Method: Read Aloud.

Nuh-uh, I know you're probably thinking. I don't really have to read my work aloud to proofread it…

That thought is true, strictly speaking. But if you want to proofread something well, reading it aloud is actually one of the easiest methods for catching your own mistakes. When you read something you've written, part of the difficulty in editing it is you remember what you wrote. You know what you were intending to write, so you're not as likely to notice when your intended "its" becomes "it's".

Reading aloud, however, makes you pay more attention to the actual words on the page, or at least the sounds of them spoken. If you've never done this, you'll be surprised how many wrong words and punctuation errors make themselves apparent just by taking the time to read the writing aloud.

An added benefit is the help it brings to actual phrasing of your writing. Let's say you're reading it aloud, and you stumble over an accidental tongue-twister—rewrite that part. The tongue-twister signals that the part is confusing as written. Also make sure you're breathing properly while speaking. Any time you run out of breath trying to get to the end of one looong sentence, find a way to cut that sentence into sections.

Notice that I'm not saying that you should read to someone. Go to your bedroom and mumble-read it in private. (If you have roommates, shutting yourself in a closet could provide some much-needed solitude.)

Can reading your work to someone help? Oh, most definitely. In certain circumstances involving certain types of people that you may or may not have in your circle of acquaintances. When I started writing at age fourteen, my eight-year-old friend started critiquing my writing while I read my work to her, she following along.

In general, though, reading aloud to no one but yourself will probably provide you the most effective proofreading of your own work that you'll get for the time spent doing it.