Why use a proof reader or editor?

So why should you use a proof reader or editor? The answer is simple enough: you sweat blood and tears to get those words out onto the page, and might tinker with them a little, but the trouble is that once you’ve written them and read them over a few times, you see what you expect to see. I know, I’ve done it myself enough times writing my own stories.

I write reviews for stories, and I’m a member of a writer’s circle where all sorts of fiction comes my way, and I can honestly say that just about everything I read contains typographical errors or unfortunate phrases that a proof reader or editor would have suffocated before they saw the light of day.

For example, this comes from a thesis I edited:

The author would have liked more access to female supporters.

And here’s something else from a short story that was about to make an appearance in a magazine:

As the 20th century arrived, abandoned by its previous occupants, the building slowly degraded.

Naturally I made haste, once I’d finished chuckling, to correct these two infelicities, as we call them in the trade. But the point is that neither author had noticed them, or quite a few others either, and that’s not counting the occasional typing, punctuation or spelling error. But they’d had the sense to go to a proof reader/editor (me) and so neither of these infelicities were unleashed on unsuspecting readers.

If you write stories or articles or a thesis… in fact almost anything…getting a professional to check over the content can be an invaluable face-saver. There are lots of good proof readers and editors out there. Visit the website of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (of which I am a member) and check out its directory, as well as reading up on what exactly members of the profession are capable of doing. Or go to the Glasgow Editor’s Network  (I’m a member of that too). Or just visit my own professional site imaginatively called cashmoreeditorial.com, which you can access by clicking on the button over on the right. I’ve listed some more unfortunate words and phrases from published books on the site, on a page called errata. Why not take a look?

You know it makes sense.
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