Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [proofreading]

This tag should be used for questions that are about how to proofread your work or the work of someone else. Questions asking us to proofread your writing for you are off-topic here.

This tag should be used for questions that are about proofreading your work or the work of someone else. You should mention what kind of work is being proofread and whether you are for example asking about a common for proofreading or having trouble with a certain and whether this is in a professional setting or you are for example .

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How can I catch more errors when I proofread?

I have a problem where I often proof my own writing and I don't catch all the errors while I am reading through it. I often miss entire words out of sentences or find myself repeating words. I can read a document several times and I catch new errors…
Joel Rodgers
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How do I find logical errors in my novel?

I have completed writing a novel and have revised it many times. I am very worried that I may have made some logical mistakes, like not revealing a secret, or using different hair colour for same character. How do people keep track of these things?…
Abhishek dot py
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How many errors per page volume is typically "okay" in a book?

Suppose I'm in charge of getting a three hundred page book published. I'll do all reasonable things to get it proofread, but still there is a chance that some errors will persist. Now the book goes to the bookstores and readers start reporting…
sharptooth
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Proofreading a novel: is it okay to use a question mark with an exclamation mark - "?!"

Is it ever acceptable to use an exclamation mark following a question mark? I am proofreading a novel and have been instructed to make no stylistic changes, only errors that impede sense/clarity. The copy-editing phase is complete, so if something…
user753711
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What should my redraft phase entail?

I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing and he's got quite a lot to say about the redraft phase. He explains his working method. Write with the door closed, just for him and create a 1st draft as quickly as possible Put the book in a drawer and…
Liath
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What does "(ph)" mean when written after a transcribed word?

In the block quote below I've added an excerpt from an interview transcript with the author of "The First Norton Anthology of World Religions." The transcript has different words for God and "(ph)" noted after those words. What is the meaning of…
RJo
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Writing and proofreading a book in English as a non-native speaker

I started writing a book. I wanted to write fiction books for a long time, but never really got around doing it. I decided to write in English rather than in my own language for many reasons, one of them being that the subjects I write about aren't…
user14340
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How to minimize language mistakes while writing

While it's true that: Editors do proof reading for you, and word processors have spell checking and grammar checking you do not always have an editor available, and software tools aren't perfect ("move" instead of "movie" is not a spelling…
EpsilonVector
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How do I escape my own experience?

When writing academic text, you're often in the position of having to write introductory or explanatory material for your audience. Usually you write this kind of material after you've explored the subject fairly deeply, and have a pretty solid…
naught101
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If I'm going to hire a copyeditor, do I need to do any proofing myself?

For my book I'm planning to self-pub, I aim to hire a copyeditor / proofreader at some point. The question is this: Should I do any proofreading myself, other than using a spell checker? Currently, my eyes hurt from trying to find small mistakes…
Shantnu Tiwari
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How many errors should I expect from a proofreader?

I hired a proofreader (typos, commonly confused words, minor grammar issues etc) to look at my work, which I plan to self publish. She found most typos, but from a 66,000 word novel, missed about 10. Things like using 'its' instead of 'it's', 'you'…
aaa
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When to ask for feedback of novel?

At what stage in writing do you ask for feedback on your new story? After writing a plot outline? After the first draft? After the second draft? After you polish it for the public? What kind of feedback do you like to get (and don't want) after…
RichS
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Automated correction of google translated documents

We have google translated docs which are almost error free and require only minor (about 10%) corrections, and even these corrections are redundant which could be learned by an intelligent machine learning software. What would be nice is to have low…
Ali
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State of the art proof reading tools/methods

While my skills of expression are okay, being able to observe errors within my own writing is truly lacking. The only methods I've found to be of real use are long-time periods in between reviews, if I find one error I restart the review from the…
blunders
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Editing/Proofreading marks

What marks do professional editors and proofreaders use to indicate that a word is misspelled? There are many different sets of editing, proofreading, and typesetting marks and symbols, but the indication I am most used to, circling the word and…
eatshaw
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