Consider Outsourcing Your Proofreading To A Professional If You Are Unsure Of Getting It Right!

I read a few blog posts last night and was quite shocked by the poor quality of them, particularly one as I happen to know the author of it is quite capable of writing in grammatically correct, properly spelled English. I have a theory about it. I think that people who are the best of professionals in their every day lives tend to get rushed and overexcited when writing blog posts - I know from experience it can be something you hurry to fit in at the end of a busy day - and I do think it's a shame that these errors occur, as a poorly written blog post or document can tarnish the author's otherwise brilliantly professional image. After all this could be the first point of contact for a potential new client, and it may cross the client's mind that if you can't get the basics such as grammar correct, you probably can't do the service you are offering professionally either.

In the rush, after one has worked an 18 hour day, "Their computers" become "there computers" or worse (to me) "they're computers" ... or "Don't get worn out by long hours" becomes "dont get warn out by long hours" ....

Full stops become commas in the rush to get the text down ... "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today. The client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow. He needs it back by 6pm." - this looks so much worse written as "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today, the client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow, he needs it back by 6pm."

Another pet hate of mine is incorrect capitalisation. I did a grammar and spelling quiz on Facebook, and my result was "English Professor Material" - which amazed me, because one of the questions actually had no correct answer! It read:

They took ________ dog for a walk and afterwards _________ going home. Which are the correct words to fill in here?

a) Their, they're
b) there, their
c) They're, there
d) there, they're

I picked a) and hoped for the best as it was, I supposed, the most correct, but it too is not correct. If you slot the words in, there is a horribly incorrect capitalisation in the sentence.

If you are unsure whether you can get your spelling and grammar correct on your blog, outsource this function. I will from now on be offering writing, proofreading and editing of blog posts and entries as a service to my clients.

Originally published by Gaynor Paynter on www.typewritetranscription.blogspot.com as "Writing, Editing and Proofreading as a New Service"