Getting started

What you need

You don't really need many things to get started. Some of the things are material and some are abstract, but they come together like a well-functioning computer program (if there is such a thing). Here's a list:

A red pen

The red pen is the standard-issue tool of the proofreader. It is red because it stands out, not because you are trying to chastise the typesetter. There's evidence of lily-livered proofreaders who feel that the use of red ink is deeply impolite and belittling, harping back to school punishments. They seem to forget that all their A pluses were in red as well as their See Mes. Red stands out. If a typesetter does a near perfect job, there could be only several corrections in two hundred pages, and they need to stand out when the proofs are being flicked through. Pencil rubs off and smudges and black and blue can look like the text.

Non-red pens

Just to be contrary. What is written above is fine for normal corrections,





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