Proofreading with a Difference
Proofread - to read and mark errors
This is one of those interesting words, as it is - proofread - it is a gerund, which reveals a process. A process does not define the beginning or the end, it’s simply ongoing. In many ways our own lives are constantly in the process of being proofread - we examine our writing, the way we speak, the way we think, what we do, what we don’t do, you know all this and more, yet most importantly - how we can come to do everything better.
Aiming for better is our little way of becoming better, improving ourselves - as tedious as this process may be in reality, especially when we take it too far. But that’s a thought for another day. Today I just want to talk about actual proofreading.
Proofreading as a job, as a thing to do on the side has always been something that annoyed me, or rather preoccupied me, even as most of my friends at uni doing BA and MA English had it as a part-time job. Why? Why does it preoccupy me?
Firstly, because I think that your text is sacred - whether it’s your BA or MA or PhD piece, it’s yours. And that, to me, means a lot. It also means that you should be the person to get it right, you should be the last person to have a say and know everything that’s going on in your text. Why do I say this? If you send in a piece just to make sure you’ve got everything down to a T, it’s one thing. But in reality many people who send in their work to strangers to proofread need the help. So then I think, if this person needs the help then what they need is someone with them: showing them where they’re going astray, how to phrase better, to give them a push in the right direction… all this, and this (it has to be said) is also the work of the tutor.
Secondly, this might sound pretentious to some, but I have to say what I feel, so here it is: students going through a BA or MA for which they don’t have the language should not be going through it. This happens a lot here, and I can’t stand it - because it isn’t fair on anyone, including the student. This is the point where you need to be bigger than your feelings of “who does she think she is?!”, so keep on reading. If you have rotten English or Maltese for that matter, how can you be writing great pieces of work? If your proof reader is helping you get the standards then you need to question whether this is for you, because it’s not how it should be. You need to get yourself the grade, no one else. I say this because with a little effort you can get there, you can get the standard alone but you need to put in the time. I say this also because once you leave uni and get into the working world, how are you going to keep up with those standards?
Another issue is that many students get tired at the end and can’t stand reading through their work for the gazillionth time...which is true. At the end all you want to do is hand it in, and get it over with. But if you pause and think about it, you’ve got this far, it’s just a little bit more - you’ve got to be ruthless with yourself and also very disciplined. One of my lecturers once said that the MA program is a test of stamina - and I really understood that when it came to the thesis, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. All the pain and growth that went into that process is priceless.
My thesis was quite a journey, and it did take me much longer to complete than I had originally thought and made space for. And my tutor went and stayed with me throughout that journey (which was a couple of years). And I am grateful for it, but it was all us, it was all me. This is the experience I want to give to those who need it.
My solution - group proofreading, in an environment where everyone is made to feel good about their work. I want to create a space in which we can meet as a group, have a cuppa (tea, coffee, whatever may be even something stronger as you come to the end), and really talk about your chapter for an hour or two. Everyone has their own time to voice their paragraphs/chapter, work on corrections and help others out too. I will be there to guide you, help you when it comes to flow and structure, and ideas - that’s it. The rest we do together as a team. The notion of being a group is nice because you have a lot of support there, it’s no longer everyone for themselves, as it is when you go back home, and so it’s something to look forward to. There will be some rules/codes of conduct and a contract that everyone has to respect of course, very similar to literature circles. The point is to have people around you to push you on, for you to be proud of your work and your work alone, and also to have people cheering you on till the end of the thesis/studies journey.
If you would like to know more about these groups or if you prefer individual guidance, just get in touch via email and head over to the Proofreading events (BA and MA) section to see how we can work together.
