Quality Proofreading Is Similar But Different Than Editing

By Dominique Martin


Writing all of the promotional materials and copy you need in order to adequately run a marketing business takes more than just putting a lot of words on a page. These pieces may be articles, blogs, white papers or short advertising pieces. They may even be Facebook pieces or Twitter feeds. The spelling and grammar has to be right and, if not, can be viewed as amateurish. The need for a quality proofreading technician is a very real concern.

A proofreader is often confused with an editor. They are two different types of treatment for your work. An editor can serve as a proofing service, however, a proofreader will only work with the information already written in the piece. The grammar, spelling any other issues will be looked at and corrected by this person. Their purpose is to make sure the copy is readable and understandable by the people interested in this copy.

The use of an editor means getting someone who in involved in the same niche or the same industry for which you are writing. They will have an idea about what data must go into the piece you are writing and will be able to beef up the information. They will produce additional material for your approval before they use it and will also check all spelling and grammatical issues as well.

Back to the proofreaders you can access easily, no matter where you live. San Diego, CA has many of these and they are easy to work with. These professionals will know all of the many grammar rules as well as spelling issues. The sound alike words that are used and spelled differently will be part of their knowledge base. The commas, colons and semi colons and when they are supposed to be used are their trade marks.

Perfecting the tenses of each clause is one thing a proofreader can help you with. Writing a first person article is one thing. Changing it half way in to a second or third person singular or plural will often occur without knowing it. This depends on the subject and how complicated it becomes. This will really confuse your readers and cause them to click away from this in frustration if allowed to go uncorrected.

Certain types of writing must follow certain formats. An article will be more formal than a blog posting. A blog post will require a certain give and take as far as what information should be inserted and what can be left out. This is often done to lure the reader to check back, next time, to get an explanation or further amplification of something.

Some of the things that make the piece look like it was written by someone who does know what they are doing are the broken live links. Misused words and general run on sentences that make any thing look bad should be allowed to stay. A proofreader will make you look good simply by making your piece read well.

Looking at the type of writing you do and the number of problems you have, you can decide whether you need an editor or a proofreader. A proofreader can do most of the job and many of them will do more than some of them will. Have a conversation with them, in person, to determine what they can do for you to make your business presence better.




About the Author: