5 Common Writing Mistakes That Make You Look Like An Amateur

[Heather]

So I love Pinterest (shameless Pinterest plug, they should pay me for this)--- and while I was surfing around I came across this article entitled "5 Common Writing Mistakes That Make You Look Like An Amateur" and since I am completing the final revisions on my novel to send in to some agents, I thought- I had seriously better look at this! I don't want to look like a NOOB!

So here is the article == http://www.justinmclachlan.com/804/common-writing-mistakes/

What do you think? I was guilty of at least a couple and now I'm like... dang, imma have to do a whole 'nother revision of my manuscript to tweak some of these things!

Here's the article quoted if you'd rather not open it in a new screen::::




5 Common Writing Mistakes That Make You Look Like an Amateur
by: Justin McLachlan

There are a couple of common writing mistakes that will instantly peg you as a novice to any agent or editor, but are really easy to fix if you know what they are. I've listed five really common ones here (with a bonus! sixth).

Take some time to unlearn these bad habits and you'll instantly move into the 90th percentile of all writers without doing much work.
21K+

1. Your characters grouse, whisper, bellow, and ejaculate their dialogue. Said. That's all you need and most of the time, you shouldn't even need that. Dialogue attributions are just markers to help orient the reader—we tend to glance over them anyway so cut them where you can. But stick to said, or ask, as proper (the character is asking a question).
   
2. You use italics for emphasis. I battle so many writers on this one. Without italics, how will my reader know this is a thought?

How will they know that the character stressed that word? Because you write it so they know. With practice you'll learn to put important words in important places, so you don't need fancy typography to shore up the copy. For now, cut the italics and trust your reader. They'll get it.

3. You switch POV. It's fine to get inside a character's head, but bouncing around from person to person within a scene is awfully confusing for the reader. Stay with one character instead, and if you must change—save it for a scene break or other clear delineation.

4. You've never seen a modifier you don't love. Adjectives and adverbs are the death of good writing.

Pick strong, active verbs instead and cut the modifier. Try this: do a search for "ly" in your manuscript and you'll get a sense of how many times an adverb has crept into your writing. Do another search for "very." This is an easy fix, though. Catch 'em. Kill 'em.

5. You're showing off. Complex writing does not equal complex thought. Using big, fancy words (like say, overwrought instead of strained) and overwrought construction screams, "look at me, LOOK AT ME, BITCH!" Instead of getting out of the reader's way and letting the story envelop them, this kind of showy style puts a wall up and paints the author's face across it. It also kills clarity, which is just another wall in and of itself. Aim for clear, simple writing. Choose the plain word over the fancy one. Don't use two words when one will do.

And, here's a bonus just for my fantasy and science fiction writing friends.

6. Your character and place names are pretentious. A lot goes into a name, and getting them right in genre fiction can be hard. But just because you're writing high fantasy, for example, doesn't mean everyone needs to run around with names like Hurtzzhulnaznag or Nákhgolroggu. If we can't pronounce what you've written, we start to not want to read it either. Obviously, big problem there. Here's a red flag: you start using letters in your names that you have to look up the keystrokes for. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Source: http://www.justinmclachlan.com/804/common-writing-mistakes/

[Suzee]

I love this!

[Devin]

I call BS on #2. If you're using it a lot, sure. You don't want italics all over the page. But there's nothing inherently wrong or weak about using it to emphasize words or to point out that something is a direct thought (in a third person story).

4. Adverbs and adjectives are normal parts of language. The problem is with overusing them. Keeping them under control is fine. Hunting through your manuscript to delete all of them is ridiculous.

5. Showing off is bad. Using big/fancy words is fine, IF it's appropriate for the book or character.

[emma]

Re. no. 4  It might be party of a character that you have written. Their personality might be that they 'talk' in a flowery manner and just have let you know exactly how they feel and everything is so very wonderfully brilliant the whole time ;)

[Jane]

3. You switch POV. It's fine to get inside a character's head, but bouncing around from person to person within a scene is awfully confusing for the reader. Stay with one character instead, and if you must change—save it for a scene break or other clear delineation.

I read cosy mystery while I was overseas that had this problem in spades - but curiously I don't notice it reading posts here at Triad nearly as much, perhaps because I accept it here as a natural result of coposting.

[Yvonne]

OMG Pinterest. I loves it.

Anyway-- interesting read! Thanks for sharing. Way back when I had to go through my first manuscript, I was told to delete a LOT of adjectives/adverbs, and I think that in the end my writing was stronger for it. That and passive writing were my sins. But like Becki said, don't ever kill all of them. I just do my best to make sure that the ones I have, count.

As for #5... that really depends on the type of book you're aiming for. A book like 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' or 'House of Leaves' (just to name 2) can play with language in ways that in other books (like Anne's) would look vastly out of place. I think that there's a place for 'overwrought' or complex books and words. It's just not every place.

And I agree with Jane -- so interesting that in a PbEM the head-switching is so much easier to digest! All about context again, I guess!

[Paula]

I admit I'm sometimes quilty of nr 1 and 4   Lol, good tips.