oofreading is proofreading a paper while the writer is still writing the draft. Many students and writers fail to notice surface errors and issues in their own writing because as Mina Shaughnessy mentioned in Errors and Expectations, students see what they mean to say instead of what they meant to write (Shaughnessy p 395). Proofreading is not only a writing skill; but a reading skill as well. Oddly enough, proofreading is a reading skill that requires a deliberate attempt to counteract the “normal” process of reading. If a student does not realize this change to their generic reading process- her or she will no doubt continue to read rather than proofread (Harris p 464).

Proofreading is also related to reading since both are inhibited by short term memory. Studies have shown that the number of things we can remember in short term is between three to five items. It is because of this small limit that students and writers are responsible for the amount of errors they generally find in the first round of work. Harris gives a great example of this saying: “If the subject and verb of a sentence are separated by more than seven words, the verb frequently does not agree with the subject because the writer was unable to hold the subject in short term memory until the verb was written.” Even the most experienced writers are not always the most efficient proofreaders. John Green stated in a 2017 book tour that “proofreading, like other reading/writing skills, is neither simple nor mechanical…that it is in fact a highly developed verbal skill that involves the competence in both reading and writing.”

The last part of the writing process is Publishing. After all the hard work and research that has gone into a person’s work, they will often look to present it to the audience it was created for. Although this is the last step in the writing process, there is one important last thing to remember: the presentation and appearance of your writing. If a student is writing a scientific report on DNA coding, they would not typically try and present it to a room filled with English students who are there to hear about English literature. When presenting it is important to have your information in hand and memory. Students want to be able to focus on their audiences not constantly flipping through pages trying to find quotes to follow up with their last statement. It is also important that the writer remembers to congratulate themselves at the end of their work. A lot of hard work and dedication come with writing and it isn’t as simple as sitting down at a computer and typing some words out.

Writing can be a difficult combination of skills that are best explained by breaking down the process step-by-step. Educators have found that by focusing on the process of writing, almost everyone learns to write successfully. By breaking down writing step-by-step, the mystery is removed, and obdurate writer’s block is reduced. Most importantly, students discover the benefits of constructive fee