1. Read the draft slowly and carefully to spot errors. During editing you will read for meaning. At this stage, you consciously look for errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

2. Read the draft aloud. Even if you are not an expert in grammar and punctuation, reading aloud will allow you to hear your mistakes.

3. Use Spell Check! In addition, if you make frequent typing errors with some words, you may find useful the auto-correct feature of your word processing software. If you are uncertain how to use these features, visit the Writing Center for assistance.

4. Check for commonly confused words. Many errors will not be detected because the misspelled word is still a word; for example, confusing there, their, they're will not be detected by your spell check tool. Try to determine the words you most frequently confuse, and prepare a list for yourself to check every document you prepare. Using the find/replace tool will facilitate this process.

5. AFTER you have completed the above, ask a friend, colleague, significant-other, mother, father to look over your work one last time. Especially if the document is important (resume, cover letter, work-related report, DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP. Business colleagues frequently do this for each other. It does not indicate that one person is more competent than the other, but simply that it is difficult to detect one's own errors.