Proofreading: Why And How To Do It

You know that awful feeling when you are sure you`ve done really, really well, really smashed some mock exam question and then three weeks later, discover that you got a truly mediocre result? Well, if you proofread you need never again experience that horrible shock of realising that all your efforts were in vain, not because you didn`t revise enough, not because you didn`t write enough, but simply because you didn`t take the time to proofread and ended up making seriously careless mistakes.

I know it is hard to remember to proofread when you are racing against the clock to impress the examiner with your in depth knowledge and understanding and it seems to be a complete waste of time to save ten minutes at the end of an exam, to check your work, when your fingers are so tired you can hardly hold the pen and you think you should write another paragraph or two. But the fact is that most students would achieve at least one grade higher simply by doublechecking what they have written before they hand in their exam scri pt.

In the stress of the moment, when you first turn over the exam paper and enter that strange time warp, called the exam, it is hard enough to try to make sure that you have really understood the question, let alone remembering to spend time proofreading. So what I tell my students is to WRITE IT DOWN ON THE EXAM PAPER NEXT TO THE QUESTIONS YOU INTEND TO ANSWER BEFORE YOU START. That way, you won`t forget to do it!

The best order to proofread is this:-

1. Capitals - make sure you always use them when you need to. Names of people, places and pets. And "I" - of course!

2. Missing letters. If you are used to texting you will likely forget to add "-s", "-ing" or "-ed" onto the end of verbs, so make sure that with verbs and plural nouns, you are using the right ending. Some of the smartest students I know think much more quickly than they write, and often miss letters out, with disastrous and sometimes very funny consequences. If you mean"Cats" then "Cat" will not do! "Impotent" is not the same as "Important" and "Pubic" should not be confused with "Public".

3. Missing words. Students who miss words out are often amazed when they re-read what they have written during the exam results post-mortem. This is often because their brains are working faster than their fingers and they are usually absolutely certain that they wrote something when they didn`t. Consider the following example:"Almost as soon as Romeo and Juliet have got it is obvious that their love is doomed." An examiner simply can not and will not give you the benefit of the doubt. Missing words leads to lack of clarity.

4. Punctuation. If you really want to waste your time and drive the examiner crazy into the bargain, avoid using punctuation altogether. But you will also fail if you forget to punctuate, because once again, lack of correct punctuation leads to lack of clarity, so always check that you have used the correct punctuation. Don`t use commas like sellotape to lengthen sentences, because that is not the job of a comma. Instead use a semi colon! Don`t forget to begin AND end speeches or quotes with speech marks.

5. Spelling. I would suggest that proofreading your spelling is a waste of time. If you don`t know how to spell a very sophisticated or complicated word, then just do your best and don`t worry. The odd spelling mistake will not prevent you achieving an A*, whereas all of the other mistakes above, will.

In conclusion...If you can think of an acronym to remember the order to proofread, so much the better. The initials of 1.-4. are CLWP. Crazy Laura Wants Proofreading is a good start.