Errors compromise clarity and credibility, so it's crucial to proofread your writing after you've used a spellchecker.
Proofreading means finding spelling mistakes and 'typos' (typographical errors), making sure that you've written what you thought you wrote and said what you meant to say, and checking that you have expressed yourself as clearly and unambiguously as possible. Proofreading a piece of work carefully before publishing it helps to build a good relationship with your audience by demonstrating that you respect both your reader and yourself. It shows that you care what you publish, whether it's under your given name or a pseudonym — after all, if you can't be bothered to read through what you've written, why should anyone else?
This applies to any writing you send out into the world: a work email, an essay, a business proposal, a novel, a blog entry, a Facebook post…
Take applying for a job. Companies are inundated with emails for vacancies — sometimes hundreds for a single post — and you want yours to stand out for the right reasons. I once worked for a company that reduced applications to a manageable level by sorting them into two piles using simple criteria: in one pile went the well-presented CVs, while the other — which was always larger — was for applications that contained errors; these applicants were immediately sent a rejection letter. The logic was that if the applicants didn't check documents as important as their CVs and covering letters when they were chasing a job, they were unlikely to take the necessary care in checking documents they prepared for clients when they were safely in the job — and that, of course, would reflect badly on the company.
Proofreading means finding spelling mistakes and 'typos' (typographical errors), making sure that you've written what you thought you wrote and said what you meant to say, and checking that you have expressed yourself as clearly and unambiguously as possible. Proofreading a piece of work carefully before publishing it helps to build a good relationship with your audience by demonstrating that you respect both your reader and yourself. It shows that you care what you publish, whether it's under your given name or a pseudonym — after all, if you can't be bothered to read through what you've written, why should anyone else?
This applies to any writing you send out into the world: a work email, an essay, a business proposal, a novel, a blog entry, a Facebook post…
Take applying for a job. Companies are inundated with emails for vacancies — sometimes hundreds for a single post — and you want yours to stand out for the right reasons. I once worked for a company that reduced applications to a manageable level by sorting them into two piles using simple criteria: in one pile went the well-presented CVs, while the other — which was always larger — was for applications that contained errors; these applicants were immediately sent a rejection letter. The logic was that if the applicants didn't check documents as important as their CVs and covering letters when they were chasing a job, they were unlikely to take the necessary care in checking documents they prepared for clients when they were safely in the job — and that, of course, would reflect badly on the company.
Proofreading versus spellchecking
A spellcheck is an excellent starting point for checking a piece of writing; it will flag spelling mistakes and (some) typographical errors, and will check even a large document quickly. If you've typed thier for their or neice for niece, the spellchecker will offer the correct spelling; some will correct such common errors automatically. The spellchecker will also ask you about words it doesn't recognize, and list possible replacements.
When you've run a spellcheck and corrected or checked any words the checker has flagged, it's time to proofread. This is best done on a printout, holding a pen and following the words as you read. (For even better results, read the text aloud to force yourself to read what is there, not what you think is there. When we read silently, our minds will often try to help by making minor corrections — for example, inserting an omitted, but crucial, not — when what we need is to focus on exactly what is written down.)
Remember that a spellchecker works by comparing the individual words (not phrases) in a document with a list of correctly-spelt words. It cannot and will not identify where you have typed the wrong word if that word is spelt correctly. A spellchecker will let through errors such as:
- Milton's Stan tempts Eve by flattening her.
- In Paradise Lost, Santa transforms into ever more lowly creatures.
- 'Satan Claus is coming to town…'
- Kuhn observes that a paradigm shit results in a paradigm that is both new and improved.
- The Roman forum was a pubic square used mainly as a marketplace.
- 'Its a long way to Tipperary…'
- Aesop tells a storey about how a tortoise beats a hair.
- 'Their is a house in New Orleans…'
- She tiptoed on bear feat.
… and many more.
A spellchecker won't find these mistakes. Proofreading is a must.
21 December 2012, Addendum
In case you think this is harsh, pedantic or plain pernickity, see Matthew Wardrop, 'My interests include cooking dogs'
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