Hello out there!

Hi everyone,
It's me and I'm back in the world of blogging. I'm feeling fresh and ready to write about ways to improve your writing and how proofreading and editing from a professional is critical. Remember that www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au is the place to come to receive the help you need to make your writing perfect.
I'll be back soon!

It's Time!

It's time to get back into blogging. I've given myself a good talking to and know I need to become serious again. I remember reading a few months ago about Anna and her blog, 'Absolutely Beautiful Things' www.absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com, and how she felt that it was taking too much of her time. Fortunately for all who follow her beautiful blog, she rode through that little patch and continues to provide beautiful visual 'food' for us all. I've been feeling a little bit that way myself. It's not that posting a blog takes a lot of time necessarily, although it can. It's more that I find myself becoming consumed and distracted by what the day's post is going to be about.

There are still endless possibilities of course. Proofreading and editing of documents provides constant 'material' for the blog. My proofreading eagle eye as I'm out and about spots plenty of errors in writing too. I'm wondering about what you, as reader, what like to know more about when it comes to preparing written documents. Let me know, either by posting a comment or direct email to info@wordwriteforsuccess.com.au.

www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au

Need a Tutor?

Word Write for Success provides 'modern' tuition, particularly in assistance with the preparation and finishing touches of proofreading and editing of assignment work. We can't do the assignment for you, of course, but we can assist just as the old-fashioned tutor would have done, by working alongside you to explain, develop your ideas and refine assignment work.

The only difference (and it's a good one) is that we do it electronically - you email through your request, including your assignment topic or task purpose and we work from there. The beauty of this electronic tuition is that you seek support on a needs basis, rather than at a weekly set time when you might not necessarily have a specific project to complete. Of course, you don't have to leave the comfort of your home either or worry about someone coming into your home. Your precious time and money is therefore optimised. Our rate is $45 per hour which compares very favourably with face-to-face tuition. Lastly, and most importantly, tuition is provided by highly qualified and experienced educators, with many years of secondary teaching experience to offer.

We specialise in support for secondary and tertiary students, however, can also assist with support of primary students in the area of English/Mathematics.

Document types with which we can assist in proofreading, editing and improving are -

* assignments - essays, short stories, media articles
* presentations - speeches, seminars
* powerpoint presentations
* websites
* blog set-up, design and writing
* applications - eg. scholarship applications
* jobs - resumes, letters of application, curriculum vitae
* book chapters
* thesis proofreading (sorry, we can't help you write this one!)

See our website for how we have helped students already - http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/ and go to 'Testimonials'.

Proofreading Perfection

Time to go back to basics. I've said it before and I'll say it again - proofreading is critical to any written text. As stated on my website for 'Word Write for Success', we provide proofreading and editing for document excellence. Some might ask why a document's excellence is important. Since we're in the throes of considering house renovations, I'll use a parallel.

As we renovate, we could have a bash at doing some of the work ourselves. We've watched a few home renovation shows on television - the Lifestyle Channel makes it all look quite easy. However, in our hearts we know that a room painted by a professional painter or a bathroom finished by a professional tiler is going to have a finish that we could never achieve, despite our best efforts. The assurance a professional offers will save us loads of time, stress, mess and worry. It will also save us from being in the expensive and frustrating situation of doing a botched job of the renos ourselves, only to have to call the professional in at the end of it all to fix the mistakes we've made.

Proofreading is a professional skill. Just as a painter, electrician or plumber possess a specific skill set which they bring to a job, so the proofreader will approach a proofreading job with the ultimate goal of providing an excellent finished product - your perfect document. So, the next time you have a document which you care about getting right, seek a professional's advice.

As an end of financial year special, we are offering all new customers 25% discount on your first document proofread by us. Contact 'Word Write for Success' at info@wordwriteforsuccess.com.au or go to our website - www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au

Cut your editing time in half!

Introducing....the 'Replace' function. Let me share a little-known but massively useful tip for editing of your documents.

Consider this scenario:

You've written your document draft and spent time proofreading (better still, you've sent it to a professional proofreader such as me at 'Word Write for Success' - http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/). The feedback is that there are several instances of the same error throughout your document.

You could spend a painstaking amount of time trawling through your document for all of the instances of the error, or, you could save yourself massive amounts of time, simply by use of the 'Replace' function in Microsoft Word.

For example, in a document I recently read, reference was made repeatedly to 'Australian rules' rather than 'Australian Rules' (capital 'R' for 'Rules). The document was over 2000 words in length and the client, a student, was concerned about how long it was going to take him to locate all of the instances of this particular punctuation error.

How the 'Replace' function works:

Using the example of 'rules' needing to be replaced by 'Rules', follow these steps:

1. Go to the 'Editing' tab on your toolbar (found on far right in Microsoft 2007 version).
2. Click on 'Replace'.
3. In the box beside 'Find what', type in word exactly as it appears as an error in your document, in the case of the example, 'rules'.
4. Tab to the box below labelled 'Replace with' and type in the correction you wish to make, in this case, 'Rules'.
5. You have the option to replace it just once, by clicking on 'Replace', however, if it is an error which requires correction throughout the document, click on 'Replace All'.
6. A dialog box will then appear telling you how many times it has made the replacement throughout your document. This is when you sit back and imagine how long it would have taken you to find each instance of the error manually (and thank me for helping you save all that precious time!).

Happy replacing!

www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au

A Hairy Error!

Most Saturdays, I like to read the real estate liftout of our local paper. I had to have a giggle when my proofreading eye spotted this one advertisement yesterday morning, which read:

Located on the border of Hope Island and Paradise Point, in a close nit community is this spacious, warm and welcoming home....

After I stopped laughing, I also couldn't help but feel an imaginary itching of my scalp. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a close knit community to one which shares around its headlice! I wonder how many enquiries they received?

www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au

Solution to Proofreading Challenge

Here is the proofread copy -

He was known by many as one of the greatest businessmen of Australian history, thanks to a cunning and decisive ability to predict successful investments and interests of the business. He suffered an amazing total of eight heart attacks, and was once declared clinically dead.

How did you do?

Of course, if this was the first sentence of an essay or article, it would be more appropriate to begin the sentence with the name of the subject rather than 'He'. Incidentally, the subject of this proofreading exercise is Kerry Packer.

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Proofreading Challenge

Here's another proofreading challenge for you -

He was known by many as won of the greatest businesmen of australian history, thanks to cunning and desisive ability to predict succesfull investments and intrests of the buisiness, he suffered an amazing total of eihgt heart attaks, and was once declared clinicly dead.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog for the correct version to see what a good 'spotter' you are!

http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/

Proofreading Perfection

To proofread or not to proofread, that is the question.

Consider this scenario:

You have been working hard on the set assignment topic - listened carefully in class or lectures, identified key words and purpose of the task, conducted research, collected notes and collated these into a useable state. Now is the time to write. The words go slowly onto the page at first, but gradually, you become more and more immersed in what you are writing. Your fingers glide across the keyboard and you discover the words are flowing onto your laptop screen with ease. Without realising, you complete your final statement just within the designated word limit. You collapse in a euphoric state, satisfied that you have done everything humanly possible to address the task requirements and ensure the document you have written is the best possible response anyone could compose. Finally finished, you decide...

And then you wake up!

To enjoy such a dream run on an assignment is every student's wish. Unfortunately, it is usually far from reality. If only the process could run so smoothly!

Then, there is the delicate issue of proofreading your work. It's the last thing you feel like doing, and, it's next to impossible to proofread your own work effectively straight after it's been written. You really need at least overnight, if not two or three days, to regroup and be in a position to properly assess your own writing. That's all very well if you have the time!

Of course, you may be in the very fortunate position of having a dedicated family member or long-suffering friend who is willing to do this proofreading for you. In the dream run, that person is feeling well-rested and fresh as they cast their eye over your work. Of course, in this fantasy world, their expertise in the subject matter of the assignment is second-to-none. Back to reality, though, and you realise that your mother/father/sister/brother/friend just doesn't have the time or the energy to devote to your document.

Here's the question then - after all of the time and effort you have invested in your document, why would you jeopardise your investment by not proofreading it carefully? Word Write for Success is a professional proofreading service, which exists for this specific purpose. By simply emailing the document through to us, you guarantee yourself the very best result possible. We proofread and edit for spelling, punctuation and grammar, structure and sequencing, vocabulary, paragraphing and layout, as well as referencing systems.

Don't risk all the hard work you've done to this point by not completing this crucial final step of the assignment writing process.

http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/

Proofreading Solution

Here is the corrected version of yesterday's blog post proofreading challenge.

After five years’ study, it’s possible to hypothesise that technology has overtaken the human mind. The age group most affected is 17-24 year olds.

How did you go?

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Like a challenge? Then, proofread this...

After 5 year’s study, its possible to hypothesize that technology has overtaken the human mind. The age group most effected in 17-24 year olds.

See how you went - check tomorrow's blog.

PS. There are six errors in total.

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How to set your computer spell checker to your language

When using a spell checker, you need to make sure your computer's spell checker is set to the language in which you are operating. For English, there are two possible options - English (US) and English (Australian/UK). Because I am based in Australia, I have the Australian version set on my computer.

To set up your spell checker to use the correct English language dictionary (or to check this is already in place), follow this easy process:

* Open Microsoft Word and left click on the 'Review' tab
* Go to 'Proofing' section
* Left click on the icon with a globe and a red tick, which is 'Set Language'
* Left click and you will see a listing of all possible languages which can be set as your spell checker, from Afrikaans to Yoruba.
* Highlight the language of your choice and click on the default button, which will set up the 'Normal' template for all future documents to rely on the spell checker language you have chosen.

This should take you no more than 30 seconds to achieve. You can rest assured from this point on that your spelling will be correct for the English context in which you are operating.

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Paper Caper

Yesterday, my daughter and I had a day at the shops, specifically driven by her current obsession with Smiggle stationery and the sale the store was having.

Upon our arrival at the shopping centre, we made a beeline for the Smiggle store, where she spent quite a while browsing and making very important decisions about her purchases. I passed the time looking at their range of folders and cards. A colourfully striped pack of manilla folders caught my eye and I picked them up to check the price. I had to have a little giggle to myself as the pricing label stated - foolscrap folders. The tiny spelling error, an unnecessary "r" in foolscap, certainly altered my perception of the possible quality of the folders.

Do I need to say that I walked out of the store without having purchased that particular item?

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Reality Bites for University Students

Now that "O" week is over in universities around the country, it's hard to avoid the real reason you've gone to uni - to achieve a degree! You've studied for a long time already just to get where you are now and it's time to buckle in for a whole lot more work.

One way to allow yourself an edge on your fellow undergraduates is to START ASSIGNMENTS STRAIGHTAWAY. As soon as you have the texts, the readings and the assignment information, set yourself up by actually beginning working towards the assignment. Let's face it - lots of heads are still spinning from the O-week experience and enjoying the freedom that a university offers. They haven't woken up yet to the fact that there's work to be done. Don't allow yourself to fall into this category of student.

Instead:

* Start writing a draft for your first assignment immediately. Not after the weekend, not after you've checked Facebook, not after the 'dust has settled', not after the music festival, but NOW!

* Reread and redraft a day or two later - you'll be surprised what mistakes you pick up in your own work. Then, have someone else proofread your work for you. Ideally, it's someone you can trust, who you know will give it their full attention and who will provide high quality advice. "Word Write for Success" can do this for you.

* A tip - don't send a first draft off to a professional proofreader to check. You will waste valuable cash! The draft you send to a professional proofreader should be your second or third draft at least.

* It is your job to nut out the content. The proofreader will check for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Sometimes, a proofreader will provide structural advice if they feel it will make a difference to your success.

* Provide your proofreader with a copy of the assignment question and specify the referencing system you are required to use.

* Don't leave it too late - make sure you send your draft to be proofread at least one week before it is due to be handed in. Depending on its size, you may need to submit it even earlier for checking, that is, if you want quality feedback!

Follow these simple steps to ensure a finished product which will cause others to come to you for tips on how you blitzed your degree!

http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/

Font Matters

Often, when I am proofreading a document, especially web copy, I find myself distracted by the font choices the writer has made.

Common font foul-ups:

* wrong font choice for document type - the bottom line is that some fonts were never meant to be used for writing more than a heading and a large heading at that. Try writing a paragraph using Chiller in font size 10 and then reading it back - unless you enlarge it by 200%, you will have a LOT of trouble! I find Times New Roman, Arial, Bookman Old Style, or Georgia (what you are reading now) the best fonts for standard documents. Have fun with the fancy fonts if you are needing to do a one or two word heading, but make sure you adjust the size accordingly.

* too many different fonts used within one document - even if it's a website, consistency is key to your reader absorbing what you have written, rather than the being distracted by the look of it. If it is well-presented, font-wise, the reader won't even notice the font itself. However, the reverse is also true. A document with poorly planned font use is glaringly problematic. A website should use the same font type in every page of the website.

* bold/italic/underline feature overuse - don't overuse features. Just because they are available doesn't mean you need to use them constantly. The reader becomes confused and your message is not effectively communicated. By being selective in the use of these features, you are able to draw the reader's attention to particular points of interest.

* font size variability - using a larger sized font is fine, for example, for a heading, as long as it is distinctly larger. Writing a heading in size 14 font, then writing the following paragraph in size 12 may be too similar. It would be better to use a 16/12 contrast, or, alternatively, maintain font size for the heading and paragraph, but bold or underline the heading.

* CAPITALISING everything - once again, capitalising everything in your document reduces the impact of the message you are conveying. Instead, capitalise KEY words for effect. Some writers entirely avoid capitalisation of whole words, as the reader may perceive unintended aggression in the message.

Next time you are creating a document, keep these simple tips in mind. You'll be happy with the results.

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Proofreading Trivia

Last night, we went to a trivia night at our children's school. Sadly, our team did not win, nor place among the top three, although we did have an enjoyable night, with lots of laughs and fun.

However, as can happen when one starts losing and wants to deflect attention from one's own inadequacies, another member of our team and I did consider requesting that certain questions be deemed invalid on the grounds of incorrect spelling or punctuation. As the MC for the night read each question, it was also displayed on the large screen behind him.

The following questions were, to us, in question:

1. What was Will Smith's sons name in the film, "The Pursuit of Happyness"?

Our gripe was that it was not clear whether there was more than one son in the film, let alone why they shared a name at all. Had the question read - What was Will Smith's son's name in the film, "The Pursuit of Happyness" - it would have been perfectly clear what was being asked (but, just between you and me, I still wouldn't have known the answer!).

2. Which team did St Kilda loose to in the 1996 AFL grand final?

Of course, it's not possible for 'loose' to be used as a verb. It is an adjective, as in, 'I pulled out my loose tooth'. Lose/loose are commonly substituted for each other. Correctly written, the question should have read - Which team did St Kilda lose to in the 1996 AFL grand final? Of course, Adelaide Crows fans might prefer the question be completely reworked to say - Which team did the Adelaide Crows beat in the 1996 AFL grand final?

I must admit that even had we acted upon our, admittedly, mean-spirited grievance, I secretly think there would have been no difference to the outcome! We needed more than two extra points to change the results of the evening.

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Super Proofreader Strikes!

Today, in one of my classes, I returned a long lost hat to its rightful owner. I watched as he took out a felt pen and wrote a message on the inside of the hat hoping to deter anyone from taking it in future. The message read, "Touch this and your dead".
In retrospect, perhaps I should have had a quiet word to him about a less-threatening method of protecting his hat. However, my proofreading instincts overcame all else and I whipped the pen and hat back out of his hands, so as to add the crucial missing apostrophe and letter 'e', so that the message correctly read, "Touch this and you're dead".
Obsessive about proofreading? Who, me?

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The Etiquette of Proofreading

From the point of view of a proofreader, there's a kind of etiquette involved when a person asks you to proofread or edit their document.

My proofreading tips include:

* Respect the client and their document - the subject matter of the document is their business, often the basis of their livelihood or their future success. They are the experts in their field. If they were a proofreading expert, they wouldn't be contacting you in the first place!

* Trust is a big factor in proofreading. You may be the only other human who has read this client's document. To be trusted in such a way is quite an honour. Keep this in mind.

* Equally, confidentiality is critical. The client or their document should never be discussed outside of that particular proofreading process. Sounds obvious, I know, but I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't think it needed to be said.

* The size of the document should not be used as a guide to its importance. Some of the shortest documents I've proofread have been hugely significant to the client.

* Proofreading is about the finishing touch. Just as a chef wouldn't let a meal be sent out of the kitchen without checking it for an accidental sauce spill on the edge of the plate, a writer of any document wants to ensure that the finished product is perfect. The proofreader's job is to make that a reality.

* Be constructive. It's important not to say, 'this is wrong', and come across as some big meanie. Instead, 'I would suggest...' or 'Consider using...' is a whole lot more supportive.

* Let the corrections in red on the document speak for themselves. Some proofreaders are using green instead, in an effort to soften the blow. I find most clients are happy with whatever colour I use, as long as they are made clearly.

* Make time to explain your suggestions to the client. What might seem crystal clear to you may be completely foreign to them. Be patient!

* Lastly, don't assume because you have been asked to proofread another's work that they want you to find mistakes. It's wrong to think this way. There are those cases where all someone wants to be told is, 'great work - this is amazing', and better yet, they are willing to pay a proofreader to tell them so! Everyone wins!

The proofreading process should be a pleasant, professional one for everyone involved. It's up to you as proofreader to make this happen.

http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/

Setting Up a Blog - A Little Too Easy!

As I dip a very tentative toe into the world of blogging, I'm wondering if the easy set up is too good to be true! Proofreading and editing for others is my comfort zone. It's what I do best. Writing for others is another story.

Setting up a small business is a rollercoaster ride. Setting up a small business online is different again. Everyone's doing it, it would seem. Taking the step to set up a blog is my latest fascination. I'm excited to see how it can enhance traffic to my business website, http://www.wordwriteforsuccess.com.au/

I read that no-one cares about your business as much as you do and it's so true. It's up to you to make it work. Setting up a website and seeing it live makes it feel real. Then, the buzz of seeing the traffic stats is one thing, but the very first job that comes through online is something special. It's an affirmation - there actually is someone out there who will benefit from the service you offer. Aside from the obvious 'bottom line' factor, discovering that there really is a place for you in the business world is cause for celebration.