blog @ spacebarpress » tips http://spacebarpress.com/blog Life as a wannabe freelance writer Wed, 12 May 2010 15:31:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Proofreading Tips for Technical Writers http://spacebarpress.com/blog/2009/03/proofreading-tips-for-technical-writers/ http://spacebarpress.com/blog/2009/03/proofreading-tips-for-technical-writers/#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:37:37 +0000 Julia http://spacebarpress.com/blog/?p=108 Proofreading is an essential step in any kind of writing, but I find it’s especially important in technical writing. That’s because the information you’re trying to transmit to people must be understood immediately for a specific reason. Whether it’s the procedure on how to land a plane, or the description about the new iPhone application you downloaded, it’s got to be in comprehensible. The information must be in small enough chunks that the reader can understand it and assimilate it easily.

This is why the words you choose to use are important.

So here are my 3 proofreading tips for any technical writer out there:

  1. Read it out loud. If it sounds too complicated, it probably is.
  2. Let it marinate. Let your content sit for a few hours or days, if you can. Come back to it later when you haven’t been staring at it for the last 3 days.
  3. Get another pair of eyes on it. A fresh perspective can be helpful. This one’s a little hard for the freelancer, but you can enlist the help of friends, family members or your significant other to help out.

That’s it, that’s all. Nothing too complicated or difficult about it. Three steps and your technical writing projects will be better for it. What are your proofreading tips? Do you do anything different?

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