When commissioned to proofread magazines, newsletters, reports, manuals and web sites before they are sent to print or published on the internet, often we find major inconsistencies throughout the document, which require considerable rewriting or editing. Sometimes there isn’t enough time to do this and the document is produced with only the worst errors and typos corrected.

Anyone producing a long document can avoid this by assuming the role of editor and managing production from start to finish. By using style guides for both the visual and written content, you can ensure consistency through contributions from many writers, illustrators and designers. 

And because you’re monitoring progress all the time, you won’t be faced by the need to make impossible changes just before going to print or publication. 

It’ll save you time, money and hassle, and also result in a better publication.

Download our free prompt sheet on managing long documents effectively or if you want someone to edit your long document for you, call us on 0845 200 7830 or email us.

. . . the result is often a variety of inconsistent spellings, grammar and punctuation. The same phrase can be written three different ways on the same page, sometimes with capitals, sometimes without. Hyphens pop up in words here and there, but not always. Generally, it’s a mess.

That’s why it’s a good idea to have an editor in overall charge of the document to set a policy on usage. If you have a formal written house style, that’s even better. You can give this to the authors before they start writing and can prevent these annoying inconsistencies from the start.

An independent proofreader can pick up many of these inconsistencies at the end, but it’s much better to prevent them in the first place so you don’t receive a PDF with hundreds of annotated comments or a Word file with hundreds of tracked changes for you to approve.

A formal house style can also improve your employees’ writing style by making them think about what they are writing.

Robert Zarywacz

The other day I read a letter in a local newspaper criticising another correspondent’s use of English, which referred to Fowler’s Modern English Usage almost as a bible for the language. I believe that this book was first published in 1906, with updated versions issued at various intervals.

The problem with assigning ultimate authority over the language to a single person or body is the assumption that our language does not change when, as an integral element of our life and culture, it evolves alongside us. Language never stands still.

As a copywriter, editor and proofreader, I do not always approve or agree with many aspects of changing usage, but my aim is to achieve use of language that is clear, elegant and appropriate. I do not want my writing to appear Dickensian in the 21st century; I enjoy reading Dickens and other classical authors of our own and earlier civilisations, but that doesn’t mean that I should speak or write like them.

Language is changing for better and worse, and we have to accept this. If we do not like some changes, we can try to remedy or influence them ourselves in our own writing with the aim of persuading others to emulate what we consider to be our own good practice (whether we are right or wrong).

We are fortunate to be blessed with a language that enables us to articulate our thoughts with clarity, beauty and variety. This is more important than any reference book on the language, however useful, and I believe we should always write with these aims in mind.

Robert Zarywacz