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Category: Common Writer Mistakes

Common writer mistakes #18

January 6, 2022

#18 — When to start new paragraphs Deciding where to start a new paragraph is important. Readers can get confused or lost if everything’s all in one. So, I made a list of the top three reasons to start a new one. Who’s speaking changes If a different character talks, start a new paragraph. Having … More Common writer mistakes #18

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Common writer mistakes #17

December 23, 2021

#17 — Characters with similar names A lot of writers—myself included—have characters with similar names. For one novel, I found about seven names that all started with the letter j. While we get these names right because we know the characters well, readers, who are learning them, might mix them up. Changing character names is … More Common writer mistakes #17

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Common writer mistakes #16

December 9, 2021

#16 — Misplaced modifiers Misplaced modifiers modify the wrong part of the sentence instead of what they intend to. They are fun to read though because they can sound silly. It makes more sense in practice, so here are some examples: Running away from me, I stumbled after my dog. Running away from me is … More Common writer mistakes #16

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Common writer mistakes #15

November 25, 2021

#15 — No sentence variation Sometimes, sentences start to stack up. When that happens, they can feel as if they’re too similar to each other. In those spots, it’s good to check how those sentences differ. Because if you’re not careful, they can all sound the same and feel bland. See what I mean? I’ve … More Common writer mistakes #15

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Common writer mistakes #14

November 11, 2021

#14 — Misusing commas I’ve done one of these on commas before. I had talked about using commas to continuously add information to a sentence. But I haven’t talked about when to use a comma and when not to. Commas are complicated. What tends to get overlooked with them though is independent clauses and dependent … More Common writer mistakes #14

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Common writer mistakes #13

October 28, 2021

#13 — Dialogue tags vs action beats Dialogue tags can be tricky. But they’re easy to understand after knowing the difference between them and action beats. Dialogue tags show who’s speaking and how they’re speaking. These can include but are not limited to: Begged Exclaimed Grumbled Muttered Mumbled Said Screamed Shrieked Snapped Whispered Yelled Dialogue … More Common writer mistakes #13

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Common writer mistakes #12

October 14, 2021

#12 — Not using plain language Recently, I’ve seen some writers try to up their vocabulary. It feels as if they’re opening a thesaurus and writing the words they find down. Some of these words include specific plant or animal names, scientific words, uncommon verbs, etc. Grackle. Fervent. Reveille. Ostentatious. Imbibes. But it’s better to … More Common writer mistakes #12

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Common writer mistakes #11

September 30, 2021

#11 — Different types of dashes In writing, there are three main dashes you come across: a hyphen (-), an en dash (–), and an em dash (—). I’ve seen writers confuse them all the time. However, these are easy fixes. It’s all about understanding the difference between them. A hyphen (-) is the most … More Common writer mistakes #11

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Common writer mistakes #10

September 16, 2021

#10 — Adding too many details with commas I’ve had a few authors use commas to add detail after detail onto a sentence. But they don’t realize how jam-packed the sentence becomes. Here are two fictional examples: Laurence came through the door, looking for answers, looking for something to turn his path around, and looking … More Common writer mistakes #10

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Common writer mistakes #9

September 2, 2021

#9 — Overusing character names Lately, I’ve seen a few writers overuse character names. They would use a name almost every chance they could. Here’s a fictional example: John walked over to Laurencia with the biggest smile on his face. He turned with his back away from Laurencia, careful not to let Laurencia see the … More Common writer mistakes #9

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