Find a place where you can concentrate and avoid distractions. Don’t try to do your proofreading in front of the TV or while you’re chugging away on the treadmill. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may trick your brain into thinking it’s seeing an unfamiliar document, and that can help you get a different perspective on what you’ve written. Try changing the look of your document.Some people like to work right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read. Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully.Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh eyes. Better yet, give the paper to a friend-you can’t get much more distance than that. Clear your head of what you’ve written so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what is really on the page. Put the paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Get some distance from the text! It’s hard to edit or proofread a paper that you’ve just finished writing-it’s still to familiar, and you tend to skip over a lot of errors.Some tips that apply to both editing and proofreading Both demand close and careful reading, but they focus on different aspects of the writing and employ different techniques. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are two different stages of the revision process. See if you can spot them! Is editing the same thing as proofreading? To give you a chance to practice proofreading, we have left seven errors (three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. Editing and Proofreading What this handout is about

Edit my grammar