If you're a marketer who's responsible for your company's copy, you know errors or hard to read sentences can ruin your work. Your worst nightmare is the wrong word or garbled sentences reflecting poorly on you and your company.
But who has the time to edit or proof before you publish online? If your marketing department works like most today, everyone's extremely busy.
But there is a way to find poorly written sentences and errors in your copy before they reach your audience.
Now You Can Produce Error Free Copy that's a Delight to Read
Imagine a system that's quick and easy but catches your spelling errors, incorrect words (remember, spell check doesn't catch the wrong word spelled correctly), and hard-to-read sentences. You wouldn't have to worry about your copy or waste time relying on your co-workers to "find the time to edit" your piece.
Your NKB Copy Proofing Method in 3 Easy Steps
After I've finished my writing I start the proofing process. I've developed it over some time and it helps me produce copy that's error free with sentences that my clients' audiences find easy to read. And it helps me catch myself when off topic.
Here are the steps I apply to my writing after I consider it finished and am ready to final proof.
1. Find sentences where these wordy momentum killers lurk.
a. Replace "state of being" verbs with action verbs. Eliminate is, am, were, was, are, be, being, been. Remove the word then change the sentence.
b. Do your best to eliminate prepositions: of, in, by, for, with, to.
c. While you're at it, also eliminate "that" when you can and don't start sentences with "There is" or "There are."
Consider this example:
"There is a mayor of Utica who is proposing changes to downtown that are very different from what has always been. There are many who are skeptical of the changes and were vocal about it at a Common Council meeting that was held last week."
Change to:
"Mayor Robert Palmieri recently proposed radical changes to downtown Utica. Most speakers at the public session of the Common Council meeting last week voiced their skepticism."
2. After changing sentences per above, read the piece silently and make any additional necessary changes, making sure each sentence supports the main idea.
3. Read your piece aloud.
This is the most important, final go thru. If you read slowly and carefully, you'll catch annoyingly repeated words and awkward sentences. The secret here is that if you stumble reading your work aloud, your reader will stumble in her mind at the same place. If you can't say it aloud smoothly, change it.
Let me know the results of your own NKB Proofing on your next piece of online Web writing. Did you catch errors, eliminate words, and create a faster moving, more interesting piece of writing?
Until next time,
Nick
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