- Can anyone legitimately claim to always deliver 100% error-free copy?
- Why using a proofreader can get you closer to 100% error-free copy
- It’s not just hard proofreading your own writing—proofreading in general is hard!
- So, we’re all doomed, and 100% error-free copy is a myth?
- If 100% error-free copy isn’t attainable, what’s the goal?
- Can DC CopyPro offer 100% error–free copy?
- A message for my fellow proofreaders
- We all make mistakes—it’s part of being human
The mark of a great proofreader is 100% error-free copy, right? That’s what we should seek—perfection! While perfection may be the goal, let me ask you a question. Is it a realistic one? Can you trust a proofreader who makes this promise? What good is a proofreader who sends you copy that still contains several errors?
Can anyone legitimately claim to always deliver 100% error-free copy?
In a word, no.
But why not? Isn’t it a proofreader’s job to ensure there are absolutely no mistakes in your writing? No, not exactly.
While perfection is definitely the goal, it’s rarely attained. Remember, the proofreader’s job is to polish a final draft. That shouldn’t happen until
- The author has reviewed, edited, and proofread their work themselves.
- An editor or content reviewer has reviewed and suggested edits.
- A copy editor has reviewed and edited grammar, sentence structure, and formatting.
This is, of course, an ideal situation. In many cases, such as web pages, self-published e-books, or blog posts, this typically doesn’t happen. Depending on the situation, one person may fulfil all these roles. Not ideal, but sometimes it’s reality. Trust me—I know. 😉
It may not always be possible to involve a content reviewer and copy editor in your process. But whenever possible, you should use a proofreader.
Why using a proofreader can get you closer to 100% error-free copy
It is notoriously difficult to proofread your own work. The gist of the problem is that we’re too close to our own work. We know what we’re trying to say. We’ve reviewed what we’ve written several times. We tend to gloss over what’s written and see what we “think” should be there, rather than what’s actually there.
As a small business owner, I don’t have the luxury of working with a proofreader. That’s mainly because I’m so busy that I typically start a blog one or (if I’m lucky) two weeks before I publish it. I publish my posts on Sundays, but often finalize them on Saturdays. That doesn’t leave much time for me to hire a proofreader to check my work.
Also, proofreading is what I do, so the more I do it on my own articles, the better I get. But I’m not perfect. Far from it. But everything that appears on my site has been thoroughly reviewed.
- I use the Hemingway app (affiliate link) to help edit my work.
- I use the Google Docs spellcheck function.
- I use Grammarly (with a paid subscription) to check for typos and grammatical mistakes.
- I do my own proofreading review of my work, looking for additional errors.
- I use an extension called “Read Aloud” to read my work out loud, which helps me “hear” mistakes.
But I still don’t publish 100% error-free copy. I post a new blog every four weeks. During the three weeks in between, I review my previous blogs. I’ve been updating them for better SEO and also proofreading them again. Since it’s been so long since I wrote them, I’m a bit better at spotting my errors. I’m still constantly amazed at the mistakes that made it through, even after using the five steps above.
It’s not just hard proofreading your own writing—proofreading in general is hard!
Did you catch the error above? Would you believe there are actually four?
- Sentences can’t start with digits.
- You can’t use % and percent.
- The word “the” appears twice.
- Considering the above, it should be “mistakes.”
And that, my friends, is an introduction to why proofreading is so challenging. Still don’t believe me? Okay, now you’re primed and ready for the challenge, right? Try this one.
Did you catch all three instances of “the” being repeated?
Last one, I promise.
You know what? Even though I know what that post is about, I still miss things! That’s the human brain for you. It’s both a blessing and a curse. The brain helps us see things as they “should” be to help speed up our comprehension. But that can lead to us glossing over errors we don’t want to be there.
If these examples don’t convince you that proofreading is challenging, nothing will.
So, we’re all doomed, and 100% error-free copy is a myth?
That may be partially correct. Besides the challenges above, other issues with English make 100% error-free copy problematic. The first being that grammar can be ambiguous. Sometimes commas are necessary.
But what about the Oxford or serial comma? American English tends to use it, British English tends not to use it, but some style guides advocate for its use. Notice I said “tends” to. It’s never a 100% certainty, and there is some room for stylistic preference. Style guides help, but there are still disagreements between experts. So, without a complete set of rules against which to judge our writing, how can we strive for 100% accuracy?
Again, a proofreader should strive for 100% error-free copy. But if you find a typo or two in the copy returned to you, that doesn’t mean the proofreader was lazy. Unofficially, the accuracy rate is somewhere around 90%. That might seem low, but remember what we learned above. Additionally, a study by Dr. Ray Panko of the University of Hawaii found that the highest percentage that can be expected from humans is 95%. His research claims professional proofreaders discovered 87% of errors in his own textbook.
Even Webster’s dictionary has errors. Would you believe somewhere around 6,000?!? Seems unbelievable. But that’s an accuracy rate of 99.99% based on roughly 60 million characters in the 3rd edition of Webster’s dictionary.
If 100% error-free copy isn’t attainable, what’s the goal?
As stated, perfection should be the goal, but not the standard. If the acceptable standard is around 90%, does that mean 100 errors in a 1,000-word blog post are acceptable? Of course not! It means if your text contains 20 errors, the copy returned to you should have no more than 2-3 errors. The proofreader should’ve found around 90% of the mistakes.
You can help achieve the goal of 100% error-free copy. It starts by thoroughly proofreading your copy before submitting it to a proofreader. The fewer errors to correct, the lower the chance that several errors will sneak through. If the copy you submit for proofreading has 50 errors in it, five errors would be an acceptable rate. But if your initial copy only has 10 errors, there’s a better chance the proofread version will only have one error. Perhaps it will actually be error-free!
If you can’t involve a proofreader in your process, time is your friend. Allow yourself as much time as possible between proofreading passes. Use various tools/methods, like the ones I mentioned above. That will limit the number of errors that slip through.
I mentioned that going back over my posts, I’ve found several errors. Whenever I post a new blog, I’ve got a couple of friends who regularly read my blog (thank you!). They inevitably point out a typo I’ve missed. But it’s rarely more than two per post, and I’m happy with that error rate. Though I’ve been finding mistakes while reviewing my older posts, we’re talking about single digits. Sometimes I edit for consistency based on things I’ve learned or styles I’ve decided to adopt in my writing. But the number of glaring, how-the-fuck-did-you-miss-that-kind-of-typos is pretty low.
Can DC CopyPro offer 100% error–free copy?
If you’ve read this far, you should know the answer to that question. Absolutely not. But what I can guarantee is
- Several systematic passes of your copy to catch as many mistakes as humanly possible
- Your copy will have fewer errors than when you sent it to me
- I will strive for, but cannot guarantee, perfection
I’ll likely catch more errors if I proofread your copy and have a day or two between proofreading passes. I’m confident that I can attain the 90% rate that is the industry standard. How can I be so confident?
- More than 20 years of correcting my students’ errors
- Four years working as a professional proofreader
- A strong work ethic
All together, these qualities make me a pretty damn good proofreader.
Want to learn more about why I’m well-suited to proofreading? Check out this article.
A message for my fellow proofreaders
I recently went through a rough patch at work. It seemed like there was a typo or some other error in almost every web page I published or email I sent. It felt like the quality of my work was being questioned. I started to doubt myself.
Yes, I’d made a few errors and owned them—I always do. But then I took a step back and examined things.
One typo resulted from a formatting error with a finicky platform. The text that I copied and pasted didn’t have the error. I spotted a heading that needed a capital letter. I “thought” I hit save before I scheduled the email. Lesson learned. I now reload the page to double-check that changes have been saved before scheduling all emails.
One of the errors I was called out on was for a word in a language I’m unfamiliar with. I copied and pasted a quote that I assumed had the correct spelling of a foreign word. But it was missing a macron. My spellchecker is set to English. Someone more familiar with the language in question caught the mistake. I should have checked. But ensuring the English copy I proofread is as close to error-free as possible is challenging enough.
I’m not just the proofreader. In many cases, I’m the copywriter, editor, reviewer, and proofreader. I’ve also recently been as busy as I’ve ever been in my role. I’ve been providing partial cover for a role that has now (thankfully) been backfilled. Deadlines are tight, and last-minute things need to get sent out quickly. Easier to catch those mistakes when I’m just the proofreader. But errors are more likely when I’m involved in the process from start to finish, from drafting to sending or publishing, and on tight deadlines.
We all make mistakes—it’s part of being human
Finally, I reminded myself of something important—I’m human. I’ve written before about how much I hate typos. I take them personally. I correct text messages. I’m a perfectionist.
Part of my job is to ensure that the copy that goes out is as error-free as is humanly possible. But that’s it—as humanly possible. I’m confident that over the almost four years I’ve been in my role, I’ve caught 90% of the errors in the copy I proofread. If I hadn’t, I likely wouldn’t still have a job.
I strive for perfection. But I sometimes need to remind myself that perfection is tough to attain. This is even more true when circumstances are less than perfect. I do the best I can with the knowledge, tools, and timelines I have. I always do the best I can.
So, do you still think proofreaders should be able to guarantee 100% error-free copy? As a proofreader, have you ever doubted yourself? If so, how did you regain your confidence?
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