Why It's Difficult to Proofread Your Own Work
Proofreaders will be the first ones to admit that it is difficult to proofread your own work. Yes, you read that correctly. Even professional proofreaders struggle with this task. I bet you are wondering how this could be true. Let’s take a look.
The Science Behind It
Brains are beautiful instruments. They let us do great things without much thought or effort. The brain uses past experiences to transfer information to newer ones. This is called generalization (e.g., putting on your seat belt, closing the garage door).
I know I can never remember the act of putting on my seat belt. Do I put it on every time I get in car? Of course! Do I ever remember doing it? Nope! It’s the same with closing the garage door. Countless times I have the urge to drive back around my neighborhood block to check if the garage door is closed. And guess what? It is—always.
Why? It comes down to generalization. When we were young, our parents had to remind us to put on our seat belts. But after a time, our brains no longer needed that guidance. The brain takes that information of needing to put on your seat belt that it learned in the early days to generalize that it happens every time you get in your car. The same occurs in reference to closing your garage door. Repeating the action every time you leave the house teaches us to do it without thought.
How This Affects Our Ability to Proofread Our Own Words
When you have spent hours writing and rewriting your text, it becomes as familiar to you as that favorite movie you have watched repeatedly. It is that familiarity that makes it easier to miss mistakes. Your mind knows the thoughts behind every word, even the ones misspelled or missing altogether. This is where generalization comes into play.
When you read over your own words, your brain already knows their meaning. This causes us to not truly look at the individual words. The meaning we were trying to convey takes precedent over the words themselves. Generalization allows the brain to focus on all the new information that needs to be stored. When we read, we are taking in new information. However, when you are reading over your own work, there is no new information to be had. It is already there. That makes it easy look past any mistakes.
However, when you are reading someone else’s work, it is unspoiled information. Your brain is not compromised. A fresh set of eyes is better at finding those pesky errors. The new reader is reading with intent to learn new information. We are forced to read at a slower pace, allowing each individual word to be important.
What a Proofreader Will Do
A second set of eyes will help find the mistakes in your document. While you can get a friendly layperson to check it over for you, a professional proofreader is the only person truly qualified to give it a thorough proof. We are trained to meticulously look at each word, phrase, punctuation mark, etc., and to find every small error that could change the meaning of a sentence.
Don’t think it’s important? Let’s look at an example from my favorite proofreading meme:
Let’s eat Grandpa!
Woah, that’s harsh. Why would anyone want to eat their grandpa?
Let’s eat, Grandpa!
A simple comma saves Grandpa from being eaten from his heathen grandchildren. The comma puts the pause in the sentence that tells us that Grandpa is being told it’s time to eat. Phew!
Time to Act!
Are you looking to hire a proofreader?
Ready to see if I might be the right proofreader for you?
Check out my home page for my information!
Good luck!
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