Alteration of text format to help writers proofreading their own work (06-Oct-2009)

People proofreading their own writing often find that they miss errors because of their own work's familiarity - their eye skips over mistakes, since they are already too aware of the intended meaning. Thus, common advice to writers is to wait a few days before proofreading the text or to read the text in some way that breaks the excess familiarity, as for example backwards, sentence by sentence; or to change the font, edit a hard copy manually, read the text out loud, or open the text in a different application. Proofreaders are also advised to move their finger or cursor through the text as they read it to ensure full coverage.

    See, for example from an article by Grace Fleming: "Proofreading Dos and Dont's" (http://homeworktips.about.com/od/proofreading/a/proof.htm):
"If you have to proof your own paper, try reading your work backward….

"Since it's easier to proof a stranger's paper than your own, try changing the look of your paper to make it less familiar. Enlarge and change the font. It will look strange, but that's the point! Just remember to change it back once you're finished….

"

Always proofread out loud,

Likewise the blog "Medical Transcription" recommends the following ( http://medicaltranscriptionforyou.blogspot.com/2008/02/proofreading-its-

nner.html):

"Proofreading backwards gives me a whole new view of the text, and that way I don't

just zip along quickly and miss errors.

                        … I always change the page view before I proof. … That's another way I trick myself into thinking I've never seen this document before. "

Although such advice is intended for proofreading in general,

it is most

strongly applicable to writers who must review their own work. However, the advice is not often followed. Time constraints often do not allow a delay. Changing text formatting or switching to another application is a slow and cumbersome process- and formatting must be restored to the permanent form when editing is over.

    This invention complements automated spelling-, grammar-, and style-checkers, such as those built into Microsoft Word or available from White Smoke. These are valuable, but writers must still review their own work, and our tool makes proofreading more efficient. There are existing patents for systems which present information, including potential errors, in convenient ways, as for example US5576955: "Method and apparatus for proofreading in a computer system, or, for dictated text" US6760700: "Method and system for proofreading and correcting dictated text"; these do not, however, alter appearance for the sake of breaking familiarity.

    The novelty in this invention is that it automatically, yet reversibly, changes the formatting of a writer's text, breaking his excess familiarity with his own work, allowing him to "see it with new eye...