What does a proofreader do and why do you need to use one? My work begins when the editor has had his or her say and the manuscript is almost ready to be sent out into the wild. I’ll be looking for the following things: Spelling mistakes Typos Punctuation errors Grammatical errors Missing or duplicate words Tautology Incorrect […]
Are you prone to pet words or phrases? In every manuscript I’ve worked on, I’ve invariably found some word or phrase that’s overused by the writer. And, like a verbal tic, they probably didn’t even realise they were doing it! At the end of every proofread or edit, I create a report to send to […]
On my first day as a junior reporter at the now defunct Prescot and Huyton Reporter, I was taught a valuable lesson. My editor, who I’ll call ‘Brian’, was of the old school and as I arrived nervously in his office that first morning, he informed he that I had a ‘night job’ that very […]
