Freelance Jobs - Do you want to be a freelance proofreader?

Proofreading is a career that many would love to have. Freelance proofreading is not easy to get into and it always helps to know a few people that could give you the work. But what do you do when you don’t know anyone who could help you?

Practice makes perfect

One of the best ways is to first become a writer and practice proofreading your own work. Freelance proofreading is actually quite difficult and isn’t the easy job people think it is. Not only do you need to be able to spot spelling mistakes, you also need to be able to spot grammatical mistakes as well.

What to check for

Some of the things you will have to look for when proofreading is the structure of the sentence. You have to read every word very carefully, otherwise a wrongly conveyed word or message may slip through. Never trust your spell check as to be brutally honest, it is rubbish! The Microsoft word spell check won’t pick up on wrongly used words, and very rarely does it give you the right option for grammatical errors as well. Freelance proofreaders also have to look for punctuation errors such as colons, commas and semi colons within a sentence.

Training

When you are thinking of becoming a freelance proofreader one of the best ways to do so is to train. A properly structured course on proofreading will ensure that you give your clients the best quality work. Being a qualified freelance proofreader will also look great on your applications or resumes.

There are tons of online courses that are worth giving a go, especially if you are serious about making it as a freelance proofreader. You will need perseverance, dedication and determination to be a freelance proofreader.

Where to find jobs

Personally, I find my freelance proofreading jobs online through freelance websites, through online advertisements or from previous clients. Whether you are chosen or not for a proofreading job will all depend on your turnaround time, your qualifications and your experience. If you lack the experience, you may have to work a little harder in convincing the clients why you are the right person for the job.

Spelling - Misused and Confused Words

Amoral and immoral – Amoral means you are not concerned with morality, immoral means that you are not conforming to accepted levels of morality.

Adopted and Adoptive – Children are adopted by others, Parents are adoptive.

Complaisant and Complacent – Complaisant means you are willing to please, whereas complacent means you are smug and self satisfied.

Discreet and Discrete – Discreet is to not attract attention, discrete means distinct, separate.

Defuse and Diffuse – Defuse means to either defuse a bomb or reduce danger or tension, diffuse means to spread something over a large area.

Grammar - Beware of Double Negatives

You have to be careful when you are using two negative words in the same sentence.

In English, the two negative words cancel each other out rather than solidify your negative sentence. Writing ‘I didn’t see no one’ is an odd way of actually writing you have seen someone, rather than an emphatic way of writing you didn’t see anyone at all.

Two other words that should never be used with a negative are scarcely and hardly. So an example of a wrong sentence would be something along the lines of ‘There wasn’t hardly any people there’.

Also when using the verb ‘miss’ in a sentence don’t use it with another negative. Miss already has a negative meaning associated with it so it doesn’t need another one. So the sentence ‘I miss not speaking to her’ is wrong and should look like ‘I miss speaking with her’.

Writing Exercises - Creative Writing Exercise

Writing Exercise to get those creative juices flowing

This is a picture exercise that will help your writing skills and your creativity level.

• Firstly, find a photograph or a picture that stimulates your imagination in some way. Does the photo make you sad, happy, and excited or other feel emotions?

• Relax and look at the photo for no more than 5 minutes.

• Begin to write about what you see in the picture. How does it make you feel, what does the photograph say to you? Why are the people smiling, why are they sad, why do they look how they do?

• Keep writing about the photograph, don’t stop to think about what you are writing, just let your hand, and your mind write freely. Don’t think about what you are going to write first, as soon as the 5 minutes is up, start writing and keep going.

• Don’t worry about the spelling mistakes or the grammar mistakes, this is an exercise to get your imagination flowing and your creative juices flowing.

• If you think your mind is blank and you can’t think of anything to write don’t worry. It is the actual act of writing that gives you the ideas of what to write, not the other way around.

• You will soon see ideas and creative thoughts that you didn’t know you had!

Creative Writing - Writing a Short Story

Do you have an idea for a great story but you either don’t want to right a 300 page epic or you just don’t have enough ideas for a novel? Why not try a short story instead?

Short stories can be great fun to read and great fun to write as well. There are still a few rules that you should follow when writing a short story and they are as follows.

What is your story about?

Having a clear story is very important for a short story, even more so than a full length novel. You have a lot less words to convey your story and your message, so you have to be clear. Your theme is the underlying current that runs through your story, the clearer this is the easier it will be to read.

Time span of your short story

The most effective short stories are those that only cover a relatively short space of time. Your short story may only be about one particular event or one day, whatever your time span, it should help illustrate the overall theme of your story.

Less characters the better

You need strong characters that help make your short story a great read. In a novel you have more scope to have lots of different characters. In a short story having too many characters will only confuse and dilute your actual theme and story.

Make every word the right word

If you are writing a short story you need to be able to get your point across and complete your story within a certain amount of words. That is why you have to make every word the right word. Don’t over complicate the short story by using unnecessary words. Proofread when you have finished writing and get rid of any words that don’t add to the sentence and the story.

Keep to your chosen theme

You don’t have much time to elaborate in a short story and while it can be tempting to waffle, don’t! It can also be tempting to digress from your actual chosen theme of the story, if it doesn’t add to the short story in any way, stick to your first theme. If you feel tempted to go down different avenues you will either end up with a confusing short story or a novel.

Grammar - Who or Whom Continued

I put this in a comment on the first 'who or whom' post. I thought I would upgrade it to a post just in case you don't read the comments!

Another easy way to remember which word is right is this:

If you can use she/he in a sentence the correct word to use is who.

If you can use him/her in a sentence the correct word is whom.

So in case of your sentences it would go like this:

He/she is your college room mate - Who is your college room mate.

I would like to room with him/her - With whom do you want to room with.

He/she is/was the driver of the car - Who is/was the driver of the car.

Do you know if he/she was the driver of the car? - Do you know who the driver of the car was.

Grammar - Who or Whom

This is another stickler in the grammar world and many people are unsure which to use.

Whom actually refers to a particular object in the sentence – “Whom does Richard want?”

In this case, the word “whom” is the object of what Richard wants.

Who refers to a general subject within the sentence – “Who wants Richard.”

In this case the word “who” is the main subject of the sentence written.

Do you know the song “Who do you love?” – It might help you to remember which to use as this is grammatically wrong!