Mistakes Writers Should Avoid
We all make grammatical mistakes in our writings, even the best of the best, but a few always stand out. Follow us on this journey to ensure that you do not make these same mistakes as often in your future writings.
1. Passive Voice
When the subject is the target of the verb’s action instead of doing the verb’s action. ALWAYS be aware of passive voice in your writing because it can weaken your writing.
Incorrect: The books were carried by me.
Correct: I carried the books.
2. Misplaced commas
Writers often time use commas whenever they pause in their writings. DO NOT use commas everywhere you take a pause when speaking or writing. FOLLOW style guides when necessary and make sure your commas are in their appropriate place.
3. Wrong Word choice
In our writings, we tend to use words with similar sounds or meanings, but they are wrong. Did you ever write there when you meant their? How about you’re when you meant your? Not every word that sounds similar or has similar meanings can be used interchangeably. MAKE sure to always look for lists of commonly muddled words to get acquainted with the appropriate words.
4. Wordy Sentence
Writing a clean sentence without using unnecessary or additional words is often time challenging. BE familiar with common filler words so you can be able to identify them and eliminate them.
Incorrect: “There are many people who watch the news on social media.”
Correct “Many People watch the news on social media.”
5. Lack of Parallel Structure
Parallel structure is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. It can be used in different forms such as coordinating conjunctions, making a list, with phrases or clauses of comparison. It is IMPORTANT that you follow the correct grammatical structure when writing.
Not Parallel- Sophia likes skiing, the rodeo, and to ice skating.
Parallel- Sophia likes skiing, attending the rodeo, going ice skating.
6. Run-on Sentence
It is not only two or more completed sentences connected; it’s one with incorrect or missing punctuation. You can find a run-on sentence in your writing when you can identify whether there is more than one independent clause in the same sentence without punctuation.
The BEST way to learn not to end up with run-on sentences is by learning and studying what a comma splice is.
Incorrect: My favorite celebrities are in town they are going live tonight.
Incorrect: My favorite celebrities are in town, they are going live tonight.
Correct: My favorite celebrities are in town. They are going live tonight.
Correct: My favorite celebrities are in town, and they are going live tonight.
7. Sentence fragments
A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either its subject, its verb, or the sentence is incomplete. Sentence fragments are sometimes allowed, but you have to know when to use them. To limit the amount of time you use sentence fragments in your writing, you need to UNDERSTAND what elements make up a sentence.
*Writers, it is important to always read your work aloud to ensure that everything is flowing, understandable, and has the correct grammar and punctuation. *
