Beating those blind spots

Here's a conversation I commonly have with clients following proofreading or copy-editing their text:

Client: Do you know, I've read this document so many times and I've never noticed that rogue apostrophe/random capital/missing word.
Me: Of course - when you're so close to something, it's often very hard to see every tiny mistake. Your eye has scanned the page that many times, it gets a little bored and starts skipping detail.

That, in a nutshell, is why proofreaders are so important. You may think I’ve read this document so many times, it must be perfect, but unfortunately reading it plenty of times is no guarantee you haven’t got some blind spots.

On my website (www.perfectlywrite.co.uk), you’ll find help on improving your proofreading, as well as other areas of your writing. My top tip? Proofread until you’re sure that it’s 100 per cent right, then ask someone else to proofread it as well. You may be surprised what they find!