You may think that you can’t afford to pay a proofreader or you see it as an unnecessary expense. It’s understandable, particularly in the world we are currently living in. Maybe you think it is just as easy to look over your written content yourself. Perhaps you think that the spelling and grammar checker on your computer does a good job. Possibly you are happy to rely on a friend to give your writing a quick once-over. You may also think that your writing looks ‘good enough’ and you are happy with that.
All of these are valid points but when you start to realise that ‘good enough’ isn’t enough and when mistakes slip into your writing, it’s time to hire a proofreader.
A fresh pair of eyes is a good idea
It’s very easy to miss mistakes. Our brains often trick us into believing that what should be there is there and that what shouldn’t be there isn’t there. Even the best writers make mistakes because we are all human. It’s so easy to miss an error such as ‘pubic’ when you meant to write ‘public’ or think that ‘hte’ reads as ‘the’. It’s easy to miss out a word, repeat a word or forget to add a full stop.
A professional proofreader will not have read your writing several times over so they will pick up on any errors.
Don’t rely on your computer to pick up on all the spelling and grammar mistakes
Yes, your computer has a function to check spellings and grammar. However, this feature will not pick up on all mistakes. It will not tell you when you have used the wrong word when the word you have used exists. So, if you have written ‘manger’ but you are referring to a ‘manager’, your computer won’t highlight this error. Spell check will not tell you that you have incorrectly used ‘too’ instead of ‘to’. The grammar check function will not pick up on the fact you have used the wrong pronoun. So ‘he’ suddenly becomes ‘we’ further down the page, but the computer doesn’t know this is wrong.
A professional proofreader will pick up on spelling mistakes and will know the grammar rules inside out. They have been trained to look out for spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes.
It’s better to hire a professional proofreader than rely on a friend to take a look at your writing
At times it may be fine to get your friend to take a quick look at your writing. As already mentioned, a second pair of eyes is always better than one. However, that friend is doing you a favour and your writing is not necessarily going to be high on their list of priorities. This could mean that you miss that all-important deadline. A friend may not be as good as a proofreader at picking up on all the mistakes.
If you hire a professional proofreader, they will save you time. They have been trained to be efficient at their job and will correct those troublesome errors. They will keep to your deadline.
Does a piece of writing that is ‘good enough’ give you an air of professionalism?
If it looks like you are happy to produce written content that is ‘good enough’ with the odd mistake here and there, it can give off an air of unprofessionalism. If you are not bothered about producing an accurate piece of writing, what else are you not bothered about? Your readers or customers may just focus on those mistakes rather than the message you are trying to communicate.
A professional proofreader can help you to convey an air of professionalism. Polished, proofread content can boost your credibility. In addition to checking all those spelling, punctuation and grammar errors, a proofreader will also make sure your writing is consistent. So, if you mention Mr Smith in the first paragraph and he is then mistakenly referred to as Mr Jones in the next paragraph, a proofreader will pick up on this.
So bear all this in mind when you are next planning to publish a piece of writing.
Susan Sugden Proofreading 