Proofreading help needed (please)

[belledechocchipcookie]

Do you do this yourself? Are you just checking your spelling, grammar, flow, consistency? Am I missing anything?


Thank you.

[cheapskatemum]

Yes, I do my own proofreading. I can't help it, it's a reflex action I have when I see text! Others have asked me to proofread their stuff too. I guess your list is pretty exhaustive.

[belledechocchipcookie]

Thank you, I wasn't sure if anyone was still around.

I've done half of it, I'm just not sure if I'm doing it properly. I'm looking at every word to make sure that I've used the right one, then looking at the sentence to make sure it fits in the paragraph. The spelling is OK (because spell check says so ), grammar isn't to bad.

I've just been told you can't proofread your own work though so am

[winnybella]

I think it's because it can be hard to read objectively your own work. Perhaps stepping away for a few days and then returning to text might be helpful.How are you doing, belle? Any progress with the agent?

[belledechocchipcookie]

I'm good thanks. Pleased I've finished it. The editor offered to read it through but I can't really afford it. It's looking good but the agent has said she wants it proofread because she doesn't really want to point out any errors to me. I'm not too sure how to take this, I know it's a crappy time for new writers as they don't want to invest their time in something that may not sell.

I've done half, I just need to know if I'm on the right track. It does look a thousand times better now though.

[winnybella]

Are you still working on the collection of children stories?

I can offer my expertise of an Eng Lit student if you would like- well, just for a story or two.

I don't know how to interpret agent's response, did you ask people on the CW thread what do they think about it?

Off to bed now, goodnight.

[belledechocchipcookie]

It's a novel, for children aged 9+, and it's long, 45k in words. It's been professionally edited but she's not seen it since I changed the last half. I did use her notes though.
I have picture books that a publisher has said they like but they want to go through them.

Night, sleep well.

[strawberryjelly]

proof reading tends to be picking up spelling, grammar, punctuation.
editing is a change of word or re-wording a sentence, or more major changes such as swapping paragraphs etc around.

It is hard to proof read your own work- easy to miss stuff. Obviously you can pay to have someone proof read but do you want to?

[fraktious]

I proofread other people's work, sometimes for free.

I just do spelling, punctuation, grammar, sense relations and continuity. I suppose sometimes there's minor copy editing eg suggesting using the name instead of a pronoun to make things clearer.

[CassiePalmer]

I have a proofreading checklist as I'm a terrible editor. Here's what I have on it:
*consistent point of view

• Is dialogue clear and no overuse of adverbs (instead of using 'said')
  *no overuse of adjectives
  *correct spelling
  *layout (12pt serif font/double spaced lines/margins 3cm each side/pages numberes)
  *first line of each paragraph indented except first of each section.
  *remove spaces between paragraphs
  *punctuation (my downfall)
  This is basically what I was taught to use but I don't know if it's all the same for childrens writing

[belledechocchipcookie]

Thank you. I can't afford to pay someone else to do it, I have a pretty lousy long term memory so I tend to forget about things quite quickly. I had thought this was a problem but it's actually turning out very helpful.

That's really helpful Cassie, that's pretty much what I've been doing so I'm really pleased that I'm on the right track. I think it's the same for childrens writing. Thank you.