllable increases your chances of catching a dreaded typo.

 

2. Take lots of breaks.

Close work like proofreading strains your eyes something chronic.  If you don’t want to turn into a gibbering mess with a thousand yard stare, then make sure you do eye exercises every 30 minutes (these can be as simple as looking at the wall or out at the garden – anything to vary the distance you’ve been looking), and don’t do more than two or three chapters at a time.  You’ll end up missing more than you catch and have to re-do it.

3. Don’t try to catch every mistake at once.

Although you might be tempted to get it all over with in one pass, you’re going to miss things if you don’t narrow down your focus.  Read it once for grammar and punctuation, again for stylistic issues (similar words/phrases being repeated too closely, which was the BANE of my proofreading life), and once more for plot problems (it was raining before it started to rain in my novel, for example).  Only by separating each issue will you fully be able to give your attention to it.

4. Don’t dwell only on the negative.
Trust me, when you’re proofreading, it’s amazingly easy to look at all the mistakes you’ve spotted and feel like the biggest failure that ever failed.  You’re combing through your text with a fine-toothed comb, looking for problems… it’s natural that you’re going to feel like you’ve done a bad job as a writer when you find them this late in the game.  But you know what?  By taking such care in your work, you’re also being the best writer you can be.  You’re getting rid of these problems now so that you can send your little manuscript out into the world with its shirt tucked in, its face clean, and its patent leather shoes shining in the sun.  There’s nothing more loving you can do for your work.  In addition to looking for the problems, make sure to spend some time going over bits of writing that you love – a great description or a cracker action scene.  Balance is important in keeping sane.


5. Read aloud.

You’d be amazed how much easier it is to check things like flow and sentence length when you’re reading out loud.  Phrases that might seem perfectly fine when you glance over them on the page will suddenly jump out at you as clunky.  Ideally, you will have done this during your line editing phase, but it’s always good to do another read-through just to make sure everything is peachy keen.

6. The dictionary is your friend.  It never lies.

If you think you’ve misspelled something and Word’s squiggly line feature isn’t picking it up, go to the source: the dictionary.  In my manuscript, ‘crenulations’ managed to get through three different lots of line editing and proofreading.  I almost managed to talk about a fabric formed by metamorphic rocks when really all I wanted was a wall with battlements.  Learn from my mistake – don’t suddenly veer off into geography when you think you’re writing fiction.

7. And this is probably the most important one… don’t stress!

There are going to be mistakes that you won’t pick up.  I think that my editors and I did a pretty good job of proofreading The Book of Days, but I bet you a pack of skittles that the moment I first crack open the book, I’ll find a big fat typo.  You’re not perfect.  You’re not going to catch everything.  But that’s okay.  The rare typo is like an Easter egg in DVDs – it makes the spotter feel superior for finding it.  So just know that you’ve done the best proofreading you can and learn to love the emails from readers who’ve found mistakes.  There’s always next time…