---

You’ve finally finished writing that article, blog post, or newsletter and now you’re ready to publish. Or are you?

Proofing your work is essential and something that’s difficult to do on your own. In fact, it’s almost impossible to do a good job proofing your own work. Why? Because your brain is amazing. It knows exactly what you mean to say and will fill in the blanks for you. It will correct spelling, replace words and even fix grammar mistakes. Unfortunately, your reader wasn’t part of this process, and they see all your mistakes with glaring accuracy.

This is why it's always a good idea to let someone else take a look at your work before you publish. They’ll be able to catch the mistakes your brain has oh so helpfully corrected for you. They can also let you know if something is unclear or confusing. The extra time you spend proofing your work can save you hours of embarrassment.

Even the pros mess up from time to time. With 24-hour news cycles, journalists are scrambling to get their stories out and beat the competition. Here are some real headlines from real media sources.

CNN

     The recent surge of the pandemic is causing a major shortage of a rheumatoid arthritis durg

What’s a Durg?

NBC NEWS

     Biden fulfilled a major campaign promise. Can his party can reap political reward?

Can can they?

WLKY-TV

     Police at PRP High School after car drove onto property with gun

Really, the car had a gun?

I’ll bet these writers wished they’d taken a few minutes to let someone else review their work before they published. If you can’t find someone able to read your work, try reading your piece from end to beginning. This tricks your brain and forces it to pay attention to what’s actually on the page. Taking a few minutes to proof your writing before publishing will save you time and embarrassment in the long run.