Ten common problems that dismiss you as an amateur
Ten Mistakes Writers Don't See
- Repeats sad, sad sad.
- Flat writing Something is conveyed in the sentence, but who cares?
- Empty adverbs Actually the actual word actual is actually overused and actually it actually doesn't actually add anything to the actual sentence.
- Phony dialogue "Tell me again, Bruce: What are we doing next?"
- No-good suffixes meticulously and harrowingly add to the obtuseness of a sentence.
- The "to be" words flatten prose and need to be used sparingly.
- Lists of words, places, items, names, colours, flowers, drinks, fruit, vegetables... cause the eyes to glaze over.
- Show, don't tell They may be handsome, attractive, momentous, embarrassing, fabulous, powerful, hilarious, stupid, or fascinating, but the reader doesn't know why. If another character is fascinated then this tells the reader about the drives of the second character.
- Awkward phrasing makes the reader stop in the midst of reading and ponder the meaning of a word or phrase.
- Commas have their place in writing. You may find it necessary to break the rules from time to time, but many phrases and sentences require commas.
