Common Mistakes to Avoid

In my role at The Writing Spa, I read a lot of manuscripts, helping writers take their writing to the next level. Invariably, I see common mistakes new writers make. So for my next several posts, I’ll be highlighting these mistakes. Fix these issues in your writing and you’ll start to impress editors. Fail to do so and you’ll languish in the mediocre. I know if you’re reading this, you don’t want to be mediocre. So dare to be teachable!

Period spacing: Only one space after a period. To fix, go to Edit, then Find and Replace. In the Find box, hit the space bar twice. In the Replace box, hit the space bar once. Then click Replace All. Voila! Your whole document is correctly formatted. Curious why this is? I posted about the whole exciting story here.

Joining two independent clauses: When you have two independent clauses (two clauses that can stand on their own), there are several ways  to join them. Many authors struggle to do this correctly.

Here are the ways:

John ate the hamburger. He wiped his mouth. (You can join by not joining—simply putting a period between the two clauses.)

John ate the hamburger, and he wiped his mouth. (comma plus conjunction)

John ate the hamburger; he wiped his mouth. (The correct use for a semicolon).

Head Hopping: When you’re writing a fiction scene, it should be solidly in one person’s point of view. If you shift into someone else’s head in the midst of a scene (without a scene break), you are head hopping. Solutions: Make a scene break where you shifted. Or delete the passage from the other person’s POV (point of view), or rewrite it so it’s in the scene-character’s point of view.

Example: Heloise knew Jake didn’t like her. She could see his sneer from across the room.

Jake took a long drink of Coke, then spit it back into his cup. He thought of giving it to Heloise just so she’d know how much he hated the sight of her.

We are in both heads in this scene. Here’s a rewrite in one POV:

Heloise could see Jake didn’t like her. His sneer said it all. She watched him gulp down his Coke, spit it back in, then raise his eyebrows in that maddening way. He pointed to her, then the cup. As if she’d ever drink his dregs.

Telling. The old adage, “Show, don’t tell” applies here. It’s insulting to the reader when you explain everything to him/her. Instead of telling us someone’s anger, show us.

Telling: Bob was angry.

Showing: Bob threw the cat across the room, hitting Hilda in the face with the poor animal.

Clichés. A cliché is a word or phrase you commonly hear in everyday speech, or read often. Here is a listing: http://clichesite.com/alpha_list.asp?which=lett+1

Example: Barnabus Brickby paraded around town, high and mighty as all get out, eating fried pies like a horse.

Solved: Barnabus Brickby flaunted his new suit on the town’s streets, gorging himself on fried pies while his nose pointed heavenward.

Passive voice: In passive voice, the subject receives the action rather than performing the action. Passive usually carries this form: “to be” + “verb-ed.” Microsoft Word usually catches passive constructions by underlining them in squiggly green.

Example: Passive: The spider was bludgeoned by Martha.

Active: Martha bludgeoned the spider.

Weak verbs: Verbs should make up 10% of your writing. Nix forms of “to be.” Run a “search” on be, is, are, am, was, were, being. Eliminate was+participle (ing word). I was running to school. I ran to school. Even better: I sprinted to school.

There are many more issues, but we’ll save those for a later post. The single biggest mistake I see is weak, wimpy verbs. Was. Is. Were. Seem. When you’re trying to break the habit, strive for 1 or 2 per page. They’re not evil verbs, but they weaken your writing. Learning to replace them with beefy verbs will revolutionize your prose.

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Related Posts

• Write Nekkid
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• Find Your Angst – Writing Authentic Teenage Characters
• 7 More Mistakes to Avoid and Book Recommendations

Mary DeMuth
The Writing Spa

Mary DeMuth helps readers and listeners turn their trials to triumph. She's the author of seven books, the mother of three, pet owner of two, and wife of one. She lives in Texas where the sun always shines. She mentors writers at Wannabepublished and The Writing Spa.

Tags: editing, self-editing, Writing, writing mistakes
Posted in Editorial, Publishing, Writing

6 Responses to “Common Mistakes to Avoid”

1. Jenni Burke says:

   November 2, 2009 at 10:50 am

   Great post, Mary. I especially enjoyed finding the web site on cliches. Looking forward to more of your helpful tips for writers in the future!
   Blessings,
   Jenni Burke
2. Mary DeMuth says:

   November 2, 2009 at 11:07 am

   Jenni,

   Thanks! I’m glad it was a help to you.
3. Melissa Mashburn says:

   November 2, 2009 at 1:27 pm

   I truly appreciate that you took the time to write those out. I can’t wait to see what other nuggets you drop for us. Thank you!

   PS – It is VERY intimating to write a comment on your blog, not because you are intimidating, but because your post was on writing mistakes, and well…I am sure this was littered with them, ha!
4. Melanie H. Platt says:

   November 2, 2009 at 1:31 pm

   Thanks for the reminder on passive voice. It’s not complicated, but I mentally confuse it with past tense, and then wonder how to fix it.
5. Mary DeMuth says:

   November 2, 2009 at 3:34 pm

   Melissa, you did fine!

   Melanie, it’s the difference between having an action done to a character versus having the character do an action.
6. Diane Shaw says:

   November 2, 2009 at 3:55 pm

   What a helpful blog. I have to hear these principles over and over.
   Thanks,
   Diane
   needmorewordscs.blogspot.com