The following was sent in by reader and freelancer Rob Loughran, who has been teaching himself how to be a better proofreader by necessity. I'm thankful for his advice and also for the fact that if there are any typos in it, then we both can share the blame.

It's nearly impossible to get a manuscript operating-theater-clean but following these steps will keep you out of trouble with most editors.

1) PRINT OUT A HARD COPY TO PROOFREAD.
You can write on it. Scratch words out, compose margin notes. Erase, amend, and if need be, incinerate an offending manuscript. Not only is it difficult to compare margins and distinguish mis-used homonyms (spell check won't underline: Deer Mom, I'm baroque please send me a Czech four fifty dolors...) but I suspect that we also laze a little mentally while proofing on a computer because it's so easy to change things.

2) READ IT AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION.
Get out of your house (the backyard will do) and read with a fresh perspective in a re-freshed environment. You'll be amazed at the bonehead mistakes that will jump out at you.

3) READ IT ALOUD.
First, and most importantly...this...will...slow...you...down. Secondly, reading aloud is the acid test for dialog. A knock-down-drag-out spousal spat you thought sounded like Mamet sometimes sounds like a 2-For-1 Yoplait coupon when actually enunciated.

4) READ SPECIFICALLY.
Especially if it is a screenplay or a novel make several passes through the script. Like an orthodontist straightening teeth (while emptying your wallet) it takes more than one attempt and takes time. The proofreads must be methodical and can't be hurried. Our minds have an amazing capacity to fill-in missing words and correct spelling ("Daerest Marge...") in order to glean the meaning from the written word. Take one trip through your novel and read just the dialog, paying particular attention to proper positioning of quotation marks and all the he said, she saids. Make another trip through checking tabs, margins, indents, pagination, and headers & footers. Check for widows, orphans, and proper paragraph spacing. Then read the narratives. Triple-check tables of contents and other graphs and footnotes.

5) USE A STYLE SHEET.
If you are writing for a magazine (even if it's a query letter asking for an assignment) download and printout their latest style sheet. If there are two queries, all else being equal, on an editor's desk the query following the magazine's style sheet will get the nod. It's sooo simple. The style sheet tells you whether "1st" or "first" is preferred; "Staff Sergeant" or "SSGT"; accepted abbreviations: "etc, ibid, ASAP" and whether you need to e-query or snail mail with an SASE.

If you are writing fiction, just be consistent with all abbreviations and how you use cardinal and ordinal numbers.

6) READ BACKWARDS.
Get a #2 pencil and using the eraser end start at the end of your manuscript and, proceeding backwards, touch each word and look at it. Misspellings will jump out at you because you've temporarily short-circuited the Syntax Monster that provides mental White-Out while you're reading. The bad news is you need to be aware of Booby Trap Words. There, their, they're can be spelled properly but used out of context. They're, Their There are other Booby Trap combinations; most nettlesome and so often misused are its and it's. It's is the contraction for It is. Its, though lacking an apostrophe, is the possessive.

It's It is an ice cream sandwich: vanilla, mocha, or mint chip.

The word Its', despite the fact it shows up fairly regularly in print, doesn't exist. For more Booby Trap Words check out The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. & E.B. White.

7) UTILIZE CRITIQUE GROUPS.
If you can't find one; start one. Post an index card at the local bookstore or a message on-line. Two simple rules: The writing is really secondary; do you enjoy the company and respect the opinion of (not the same as agreeing with) the people in the group? If you don't the experience will suck and your creativity will suffer. Nuns shouldn't date bikers (actually, now that I think of it, nuns shouldn't date anybody, but you know what I mean) and vice-versa.

Also, a critique group is not a competition. My group is together in the same leaky rowboat: fending for our lives. Sometimes I row and they bail. Sometimes they row and bail and I cry. But we're all in it for the long haul. Respect the work that you critique, be honest and when in doubt remember Robert Brault's saying: "Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am what is true."

Rule Two: Give more than you get. The fact that grammar and spelling and proofreading aren't my forte prompted me to write this article. I make a lot of piddling (and glaring) errors that the group catches and I try to repay them with my strong suits: plotting, dialog, character development and, well, catering.

Today we had twice-baked potatoes and a fennel, goat cheese and leek frittata.

Rob's Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow: A Year-Long Program for Publishing Success is available at www.lulu.com. He's been published in places like Playboy, Chicken Soup for the Single Soul, Inside Sports, American Brewer, Vintage Voices, Woman's World, SCR(i)PT, Boy's Life, Heartland USA, Fine Gardening, California Wild, Men's Health, Ladies Circle and other magazines.