creative writing checklist pdf

How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist

Rosemary Tantra Bensko and Sean Glatch  |  November 17, 2023  |  7 Comments

The short story is a fiction writer’s laboratory: here is where you can experiment with characters, plots, and ideas without the heavy lifting of writing a novel. Learning how to write a short story is essential to mastering the art of storytelling . With far fewer words to worry about, storytellers can make many more mistakes—and strokes of genius!—through experimentation and the fun of fiction writing.

Nonetheless, the art of writing short stories is not easy to master. How do you tell a complete story in so few words? What does a story need to have in order to be successful? Whether you’re struggling with how to write a short story outline, or how to fully develop a character in so few words, this guide is your starting point.

Famous authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and Agatha Christie have used the short story form to play with ideas before turning those stories into novels. Whether you want to master the elements of fiction, experiment with novel ideas, or simply have fun with storytelling, here’s everything you need on how to write a short story step by step.

The Core Elements of a Short Story

There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements:

• A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don’t have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward.
• A clear dilemma. We don’t need much backstory to see how the dilemma started; we’re primarily concerned with how the protagonist resolves it.
• A decision. What does the protagonist do to resolve their dilemma?
• A climax. In Freytag’s Pyramid , the climax of a story is when the tension reaches its peak, and the reader discovers the outcome of the protagonist’s decision(s).
• An outcome. How does the climax change the protagonist? Are they a different person? Do they have a different philosophy or outlook on life?

Of course, short stories also utilize the elements of fiction , such as a setting , plot , and point of view . It helps to study these elements and to understand their intricacies. But, when it comes to laying down the skeleton of a short story, the above elements are what you need to get started.

Note: a short story rarely, if ever, has subplots. The focus should be entirely on a single, central storyline. Subplots will either pull focus away from the main story, or else push the story into the territory of novellas and novels.

The shorter the story is, the fewer of these elements are essentials. If you’re interested in writing short-short stories, check out our guide on how to write flash fiction .

How to Write a Short Story Outline

Some writers are “pantsers”—they “write by the seat of their pants,” making things up on the go with little more than an idea for a story. Other writers are “plotters,” meaning they decide the story’s structure in advance of writing it.

You don’t need a short story outline to write a good short story. But, if you’d like to give yourself some scaffolding before putting words on the page, this article answers the question of how to write a short story outline:

https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-story-outline

How to Write a Short Story Step by Step

There are many ways to approach the short story craft, but this method is tried-and-tested for writers of all levels. Here’s how to write a short story step by step.

1. Start With an Idea

Often, generating an idea is the hardest part. You want to write, but what will you write about?

What’s more, it’s easy to start coming up with ideas and then dismissing them. You want to tell an authentic, original story, but everything you come up with has already been written, it seems.

Here are a few tips:

• Originality presents itself in your storytelling, not in your ideas. For example, the premise of both Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ostrovsky’s The Snow Maiden are very similar: two men and two women, in intertwining love triangles, sort out their feelings for each other amidst mischievous forest spirits, love potions, and friendship drama. The way each story is written makes them very distinct from one another, to the point where, unless it’s pointed out to you, you might not even notice the similarities.
• An idea is not a final draft. You will find that exploring the possibilities of your story will generate something far different than the idea you started out with. This is a good thing—it means you made the story your own!
• Experiment with genres and tropes. Even if you want to write literary fiction , pay attention to the narrative structures that drive genre stories, and practice your storytelling using those structures. Again, you will naturally make the story your own simply by playing with ideas.

If you’re struggling simply to find ideas, try out this prompt generator , or pull prompts from this Twitter .

2. Outline, OR Conceive Your Characters

If you plan to outline, do so once you’ve generated an idea. You can learn about how to write a short story outline earlier in this article.

If you don’t plan to outline, you should at least start with a character or characters. Certainly, you need a protagonist, but you should also think about any characters that aid or inhibit your protagonist’s journey.

When thinking about character development, ask the following questions:

• What is my character’s background? Where do they come from, how did they get here, where do they want to be?
• What does your character desire the most? This can be both material or conceptual, like “fitting in” or “being loved.”
• What is your character’s fatal flaw? In other words, what limitation prevents the protagonist from achieving their desire? Often, this flaw is a blind spot that directly counters their desire. For example, self hatred stands in the way of a protagonist searching for love.
• How does your character think and speak? Think of examples, both fictional and in the real world, who might resemble your character.

In short stories, there are rarely more characters than a protagonist, an antagonist (if relevant), and a small group of supporting characters. The more characters you include, the longer your story will be. Focus on making only one or two characters complex: it is absolutely okay to have the rest of the cast be flat characters that move the story along.

Learn more about character development here:

https://writers.com/character-development-definition

3. Write Scenes Around Conflict

Once you have an outline or some characters, start building scenes around conflict. Every part of your story, including the opening sentence, should in some way relate to the protagonist’s conflict.

Conflict is the lifeblood of storytelling: without it, the reader doesn’t have a clear reason to keep reading. Loveable characters are not enough, as the story has to give the reader something to root for.

Take, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Cask of Amontillado . We start at the conflict: the narrator has been slighted by Fortunato, and plans to exact revenge. Every scene in the story builds tension and follows the protagonist as he exacts this revenge.

In your story, start writing scenes around conflict, and make sure each paragraph and piece of dialogue relates, in some way, to your protagonist’s unmet desires.

4. Write Your First Draft

The scenes you build around conflict will eventually be stitched into a complete story. Make sure as the story progresses that each scene heightens the story’s tension, and that this tension remains unbroken until the climax resolves whether or not your protagonist meets their desires.

Don’t stress too hard on writing a perfect story. Rather, take Anne Lamott’s advice, and “write a shitty first draft.” The goal is not to pen a complete story at first draft; rather, it’s to set ideas down on paper. You are simply, as Shannon Hale suggests, “shoveling sand into a box so that later [you] can build castles.”

5. Step Away, Breathe, Revise

Whenever Stephen King finishes a novel, he puts it in a drawer and doesn’t think about it for 6 weeks. With short stories, you probably don’t need to take as long of a break. But, the idea itself is true: when you’ve finished your first draft, set it aside for a while. Let yourself come back to the story with fresh eyes, so that you can confidently revise, revise, revise .

In revision, you want to make sure each word has an essential place in the story, that each scene ramps up tension, and that each character is clearly defined. The culmination of these elements allows a story to explore complex themes and ideas, giving the reader something to think about after the story has ended.

6. Compare Against Our Short Story Checklist

Does your story have everything it needs to succeed? Compare it against this short story checklist, as written by our instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko.

Below is a collection of practical short story writing tips by Writers.com instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko . Each paragraph is its own checklist item: a core element of short story writing advice to follow unless you have clear reasons to the contrary. We hope it’s a helpful resource in your own writing.

Update 9/1/2020: We’ve now made a summary of Rosemary’s short story checklist available as a PDF download . Enjoy!

Click to download

How to Write a Short Story: Length and Setting

Your short story is 1000 to 7500 words in length.

The story takes place in one time period, not spread out or with gaps other than to drive someplace, sleep, etc. If there are those gaps, there is a space between the paragraphs, the new paragraph beginning flush left, to indicate a new scene.

Each scene takes place in one location, or in continual transit, such as driving a truck or flying in a plane.

How to Write a Short Story: Point of View

Unless it’s a very lengthy Romance story, in which there may be two Point of View (POV) characters, there is one POV character. If we are told what any character secretly thinks, it will only be the POV character. The degree to which we are privy to the unexpressed thoughts, memories and hopes of the POV character remains consistent throughout the story.

You avoid head-hopping by only having one POV character per scene, even in a Romance. You avoid straying into even brief moments of telling us what other characters think other than the POV character. You use words like “apparently,” “obviously,” or “supposedly” to suggest how non-POV-characters think rather than stating it.

How to Write a Short Story: Protagonist, Antagonist, Motivation

Your short story has one clear protagonist who is usually the character changing most.

Your story has a clear antagonist, who generally makes the protagonist change by thwarting his goals.

(Possible exception to the two short story writing tips above: In some types of Mystery and Action stories, particularly in a series, etc., the protagonist doesn’t necessarily grow personally, but instead his change relates to understanding the antagonist enough to arrest or kill him.)

The protagonist changes with an Arc arising out of how he is stuck in his Flaw at the beginning of the story, which makes the reader bond with him as a human, and feel the pain of his problems he causes himself. (Or if it’s the non-personal growth type plot: he’s presented at the beginning of the story with a high-stakes problem that requires him to prevent or punish a crime.)

The protagonist usually is shown to Want something, because that’s what people normally do, defining their personalities and behavior patterns, pushing them onward from day to day. This may be obvious from the beginning of the story, though it may not become heightened until the Inciting Incident , which happens near the beginning of Act 1. The Want is usually something the reader sort of wants the character to succeed in, while at the same time, knows the Want is not in his authentic best interests. This mixed feeling in the reader creates tension.

The protagonist is usually shown to Need something valid and beneficial, but at first, he doesn’t recognize it, admit it, honor it, integrate it with his Want, or let the Want go so he can achieve the Need instead. Ideally, the Want and Need can be combined in a satisfying way toward the end for the sake of continuity of forward momentum of victoriously achieving the goals set out from the beginning. It’s the encounters with the antagonist that forcibly teach the protagonist to prioritize his Needs correctly and overcome his Flaw so he can defeat the obstacles put in his path.

The protagonist in a personal growth plot needs to change his Flaw/Want but like most people, doesn’t automatically do that when faced with the problem. He tries the easy way, which doesn’t work. Only when the Crisis takes him to a low point does he boldly change enough to become victorious over himself and the external situation. What he learns becomes the Theme.

Each scene shows its main character’s goal at its beginning, which aligns in a significant way with the protagonist’s overall goal for the story. The scene has a “charge,” showing either progress toward the goal or regression away from the goal by the ending. Most scenes end with a negative charge, because a story is about not obtaining one’s goals easily, until the end, in which the scene/s end with a positive charge.

The protagonist’s goal of the story becomes triggered until the Inciting Incident near the beginning, when something happens to shake up his life. This is the only major thing in the story that is allowed to be a random event that occurs to him.

How to Write a Short Story: Characters

Your characters speak differently from one another, and their dialogue suggests subtext, what they are really thinking but not saying: subtle passive-aggressive jibes, their underlying emotions, etc.

Your characters are not illustrative of ideas and beliefs you are pushing for, but come across as real people.

How to Write a Short Story: Prose

Your language is succinct, fresh and exciting, specific, colorful, avoiding clichés and platitudes. Sentence structures vary. In Genre stories, the language is simple, the symbolism is direct, and words are well-known, and sentences are relatively short. In Literary stories, you are freer to use more sophisticated ideas, words, sentence structures and underlying metaphors and implied motifs.

How to Write a Short Story: Story Structure

Your plot elements occur in the proper places according to classical Act Structure so the reader feels he has vicariously gone through a harrowing trial with the protagonist and won, raising his sense of hope and possibility. Literary short stories may be more subtle, with lower stakes, experimenting beyond classical structures like the Hero’s Journey. They can be more like vignettes sometimes, or even slice-of-life, though these types are hard to place in publications.

In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape. In Literary short stories, you are free to explore uncertainty, ambiguity, and inchoate, realistic endings that suggest multiple interpretations, and unresolved issues.

Some Literary stories may be nonrealistic, such as with Surrealism, Absurdism, New Wave Fabulism, Weird and Magical Realism . If this is what you write, they still need their own internal logic and they should not be bewildering as to the what the reader is meant to experience, whether it’s a nuanced, unnameable mood or a trip into the subconscious.

Literary stories may also go beyond any label other than Experimental. For example, a story could be a list of To Do items on a paper held by a magnet to a refrigerator for the housemate to read. The person writing the list may grow more passive-aggressive and manipulative as the list grows, and we learn about the relationship between the housemates through the implied threats and cajoling.

How to Write a Short Story: Capturing Reader Interest

Your short story is suspenseful, meaning readers hope the protagonist will achieve his best goal, his Need, by the Climax battle against the antagonist.

Your story entertains. This is especially necessary for Genre short stories.

The story captivates readers at the very beginning with a Hook, which can be a puzzling mystery to solve, an amazing character’s or narrator’s Voice, an astounding location, humor, a startling image, or a world the reader wants to become immersed in.

Expository prose (telling, like an essay) takes up very, very little space in your short story, and it does not appear near the beginning. The story is in Narrative format instead, in which one action follows the next. You’ve removed every unnecessary instance of Expository prose and replaced it with showing Narrative. Distancing words like “used to,” “he would often,” “over the years, he,” “each morning, he” indicate that you are reporting on a lengthy time period, summing it up, rather than sticking to Narrative format, in which immediacy makes the story engaging.

You’ve earned the right to include Expository Backstory by making the reader yearn for knowing what happened in the past to solve a mystery. This can’t possibly happen at the beginning, obviously. Expository Backstory does not take place in the first pages of your story.

Your reader cares what happens and there are high stakes (especially important in Genre stories). Your reader worries until the end, when the protagonist survives, succeeds in his quest to help the community, gets the girl, solves or prevents the crime, achieves new scientific developments, takes over rule of his realm, etc.

Every sentence is compelling enough to urge the reader to read the next one—because he really, really wants to—instead of doing something else he could be doing. Your story is not going to be assigned to people to analyze in school like the ones you studied, so you have found a way from the beginning to intrigue strangers to want to spend their time with your words.

Where to Read and Submit Short Stories

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to publish your own stories, you’ll find great literary journals for writers of all backgrounds at this article:

https://writers.com/short-story-submissions

Learn How to Write a Short Story at Writers.com

The short story takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Learn how to write a short story with Writers.com. Our upcoming fiction courses will give you the ropes to tell authentic, original short stories that captivate and entrance your readers.

Rosemary – Is there any chance you could add a little something to your checklist? I’d love to know the best places to submit our short stories for publication. Thanks so much.

Hi, Kim Hanson,

Some good places to find publications specific to your story are NewPages, Poets and Writers, Duotrope, and The Submission Grinder.

“ In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape.”

Not just no but NO.

See for example the work of MacArthur Fellow Kelly Link.

[…] How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist […]

Thank you for these directions and tips. It’s very encouraging to someone like me, just NOW taking up writing.

[…] Writers.com. A great intro to writing. https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-short-story […]

Hello: I started to write seriously in the late 70’s. I loved to write in High School in the early 60’s but life got in the way. Around the 00’s many of the obstacles disappeared. Since then I have been writing more, and some of my work was vanilla transgender stories. Here in 2024 transgender stories have become tiresome because I really don’t have much in common with that mind set.

The glare of an editor that could potentially pay me is quite daunting, so I would like to start out unpaid to see where that goes. I am not sure if a writer’s agent would be a good fit for me. My work life was in the Trades, not as some sort of Academic. That alone causes timidity, but I did read about a fiction writer who had been a house painter.

This is my first effort to publish since the late 70’s. My pseudonym would perhaps include Ahabidah.

Gwen Boucher.

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Editing Checklist for Self- and Peer Editing

About this printout

This helpful tool will give your students the opportunity to edit their own writing and then observe as their peers edit the same work.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Before you begin, be sure to model and discuss each step of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing), preferably using a whole-class story or class newsletter article. Please note that the revising stage precedes editing. Student should have already worked through content revisions before reaching the editing step. When they are ready for the editing stage of the writing process, students should edit their writing and then meet with a partner to engage in peer editing. Prior to having students use this tool independently, it is important to model its use. To do this, display sample text on an overhead projector, document camera, or SMART Board so that all students can view it. Model the use of the self-edit column with the displayed text, with you assuming the role of author. Then have a volunteer fill out the peer-edit column so that all students can hear and view the process. Finally, discuss what went well and what could be improved in the editing steps that were modeled. This tool serves multiple purposes, including:

• The self-edit step

encourages students to evaluate specific features of their writing, increasing self-awareness of writing conventions keeps the pen in the writer’s hand for the initial editing phase

• The peer-edit step

helps build a learning community in which peers work collaboratively heightens the awareness of various print and grammatical conventions for the peer editor and the author

• Use a fish-bowl technique to allow the class to view a self- and peer-edit session of two of their classmates. To do this, first choose one student to model the self-editing phase. It is helpful to select a student who has a good understanding of the criteria on the rubric, such as proper grammar and punctuation. That student works through the items in the self-edit column as the other students observe. It is helpful to put the editing checklist on an overhead projector or document camera so all students can see the process. After the self-edit is complete, discuss the process with the students. Next, choose another student to serve as the peer editor for the piece that was just self-edited.  Have the two students sit in the middle of the class so that all students can see and hear them as they work through the peer-editing phase. Afterward, include the entire class in a discussion about the process itself and ways in which the editing session will help the author and peer editor improve on their writing.
• Have students work in groups of two or three to edit one piece of writing. The interaction between peers will help make the editing process more explicit. While the students are working in groups, move from group to group to check their understanding of the editing process and use of the checklist. Try to notice groups that lack comments in the “Comments and Suggestions” columns and encourage them to use this section to provide feedback to the writer, particularly for criteria that lack a check mark. To guide them, you could ask, “What do you think you could write in the ‘Comments’ section to help the writer fix this error?” Be sure to tell students that if they are unable to mark a check in the “After completing each step, place a check here” column, they must indicate the reason why they cannot check it in the “Comments and Suggestions” column.
• If your school uses a team approach for grouping students (a group of students who all share the same content area teachers), consider encouraging other team teachers to use this checklist in their respective content areas. Consistency in the editing process will help students understand that the editing process can apply to all written pieces, regardless of the content area.
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This strategy guide explains the writing process and offers practical methods for applying it in your classroom to help students become proficient writers.

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Cheat Sheet for Grading Creative Writing

A cheat sheet for grading creative writing can be a useful tool for teachers and instructors who are looking for a quick and easy way to assess the quality of their students’ writing. By providing a set of guidelines and criteria to follow, a cheat sheet can help instructors quickly and consistently evaluate the creativity, organization, and overall effectiveness of a piece of writing. This then allows them to provide constructive feedback and support to their students as they work to improve their skills.

Why is Grading Creative Writing so Difficult?

Grading creative writing can be challenging for instructors. It’s often very personal and subjective, which makes it hard to assess using traditional grading systems. Plus, creative writing can be complex. It can involve a lot of emotions, which can be difficult to capture in writing. Additionally, the field is constantly changing, making it hard for instructors to stay on top of new styles and techniques. Overall, grading creative writing requires a careful and sensitive approach.

Cheat Sheet for Grading

Here are six quick and easy tips to keep in mind when grading your students’ creative writing.

Tip 1: Focus on the Overall Structure and Organization

• Does it have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• Does the plot flow smoothly from one event to the next?
• Does it pull you along, or do you lose track of what’s happening?

Tip 2: Pay Attention to the Characters.

• Are they well-developed and believable?
• Do they have distinct personalities and motivations?
• Does the protagonist have any flaws or are they perfect?
• Does the antagonist have any redeeming qualities?

Tip 3: Look for Strong Descriptions and Sensory Details.

• Does the writer use vivid language to bring the scene to life?
• Does the writer use more senses in descriptions than just sight?
• Do the setting descriptions help set up a mood for the writing?

Tip 4: Consider the Use of Dialogue.

• Does it sound natural and add to the story?
• Does it give insight into the personality traits of the characters?
• Is it written correctly, following punctuation and paragraphing norms?

Tip 5: Evaluate the Writer’s Style and Voice.

• Does the writing have a unique and engaging tone?
• Could you tell which student wrote the piece just by reading it?

Tip 6: Look for Creativity and Originality

• Does the writer have fresh ideas?
• Is there anything unique about this writing from that of other students?

Final Thoughts and Freebie

Overall, the key is to provide constructive feedback that will help the writer improve and grow. It’s important to remember that creative writing is a form of self-expression, and everyone has their own unique voice and style. As a grader, your job is to help the writer hone their craft and develop their skills.

If you have any advice for grading creative writing, please put it in the comments below. Also, here is a free checklist to help you have a grade for each student’s creative work. It’s available in both an editable PowerPoint and a quick print PDF.

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How to proofread a document [with free proofreading checklist PDF]

Catie holdridge.

9 minute read

Proofreading properly isn’t as easy as it might first appear. You’re constantly fighting with your eyes and brain, both of which want to tell you that everything on the page is just fine.

One problem is that our brains are actually a bit too clever. Did you know that as long as the first and last letters of a word are in the right place, the middle can be a complete shambles and chances are you’ll still be able to understand it?

Ltlite wnoedr taht tpyos are otefn msiesd, wulndo’t you arege?

And as the writer of a document, it’s particularly hard to spot any mistakes in it. You know what you meant to say, so your brain will conveniently hop over missing words, typos and jumbled sentences. (This is why, in an ideal world, someone else would proofread your work – and you’d proof theirs.)

But, tricky or not, it is a critical step. The result of giving it a miss can be anything from mild embarrassment in front of colleagues to the loss of an unimpressed prospect – or landing in legal or financial hot water because of an overlooked error .

Before we go on to the how-to, let’s briefly clarify what proofreading is – and what it isn’t.

What is proofreading?

Proofreading is:

• about ensuring consistency and accuracy
• essential – it’s a matter of professional reputation (and more)
• the last line of defence – the buck stops with you.

  And let’s not forget, it’s also:

• hard work – it can be pedantic, exacting, tiring and repetitive.

What it isn't

Proofreading is not:

• an excuse to rewrite
• a ‘quick look’.

  These caveats are particularly worth noting if you are proofreading someone else’s work. Establish for certain what they are expecting you to do: do they want a pure proofread or editing suggestions as well? Note too that editing and proofing are technically two different things , and with good reason: your brain works best focusing on one at a time.

Whether you’re proofreading your own work or a colleague’s, to do it effectively, you need to repress the urge to skip, skim and hope for the best. It’s time to knuckle down and process every word. These proofreading tips will see you through.

Proofreading techniques for perfect results

1. get some distance.

If you try and proofread straight after you finish writing, you will be blind to your typos and everything will appear exactly as you expect it to. So take a break, do something else and preferably leave it overnight. Then come back to it fresh.

2. Set up for success

Speaking of fresh, aim to proofread at a time when you will be. Work out what this means for you and your circadian rhythms, but morning is generally your best bet.

Make sure you have everything you need to hand: a pencil for pointing, a ruler or blank paper to place below each line (so you’re not distracted by the text ahead), and a list of what to look out for. If your company has a style guide , have that at your elbow or open on your computer too. It will clarify your organisation’s take on language or formatting issues that have no official right or wrong. For example, whether your company uses UK or US spelling, when you should capitalise job titles and how to punctuate bullet points .

3. Print it out (when it counts)

Working on a hard copy is still the most surefire way to spot errors in a document. Print it out (on scrap paper), walk away from the distractions of your desk and give it all your attention.

Of course, this is not the most environmentally friendly approach, so you might choose to save it for the most business-critical documents.

An alternative is to save the document as a PDF or send the email to yourself. Looking at the same words in a different format (even in your own inbox) helps to reset your eye and spot errors you might otherwise miss.

4. Be methodical

Take the text line by line, using the ruler or blank paper as a guide (to cover the upcoming text) and pointing to each word with your pencil or stylus.

This is important to counteract how you normally read. Usually, your eyes don’t travel smoothly over everything – they move in little jumps (known as saccades) and fixate only on key words, while your mind fills in the blanks.

If you’re proofreading onscreen, you can still use the pencil-pointing technique – and try the paper guide too.

Go through the document once for sense, a second time for technical accuracy and (if you’ve time) once more for luck. Got a short document? Read it backwards to better spot typos.

If you prefer to watch rather than read, you can also check out the guidance (and some of the office staff looking sheepish) in this video:  

5. Read it aloud

Working from home or in a quiet office? Read the document out to yourself. You’ll trip over the awkward bits in a way that you didn’t when simply tracking the words in your mind, and you’ll notice missing or extra words.

Better still, get someone else to read it out to you, or use text-to-speech technology in Word , Google Docs or Adobe .

6. Make your mark

Covering documents in comments, annotations and scribbles can soon get messy – and make it very difficult for the writer to work through. That’s why official proof-correction marks exist.

The industry-recognised mark-up symbols in the UK (and increasingly around the world) come from the British Standards Institution (BSI). They work by marking up the text itself with these symbols, then making a corresponding mark in the margin to draw attention to and clarify the correction.

This might seem fussy or old-fashioned, but there’s good sense behind this long-established practice. It is an efficient and concise shorthand that communicates a lot of information in a small amount of space.

Of course, it only works if it is a shared language, so it will need to be embraced across your team or organisation.

A few of the key mark-up symbols. You can order a laminated copy of the full set at the BSI website .

  If you’re working on a PDF, you can use the Adobe mark-up tools to highlight your corrections – and be careful to use them consistently, to help both you and your colleagues.

For example:

• For changes to the text, use the Insert text, Strikethrough and Add note functions.
• Use callouts for instructions on formatting​.
• For queries, use the Highlight tool and create an accompanying pop-up note to add your question.

In Word and Google Docs, you have the alternative option of Track Changes (this is the ‘Suggesting’ function in Google Docs), although these are arguably better suited to editing than proofreading.

7. Beware missing the obvious

Give special attention to title pages, headings, subheadings, even subject lines – it’s too easy to assume that there couldn’t possibly be mistakes in the large text. But that’s where overlooked errors will howl the loudest.

Be careful around line endings too – it’s surprisingly easy to miss words repeated at the end of one and the beginning of the next.

8. Know the common culprits

Being aware of repeat-offender errors means you can be poised and ready to catch them. Once you’ve been proofreading for a while, you may start to keep your own list. In the meantime, here are some key common mistakes to keep your eyes peeled for:  

Matching verbs and subjects: the verb or ‘doing word’ in the sentence needs to be in the right form (singular or plural) to go with the person or thing doing it. For example:

The summary of various points comes at the end of the chapter.​

The ‘summary’ is the subject and is singular. So the verb ‘comes’ is in the singular form rather than in the plural form (‘come’).​

Beware collective nouns, such as ‘public ‘, ‘committee’, ‘board’, ‘audience’, ‘team’: these can be either singular or plural, but need to be treated as either one consistently. Similarly, company names are typically treated as singular but not always, so check your organisation’s style guide.

Comma splice: This is a specific kind of run-on sentence , where a comma is used between what could be two full sentences. Use a semi-colon or full stop instead, or add a word like ‘for’, ‘and’, ‘but’ or ‘so’ after the comma.

Punctuation

Common slip-ups include:

• unnecessary, missing or misplaced apostrophes
• inconsistent hyphenation (eg coordinate/co-ordinate)
• mixing up hyphens and dashes
• punctuating incorrectly around brackets .

  If you feel like you could use a refresher, it’s worth brushing up on your punctuation and grammar to check you’re on top of the rules.

Often-confused words

These words sound the same as each other but are spelled differently and have different meanings, so do your best to keep them straight:

• lead and led
• complimentary and complementary
• affect and effect
• stationary and stationery
• bear and bare

  And while spelling and grammar checkers have come a very long way (with many continuing to improve all the time, thanks to machine learning), still never assume they are infallible. Continue to look out for misspelled words and homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently).

And if you know you have your own blind spots, keep a list of those handy.

9. Look over layout

Depending at what stage you’re doing the proofreading, you may also need to pay attention to the layout and formatting of the document. Here, keep your eyes peeled for things like:

• captions – are they on the right items?
• the contents page – do headings/page numbers match actual copy?
• consistency of style – bold, italics etc
• widows (these are lone lines at top of a page) and orphans (these are lone words on a line)
• page numbers and other footer or header material – check they are accurate and in the right order
• headings – check relevance and for repetition, and that the levels of heading are correct and consistent
• numbering – check the sequence.

10. Don’t forget the finer details

As well as looking for typos, incorrect or missing words, dodgy punctuation and suspect grammar, give the facts a final once-over.

Are the decimal points in the right place? Have you written millions where you meant billions? Have you spelled the customer’s name right – and right every time? And check telephone numbers by calling them. It’s surprisingly easy to transpose numbers when writing them.

Practice makes perfect

Finally, remember that – like most things – proofreading is a skill you can develop. The more you proofread, the sharper your eye will become.  

  Need to upskill your team in proofreading to ensure consistency and accuracy in your output? We run tailored in-company proofreading courses which include bespoke, practical exercises built using your own content. Get in touch if you think we can help.

Image credit: 9nong / Shutterstock

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Catie joined Emphasis with an English literature and creative writing degree and a keen interest in what makes language work. Having researched, written, commissioned and edited dozens of articles for the Emphasis blog, she now knows more about the intricacies of effective professional writing than she ever thought possible. She produced and co-wrote our online training programme, The Complete Business Writer , and these days oversees all the Emphasis marketing efforts. And she keeps office repartee at a suitably literary level.

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