Friday Question #231
Are you a good proofreader (for any media)? What is your proofreading protocol?
So, I like to think I am a good proofreader for this blog. I write posts then usually read through them a few times (and spell check). I even send them to friends to review too!
But sometimes things slip through the cracks.
Then I get the email.
Edited to add – I edited this image after I posted! I sometimes mess up the images, too. I did a few weeks ago and no one caught it.
Sigh. He even edits the comments!!!
Ha ha ha. It makes me happy my dad looks at my blog. But every time I get that email with the subject line “site” I think “DAMMIT!” before I even open it.
I really liked editing/reviewing things. That is a huge chunk of my job at work, and I think it suits me well.
And just for fun… do you ever notice mistakes in other people’s posts (grammar, spelling, etc.) and want to tell them but feel like it would be über mean?
Um, yes.
And on that note, feel free to point them out to me. Before my dad gets to them. Good luck with THAT.
Thanks to Mica for the post inspiration!
Themocracy
TOO funny! Those are tough edits to make because it isn’t a spelling error that can get picked up with the red squiggly lines. I have one of those “Keep Calm” posters in my office at work that proves to be pretty good: Keep clam and proof read.” 🙂
I am WELL KNOWN for being pretty anal about this type of thing, but if I’m typing too fast and/or in a hurry, I let things slide. And the stuff your dad references above, my brain usually fills in the blanks on what I’m expecting to read.
But OMG, my co-worker is not a native English speaker and her emails EMBARRASS me sometimes. And that makes me feel like a terrible, racist person. But I can’t help it. I taught Freshman Composition, it’s like a knee-jerk response when I see misspellings or wrong verb tenses! Nails on a chalkboard!!
(triple checking comment now for fear your dad is reading)
LOL! Don’t worry, he only edits MY comments.
I notice I have a lot of errors in my emails. I hope my friends understand.
But I have a coworker like that too. Sigh. It just looks bad 🙁
HAHAHA! I heart your Dad. Did I ever tell you that one of our favorite snarky things to do as a couple is to red line the stupid flyers people shove on our mailbox flag or doorknob? Sometimes they are RIDICULOUS! So funny!
I should send them to your Dad 🙂
and for the record, I am really good at grammar and spelling, but I am a TERRIBLE typist, so yeah. things are NOT always as they should be…
Um, now I love you even more. I love the mistakes in Chinese menus and restaurant menus in general. So hilarious!
Ha! That sounds like fun! I usually just angrily recycle them 🙂
I always notice other people’s mistakes, and I am overly obsessed with grammar (to the point that my friend got me a shirt last year that says “let’s eat Grandma. let’s eat, Grandma. Grammar saves lives.” BUT I am terrible about noticing my own mistakes and rarely proof my own blog posts.
A friend of mine gave me the book “Eats Shoots and Leaves” for the same reason!
I proofread my blog a few times before I click “Publish”, but once it is actually “live” I reread it and inevitably find a typo or two and have to do an update. I guess once it is live I look at it as if I am a different person, kinda like a second set of eyes. I wonder if that makes sense? 🙂
I love proofreading things! 🙂 I am not very good at proofreading my own stuff though. When I send a quick email and then look back at it and notice a spelling or grammatical error it makes me feel so stupid!!!!!!
Me too! Unless I send it to you. Because I know you will think it’s funny.
P.S. I have people calling you “snister” irl.
hahaha hilarious! I am thankful no one proof reads my stuff besides me. I often make mistakes and have to correct missing letters/words.
Haha! I do not proofread and know mine is terrible! What is funny though, I have two friends that send me stuff to review. I’m actually pretty good at taking something else and cutting stuff out so things seem less wordy – as long as it’s not mine!
I agree with what several have mentioned, it’s just harder to spot in your own writing than someone else’s. Because trust me, I’m no grammar nazi or English major by any means.
Please keep proofreading.
For a gift, I could write you a post full of errors to make sure you find them all!
I love proofreading other people’s work but not my own (and my work can get sloppy if it’s not for a professional venue i.e. my blog). Feel free to point out typos on my posts!
I proofread my posts, but once I publish I usually find more errors and then correct it. Then my dad will send me and email pointing out errors.
And I do want to point out grammar issues- but never do.
I’m pretty terrible about proofreading my own posts. I just read what I wanted to say instead of what is actually written. I hardly ever correct other bloggers mistakes because usually it is just a simple mistyping error. But if someone consistently makes the same grammatical mistake it drives me nuts. Sometimes I have to stop reading.
It drives me crazy when I see a grammar/spelling mistake in my posts! I triple-check them and something always seems to slip through.
I always want to point mistakes out when I see them on other blogs but I don’t want to step on toes!
At my job, I’m known as “Eagle Eyes” because I proofread all our emails, brochures, website content and always find things other people miss. Ha. I lovvvve proofreading.
Eagle Eyes! I love that 🙂
One of the skills you are expected to have in PR is being a good writer, editor and proofreader. For a normal person, I am good at those things. (When I take time to do them – when I’m all fast and loose, I make so many mistakes, even at work.) But for a PR / professional communicator, sometimes I feel like I am not up to par in those areas. My dad has been a newspaper copy editor for 40 years, so maybe I just feel like unless I am as good as him, I’m not good. BUT, he is a great resource for me. He used to proofread all of my papers in high school (and sometimes college) and I’ve emailed him more than once when I had a grammar question for something I was working on at work. AND, knowing he reads my blog forces me to proof my posts multiple times, and I’m constantly checking the Grammar Girl website to make sure I understand the rules.
He sounds like a great resource! Can I start sending you my questions to send to him? Oh, wait! YOU can be my resource. Then maybe you will feel better 🙂 Hee hee.
haha! I fail at proofreading my own blog posts and other stuff I write. I’m a decent editor/proofreader for others at work though.
I once emailed or gchatted a blog friend to let her know there was an error in one of her paid posts and it was still weird. She had repeated the same sentence twice in a row. I thought she’d want to know but at first she was defensive. Then when she realized there was an error, she thanked me.
I don’t catch people’s typos as often as I catch their actual grammatical errors, and then it’s a real dick move to point them out. (I don’t see them THAT often, actually, so it’s really a non-issue.) Maybe I’ll make it my goal to find a typo on your blog before your dad gets to it!
YES! And my grammatical stuff too. Especially if I spell filet (fillet?) wrong! 😉
I think it is so nice that your dad reads your blog!
I do too! I don’t get to see him very often, so it’s a very small glimpse (but better than nothing) in to my life! 🙂
My mom always tells me how in awe she is of my proofreading skills when she reads my blog posts. She wants to know how many times I read them before I hit Post to catch all the errors. To be honest, I don’t read them more than once or twice through and I tend to catch the errors after I post them. It can be difficult to proofread your own stuff because your brain already knows what you’re trying to say!
That is definitely my problem. It makes SO much more sense in my head 😉