[Bups-dis] How do you proof-read?

[Edward Grefenstette]

BUPS-DIS has been rather silent lately, no doubt because of the exams  
(I myself have only stopped panicking about them yesterday, having  
passed half of them – phew!), so I thought I'd bring a bit of  
activity to the crowd with that topic which is so close to our hearts  
around this time of year (presuming a most of you have essays to hand  
in, or have recently handed them in); and that topic is PROOF-READING!

Proof-reading is a nightmare. I utterly hate it, and I'm horrendous  
at it. This is principally because I tend have a peculiar and very  
personal work ethics (code-named "last minute panic") which means  
that by the time I  get to the proof-reading stage, my mind (and  
body) are telling me "just hand the **** thing in!", and my will- 
power agrees. Nonetheless, I force myself to be conscientious about  
it, because proof-reading an essay (especially one of my essay)  
almost always bumps it up a few marks; or rather, it prevents me from  
being bumped down a few. This is not just because of spelling, but  
also because I (and I imagine, some of you) get a bit excited about  
the writing process and sometimes think faster than I can type. As a  
result some sentences are missing words, or entire propositions, and  
some are garbled and don't make much sense. Unfortunately, when  
skimming through my papers, my brain usually somehow auto-corrects  
these mistakes and only spots minor typos.

So my question is, how do you deal with the horrible task of proof- 
reading? Does anyone have any special methods or recommendations? Do  
you bribe your friends into reading your papers? Do you pay your  
siblings to meticulously go through each sentence?

One thing I've been dying to try (once I've finished my current  
dissertation) is to tape myself reading it out and explaining/ 
paraphrasing each paragraph. My usual academic rule of thumb is that  
if you know what you're talking about, you can explain it clearly,  
and that therefore fumbling through a paraphrase is usually an  
indication that the source wasn't clearly structured (although not  
necessarily). Then hopefully, as I read it out (or watch the  
resultant recording), I'll automagically notice what needs a bit of  
attention. This method seems a bit time consuming (and therefore its  
implementation will depend on how energetic I'll feel at the time),  
but I think it might be worth a shot. But naturally, I'm eager to  
hear other people's solutions.

Best,
Edward.