Do you proofread your post before submitting it? - Page 8

Brooklynny · ‎07-08-2010

@Big Sister wrote:
@Brooklynny wrote:
I always proofread, edit, re-edit, and do it again. I was an English major and spent most of my college years reading and writing and studying critical thinking. Most people don't understand how important this really is.

In my 40-year career as an executive assistant at the CEO level, you better believe that the letters, memos, etc., that I wrote for my boss's signature had to be perfect. No two ways about it. I've seen other people' business writing over the years, and some of it was atrocious. It makes me wonder where in the world these people went to school.

Even though blogs are a casual way of communicating, my posts have to be clear and concise and say what I want and intend to say. I was trained that way, so there's no other option for me. I don't take myself seriously, but I do take my writing seriously.
@Brooklynny I, too, was an assistant/executive secretary to a senior partner in a law firm for 25 years. I proofread the letters I typed for my boss, but if it was a legal document there would be two proofreaders looking at the document. The language had to be absolutely correct and spot on, and this was before Word Perfect.. In my mind I am still that secretary to this day.

@Big Sister, I understand completely and feel the same way. I worked for a senior partner in a patents & trademarks law firm for 8 years, a VP-Controller at a major publishing company for another 8 years, and a CEO of a boutique private equity firm for 20 years. I got my degree in English as an adult, attending college on the weekends while workng full time at the publishing company. Like you, I think my experience at the law firm really shaped and reinforced my thinking and taught me how important language is. Mistakes were not allowed -- neither were white-out or erasures -- and this was in the days of IBM Selectric typewriters and carbon paper. One typo, and you'd have to start all over agan. I do remember the two-proofreaders for legal documents. It could get really tedious sometimes! In any event, I'm grateful for my education and working experience over the years. I wouldn't have it any other way.