Proofreading: The Benefits of Handing Your Work to A Second Pair of Eyes
Proofreading Services: Have you ever been in a position where you’ve spent hours working on some form of writing, whether it be working on a book or even just a contract, only to realise that the document is filled with several grammatical and spelling errors? This is a problem that countless writers tend to face on an excessively frequent basis, which can lead to a reduction in respect and trust coming from those who have received the document in question. By reading this brief article over the next few minutes, you can learn about how to avoid such problems as well as where you can turn to when looking for the help you need.
What is Proofreading and How is this Service Tackled?
The term “proofreading” originally came out of the traditional publishing industry, long before digital forms of publishing had become available. During this point in time, publishers and writers would have had to print earlier copies of their texts, which would be known as the “proof”. Once this had been completed, those left in charge of proofreading would then need to give this proof a final review with the sole responsibility of looking out for any errors in form of grammatical, spelling, and formatting errors alongside any other inconsistencies in general.
During these early days of proofreading, when the necessary resources were scarce and those who were capable of reading and writing were even more so, many errors were still missed and could be found, even when performed by the best writers capable of proofreading at the time. Thankfully, in more recent times, there are now plenty more people who are capable of providing their proofreading services at an increased quality, as well as the consistency thereof, at prices that are drastically more affordable than could have been expected back in the day.
In the modern-day, proofreading is still achieved in a fairly similar way, only now having added a few more steps and fail-safes to help ensure that the service provider is able to hand a document that is up to scratch and free of errors back over to their client. In fact, many of the best proofreading services in the world often have their client’s work be given to multiple different people, as having more eyes look through each document over multiple steps during the process, there remain fewer and fewer chances of errors and mistakes being left unseen and uncorrected.
This form of proofreading can be seen when hiring services from IL Consultancy (IL Consultancy), a company that provides a number of different services that all relate to ensuring that your document is as legible and professional as possible, no matter what the content of your documents and your requirements may be. This is done with absolute ease and grace thanks to the team behind IL Consultancy’s editing and proofreading services, which is filled with an ever-growing number of qualified and professional writers, many of whom have held positions at some of the most prominent publications and publishing houses throughout and surrounding South Africa.
By working together as a team, the writers over at IL Consultancy that are responsible for editing and proofreading are able to work towards providing any and all of their clients with a respectable service that remains unmatched by the proofreading and editing services that are provided by other companies. When it comes to proofreading, IL Consultancy’s writers all start off by reading through the document you have provided, placing their focus on a number of different aspects and making notes along the way. These aspects would often include:
- Grammar
- Spelling
- Consistency
- Formatting
- Sentence structure
- Punctuation
- Capitalization
- Numbers
- Typography
By having one or more writers focus on these aspects during the proofreading phase, your document is ensured to be entirely free of all forms of errors, while also being polished to the high standards you may be desiring. This phase, however, should not be confused with having your document be edited, as there are many differences between these terms and the writers carrying out these tasks.
How Are Proofreading Services Different from Editing Services?
While many people instinctually tend to think of editing and proofreading to be one and the same, this could not be further from the truth and both jobs require an incredibly different approach and mindset in order for their results to flourish. As was previously mentioned, proofreading sees the writer look over the document to find errors before handing it back to their client.
The editing phase of this service, however, is completed before the document in question has even entered the proofreading phase and is often performed soon after the original writer has completed their draft. The assigned editor would then need to read through the document in its entirety while making notes that are all based on how coherent, well-organized, and legible the information presented is to read. While working through the document, editors will make changes with the aim of improving the language being used, the structure of the arguments and points presented, as well as the flow and readability of the document as a whole. This is done alongside any changes to grammar, spelling, punctuation errors, and style inconsistencies too.
Proofreading on the other hand only commences once the editing phase has been completed. This phase is the last chance that the writers have to find any remaining errors before handing their work back to the client, which is why it is also one of the most important and elaborate phases. Simply put, the editing phase is more focused on the meaning and delivery of the information within the document in question, while the proofreading phase is more focused on how that information is presented on a technical level.
While many people think the proofreading phase is the simplest between the two, they tend to slack off. This is not true and is why this is the phase where most mistakes are made and forgotten about. The correct approach to proofreading a document is a patient and methodical one, where multiple eyes are able to look over your work in order to ensure your information as well as the presentation thereof is tight and void of any issues whatsoever.
Are there Other Services You Can Expect from IL Consultancy, Besides Proofreading?
One of the best things about the services that are provided by IL Consultancy is not necessarily the undeniably high quality of their output, but also the number of different services that are on offer too. IL Consultancy’s team of writers is extensive and packed with experience from all sides of writing as a whole. Alongside their proofreading services, IL Consultancy is also trained and qualified in transcription services, providing clients with the opportunity to have their audio and video dialogue be copied down on paper in full, providing a full and entirely accurate transcript to the client regarding the information presented.
Next on IL Consultancy’s applauded list of services, you will find their top-quality, sworn, financial, legal, and general translators. These translators are all in possession of their post-graduate qualifications, using their knowledge in the field to provide you with the best translations possible. With IL Consultancy, translations can extend to reports, proposals, various forms of literature, legal documentation, marketing materials, and far more. With the writers made available to IL Consultancy, you can expect any and all of your documents to be translated to any one or more of South Africa’s official languages.
Another service that IL Consultancy has become widely esteemed for providing, one that is not often seen when turning towards other service providers, is interpretation. IL Consultancy has a team of skilled interpreters that can be made available for any number of events and situations, including conferences, meetings, hearings, and far more. This not only allows your work to appeal to a wider crowd of people, should it be required, but also allows those who are not well-versed in other languages to still feel welcomed and thought of when in attendance.
IL Consultancy has even been able to extend its multitude of services from proofreading to providing clients with a way to start learning new languages. By hiring teachers that each has their TEFL qualifications, while still being overseen by university-level professionals with MA degrees, you can expect to learn languages ranging from:
- All of South Africa’s main languages
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- Mandarin
- With far more still to come
Last but not least, IL Consultancy is also able to provide a number of different eLearning services, ensuring that students across South Africa are given access to the education that they need at prices and methods that are affordable and easy to learn respectively. Over their years of working in this field, IL Consultancy has become qualified and well-versed in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), allowing them to provide education services and materials ranging from the foundation phase, which includes Grade R-3 level students, all the way up to the FET phase, which includes Grade 10-12 level students.
How You Can Get in Touch with IL Consultancy for their Proofreading Services Today!
With the many different qualifications and skilled writers and teachers at IL Consultancy’s disposal, alongside the vast array of services that they make available to their clients, it is no wonder as to why this company has remained the first choice for writers across the country. If you are looking to experience such high-quality results for yourself at handsomely low-price rates, you simply need to click on the “Get a Quote” button found on IL Consultancy’s website’s homepage. From here, you would then be asked to fill in all the necessary information into the form presented. Once having done so, you can expect to be in touch with the friendly staff over at IL Consultancy in practically no time at all, allowing you to benefit from their proofreading and editing capabilities at unbeatable prices.