You've just finished your writing assignment. You're feeling great. It's done! It's perfect, and you wouldn't change a thing, right? It's time to celebrate your A+ paper—or is it? How often have you turned in an assignment, only to have it come back with red marks all over it due to spelling, sentence structure, or paragraph organization errors?
True, it's difficult to get a perfect grade, but often in the hurry to turn in a paper, students can fail to miss errors. It's easy to do. As a student, you love your work so much that you can't see the flaws, or maybe you're too tired to refine your message. Revising is just not your "thing." Well, if you want to improve your grade (and who doesn't?), one easy way is to proofread your work before you turn it in to your teacher.
Here are a few tips to get you started.
As you write:
- Make an outline. If you have a larger essay or paper, make an outline of what the topics you want to cover. This will give you more of a bird's eye view of your piece. Order topics logically. An outline will help keep you on track and help you get to the point faster.
- Don't write in a hurry. Give yourself time to develop your thoughts, organize them, and put them down on paper. If you put off your assignment, you'll feel rushed, and your writing will look rushed.
- Just write. One of the biggest blocks to progress is not writing anything at all. Maybe you have writer's block or are uninspired. Maybe you're afraid of failing. Bite the bullet and just start writing. Direction will emerge. Don't try to edit at this stage.
After you write:
- Let writing "get cold." Give yourself time after you finish writing and before you have to turn it in, preferably a few days. Put your writing away and don't look at it. Come back to it and re-read it. You'll find errors more easily.
- Don't rely on spell check. Sure, it's good to spell check your document, but that doesn't replace human eyes. Make sure all your words are really the ones you meant. Use a dictionary and a thesaurus as trusty tools to help.
- Read your writing out loud. You might feel funny doing this, but this is a great way to check the flow and composition of your sentences. If it doesn't sound right to your ears, then it probably doesn't read well on paper. Your voice will naturally draw attention to rough sentences.
- Get a second pair of eyes. Try to get a second person such as a parent or sibling to read your work before you hand it in. A second person can give you a new perspective and suggestions for improvement.
- Check for omissions and transpositions. Is that letter or word really correct? It's so easy to write "on" instead of "one" or "you" instead of "your." Watch out for contractions, possessives, and homonyms, too. Be aware of these little slip-ups, especially if you struggle with dyslexia or dysgraphia.
- Use past teacher feedback. Did you struggle with verb tense on your last paper or have a tendency to bury your topic sentence? Double check for past errors you have a habit of making. Take your teacher's feedback as a map to guide you through your work.
- Schedule in revisions. No diamond comes out of the ground perfectly cut. Take time to revise your work. Refining your writing will make it sparkle. Editing your work doesn't have to change your original meaning but should make it stronger. Respect this process and schedule it in your writing time.
- Cut the fluff. Everyone has tried adding extra sentences that don't support the main idea to make a paper longer, and every student has tried the the tricks of making the font larger and increasing the spacing. This doesn't make your paper stronger; it makes it fluffy.
- Be consistent. Keep your foundational facts like times of the day and character names consistent. Be consistent with your verb tense and point of view (1st, 2nd, or 3rd person). Strive for parallelism in sentence structure. Make sure your clauses and phrases modify the correct word and keep the same tone (formal or informal) throughout your whole paper.
Writing is only as good as you make it. Own your writing and express yourself by giving yourself the best voice possible. Your teachers will notice, and more importantly, you'll notice that you'll begin to apply these proofreading tips without even thinking.
Once this happens, you'll be on your way to being a better writer and being an accomplished error-catching artist! Happy proofreading.
What proofreading tips can you give other ICA students? Leave a note below.