Professional editing is expensive. At least, a top-quality edit and proofread can be. A full professional proofread is always preferable, but if you simply don’t have the budget or you want to keep your costs down as much as possible, you can always do it yourself.
These are my best practice tips for proofreading your own manuscript.
Take a break before proofreading. Put some distance between yourself and the story before you start you start to sift through it. It’s notoriously difficult to proofread your own work because you’re so familiar with the text. Waiting a couple of weeks will help you to approach your manuscript with fresh eyes.
Don’t rush. Take your time and don’t be tempted to race ahead. Aim to go about half your normal reading speed and really let each sentence sink in as you go. Try not to skip over simple words or make assumptions that they’re correct without reading them properly.
Focus on one error at a time. Make multiple passes over your manuscript, focussing on specific issues each time. On the first pass, look for spelling and any invented terms (planet names, species etc), on the second pass look for punctuation (commas, hyphenation etc), on the third pass numbers, units and formatting and so on. It may be more time consuming, but you’ll catch way more errors this way than trying to check them all in one hit.
Make a reference list. Keep a reference or style guide that lists every single aspect of your novel that you can refer to whenever you need it. It should cover things like character names and spellings, any world-building features and formatting choices. You can add to it as you go.
Use tools, but don’trely on them. Tools like Word’s spellcheck, Grammarly and PerfectIt are useful tools for catching glaring errors, however, they are not totally reliable and you shouldn’t lean on them too heavily. Use them to sweep through your manuscript. Don’t use them to replace full manual proofreading.
Take regular breaks. Don’t try and complete your proofreading in one sitting, Proofreading requires enormous amounts of concentration and as soon as fatigue starts to set in, you’ll start missing errors. Most professionals can proofread for 4–5 hours in a day at most, interspersed with short breaks for tea and biscuits!
Track your changes. Create a new file with your manuscript so you can keep the edited and unedited versions separate. You might need to refer to the unedited version as you go and it’s safer in case a file gets corrupted. Keep track of your changes; Word has Track Changes which allows you make edits to the text without making them permanent, until you decide to confirm them.
Even if you plan to hire a proofreader, doing these types of checks beforehand will give the proofreader less to do, saving you money on their quote. Proofreading your manuscript isn’t ideal because no matter how hard you try, your own familiarity with the story will inevitably get in the way. But a proofread by the author is much better than no proofreading at all, especially if you follow the tips above.
If you’re ready to take your story to the next level and get it polished for publication, then just send me a message!