Losing patience to read deeply?

[NbyNW]

I make it a rule to never proofread my own stuff ... a fresh set of eyes is always best, if you can build a good rapport with another co-worker who also has good grammar and spelling skills.

[indysteel]

I make it a rule to never proofread my own stuff ... a fresh set of eyes is always best, if you can build a good rapport with another co-worker who also has good grammar and spelling skills.

I am a bad proofreader of my own work. By the time I hand it over to my boss, I have most of my text memorized, so when I read it, my eyes gloss over much too much. Try as I might to catch my own typos, I always miss something. Thankfully, my boss is pretty kind about my mistakes, but every once in a while, he'll say something a little snarky. Given how good my work is substantively (in my humble opinion), it kind of hurts my feelings, but I don't otherwise have anybody else to proof my work for me.

[lph]

I am a bad proofreader of my own work.

Yup, me too. I rarely misspell anything, but I can get caught up in my own convoluted syntax which makes perfect sense from inside my own head and no sense to anyone else... I don't mind people pointing it out, I can usually see it myself when they do.

But I do have issues with this one boss at work, who will not agree on certain writing principles that to me are just elementary. He insists on documents with standard "recapping titles" that turn out 5 lines long, and where 90% of the words are regurgitated information and the final word or two is essential. Aaaargh.

An example would be if I titled this post: "TeamEstrogen Forums, Open Topic (non-cycling): Re: shootingstar "Losing patience to read deeply" - Re: indysteel, reply: LPH"

NbyNW: I'm bilingual English/Norwegian, but write and read a lot more English that I speak. When I spent two months in France struggling to speak my high-school French daily, I suddenly had trouble writing letters home in English. Seemed there was only room in my head for two languages at a time... A bit unnerving actually.

[indysteel]

See, that's what frustrates me, lph. I will write an involved and complicated legal analysis that is pretty darn tight. It'll have great syntax and structure. Substantively, it's fantastic. But I'll leave out a word or forget an "s" or misspell a party's name. Stupid stuff that I should catch. My boss will come into my office and say "sounds great minus your typos." Argh!!!

I actually think being a voracious and fast reader works to my detriment in reading my own work. I have to really try to slow down.

[Blueberry]

Indy - I could have written your post. It's not just you

[shootingstar]

It is not realistic for me to give most of my docs. for someone else to proof-read. Most of the stuff is internal but reports to go Senior Management and pile of other people.

People are caught up in their own work. Administrative Assistant does a narrow defined type of work because same person covers work for other divisions. After all, for some professional positions, one gets hired, partially for their advanced communication skills.

[Crankin]

The way for anyone to proof their own work for spelling errors is to read it backwards. Yes, from the end to the beginning. That way, you are not focused on meaning, but you actually see the word structure. This worked 99% of the time when I was teaching.
Editing grammar/syntax, etc can be done by the writer, but you have to read your work out loud to yourself. It's not a quick process, but again, it works almost all of the time.

[indysteel]

Indy - I could have written your post. It's not just you

You know what the say about great minds!

My other problem is that by the time I am done with a draft opinion, I am SO sick of it. While this isn't true of all my work, I sometimes spends weeks on a single opinion. A few have taken even longer than that. It's hard fir me to read and reread it for typos; I just want it off my desk. All this said, I am proud of my work. Being an avid reader as a child made me into a lover of language and words. I may not be creative in the traditional sense, I do think of myself as a writer.

[jessmarimba]

You know what the say about great minds!

My other problem is that by the time I am done with a draft opinion, I am SO sick of it. While this isn't true of all my work, I sometimes spends weeks on a single opinion. A few have taken even longer than that. It's hard fir me to read and reread it for typos; I just want it off my desk. All this said, I am proud of my work. Being an avid reader as a child made me into a lover of language and words. I may not be creative in the traditional sense, I do think of myself as a writer.

Haha! My work is the total opposite speed but no easier to deal with. I generally have about 2 days to fully research and crank out a report. By the time I'm done with one, I'm so completely fried and frazzled with keeping things organized (and remembering to re-discuss the right problems in the right sections) that re-reading it, none of it makes sense. Usually I catch small problems when I copy-paste to other sections of the report, but occasionally I'll forget the big stuff. Like remembering to copy-paste it to begin with.

I spent 14 hours straight yesterday writing up one project. Passed out at 11 last night, woke up to an email with more research that needed to be included. Added that in - got an email an hour later that it had been reviewed, could I do corrections? Yes, I have time, but I need a nice long walk, a cup of tea, and some crossword puzzles first!