Proof reader etiquette is a very simple thing. In fact, it can be summed-up in just two little words:
Don’t gloat.
During my time as an Operations Manager at Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited, I had to hire a number of proof readers. Some of these guys were old school proof readers and had been interrogating and signing proofs since not long after they’d made the transition from short trousers to long. Others however, were a little green around the gills and had been hired on the basis of their enthusiasm, attention to detail and sound command of the English language. These ‘young guns’, once they’d been around for a while and had made themselves comfortable, without fail, made the same schoolboy error.
They gloated.
At some point, they came across a spelling error or grammatical gaffe so outrageous that they just couldn’t resist the urge to make an issue of it. They would make a sarcastic comment in the margin or show the shameful blunder to their colleagues or even take the offending proof to the clanger’s originator and warm their hands on the glow from their blushing cheeks.
Firstly, this is just plain rude. We’re only human. We make mistakes. All of us. That’s why we have proof readers. Really, as a proof reader, you ought to be praising the sheer fallibility of humankind. Without it, you’d be out of a job.
Secondly, what goes around comes around. We're only human. We make mistakes. All of us. Including proof readers. And God help the gloating proof reader who, in a moment of lapsed concentration, allows even the tiniest error to slip through his or her fingers.
I’ve actually seen people queue for an opportunity to indulge in a little counter-gloating.
Be warned.
Be nice.
Mike
Don’t gloat.
During my time as an Operations Manager at Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited, I had to hire a number of proof readers. Some of these guys were old school proof readers and had been interrogating and signing proofs since not long after they’d made the transition from short trousers to long. Others however, were a little green around the gills and had been hired on the basis of their enthusiasm, attention to detail and sound command of the English language. These ‘young guns’, once they’d been around for a while and had made themselves comfortable, without fail, made the same schoolboy error.
They gloated.
At some point, they came across a spelling error or grammatical gaffe so outrageous that they just couldn’t resist the urge to make an issue of it. They would make a sarcastic comment in the margin or show the shameful blunder to their colleagues or even take the offending proof to the clanger’s originator and warm their hands on the glow from their blushing cheeks.
Firstly, this is just plain rude. We’re only human. We make mistakes. All of us. That’s why we have proof readers. Really, as a proof reader, you ought to be praising the sheer fallibility of humankind. Without it, you’d be out of a job.
Secondly, what goes around comes around. We're only human. We make mistakes. All of us. Including proof readers. And God help the gloating proof reader who, in a moment of lapsed concentration, allows even the tiniest error to slip through his or her fingers.
I’ve actually seen people queue for an opportunity to indulge in a little counter-gloating.
Be warned.
Be nice.
Mike
RSS Feed
