Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Proof reading

Newspapers are notoriously inept when it comes to proofreading -- for a couple of reasons. One is that they are slash-and-burn artists. Another is that they generally know better than they do because pressure to meet daily deadlines allows little time for proofing. Also, small local dailies generally have limited staff and low wages because journalists with better educations often migrate to larger cities and larger newspapers. (Our local daily seems to be an exception to that -- it has more than its share of good people compared to other small local dailies I've seen. Evidence of that is that its writers regularly win awards for their work.) Consequently, in situations with limited staff, the people who write the stories do their own proofing, and it's harder to see your own mistakes when you're overly familiar with the writing. Our brains tend to make us see what we know we're supposed to be seeing.

Back when I wrote direct mail, we proofed in several ways. One was to have the writer read aloud to another writer, pronouncing every word with little inflection, and actually naming case, punctuation, while the other writer meticulously marked for corrections. So, I would say, "Capital B Back when I wrote direct mail comma we proofed in several ways period". We produced thousands of brochures every year, and on average made only one or two mistakes each year.

On the subject of proofing by reading backwards, one new writer came along and she learned that technique in college and she thought it was the greatest thing since moveable type. But we quickly found what to be as unreliable as spellcheck. The mistake in the preceding sentence could not be found if we proofed by reading backwards: "spellcheck as unreliable as be to what found quickly we But."

I would say there are several reasons good proofreaders don't exist. Among them:

1. Many publishers don't hire proofreaders anymore. That job has been eliminated and its responsibilities absorbed by the writers.
2. A corollary of that reason is the pressure to make profits -- by cutting a job that is viewed as low-skilled, that salary can be added to the bottom line.
3. We have fewer people who know good writing, good reading, good usage, etc. It's a function of our educational system in general.

Steve.

There is actually a wiring in the human brain that makes it all but impossible for a writer to edit his own work. I think I came across this in one of Temple Grandin's books. Because of in-house politics in a publishing company, I once ended-up final-editing one of my novels (copy edit and style edit). It's misery. If I come across the anatomical/physiological description Grandin explained I'll post it. But of course, it has to do with a writer "seeing" what he wants to say or thinks he is saying rather than the words on the screen. The more rewrites you've done the harder it is. That's one reason why topnotch freelance copy editors charge around $80 an hour. Another problem in today's world is the transcription software some people use. I have a friend who ministers all over the world. He was using this software to send an email to a conference host in Regina, SASK. The software could not translate "Regina." You can imagine what these church leaders received instead.

Now come on -- that has to be considered baiting on a thread like this!

John

There is actually a wiring in the human brain that makes it all but impossible for a writer to edit his own work. I think I came across this in one of Temple Grandin's books. Because of in-house politics in a publishing company, I once ended-up final-editing one of my novels (copy edit and style edit). It's misery. If I come across the anatomical/physiological description Grandin explained I'll post it. But of course, it has to do with a writer "seeing" what he wants to say or thinks he is saying rather than the words on the screen. The more rewrites you've done the harder it is. That's one reason why topnotch freelance copy editors charge around $80 an hour. Another problem in today's world is the transcription software some people use. I have a friend who ministers all over the world. He was using this software to send an email to a conference host in Regina, SASK. The software could not translate "Regina." You can imagine what these church leaders received instead.