. . . continued from Hot News It's good to hear from anyone who is involved in writing, editing and proofreading. It's never too late to start. If you're working in English and using Microsoft Word, there are a few small technical details to check. It only takes a minute. To check the language and Unicode setup on your computer, go the Start menu and then to Control Panel. In Control Panel, click Regional Language Options. In the Regional Options tab, ensure that either "U.S English" or "English U.S." is selected. In the Languages tab, click the Details button. A sub-dialog will appear. In the upper portion of the sub-dialog ("Default input language") ensure that "English (United States)-US" is selected. In the same tab sheet, click the "Advanced" tab and make sure that "Turn off advanced text services" is checked (unless you personally need the services). Click the "OK" button to close the sub-dialog. Back in Regional Language Options, click the "Advanced" tab. Insure that "English (United States)" is selected. Click Apply, then OK, and you're done. Any problems thereafter are likely embedded in the document you're editing. First and foremost, note that proofreading and copyediting are somewhat advanced skills. Mind you, it is true that many technically competent writers can also become competent proofreaders and copyeditors. Some people who participate actively in online writer and editor forums spend far too much time in those forums dispensing advice. Some of the advice is no doubt excellent, but it's difficult in the context of an online forum to determine which participants are successful working writers or editors. Spend less time in the forums. Spend more time reading a short list of reference books and exploring your software. There's time enough for everything as long as you keep our priorities straight.

Spend less time in the forums. Spend more time reading a short list of reference books and exploring your software. There's time enough for everything as long as you keep our priorities straight.

Second, in my experience proofreading is a function of seven things:

1. Technical spell checking (are all words correctly spelled);
2. Contextual spell checking (are all words correctly spelled within the context of their usage—they're, their, there, than, then, farther, further, etc., etc).;
3. Technical grammar (is sentence structure as simple as possible),
4. Contextual grammar (does sentence structure accurately convey the author's intent),
5. Consistency (is sentence structure and use of language consistent throughout, respecting the subject matter and each speaker or narrator in the document),
6. Is the writing style interesting and appropriate to the subject matter;
7. Punctuation (is it technically correct, does it convey accurate meaning, and does it aid the document).

The Microsoft Office 2003 Proofing Tools (MOPT) are extremely useful for 1, useless for 2, of limited use for 3, absolutely useless for 4, useful for 5, absolutely useless for 6, useful for 7. At this point in time, without human supervision and review there is no software capable of reliably performing the sophisticated analysis required for 2, 4, 6 and 7. Those three items in particular can most effectively be done only by an experienced proofreader and copyeditor—a human being. As active writers, we have the ability to understand the context of what we're reading at the same time as we determine the appropriateness of structure and style.

The vast majority of successful editors make judicious and narrowly defined use of proofreading tools. For example, the spellchecking supplied with Word and WordPerfect is excellent. Most writers and editors perform items 2), 3), and 4) manually, but also do a general review using MOPT.

Third, after a document has been proofed for spelling and grammar, there is often a requirement for copyediting. Simply put, copyediting is defined as making corrections in someone's writing which better reflect the writers intent. In a report, if a writer wants to state that "Jack ate some rocks" he should not write, "Some rocks were eaten by Jack." It's awkward and indirect, sins which often slow the pace of reading and reveal a careless or inexperienced writer. Similarly, if the piece being edited is a novel in which Jack is a character, it might be appropriate to state that "Jack was hungry enough to eat a rock" rather than "Jack was so hungry he could almost eat a rock." The first phrase is a clear statement which reflects both Jack's mood and distinctiveness in the narrative. The second phrase is an amateur attempt at familiarity. There is no software capable of doing this kind of work. If MOPT flags such phrases for review, the suggestions it provides are invariably limited to the content provided by the consultants and designers who worked on the software. The software cannot somehow 'know' the original writer. For example, if Jack is a child or adolescent making a statement, he might say "I'm so hungry I could almost eat a rock" thereby conveying a sense of both his hunger and youth. Context is important.

Fourth, respecting the foregoing, there is one book you should read before all others:

• Elements of Style by E.B. White and William F. Strunk

The following three books should grace the shelves of your writing library. Each book is highly regarded reference work which will support your efforts:

• The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press
• The Copyeditor's Handbook from University of California Press
• Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications from Microsoft Press

All four books are highly respected standards for all writers, proofreaders and editors working in English. Elements of Style is quite short and should be read by all writers working in English. The Chicago Manual of Style is a large, highly detailed, fully annotated and indexed technical reference manual for English writing, and it remains the 'Bible' for English grammar, punctuation and modern usage—the 15th edition is available now. The Copyeditor's Handbook contains a wealth of well-organized information for both beginners and experienced proofreaders and copyeditors along with a very good selection of exercises to help sharpen skills. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications is the standard guide for all technical works—from software documentation to technical papers, and from journals to technical handbooks and reference works.

Fifth, by now you may have enough experience to proofread and copyedit more or less simultaneously. If that's the case, are you making notes on paper or in a separate text editor or in Microsoft OneNote as you work? Do you have line numbering turned on? To turn on line numbering, go to the File menu and click Page Setup. In the dialog which appears, click the Layout tab. At the bottom of the layout tab, click the Line Numbering button. Turn line numbers on and off as needed. Line numbers are a tremendous aid to grammatical proofing and copy editing, because you can make pen & paper or electronic notes with line number references as you go through a document of any size. The point is that it's unwise to make individual grammatical changes without understanding the frequency with which an author uses certain constructions. Sometimes there is intent in such use; sometimes not. It's part of what makes proofreading and copyediting interesting and challenging. Here's a good article on proofreading which applies to writers in all categories.

Last, if you prefer to rely on the grammar and proofreading tools built into Word, make sure everything is correctly set up. Go to the Tools menu and select Options. In the dialog which appears, click "Spelling and Grammar" then click the "Grammar Settings" button in the lower section. In the "Writing Style" section there are only two choices, both of which are oriented towards business writing. The "Grammar and Style" section is also business oriented, but can be customized to some extent to suit your needs. At the top of the Grammar and Style section, set everything in the "Require" sub-section to "Don't Check" in order to avoid some strange results. Before exiting the dialog, click the check box to actually turn on Grammar checking.

After configuring these areas, keep in mind that the tools are only adjuncts to manual proofreading and copyediting. Do not rely on them alone.

You must provide some time for yourself in order to become familiar and comfortable with both the software and the limitations of its tools. There are no shortcuts. The separate MOPT package has definite uses in production environments or in offices with high volumes of correspondence output and so on. Research offices often use MOPT to review white papers and larger documents prior to publication. As you become more familiar and experienced with MOPT, you will no doubt tweak its configuration to best suit your general needs. Use MOPT—it can definitely save you some time—but remember that it is a tool to aid you, not an end in itself.

As I stated at the outset, spend less time in the forums and spend more time reading supporting books and exploring your software. There's time enough for everything as long as we keep our priorities straight.

There are six grammar and punctuation mistakes in this reply. There may be a couple of others too (which are unintentional). I challenge you to find them!

Back to Hot News!