Writing without making mistakes is like vomiting hot air (Gunter Brus). Even among professional writers, mistakes are inevitable in writing, however, identifying them will enable you minimise their occurrences. The fewer your writing mistakes, the better.
Although there are several writing mistakes, below are 7 top mistakes that writer makes daily.
- Repetition
- Derailing
- Omission
- Homophone error
- Misuse of similar words
- Punctuation Error
- Grammatical Error
If you are making any of these writing mistakes, then read till the end because there are easy tips I’ve shared in this article that will help you manage your writing mistakes. Sounds nice, I know right? Let’s get started.
REPETITION
Top on the list of the most common mistakes writers make is Repetition. This involves saying the same word, or dance over the same idea or points over again. It’s very common in content creation. Writers sometimes do this when they need words to make up a certain word count or unconsciously. This is also very common in fiction and creative writing.
Although repetition can be used for emphasis, see that you do not unnecessarily reuse words, sentences or points that have been started before.
REMEDY:
- Say something once; other contents should build or expand the not repeat it.
- Avoid using one word over again, you could imply what you’ve said before.
- Broaden your knowledge on what you’re writing so that you would have enough content to avoid repeating an idea.
- Rewrite your content to eliminate repetition.
DERAILING
This happens when you deviate from a line of thought into something else. For example, your content could be in line with your headline, but in the course of writing, you might start talking about something else that’s not in the direction of your content.
This is a very common mistake. Most times, some writers end up creating content that doesn’t relate or answer the headline it promised. This leaves the readers feeling deceived, unsatisfied or deprived of the anticipated information.
REMEDY:
- Craft a direction for your content and stick to it
- Rewrite your content to remove thoughts that do not synchronize with the direction of your content.
- Channel your contents in your proposed direction.
- Let your content answer the value it promised.
OMISSION
Have you ever caught yourself reading what you’ve written, only to see that some of the words are missing? They are most times small words but vital in the sentence. It’s very common among even good writers. The words are present in their minds but they skip it when writing.
REMEDY
- Proofread your content before publishing
- Be focused when writing.
- Allow a third eye vet your content.
HOMOPHONE ERROR
Homophones are words that sound alike but have different spelling and meaning. Several writers struggle with this as they continually see themselves using words that do not mean what they intended even though they sound alike.
Learn more about homophone errors and how to correct them
For instance, using one of these in the place of the other and vice-versa
- Were/where
- Feel/fill
- Feed/field
- Which/wish
- Taught/thought
And the list goes on.
REMEDY
- Pay attention to details when writing.
- Read after writing to correct homophobe errors.
- Ensure that your choice of words is in line with your idea when writing.
MISUSE OF WORDS
This is slightly different from homophone error, it involves using words that are similar in spelling to the words you intend to use but have different meaning and pronunciation. Many writers are trapped here because they find it difficult to use the right word in writing.
E.g. a writer can use their instead of there and vice-versa, been instead of being, as/has, etc.
REMEDY
- Same as in homophone error.
- Read your content aloud to enable you spot the inconsistencies.
PUNCTUATION ERROR
Punctuations are vital in making written content readable for your readers, however, wrong use of them that make reading difficult and can even alter the meaning/information being passed in the content.
REMEDY:
- Study the different types of punctuations and how to use them.
- Consume more content from professional writers.
Click here to see common punctuation mistakes and how to handle them
GRAMMATICAL ERROR
Several rules guide the use of words in the English language as the case may be. Most errors here are difficult to correct if you’re oblivious of the right grammatical rules. English language is exhaustive, you get better at it as you keep learning and practising but at least you can to a large extent create compelling content with few grammatical errors if you follow the remedy below:
REMEDY
- Read English text
- Read good books
- Rewrite/edit/proofread your content
- Use editing apps like Grammarly and Hemmingway or Google Drive.
- Get a professional editor/beta readers.
Read this 5 easy hacks that will make you write like a professional
Let me know in the comment section what you think about our 7 most common mistakes writers make and if you want me to share some tips that can help you write like a professional.
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