The Weltchek Weekly

A three-time broker of the year announced a high-priced real estate sale to prospective clients. “This time I resented the owners,” she wrote.

A first-rate publication described a former first daughter as raising her pubic persona.

These mortifying moments could have been averted through proper proofreading, the final step in good writing.

Two weeks ago, in “That Fat,” I repeated a word; of of, I wrote—mortifying for someone whose trade is telling people how to write right.

I edited the text for days and read it 50 times, but editing and re-reading your work is no substitute for proper proofreading.  For one, your mind reads the words you thought you wrote.

Here are five proofreading tips. They work. You just have to do them.

1) Let your document sit before you proof it. Don’t rush from writing and editing to proofing.
2) Proof from hard copy, not from your screen.
3) Read your document aloud and read it slowly.  Some people say to read it backwards, but that makes me dizzy, so I don’t.
4) Have someone else proof your copy.
5) Use spell check but don’t rely on it. After all, resented and pubic are words.

Protect your writing by proofing it. If you skip this step, your hard work could go up in a typo!