The Ultimate Proofreading Checklist for Every Proofreader

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Thank you so much for joining me in this post! Here we’ll discuss the essential proofreader checklist. If you’re unsure what a proofreader is or what they do, feel free to have a geeze at my post Understanding Proofreading: The Final Writing Stage.

I’m so excited to share this proofreading checklist with you! Let’s dive in.

Eight Things Proofreaders Check That Could Help You on Your Proofreading Journey

There are eight things all proofreaders should check when they practice proofreading. These eight things include:

1. Spelling
2. Grammar
3. Capitalization
4. Punctuation
5. Repeated or Omitted Words
6. Word Choices
7. Formatting
8. Adherence to style guide rules

Step One of This Proofreading Checklist is Spelling

Spelling is the first step of proofreading. Commonly silent letters are missed or a word is not spelt how it is pronounced confusing the word’s spelling. Similar sounding words that aren’t spelt the same way, double letters if there is an extra letter or one less letter than there should be (e.g. corect).

Spelling is usually the first thing I check when proofreading. I run Grammarly first to pick up any obvious errors. I accept a few correct suggestions, this saves me some time. Once I’m done, I close Grammarly and check all the spelling manually keeping a dictionary close by, (I always read the entire project first so I’m aware of the key points this makes it easier to work with).

Tip: To double-check all the spelling start at the end of the document and work your way to the front. Reading the words individually and not in a sentence will help you catch any other errors you might have missed by reading in sentences.

Example: Oliver threw the car into gear. (Read this as: gear. into car the threw Oliver).

Step Two is Grammar

Step two, check the Grammar. Grammar governs the sounds, words, sentences and more. Grammar is the structure of the language so when proofreading we should pay attention to homophones (similar-sounding words), proper nouns are correctly spelt, add or subtract repeated or missing words, that all capital letters follow the grammar rules or preferred style guides, acronyms and initialisms are all used correctly, numbers throughout the content are accurate and the use of them is consistent, the subjects and verbs agree with each other.

Tip: Refer to the client’s preferred writing style guide for correct grammar usage, (i.e. CMOS).

Example: Homophones (council and counsel, foreword and forward, cellar and seller). Proper Nouns (Adelaide, Sacha, Page Perfect Proofreading). Repeated or Missing Words (alright alright, house house, she pizza (the missing word is ‘ate’)). Capitalization; first words of sentences, proper nouns, titles etc. (She ate pizza, Beth ate pizza, How Much Pizza is Bad for You?). Acronyms and Initialisms (Acronym; NASA. Initialisms; BBC). Numbers if using the number format use that format throughout the document, if spelling the numbers out use that through the document. (42, 36, 21 etc. forty-two, thirty-six, twenty-one). Subjects and Verbs agree, (Correct; The trees are bending. Incorrect; The trees.).

Step 3 of This Proofreading Checklist is Capitalization

The third step of proofreading is checking capitalization. As proofreaders, we must ensure everything is correctly capitalized and consistent. The first word of every sentence must be capitalized, and names and pro nouns should be capitalized. If the first word after a colon (:) starts a complete sentence it’s acceptable to capitalize that word, and capitalize the first word of a quote. Capitalization should be consistent and should follow the preferred style guide rules.

Tip: Capitalize the beginnings of sentences and all names, (street names, family relationships, events etc.).

Example: Cookies are great. Robert likes cookies. You like cookies and so do ‘I’. What are your favourite cookies? My favourite cookies are chocolate chip: Robert will eat any cookies! Louise Hay’s quote; “I am where I am and where I am is okay.”

Step Four Being Punctuation

Punctuation errors usually come from the incorrect use of periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, semi-colons, colons, hyphens, dashes, parentheses, apostrophes and quotation marks.

Incorrect use can include putting a question mark where there should be a period, not putting commas in the right places, etc.

Tip: Participate in punctuation quizzes to practice punctuation rules.

Example: Period (.), periods are used to end sentences like this. Question marks (?) ask questions; What did you have for lunch? Exclamation points (!), portray excitement; That was so cool! Commas (,) connect clauses and are used as a short pause. They can also be used when you are listing things. I want to buy mangoes, grapes and watermelon. Semi-colons (;), join closely connected sentences; they break up a list with long phrases. Colons (:), can introduce quotes, connect sentences and more e.g. I want to buy: mangoes, grapes and watermelons. Hyphens (-) join words like follow-up and re-covered to name a few. Dashes (-) are like hyphens but they are usually longer – and they break up sentences. Parentheses (), are used to “hide” additional information, (I like using parenthesis’). Apostrophes (‘) are used when two separate words are joined, don’t (do not), it’s (it is), the apostrophe has plenty of other uses too. Qoutation marks (“), this breaks off part of a sentence to show someone is talking or to indicate a quote, “I am where I am and where I am is okay.”

Step 5 Are the Repeated and Omitted Words

Repeated words occur when writers don’t realise they have written the same word twice in a row and omitted words are missing words that the writer thought they had written but skipped over it. When checking for repeated and omitted words we should also be aware of unnecessary words that make a sentence drone on.

Tip: Use the ‘read aloud’ feature on Microsoft Word to listen for double or missing words.

Example: Repeated words could be like ‘again again’ or ‘door door.’ Omitted words could be like “The trees blowing the wind.” Huh, the trees are blowing the wind? Or do they mean “The trees are blowing ‘in’ the wind?”

Step 6 is Correct Word Choice

Step number six on this proofreading checklist is ensuring correct word usage. You must be thinking “But what are correct words?” Correct words are strong positive words. Strong words will match the content’s tone and resonate with the specific age group of readers. We also want to avoid using outdated words, (unless you’re writing a historical piece). Finally, we don’t want to have too many overused words. Readers will get tired of seeing the same word used over and over, part of our job is to enhance the content with the reader experience in mind.

Tip: If you notice the same word keeps appearing throughout the content you can run that word through Thesaurus, (Microsoft Word has this feature or you can google search ‘Thesaurus’). A thesaurus will suggest synonyms (similar words) that you can, in turn, suggest to the writer to use as a replacement.

Example: “This is a recurring problem.” The word recurring has been used three times in the last two paragraphs, so I’ll Google search ‘Thesaurus’ and then search ‘recurring’ in the thesaurus search bar. Here are a few suggested words it gave me: continuous, persistent, lifelong etc. The thesaurus will first show the strongest matches for the word and then the weakest ones, you also have the option to search antonyms, (words with opposite meanings).

Step 7 on this checklist is Formatting

While examining the formatting a proofreader should analyse the right font has been used and remains consistent throughout the document. Ensure paragraphs are of a reasonable length and the content is organized efficiently with headings, paragraphs are aligned to the left, margins are at least one inch and the beginning of every section is indented.

Tip: To know what the right font would be or how big the page margins should be for the type of document you are proofreading check the preferred style guide.

Example: According to the Chicago Manual of Style there is no required font choice but there is a recommend font size.

The Last Step of This Proofreading Checklist is the Writing Style Guides

The six main elements of the writing style guide are concise word usage, coherence, flow, inclusivity, simplicity and unity. Some of the writing style guides include; APA, CMOS, AP and others.

That is all for this post the Essential Proofreading Checklist for Every Proofreader. Please grab this free proofreading checklist if you think it will be beneficial to see whenever you are proofreading!

Thank you for reading this post and please feel free to share it or leave a comment with your thoughts.

Hey guys my name is Gabby, I’m a Freelance Proofreader and Editor. I love books, reading, cars, cute animals and travelling. I love reading so much that I became a Proofreader and Copy Editor for Blog content and Ebooks. However, I want to expand my services to include book manuscripts and other content.

Want to know more? Keep reading!