When you have written your article, there is one last thing you must do before you send it to your client. Proofreading and editing are the final steps in the production of a quality article. After all, you are selling your skills as a professional writer, so you really shouldn’t supply articles with spelling or grammatical errors.
It goes without saying that to be able to identify any errors in your work you need to have a good understanding of spelling and grammar, both in US and UK English. If you’re in any doubt, it might be worthwhile doing a refresher course, especially if you plan on developing an article writing business.
Here are my suggestions for effectively proofreading and editing your work:
1. Take advantage of your word processor’s spelling and grammar checking feature. Make sure you choose the proofing language carefully. I live in Australia but most of my clients are in the United States, so I choose the US English setting for their work.
2. Put your article aside for 24 hours, so you can look at it with fresh eyes. It can be hard to notice errors in an article when you have just finished writing it; you become so familiar with the content you tend to just skim through it. You’ll need to carefully manage your schedule so you leave enough time before your deadline to do this.
3. Read your article aloud. This doesn’t take long but you will get a good idea of how it will sound to others. It will also force you to slow down so you are more likely to notice errors.
4. Ask a friend or family member if they can help you in proofreading and editing your work. I’m lucky; my husband is a trained technical writer and he reads everything I write before I send it to my client. You may not have that advantage, but another person can let you know how your article will appear to a reader.
It doesn’t matter how good you are at researching or writing, if there are spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in your work it will affect your clients’ opinion of you as a writer. Spend that extra time on proofreading and editing your work, and you’re more likely to have satisfied clients, which often means repeat business.
