You’d be shocked if you knew how frequently I have to deal with careless, sloppy work delivered by full-time, professional writers. Apart from the frustration I feel, there is a sense of disbelief . . . if you make your living writing, shouldn’t you at least take pride in your work, and do whatever it takes to make sure it reaches the editor with as few errors as possible?
Everyone makes mistakes, myself included. This is why even editors need to be edited. But at the very least, whether you are a professional or an amateur, or simply have a paper to hand in or a memo to send out, please, proofread your work.
And the best way to do this is to print it out and read it with a red-ink pen in your hand. Why? Because the computer screen is a liar. It causes your brain to fill in the blanks, to see what you expect to see, not what is really there.
Paper, however, is brutally honest. It shows up flaws like litmus. We grew up reading on paper, not screens, so our brains aren’t fooled. So if what you’re writing is important, please print it out and read it before you publish it. That way you won’t get caught writing about “pubic relations” when you meant to say “public relations”.
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