He can scan any kind of page and the error jumps out at him, as though it were in giant type and flashing colors. It’s a great talent, although even for him, reading material he’s already read (or material that he wrote), it sometimes fails.

Happens to the best of us. To prevent errors from sneaking into my clients’copy, I’ve compiled a checklist of items I review in copy editing and proofreading.

I also try to have a night’s sleep before completing the project. That’s when my subconscious editor kicks in — that’s when I get a nagging feeling that something’s not right yet.

I have two other tricks that help me.

• Read it backwards. That is, start from the end.
• Read it out loud.

Sounds silly, I know, but both have helped me spot and fix the errors that were otherwise invisible to me.

So with that, here’s a list that I use and enjoy. I update it periodically, and will update it here as well. Hope you find it useful.

Nancy’s Copy Editing, Proofreading and Quality Control Checklist

One occurred while visiting a friend who lives in a remote corner of the city, who happens to have a property that abuts a small lake, fed by three streams. It’s an older house, simple and gracious, and it’s obvious that my friends there spend most of their time outdoors.  He took me on little walk through the property — first down to the lakebed, where I spotted the snapping turtles near the Russian iris in bloom, around little mounded flower bed overflowing and lush, then curving along the stream over to the upper gardens. Rounding the curve, there’s a sudden surprise — delight everywhere you look. From the tidy vegetable garden to the abundant roses and old-fashioned treats (pawpaws, buckeyes, Japanese dogwood, clematis, phlox, giant lilies and dozens more, both native and exotic) it was moment after moment of glorious exploration touching, smelling, joyous appreciation of this otherworldly garden. There were birds everywhere and we were on watch for a snake and other woodland critters, all the more fun. A magical moment.

A second moment that overwhelmed was under vastly different circumstances. We were attending a Bach Aria Soloists concert, held in the ample living room of a neighbor and acquaintance. There were about 60 people in this front room, listening in rapt attention to the beautiful music. Then, a cello solo –  Bach’s Suite No. 4, one of my most favorites. I felt as though the world dissolved for a moment and all that existed was this extraordinary sound, threading and hanging in the air, wafting and dissolving. I closed my eyes and held hands with my beloved and savored the moment, filled with joy.

A third moment was almost a blending of the other two — a combination of a beautiful vast horizon of undulating lush hills all around, and the Kansas City Symphony. I was happy just with the vista, watching the cattle and the wild swallows at dusk, the occasional cowboy riding along in or out of the view. I was enjoying this with some 3000 other people, quietly relaxing on blankets or foldout chairs, on this natural amphitheater-like hillside.

As I relived these moments later, it occurred to me that I was missing something. These were not random moments, but the result of hours and hours of devotion and passion. There was work, heartfelt work, handprints on each, that made the difference. I was the beneficiary of the passion that went into each of those magical moments.

Was it work? Or a slow accumulation of invested dedication and passion? There need not be a difference, I understand, between working and living, between labor and labor of love.

It’s not magic at all.

In his novel Old School, one of his characters takes the step of writing out (retyping) great works, to learn and appreciate the craft and mastery of the author.

In a way, I’m doing the same — I listened to his eloquent and thoughtful discussion, and by hand, I copied his spoken words out into my notebook. Here, (hoping I will continue to absorb his teachings) I offer another form of my notes,  some of my favorites of his comments, mostly imperfectly paraphrased.

Talking about Old School:

• It’s a story of moving from one world into a different one, a completely different on with different speech, culture, pasttimes, and so on.

• It’s an exploration of the idea of vocation — how we decide what we will do with our lives. And identity — how do we become the person we are going to be?

• I wanted to explore imagination, the role of imagination in forming identity: “We can only be who we can imagine being.”

On his writing & approach:

• For me, getting it down is the hard part; it produces terrible anxiety: there’s nothing there, I’m fooling myself, I’m  impersonating a writer.

• But after the story is down, I enter the process of re-writing with real joy. It’s the artistry. I love shaping the thing, writing is the clay I work with.

• It’s not the same with other writers. Updike, Chekov, could write good drafts; they write in their heads before it gets down on the page.

• There are as many writing styles as there are writers.

• I like a schedule but it’s not rigid. It’s better to have a loose hand on the reins to be equipped to deal with the things life throws at you — the car will need an oil change or someone will need to be picked up from soccer practice. You can’t just say ‘no, I have to write…’

• He described how growing up he always felt like an outsider. He said he suspects most writers feel like outsiders:  “If you’re comfortable, there’s less impetus to write.”

Guidance for writers:

• I take for granted that if you want to be a writer, you read alot. You read great writers. You have to marinate in it.

• Your critical capacity may develop earlier than your own writing ability. This caries a danger of frustrating yourself. Apply patience, be patient with yourself.

• It happens over and over, with practice, with time. “Time is your enemy in almost everything in life, but not in writing.”

Kudos to the library for such a great event. More details on The Big Read available on the image at right.

For another view of Tobias Wolff, check out his performance with the Mountain Goats’John Darnielle, singing “Woke Up New:”

In his novel Old School, one of his characters takes the step of writing out (retyping) great works, to learn and appreciate the craft and mastery of the author.

In a way, I’m doing the same — I listened to his eloquent and thoughtful discussion, and by hand, I copied his spoken words out into my notebook. Here, (hoping I will continue to absorb his teachings) I offer another form of my notes,  some of my favorites of his comments, mostly imperfectly paraphrased.

Talking about Old School:

• It’s a story of moving from one world into a different one, a completely different on with different speech, culture, pasttimes, and so on.

• It’s an exploration of the idea of vocation — how we decide what we will do with our lives. And identity — how do we become the person we are going to be?

• I wanted to explore imagination, the role of imagination in forming identity: “We can only be who we can imagine being.”

On his writing & approach:

• For me, getting it down is the hard part; it produces terrible anxiety: there’s nothing there, I’m fooling myself, I’m  impersonating a writer.

• But after the story is down, I enter the process of re-writing with real joy. It’s the artistry. I love shaping the thing, writing is the clay I work with.

• It’s not the same with other writers. Updike, Chekov, could write good drafts; they write in their heads before it gets down on the page.

• There are as many writing styles as there are writers.

• I like a schedule but it’s not rigid. It’s better to have a loose hand on the reins to be equipped to deal with the things life throws at you — the car will need an oil change or someone will need to be picked up from soccer practice. You can’t just say ‘no, I have to write…’

• He described how growing up he always felt like an outsider. He said he suspects most writers feel like outsiders:  “If you’re comfortable, there’s less impetus to write.”

Guidance for writers:

• I take for granted that if you want to be a writer, you read alot. You read great writers. You have to marinate in it.

• Your critical capacity may develop earlier than your own writing ability. This caries a danger of frustrating yourself. Apply patience, be patient with yourself.

• It happens over and over, with practice, with time. “Time is your enemy in almost everything in life, but not in writing.”

Kudos to the library for such a great event. More details on The Big Read available on the image at right.

For another view of Tobias Wolff, check out his performance with the Mountain Goats’John Darnielle, singing “Woke Up New:”