Red Pens: Proofreading Gone Bad?

Who said you can’t use red pens? Have you heard parents want to ban red ink for grading? What do you think? Were you stressed out by the comments in red ink from your school days? Urban Dictionary has defined two types of red pen conditions:

Red Pen Syndrome: “The sufferers of this syndrome have an irrepressible urge to correct any and all grammar mistakes that come within their sight. At times this can be helpful, but at other times, it can be downright inappropriate and mean.”

RedPen Police: “People who preoccupy themselves with correcting the spelling and grammar of others - normally out of some self-esteem issue or desire to prove some value from their otherwise useless thirty-grand education. (November 9, 2012 Urban Word of the Day)”

Are you offended by or proud of these definitions? Do you have “an irrepressible urge to correct any and all grammar mistakes” that come within your sight? For those of us who do, are we doing it for the right reasons?

John Berman, host of CNN’s “Early Start,” told a story on air about a buddy of his who received a rejection letter from Princeton; his friend returned the letter with corrections. Perhaps a case of sweet revenge? I hope he used a red pen!

Someone I met told me an incident about her friend who returned her three-year-old daughter’s pre-school application with corrections in red ink. As she gave the application to the clerk, she said, “Sorry.” Do you think she did anything wrong?

Be careful, though; there may be a consequence to your critical eye. Have you heard of Muphry’s Law? Did you think I meant Murphy’s Law? Certainly, that’s what I thought when I saw Muphry’s Law in an e-mail subject line.

“Muphry's Law is the editorial application of the better-known Murphy's Law. Muphry's Law dictates that if you write anything criticizing another person's editing or proofreading, you will inevitably make a mistake of your own. Note that by definition, pointing out an example of Muphry's Law makes you in turn subject to it.”

Hmmm. I think I'll keep using my red pen because I can’t stop my passion for helping people to communicate better. Would you like to confess a Red Pen Syndrome moment? 

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro

Founder of National Proofreading Day

These Are a Few of My Favorite Proofreading Things

As a child, how did you get ready for the new school year? Buying new pens, pencils, notebooks, and erasers? I still love buying supplies! What about you? Do you still get that urge to buy new office products in the fall? 

This month we’ll be talking about proofreading resources and supplies. The world has changed. Do you remember the round eraser wheel with the brush? My grandmother told me about them! Ha!

As a young girl, I wanted to be a teacher, so I could grade papers with a red pen. My dream has come true! Ask my students. Nowadays, parents want to ban red pens. I think red pens are a helpful proofreading tool because it’s easy to see the corrections, not that I don’t love purple pens, too.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson, the authors of The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time, have a mission to correct errors on signs across the country. The correction kit for their journey included “a variety of Sharpies, of which ‘the black Sharpie was the most important.’ Deck also carried Wite-Out, dry erase markers, chalk, crayons and pens.”

We have so many tools to make proofreading easier, so take advantage—red pens, erasers, correction tape, correction fluid, dictionaries, proofreading symbols, grammar books, professional proofreaders, spell checkers, and grammar checkers. I’ll take one of everything please!

Have I missed any resources? What’s your favorite proofreading tool? Can you pick only one?

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro
Founder of National Proofreading Day

Proofreading Payback

From al.com’s blog, All Alabama, fans and newscasters criticized cheerleaders at Hoover High School for a banner with a misspelling. Please read Jon Anderson’s account of the story, “Revenge of the Bucs: Hoover students relish media misspelling – ‘Spellcheck this.’” Be sure to read the Editor’s note, too. 

What do you think? Is it proofreading payback (also known as Muphry's Law)?

What to Do About Errors?

In keeping with our monthly theme about how grammatical errors and spelling errors trip you up when you’re reading, let’s talk about what to do when you find errors in someone else’s documents and how to respond to someone’s edit of your documents.

What type of errors distract you?

Errors that drive some of my friends crazy are mixing up advise and advice and using loose when the writer means lose. Two weeks ago I was standing in the security line at the Pittsburgh airport; continual messages displayed on a screen to entertain us while we waited. One message amused me; it read “loosing weight” with Jillian Michaels. I was tempted to take a photo, although I didn’t think the TSA would have allowed it!

How we deal with the mistakes is important, too. In the article, “Grammar Girl Writes Again” in Failure Magazine, Mignon Fogarty was asked, “It must be stressful to perform for an audience of grammar enthusiasts. Do you find readers/listeners looking to catch you in a mistake?”

Her response was “I’m not perfect and everybody thinks it’s fun to catch Grammar Girl in an error, so I get regular criticism—some of which is delivered with a sense of humor and some of which isn’t. If there’s a typo on my Facebook page, for example, I hear about it immediately." 

How do you feel when someone points out your errors?

Can you empathize with Dennis Baron A.K.A. @DrGrammar? He wrote in his blog post for National Grammar Day (March 4), “…what’s true on National Grammar Day is true all year round. Everybody does want to be correct, but nobody wants to be corrected."

Do you want someone to tell you about an error in your document? 

As embarrassing as it is, I want to know. A reader told me about an error (poll vs. pole) in my e-newsletter. I thanked the person because I was grateful. I also added a lighthearted comment, “And I want to be the Proofreading Girl? I may have to rethink that." It's a lot of pressure!

I suggest letting the person know you’re glad he/she pointed out the error to you and thanking the person for his/her correction. If you can add humor, do so. 

Then, do you confess your mistake? I did apologize in the next month’s e-newsletter and gave my reader the credit; it seems only fair.

What about when you find an error? Do you feel responsible or even compelled to tell the person? Is it similar to telling someone they have spinach in his/her teeth?

Occasionally, I have told people about misspellings on handouts and in LinkedIn profiles, and I add that I hope they don’t mind my telling them. I generally don’t tell people about grammatical errors unless they ask for my advice because sometimes it’s a matter of writing style.

How do you tell someone when he or she has an error? Please share your stories.

What do you think is an appropriate response to someone’s unsolicited edit of your documents? Does it depend on the type of error?

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro

Founder of National Proofreading Day
Mark your calendars for March 8!

Proofread to Avoid Subject Line Errors

Can you identify with this quotation by Grammar Girl in an interview she had in Failure Magazine? “A great story, message, or work history can easily be overlooked if the reader is distracted by errors.”

I agree with Grammar Girl (A.K.A. Mignon Fogarty); many people get distracted by errors.

@LBelle1 tweeted: “When reading some e-mails, I become so distracted by my proofreading that I miss the message altogether.” How true—often the distraction causes you to miss the message! And kudos to @LBelle1 for using the correct altogether. Click here to see the difference between altogether and all together.

Errors will destroy your marketing efforts if the reader doesn’t open your e-mail because the subject line has a typo. Carelessness is costly.

Be sure to read subject lines because errors are easily overlooked, especially if the incorrect word is a word. Spell check may not flag it as an error.

Some e-mails I’ve received with subject line typos include the following:

• Grief Assitance and Support
• A Role Model or All of Us!

What about you? Will you open an e-mail if the subject line has a typo?

Judy Beaver

Founder of National Proofreading Day