It happens to the best of us. You read what you think is on the page, not what's actually on the page. Your eyes trick you into seeing what your brian...I mean what your brain knows should be there. On really good days, like Mondays tend to be, we don't catch the error until we're in the middle of pressing "send" or until someone else catches it for us. Here are some tips to help you edit more effectively.
1. Read your work aloud. Getting your ears involved in hearing what's on the page will help you find errors your eyes will miss.
2. Read backwards. Start with the last sentence of your draft. Begin with what you've indicated as the beginning of the sentence. Read through to the end punctuation. (Yes, out loud.) Make sure it says what you really intend. This is especially helpful for writers who have problems with run-ons, comma splices, and sentence fragments. It is easier for your brain to see "I try to run every day. Because I like to eat more junk food than I should," as one sentence ("I try to run every day because I like to eat more junk food than I should.") if you are reading the "sentences" in the order in which you've placed them in the draft, even if you are reading aloud. However, if you read them in reverse order and stop to consider each one individually before moving to the next, you are more likely to see that "Because I like to eat more junk food than I should," is not a complete thought; therefore, it's not a complete sentence.
3. Print and then read. Always use a printed copy of your work to proofread. Research shows that we are less likely to catch errors we read on a screen as we are on a printed page. (As a case in point, I did not do this as I was creating this post, and therefore, didn't catch the error in the previous sentence until after I'd already published the post once. It should say "screen than we are" not "screen as we are.") On screen editing is more effective for moving sentences or paragraphs, for resolving organizational issues or for otherwise revising content. For line by line editing, though, using the printed page is more effective.
4. Read with fresh eyes. Reading your own work objectively (seeing what's there vs. what you anticipate should be there) is a hard skill. If you are limited (either by practicality or the confines of the assignment) to being the sole proofreader of your work, try to allow yourself enough time to create your draft, organize and refine your content, take a break, and then come back to the draft-perhaps later in the week-to edit. This will increase the chances of seeing what's really on the page and of catching more errors. You can even employ a modified version of this in a test situation. If you're composing a short answer or essay answer, write down whatever you want the general content to be for that answer. Move on to another question or another section of the test. Then come back to the short answer or essay answer you created to edit it.
5. Enlist a fresh pair of eyes. Find someone else who will read your work before you submit it. The goal here isn't to find someone willing to do the editing/corrections, but rather to someone who will read through your draft and mark possible problems. For example, you could ask someone to underline or circle anything they think might be an error or to indicate what's confusing to them with a simple "?" in the margin. This way the work of deciding what needs corrected and how to do that is still left to you, the author.
6. Use other resources available to you. Yes, this is the part where I recommend you see a WR tutor for help. However, there are also other resources you can also take advantage of. If you have reoccurring grammar problems, the WR lab has a program (Blue Pencil) that you can use to help strengthen your grammar skills. You don't need an appointment. You can simply come by the lab when the WR is open and use one of the computers. Many college campuses offer other forms of tutoring. Sometimes former instructors are willing to help or to refer you to someone who can. Also, if your instructor uses turnitin.com in your class, the GradeMark function can help you with editing. Like other computer programs which assist with editing, it's not fool proof, but using it should at least indicate places you want to double check in your draft for errors.
(Image shared from Grammarly.com's Facebook page.)
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