Writing problems in the basic college freshman writing course result from the students' misconception that once they get the required number of words down on paper their compositions are unalterable, and teachers' misconception that serving as an editor, correcting errors and rewriting sentences, is an effective teaching tool. Students' experiences in the writing class should show them how to include proofreading in the writing process. Students often do not know what is wrong or right, often their attitude toward revision lacks confidence, and they do not always have the objectivity toward their writing that is required for proofreading. Teachers must find a way to help students classify their writing problems so that they will know what to look for as they proofread. One principle behind proofreading is to look for only one type of error at a time. A second principle is that proofreading should be separated from other types of editing, such as arrangement of ideas and selection of sentence type. The third principle is that the teacher must gradually withdraw from the proofreading process. The following steps may lead to relatively painless withdrawal from reliance on the teacher: (1) the teacher marks, but does not correct the target error; (2) the teacher can ask students to locate a certain error by proofreading one line only; (3) the teacher notes only the number of errors appearing in each line, so that the student must find and correct the error without knowing what type of error to look for. (HTH)