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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Quality Proofreading Can Make Or Break Your Next Piece Of Copy

By Dominique Martin


You have just written some copy or an advertising piece you think will get interested people to your website. It may be a white paper or an article that must have wide distribution, including potential investors and or large purchasers. It has to be right and it must not be seen as an amateurish piece. Someone who has quality proofreading skills should be involved with it after you have all of the pertinent information written down.

A proofreader is often confused with an editor. They are two different types of treatment for your work. An editor can serve as a proofing service, however, a proofreader will only work with the information already written in the piece. The grammar, spelling any other issues will be looked at and corrected by this person. Their purpose is to make sure the copy is readable and understandable by the people interested in this copy.

An editor will be someone who is knowledgeable in the same field you are in. They will be looking for all appropriate data, charts and statistics that will create a well balanced piece. They may bring in additional information that you missed or develop some points more effectively. They will, of course, bring these to your attention before this is done.

Proofreaders will have the responsibility to know all of the appropriate grammar and spelling rules. They must know the difference and the use for the words that sound alike yet are spelled differently. They will have a mastery of the comma rules and semi colons vs colons. They will strive to make your piece look and read properly. It should be easy to find such a proofreader in San Diego, CA.

A very good thing they can do for you is to ensure the proper tenses are maintained throughout your written piece. Writing something and getting into the act of writing will often cause you to change point of reference. This means you will begin with a second person singular and switch, at some point, to a third or first person plural without knowing it. This is confusing for your readers.

A proofreader will know, as you do, that various pieces will need to be written in specific forms. An article, as an example, will be more formal than a blog. A white paper is usually a very formal, third person, statement filled with facts and statistics. A blog has the ability to be very informal and fun, often leaving data out of the main post to entice readers to look in on the next installment.

Many times, a proofreader will make some discoveries of things written that do not mean what the original writer wanted to say. They will find improper use of words, misplaced or illogical live links in some pieces and very humorous comments in inappropriate places. Most of the problems they find, especially on websites, are in already translated copy from a different language to one they are familiar with.

Looking at the type of writing you do and the number of problems you have, you can decide whether you need an editor or a proofreader. A proofreader can do most of the job and many of them will do more than some of them will. Have a conversation with them, in person, to determine what they can do for you to make your business presence better.




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