Proofreading Puzzle

Found a column in the Orange County Register a few days ago by Stephen Wilbers. He writes a column on business writing. He links proofreading to your credibility, a message we’ve heard before. The fewer mistakes, the higher your credibility.

By finding the errors in the column, you will create a message from the author. (Unfortunately, the Register hasn’t put the column online and to have access to the columns on his website, you need to subscribe. Here is a link to a similar column.)

I thought this was a cute way to remind us to read – and then read again – what we write. As I searched for the mistakes, I found myself reading aloud quietly to hear the words. That’s one of the hints Wilbers suggests. The hints are nothing new, but we tend to forget them.

In my search for a full-time job, I discovered that I sent out a cover letter with a typo. A major problem. “Experience” should have been “experienced.” I read it over several times, even aloud. I did not, however, print it out to reread it one final time. A hard lesson for me.

So for this New Year, I vow to print first and

• Read each individual word, even reading backwards from the end to the beginning.

• Read aloud at any volume.

• Isolate each line.

• Reread the sentence with an error.

• Focus on highlighted text: bullets, headlines, captions and sidebars.

Being consistent with these steps will ensure I don’t send out another cover letter with a typo.