First off, it's not really proof
reading... its proof
looking...
You are looking really carefully at your paper. You will need to take your time, because it takes time. You should figure 10 to 15 minutes per page.
One tip for slowing you down:
You should assume that every sentence has a problem.
Think about this: it should take almost as long to proof a paper that has NO errors as it does to proof a paper with a lot of errors. Why is this?
You might want to print a hard copy so that you are not proofing off of a computer screen.
You might want to grow the font so you can see more easily.
If you have long paper to proof, you should break up the proofing into 2-3 different times.
Don't proof when you are tired.
Don't proof at the last minute. (This means you need to get the paper done early enough to give you time to proof.)
Now that you are ready to proof,
here is the key:
Read outloud, read slowly, let your ear hear the errors
read exact what you you see.
What are the GOALS of all this:
make you responsible--not your teacher, not your lover, not your tutor---YOU. (If you KNOW that you have problems, with, commas, you, need, to, make, it, your, mission, to, fix, it. )
By proofing carefully, you will begin to know YOUR errors.
Find (by yourself) at least 70 % of the errors by yourself.
Then 15% is on the teacher to teach you.
The last 10 to 15% who cares...--
