AFTER YOU'RE FINISHED PROOFREADING, REALIZE YOU'RE NOT FINISHED!

How is it that those double or missing two letter words manage to skip right past our searching eyes. Words that appear to be spelled right on the first round suddenly don't look right. Was that phrase really supposed to be in italics?

I wish the eye would quit thinking it sees what it wants to and pick up on those faux pas the first time through instead.

The moral of the story is if you haven't been down this road before, be prepared to proof your book or story several times!

July 22 Writers Tricks of the Trade in the Los Angeles edition of Examiner.com -

It's all about how important proofreading is. All of us have picked up books or read posts filled with errors that should have been caught---and weren't. The eye sees what it THINKS it sees. Read the column: http://exm.nr/proof-LA