By BookBaby author Hannah Yang
Some writing mistakes will make you look like an amateur, even if you’re an experienced writer — but there are ways to avoid them.
Before you send your manuscript to a professional editor and publish your book, you should start by running it through a high-quality grammar checker like ProWritingAid to detect and fix basic grammar issues. Using correct grammar and punctuation can go a long way to making sure your manuscript is ready for publication.
However, there’s a lot more to good writing than perfect grammar. Make sure you comb through your writing for these seven common writing mistakes.
Mistake #1: Overly long sentences
Break up long sentences to make your work easier to read.
If you’re writing nonfiction, try not to include more than three discrete pieces of information in any single sentence.
If you’re writing fiction, consider the pacing of the scene you’re working on. Use short, zippy sentences in an action scene. Use longer sentences to draw out the moment and include more sensory detail in an emotional scene.
Regardless of your topic, your lengthy sentences should be readable and clear.
Mistake #2: Flowery dialogue tags
Stick to simple dialogue tags like “said” and “asked,” which the reader’s brain will naturally gloss over, to keep your writing flowing smoothly.
Many writers make the mistake of using fancy words in their dialogue tags, like “whispered,” “mumbled,” or “exclaimed.” Rather than engaging the reader, these dialogue tags distract them from the story.
It’s also a common mistake to attach an adverb to the word “said,” such as “quietly,” “fiercely,” or “proudly.” If you’ve written your dialogue well, your readers should know your character’s mood from their words, so cut the flowery dialogue tags and let your characters speak for themselves.
Mistake #3: Adverbs instead of strong verbs
Using a strong verb is more effective than adding an adverb. The verb is the heart of the sentence — you should never rely on an adverb to do the job a verb should be doing.
Look for adverbs coupled with weak verbs in your writing and see if you can replace them with a specific, strong verb. For example, you might replace “He walked quickly to the store” with “He hurried to the store.” Or you might replace “She ate the biscuit slowly” with “She nibbled the biscuit.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use adverbs. Adverbs can be useful when they’re not obvious or contradict the verb they’re attached to. When you write “She smiled happily,” the adverb “happily” doesn’t do any work because we associate smiling with happiness. On the other hand, when you write “She smiled sadly,” the adverb “sadly” is useful because it helps convey the nuance of the smile.
Mistake #4: Clichés
You should avoid using clichéd phrases, because they’re weaker and less effective than original phrases.
It’s natural to use cliches when you’re drafting a book. Your early drafts might be full of phrases like “happy as a clam,” “light as a feather,” or “dumb as a doorknob.”
But everyone has read these phrases so many times that they’ve lost their impact. Instead of using clichés, reel your readers in with unique descriptions and similes.
If you’re writing a sci-fi novel with flying dirigibles, you might replace “light as a feather” with “light as an untethered zeppelin.” Or, if you’re writing a business management guide, you might replace “happy as a clam” with “happy as a newly elected CEO.”
Switch out clichés with original phrases to give your writing a personal touch.
Mistake #5: Overusing the same sentence construction
Avoid repetitive sentence constructions to keep your work from being boring.
Subject/verb constructions are particularly overused. If you’re describing someone doing something, you might find entire paragraphs that sound something like this: “He stood up. He grabbed his keys. He walked to the door.”
Change it up a little! The more you vary your sentences, the more professional your writing will sound. Try stringing some sentences together, like: “After grabbing his keys, he walked to the door.” Alternatively, try sprinkling some setting descriptions in there, like: “His keys hung from a chain by the door.”
Mistake #6: Using passive voice
Eliminate the passive voice to make your language more active and effective.
To target passive voice, start by looking for “to be” words (such as “was,” “were,” and “am”) and words that end in “-ing” (such as “singing” and “dancing”), and find ways to rewrite them. Usually, any person in the sentence should be its subject.
For example, if you have the sentence “The house was being painted yesterday,” you can rephrase it as “He painted the house yesterday.” The active version feels stronger and more compelling than the passive one. A smart grammar checker like ProWritingAid can help you change your sentences from passive to active.
Mistake #7: Unnecessary words
Trim excess words to make your descriptions shine and your prose tighter.
Start by deleting words like “really,” “actually,” “basically,” “somehow,” and “just.” They take up space without adding anything to your writing.
You can also delete words that are obvious or redundant. For example, you can replace “small in size” with “small,” “basic fundamentals” with “fundamentals,” and “prior history” with “history.”
Finally, delete filtering phrases like “she saw” or “he realized.” For example, if you’ve written “She saw the cat run away,” you can replace it with “The cat ran away” to make the sentence more compelling. Your goal is to make your readers forget they’re reading and immerse themselves in the story.
There you have it — seven writing mistakes to eliminate from your work. With these mistakes out of the way, you can publish a fantastic book that will keep your readers turning the page!
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