TWC301: Multimedia Writing

Decide what medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read.

If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time, rather than all at once—otherwise, your concentration is likely to wane.

Citations Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.)

3. Use Tricks to Freshen Your Eye Every experienced technical editor has her favorite trick to get a fresh perspective on a document. Here are some of the ones I’ve heard over the years: Turn the document upside down. Start from the end and read backwards, going line by line. Zoom in to 200 percent or more, particularly to edit graphics. Zoom out until you can see the entire page to edit overall page elements, such as the space before and after headings. Read aloud to both slow yourself down and to catch errors you’ve overlooked reading silently. Create a PDF of your document and proofread that.