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Getting Rid of Mistakes

I know no other way than to get the help of a proofreader or two for any piece of writing that you want taken seriously. It is best, of course, if you can find someone who is good at finding mistakes. But if none of your close friends has that skill, you can use acquaintances or even find a competent person you don't know. You need to pay back whoever helps you. It won't take long for someone to get rid of mistakes in your final draft -- if you get rid of all the ones you can find, if you provide a clean copy, and if you make it clear you don't want feedback on style or content, only correction of grammatical mistakes. (If you pay to have something typed, you can usually find a typist who will also fix mistakes at the same time.) And three careful friends, even if they are shaky in grammar, can get rid of most mistakes if you give them a neatly typed copy and use a good handbook for difficult cases. (There are many such books on the market that are designed for easy reference. They are usually called "writers' guides" or "writers' handbooks" or "writers' indexes." I like one that is put out for secretaries: Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists, Ruth Gavin and William Sabin, 4th ed., New York, 1970.)Here are the steps that make most sense to me:

•	Try as hard as you can to put off till the end of the revising process any attention to grammar. It may take you months to learn to put aside your grammar itch as you write, but it's worth the effort.
•	If you have difficulty getting things correct, make sure you write out a fresh copy of your piece at this point. It's much harder to find mistakes if you work with your battle-scarred draft with its crossings-out, tiny words cramped in tinier spaces, and arrows lassoing words back from the margins.
•	Take a break so you can come back to this clean copy with fresh eyes. Morning is a good time for fresh eyes and proofreading. Reading it out loud will also help you find mistakes.
•	Type your final version or write it out neatly on good paper. Don't use both sides of the paper unless there is some special reason. Avoid thin onion-skin typing paper: it makes reading much more difficult. Your goal is to make your writing easy to read. The physical appearance of your writing has a big effect on how people experience your words.
•	Proofread for errors. This is essential, even though you may be sick to death of this piece. Mistakes in copying and typographical errors are almost inevitable. And you will notice some mistakes in mechanics as a result of seeing the words set out neatly in a new placement on the page. Use a friend or two to help find errors. Corrections should be made neatly, but they needn't be absolutely invisible except in the case of very formal or legal documents. Most readers will be pleased, not bothered, to see evidence that you worked right to the end to remove distracting errors.

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