Page:Chicago manual of style 1911.djvu/135

120 HINTS TO COPYHOLDERS

Cultivate a low, soft, clear reading-voice. Only your own proofreader has to hear you.

Remember that, from the proofreader's point of view, the small words are as essential as the big ones. Get them all in—and get them in right.

Enunciate your plural s's distinctly.

Do not get offended when your reader asks you to repeat, or to look at the copy for himself.

Regulate and equalize your speed. Do not race at a break-neck pace through typewritten copy, while you thread your path fumblingly through the mazes of manuscript.

Do not keep guessing at a word. Look at it closely, consider the context, and do not speak it until you have made it out—or at least made the very best guess of which you are capable.

Sit at right angles to your reader, if possible. He hears you better, and you can watch his hand better, if you do.

Give your reader a chance to make his corrections. Slow up the moment he puts his pencil to the paper. This will save you going over the same ground twice.

Evolve your own system of signals. Do not, for instance, waste time by saying "in italics" for every word or letter so treated. Instead, raise your voice, or tap