Mistakes in writing can detract quality readers in terms of the overall impression one expects from a published book. This ultimately can lead to negative reviews and low ratings, which can have an undesirable impact on sales. Even seasoned authors might at times overlook writing mistakes.

Despite the relative creative license allowed to writers, some things should be avoided in almost all cases. Few and far between the texts, errors might creep into a finished manuscript, but perfection is what any author should strive for.

Clarity on some of the most common mistakes that authors do can help them approach their work and the entire editing and proof reading process with more precision — and help them avoid common pitfalls. Even the bestselling author makes some very common writing mistakes—from big-picture errors down to the nitty-gritty of grammar and punctuation. 

Let’s learn how to spot the errors, smash them—and write flawless stories that rise above the pack.

Don’t tell, show it!

This flaw is probably the most commonly cited in the writing style among editors. Authors are always keen on telling instead of implying. This means that the author summarizes or describes what has happened rather than letting the reader experience a story through action, dialogue, thoughts and senses. They often resort to dumping of information in the context or by elaborating on a character’s emotions rather than showing how those emotions are getting conveyed.

The best way of expressing any dialogue is the simplest way of presenting with a plain “said/told character A.” If it’s possible to present that a particular line was uttered by a certain character of your book without even having to explicitly mention it, that would be the best method of achieving your goal to connect with your readers. You can do it simply by including that in the line itself through the surrounding text or putting in some actions in and around it.

Therefore, let the reader experience the story through action, dialogue and thoughts rather than describing what has happened. 

Weak opening narrative

Have you ever dropped a book after reading the first few pages? Well, this usually happens when the author starts the story in the wrong place.

While the author knows something exciting will happen soon enough, it’s not evident to the reader. If they’re not immediately hooked, chances are they will not stick around long enough to find out what “something exciting” is. Keep your narrative realistic, and the story you are telling will be more believable. 

Over-expressing the action 

Over-expressing is when the author provides unnecessary details about the characters’actions. This slows the pace and interrupts the flow of the scene.

Many writers get into explicit details without being able to imagine that readers do possess the ability to intuit action in a scene or situation. It’s pervasive to find characters who, “walk across a room, open a door, walk through the door, and then close the door”. Such details can become laborious for readers and slow down the pacing. All that’s needed is for the character to “walk through the door.” Readers will intuit the rest. 

Unbelievable conflicts

In many fiction genres, conflicts shape the story. Whether they are external or internal conflicts, it’s essential to give those conflicts substance and believability.

All stories have a climax in the form of a conflict that the plot needs for the characters of a story. They need to overcome the conflicts, traverse through the peaks and grace the troughs in their journey of evolution that they pass along. These external conflicts may be required to move a story along, but it’s not what keeps a reader itching to turn the pages. The internal conflict emotionally affects the reader in the story, in giving an identity to the character, and watching the character conquer this inner conflict, towards the end makes the reader excited about their read and give them a sort of psychological satisfaction. This quality also creates enticing stories. The best way to create internal conflict is to dig deep into the character.

Point of View

Deciding the correct point of view for the narrative is a huge part of a story’s success. For example, younger readers identify with the immediacy of the first-person point of view. Romance is usually told through deep third-person omniscient since an author needs to move seamlessly from the hero to heroine’s perspective. In setting this point of view, the author determines who narrates a story and how it goes — and getting it right is important for the success of a book.

Assumption of knowledge

Authors often write many drafts of their novels. After several revisions, it can be easy to forget that the readers only know what information they have provided on the page.

This is the greatest pitfall in authoring any novel. If you wish to discover the points in your story where you seemed to have skipped relevant information, create or draw up a character report. Follow each character in the book and note down the information that you can decipher from that character sketch. This will include not only what you know as the creator, but also what you’ve presented to your readers.

Name and spelling inconsistency

While it’s typically the copy editor’s job to pick these up, authors should watch out for inconsistencies when revising.

One of the common mistakes often overlooked in the draft stage is a name or background tweak at a later draft of conceptualization that hasn’t been followed up consistently throughout the story. Readers can get baffled by a new name popping in that hadn’t been there before! So, looking at all names and spellings before final publication, is helpful.

Misusing tense

Even for the most experienced authors, it can be challenging to maintain tense consistency throughout a manuscript. Inconsistencies in the tense can happen for books that are written in the present tense. Here, authors tend to shift into the past tense now and then. Be sure to maintain tense consistency throughout a manuscript.

The above common errors are the ones our editors encounter most frequently. If you follow the writing tips, write freely and worry about mistakes later, stay close to your characters’ perspectives, and avoid clunky and unnecessary descriptions, your writing will surely be flawless!