11 ways of self-reading texts

There is such an aphorism “The paper will endure all”, it is attributed to Cicero and dates back to the I century BC.

Since then, two thousand years have passed, but some authors still follow this principle when writing texts. Of course, the paper will endure everything. This is an inanimate object, which absolutely does not care what and how it is written.

But such authors forget, the texts are read by living people who are not indifferent to the form and content of the work.

And there is a high probability that the reader will not tolerate if the paper is “stained” with errors and misprints. Most likely, he will simply close the creation and will not return to it. But if a sloppy work falls into the hands of a meticulous grammar-nazi, expect trouble…

To avoid incidents, it is better to give the texts to proofread to professional proofreaders. This is ideal. But there is not always time to wait for feedback, and the work of a good specialist costs money. Therefore, there remains the only option – to read the text yourself or with the help of improvised means.

So, for those who are not indifferent to its audience and reputation, we have prepared 11 ways to proofread the texts.

1. Read from the end

Start reading from the bottom up. This method allows each subsequent phrase to be perceived as a separate and independent element of the text. Attention does not slip on the meaning, skipping errors, but, on the contrary, they are accented.

2. Use the online check services

Such tools are enough. Some have paid functionality, others do not. Some are able to check stylistics, while others are not “bothering”. In general, the choice is huge, all have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, to achieve maximum effect, online services are better combined.

3. Check the text in your browser

This option is the easiest and with the minimum set of possibilities. It is unlikely that he will offer you to improve the style and, moreover, does not even check the punctuation, but such a check is better than nothing.

As a rule, spelling check is already enabled in browsers. But if there is none, it can be easily installed.

4. Use programs for offline verification

These are separate programs installed on the computer and mobile gadgets. Plus such tools are that they work without connecting to the network.

With their help you will be able to identify grammar, style, punctuation, logic errors, as well as typos, typographical errors and much more.

Like online services, they work with varying degrees of efficiency.

5. Attract a “friend”

In the case of verifying the text, the proverb “In his own eye does not see a log, but in a strange mote he discerns” has a clearly positive connotation.

Ask someone to reread your creation. All people are different, just like their perception and level of literacy. What you missed, can easily be noticed by the assistant involved. And if the text is read by several situational proofreaders, then the result will be several times better.

6. Focus on specific errors

Agree, it is easier to perform one task than several. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of proofreading, concentrate on one kind of error.

For example, first check only the punctuation. Subtract the news text, correct, go to the spelling. One proofreading is one kind of error. So you can better work out the entire document.

7. Read aloud

Often the material looks fine with a “mute” proofreading, but when reading out loud, grammatical absurdities and logical inconsistencies are immediately found.

Reading aloud involves an additional sensory channel, which means it increases the chance to notice a mistake of at least 50%.

In addition, reading aloud will help to pay attention to how the text is pronounced, where pauses are made and accents are placed. As a rule, punctuation marks should be placed where pauses are made.

8. Configure MS Word Tools

This is a well-known tool, and, if properly tuned, results are pretty good. For example, when writing this article, the program gave out: “Too many consecutive consonants at the junction of words. Try to build a phrase differently. ” What is it?

And still, if you use the letter “y”, but accidentally put “e”, then setting the necessary parameters, MS Word will indicate this error. This is the simplest thing that a text editor offers us.

An interesting point: the network writes that the best version of MS Word can cope with the test. They did not check themselves, but people say…

9. Apply reframing

Anyone who is familiar with NLP knows what reframing is. If to simplify, reframing is a change in perception depending on the surrounding / accompanying context.

For example: I move too little, but always rested.

Like this. Changed the context – the perception of the situation changed. This principle is also applicable for proofreading texts.

To change the perception of the material, you need to change the context. To do this, change the font size, text color, page width, background color, or do all of the above.

10. Print the text

Again, to change the perception, we change the context.

The text on paper is perceived differently than on the monitor. This will be confirmed to you by people who can read ONLY paper books.

To focus on individual lines, use the ruler. Look for a mistake on paper, and correct it in an electronic document.

11. Take a break

No wonder they say that the morning is wiser than the evening.

No matter how interesting the task, long work on its implementation leads to fatigue and a decrease in the level of concentration.

Also, the specialists working with the text know the notion of “blurred eye”. Just in time, you no longer notice the details of the text (in our case, errors).

In order to restore concentration, take breaks. Drink coffee, go to the store for a chocolate bar or fold a solitaire. Then go back to the text and check it so that even the most meticulous scribe cannot hang on.

The canons of military science record: success in battle is achieved by the effort and close interaction of all kinds of troops and types of armed forces.

This postulate is quite applicable in the fight against errors and misprints. Combine different types of proofreading and get good results.