I've been the "lone" technical writer at two different jobs, and sometimes, it's difficult when you don't have a peer group or other resources to help with proofreading or editing.

Here are some ways to add quality to your business writing when you're the researcher, writer, typist, graphic designer, proofreader, and editor.

1. If you have time, put it down and come back to the work later. Sometimes, you're too close to it to see mistakes.

2. Use your word processor's grammar editor, but take the time to thoroughly proofread your work. Not all of the comments in the grammar editor are correct.

3. Find someone who will give your crucial documents a read-through. A fresh set of eyes can make the difference. Partner with someone. You can do his/her proofreading.

4. Make sure that your titles, margins, fonts, spacing, headers, and footers are consistent. Make sure that all hyperlinks work correctly.

5. Make sure that you've updated your table of contents before your final save.

6. Make sure that your headings, subheadings, and body text are consistent.

7. Set the widow and orphan control, so that you don't have one line by itself at the top or the bottom of a page. (In Microsoft Word, click Format and Paragraph. Click the Line & Paragraph Breaks tab. Select Widow/Orphan Control.)

8. Check the layout for each page. (I change the zoom option in Word to "Two Pages" to see the basic layout for each page.) Make sure that captions appear with what they describe. If a chart has to split among pages, make sure that the column header row repeats at the top of each new page. (In Word, click inside your table. Then click Table. Then click Heading Rows Repeat.)