Scribe Editingby Scribe Media
Guide

Proofreading practice: sample book passages to check for errors

Below are three editing practice exercises for nonfiction authors: a sample book passage with 12 planted proofreading errors, a passage with 10 consistency issues to fix against a short style sheet, and a wordy paragraph to rewrite. Every passage was written by Scribe Media for this page, about invented books, companies and people. Mark what you find, then open the answer key.

By Scribe MediaPublished October 26, 20269 minute read

Reading about editing only gets you so far. You get better at catching errors the same way you get better at anything: by doing it, checking your work against a right answer, and noticing what you missed. That is hard to do with your own manuscript, because nobody has marked the right answers for you. So we wrote some text that has them.

These exercises are practice for your eye and your judgment. They are not a test of whether you can edit your own book to a publishable standard; very few authors can, and that is not a failing. They will show you which kinds of error you catch easily and which ones slip past you, which tells you where to slow down when you turn to your own pages.

How to use these exercises

  1. Print the passage, or copy it into a document

    Paper works best, because it slows you down and lets you mark freely. If you work on screen, paste the passage into a word processor and type your marks in a different color, or use tracked changes. Do not edit the text in the browser; you want a record of what you found.

  2. Read the instructions for that exercise first

    Each exercise tells you how many errors it contains and what kind. Knowing the number is part of the training: if you have found nine of twelve, go back and read again before you look at the key.

  3. Mark every error, then stop

    Circle or underline each error and write the fix beside it. Do not improve sentences that are already correct in Exercises 1 and 2; that is a different job, and Exercise 3 is where you get to do it.

  4. Check the key, line by line

    Open the answer key only when you are done. Score one point for each error you both found and fixed correctly. Note the ones you missed and what kind they were.

  5. Time yourself only if you like

    Speed is not the goal. If you do want a benchmark for yourself, note how long each passage took and try again in a few weeks on a page of your own writing.

One habit to try on every exercise: read the passage once for meaning, then read it again aloud, slowly, pointing at each word. Your eye fills in what it expects to see. Your voice and your finger do not.

Exercise 1: proofreading

This passage is a short excerpt from The Quiet Pipeline, a business book that does not exist, by an author we made up. It contains exactly 12 errors: typos, doubled words, missing words, wrong homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently) and punctuation mistakes. The style is American English. Everything else in the passage is correct, so if you find yourself rewording a sentence for style, stop: that is not an error.

Practice passage written by Scribe Media. Contains 12 errors.

Most founders treat there sales pipeline like the weather: something that happens to them. They check it on Monday worry about it on Thursday, and hope it improves by the end of the the quarter. But a pipline is not the weather. It is a record of the choices your team three months ago.

When I started my first compnay, I tracked only one number: closed deals. It felt like the number that mattered, and in a sense it was. The trouble is that closed deals tell you what already happened. By the time that number drops, the cause is long gone, and you cannot go back fix it.

The principal I teach now is simple. Measure the work that comes before the result. Count the convesations your team starts each week, the proposals it sends, and and the follow-ups it keeps. Those number's are within your control, and they move before revenue does. If they fall, you have time to respond. If you wait for revenue to fall, your already too late.

Show the answer key
  1. "treat there sales pipeline" should be "treat their sales pipeline." Homophone.
  2. "on Monday worry about it" should be "on Monday, worry about it." Missing comma between items in a list.
  3. "the end of the the quarter" should be "the end of the quarter." Doubled word.
  4. "a pipline" should be "a pipeline." Typo.
  5. "the choices your team three months ago" should be "the choices your team made three months ago." Missing word.
  6. "my first compnay" should be "my first company." Typo.
  7. "you cannot go back fix it" should be "you cannot go back and fix it." Missing word.
  8. "The principal I teach" should be "The principle I teach." Homophone: a principle is a rule; a principal is a person in charge, or a sum of money.
  9. "the convesations" should be "the conversations." Typo.
  10. "and and the follow-ups" should be "and the follow-ups." Doubled word.
  11. "Those number's" should be "Those numbers." Punctuation: a plural takes no apostrophe.
  12. "your already too late" should be "you're already too late." Homophone.

The ones most people miss are the doubled words, the missing words and the plural apostrophe, because the meaning still comes through and the eye moves on. If you missed any of those, reading aloud is the fix.

Exercise 2: copyediting for consistency

This passage comes from Fewer, Better Meetings, another invented book. Its grammar and spelling are correct. What it gets wrong is consistency: it contains exactly 10 places where it breaks the style sheet below. Your job is to make the passage follow the style sheet, every time. This is the work a copyeditor does, and it is the reason a copyeditor keeps a style sheet for each book.

The style sheet for this book

  • Names: Dana Okafor (Okafor on later mentions). Halvorsen & Pike, always with the ampersand.
  • Job titles: lowercase when they follow a name (Dana Okafor, chief operating officer).
  • Numbers: spell out one through nine; use numerals for 10 and above, including in compounds such as 30-minute.
  • Terms: decision log (lowercase). The Weekly Reset (capitalized, because it is the name of the method). Email (no hyphen).
  • Hyphens: follow-up as a noun or before a noun (a follow-up meeting); follow up as a verb.
  • Serial comma: always (owners, deadlines, and reasons).

Practice passage written by Scribe Media. Contains 10 style sheet issues.

When Dana Okafor joined Halvorsen & Pike as Chief Operating Officer, the firm held 12 standing meetings a week. Most ran long, and few ended with a clear decision. Okafur did not cancel them. Instead, she asked 4 managers to keep a Decision Log for one month: every meeting, every decision, the owner, the deadline, and the reason it was made.

The log was humbling. Many of the meetings produced no decision at all. Several existed only to share updates that an e-mail could have carried. Okafor replaced them with the weekly reset, a fifteen-minute check-in on Monday morning where each team names its three priorities, its blockers and the one decision it needs from someone else.

Every follow up meeting now needs a line in the decision log before it goes on the calendar. If nobody can write that line, the meeting does not happen. Halvorsen and Pike still meets, but its meetings are now shorter, rarer, and easier to defend.

Show the answer key
  1. "as Chief Operating Officer" should be "as chief operating officer." Job title follows a name, so lowercase.
  2. "Okafur did not cancel them" should be "Okafor did not cancel them." Name spelled as on the style sheet.
  3. "4 managers" should be "four managers." Spell out one through nine.
  4. "a Decision Log" should be "a decision log." Lowercase term.
  5. "an e-mail" should be "an email." No hyphen.
  6. "the weekly reset" should be "the Weekly Reset." Capitalized method name.
  7. "a fifteen-minute check-in" should be "a 15-minute check-in." Numerals for 10 and above, including in compounds.
  8. "its blockers and the one decision" should be "its blockers, and the one decision." Serial comma.
  9. "Every follow up meeting" should be "Every follow-up meeting." Hyphenated before a noun.
  10. "Halvorsen and Pike still meets" should be "Halvorsen & Pike still meets." Company name with the ampersand.

Notice what is not on the list. "12 standing meetings," "three priorities" and "one month" already follow the number rule, and the decision log in the last paragraph is already lowercase. A good copyedit leaves correct text alone. If you changed any of those, that is worth noticing too.

Exercise 3: line editing

Proofreading and copyediting fix what is wrong. Line editing improves what is merely weak. The paragraph below, from the same invented meetings book, has no typos and breaks no style rule. It is just hard to read. It is wordy, it leans on the passive voice in places where we need to know who is acting, and it hides its main point in the last sentence.

Rewrite it. Aim to keep every idea, cut the words that carry nothing, and put the point where a reader will see it first. There is no single right answer, so the key below is a model, not a score.

Practice paragraph written by Scribe Media.

It is often the case that in many organizations, a great deal of time is spent by leadership teams on the discussion of strategy documents that have been prepared in advance, and it has been observed by a number of the executives I have worked with over the years that these discussions do not always result in decisions being made. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the fact that the documents are frequently too long to be read in full before the meeting takes place, and the fact that it is not made clear at the outset what decision is actually being asked for. What I would suggest, in light of all of this, is that every strategy document should begin with the decision it needs, stated in a single sentence.

Show a model rewrite

Model rewrite:

Open every strategy document with one sentence: the decision it needs. Leadership teams spend hours discussing documents prepared in advance, and many executives I have worked with have watched those discussions end without a decision. Two causes come up again and again: the documents are too long to read before the meeting, and nobody says up front what decision the meeting is for.

What changed, and why:

  • The point moved to the front. The original saves its recommendation for the last sentence. A busy reader may never get there. The rewrite opens with it, then gives the reasons.
  • Empty openers are gone. "It is often the case that," "There are a variety of reasons for this," "What I would suggest, in light of all of this" and "the fact that" carry no meaning. Cutting them loses nothing.
  • Passive voice became active where the actor matters. "Time is spent by leadership teams" becomes "leadership teams spend." "It has been observed by a number of the executives" becomes "executives I have worked with have watched." "It is not made clear" becomes "nobody says," which names the gap: someone should say it, and nobody does.
  • Repeated and empty words were cut. "Often" and "in many organizations" say the same thing, so one goes. "A variety of reasons, including" becomes "two causes," because the paragraph only ever names two. "Actually" adds nothing and goes.

Compare your version. If yours puts the decision first, uses active verbs and keeps both reasons, it does the same job, even if every word is different.

What your score means, and what to do next

Add your points from Exercises 1 and 2, out of 22. Then look less at the total and more at the pattern of what you missed.

  • You found nearly everything. You have a good eye for errors in someone else's text. The harder test is your own text, where you know what each sentence is meant to say. Use the self-editing checklist on your manuscript, one pass at a time, and apply the same slow, aloud reading.
  • You caught most of Exercise 1 but fewer in Exercise 2. That is common. Spotting a typo needs attention; spotting a consistency break needs you to hold a set of rules in your head while you read. It is the reason copyeditors keep a style sheet, and the reason your book should have one. Start yours now: a page listing every name, term, number style and spelling choice in your manuscript.
  • You missed a lot. That is normal, and it is not a sign you cannot write a book. Catching errors at a professional level is a separate skill from having something worth saying, and it takes years of practice. It is also a good reason to hire a proofreader for the final pages of your book. Our guide to what a book editor costs sets out current rates for proofreading and every other kind of edit.

Whatever your score, when your book reaches its designed pages, work through the proofreading checklist. These exercises train the reading; the checklist covers everything else on the final pages, from running heads to ISBNs.

Turn your own chapter into practice

Once you have done the exercises above, your own manuscript is the best practice text there is, because its errors are the ones you actually make. Three ways to use it:

  • Keep an error log. Every time you, a beta reader or an editor catches a mistake in your writing, note what kind it was. After a few chapters, you will see your own patterns: perhaps "its" and "it's," or dropped words at the ends of long sentences. Search your manuscript for each one.
  • Cold-read an old chapter. Pick a chapter you have not opened for a few weeks, change the font and size so it looks unfamiliar, print it and proofread it as if a stranger wrote it.
  • Rewrite one paragraph a day. Choose the paragraph you like least and give it the Exercise 3 treatment: point first, active verbs, no empty openers. Keep the old version beside the new one so you can see the difference.

If you would rather talk through where your manuscript stands and what kind of help it needs, Scribe offers a free consult.

Common questions

Where can I find a sample book passage to check for errors?

This page has two, each with a set number of planted errors and a full answer key: a proofreading passage with 12 errors and a copyediting passage with 10 consistency issues. Both were written by Scribe Media for practice, so you can print, copy and mark them freely. Once you have done them, the best practice text is a page of your own manuscript, read the same way.

How can I get better at proofreading my own writing?

Change how the text looks so you stop reading what you meant and start reading what is there: print it, enlarge the font, or read it on another device. Read aloud, slowly. Make one pass for each kind of error instead of hunting for everything at once. And keep a list of the mistakes you make often, then search your manuscript for each one.

What is the difference between proofreading practice and copyediting practice?

Proofreading practice trains you to catch errors that are simply wrong: typos, doubled or missing words, wrong homophones and broken punctuation. Copyediting practice trains you to apply rules consistently, such as how numbers, names, capitals and hyphens are styled, which is why Exercise 2 comes with a style sheet. Our guide to copyediting vs. proofreading explains where each job falls in the process.

Is it normal to miss errors in a practice test?

Yes. Most people miss some, and the misses are useful because they show you which kinds of error your eye skips. Writers usually miss more in their own text than in someone else's, because they already know what it is supposed to say. That is one reason a book that matters gets a professional proofread even after the author has checked it.

Sources: none cited. The practice passages, style sheet, answer keys and model rewrite were written by Scribe Media for practice; The Quiet Pipeline, Fewer, Better Meetings, Halvorsen & Pike and Dana Okafor are invented. Published by Scribe Media.