Proofreading 101: The Marks Of A Master Proofer

by | Proofreading | 2 comments

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Deadline: Thursday, February 22nd

Updated May 2023

As most authors know, first drafts are often nowhere near the final, polished manuscripts that will be sent to literary editors and agents. Revising your initial work is one of the most important elements of good writing. Your first draft serves to get your ideas down on paper (or into your computer)—editing makes sure those ideas come across as articulately as possible.

During the editing process, you (or the person who’s proofreading your work for you) should use standard proofreading marks. These marks are a quick shorthand for longer descriptions of the grammar changes that need to be made to your writing.

If you’re a new writer, or are just unfamiliar with proofreading marks, here are a few of the most basic proofreading marks every author should know. Get ready to wield your red pen with confidence!

Proofreading Marks: Hints And Cheat Sheet

Take it out: This is one of the most commonly used marks in proofreading. More often than not, you will have something in your manuscript that needs to be removed. Whether it’s a typo, a needless detail, or an erroneous letter, word, or sentence that doesn’t belong, take it out with this mark.

 

Add it in: Avoid dinner disasters like this by using an “add” mark! Not only can you use this to add punctuation to your sentences, you can also use it to enter entire words!

 

When adding single letters, Instead of using the “caret” mark shown above, you should use a dash. It’s much more fun to find ice cream on the table than copious amounts of sand.

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Transpose: If you want to swap the placement of two adjacent words, this is the mark to use. This mark can also be used to swap larger groups of text, and even complete sentences. All you have to do is encapsulate the text you want to swap within the curve.

 

Close the space: This mark is used to indicate the closure of a space between words that should be compound, or even extra spaces that manifested themselves due to a few too many taps of the space bar!

 

Capitalization: Whether long hours of writing cause you to overlook something that should have been capitalized, or you simply make a mistake, you will need to use the capitalization mark more often than you might expect.

 

Knowing these proofreading marks will help you communicate your changes more effectively and get the editing results you want. For convenience, we’ve included a  list of proofing marks below. Happy editing!

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After you’ve written several thousand more words (and edited, proofread, and rewritten to perfection), the next most important element of getting your completed story or novel published is submitting to the right markets! The research experts at Writer’s Relief can help you pinpoint the best literary agents or journals for your work. Learn more about our services and submit your work to our Review Board today!SaveAfter you’ve written several thousand more words (and edited, proofread, and rewritten to perfection), the next most important element of getting your completed story or novel published is submitting to the right markets! The research experts at Writer’s Relief can help you pinpoint the best literary agents or journals for your work. Learn more about our services and submit your work to our Review Board today!After you’ve written several thousand more words (and edited, proofread, and rewritten to perfection), the next most important element of getting your completed story or novel published is submitting to the right markets! The research experts at Writer’s Relief can help you pinpoint the best literary agents or journals for your work. Learn more about our services and submit your work to our Review Board today!Save

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2 Comments

  1. Mike

    No knowledge is a waste, they say, but as a freelance editor, I find the knowledge and use of these marks quite passe and unnecessary. They may be needed by editors embedded in publishing houses and the printing industry where typesetting is done but not for a freelance whose client has no use for nor understands them. Track Changes doesn’t recognise them either. My clients simply get the marked up manuscript and proceed to accept/reject and then jointly we forge the dead copy.

    Reply
    • Blog Editor

      We agree, no knowledge is a waste! While many writers use track changes to make their edits, there are those who sometimes like to print out their work and make any edits by hand. For those writers, using this shorthand of proofing marks might make it easier to keep track of the changes they want to make.

      Reply

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