PrintWhen you’re done writing, you’re still not finished! The final step may be one of the most important - proofreading.
“Proofreading is primarily about searching your writing for errors, both grammatical and typographical, before submitting your paper for an audience (a teacher, a publisher, etc.).” (Purdue, 2016)
The importance of proofreading your work cannot be stressed enough. It only takes a few minutes, but can have a very big impact on the final product (and therefore your grade!) Some great ideas when it comes to proofreading include:
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- Read what you have written aloud. Don’t worry, Fido won’t mind! Just take your time and speak what you’ve written – you’ll be shocked at how many errors are caught that way.
- Walk away. Once you’ve finished writing, go do something else entirely for a few minutes. Then, come back and re-read what you’ve written. I like to let my writing sit overnight; it’s amazing what a fresh set of eyes will catch!
- If you don’t trust yourself to identify errors, give your work to someone else to review. My husband and I are constantly e-mailing stuff to one another for a final review. A second set of eyes can also help identify any gaps in the information provided, problems with the overall flow of your writing, etc.
Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab - Proofreading for more tips and tricks to be effective, including what to look for when proofreading.
Need Writing Help?
If you’re struggling at all with writing, please use our in-house writing tutor. It only takes a little bit of planning on your part so that Maria has adequate time to review your work and suggest edits. If our assignments are due on Sunday night, and you need help, submit your work to Maria by Thursday morning at the latest. She will then have enough time to provide feedback, and then you'll have time to incorporate the changes and submit your work. If you need additional time to work with Maria, please let me know.
Writing Tutor
Contact Information
Official Title: Learning Designer and Writer-In-Residence, Dutton e-Education Institute
Email: please use the course email system
Zoom: please contact me via email to set up a Zoom meeting
Hi! I'm Maria Wherley, the writing tutor for this course. I've got a long history of teaching and helping people with their writing, from best-selling authors to professors and college students, to high school and elementary school kids. Please get in touch with writing questions of any kind or for full-on tutoring for your exams in this course. I look forward to hearing from you.