The Top 10 Writing Blunders That Can Make or Break Your Content

Writing mistakes is very paramount these days. There are many individuals on the internet today who are writers and many others trying to build their writing skills either for business or personal use.

There is one problem these writers have and I believe every newbie writer has it as well.

In this article I have categorized this problem into 10 common mistakes writers are making and how to avoid them.

1. Editing while Writing

Most beginner writers make the mistake of editing during the writing process. This is wrong and here is why:It distorts your ideas. When you get fresh ideas, it’s still in its original form but when you begin to write and make corrections at the same time, it disturbs the flow of thought, making you lose balance and eventually forgetting your actual train of thoughts.

It causes slow progress in writing. When you constantly stop to edit, it becomes an ambiguous task for you to finish writing. Thus making you lose interest leading to unproductivity.

Here’s what you do instead:Understand that your first draft will be messy. You must embrace this truth and write forward. Don’t think of anything else while you are writing. Focus on getting your thoughts out on paper, however it may sound at that time.Then edit after writing. This way, you would not have your ideas and thoughts distorted trying to correct errors as you write.

2. Not Doing Research

Most writers make the mistake of using generic content during writing. This will only make your information stale as there is no new thing added to it. Secondly, doing thorough research helps with fact and statistics checking.

This way you can avoid misinforming your audience and maintain originality.

3. Neglecting Your Audience

Most writers make the mistake of writing content that doesn’t align with the desires of their audience.

Little wonder, many struggle to build a thriving community online. What you do is to know what your audience is about—problems, struggles, fears. You can do this by asking them questions directly through surveys, and polls.

4. Poor Editing And Proofreading

This mistake is quite common among writers. And what it does is, it makes you look like an amateur writer even when you are not.

Nobody is above mistakes, good and fine. However, as a writer you should strive to be above mistakes.

Because when your content is full of too many errors, it becomes overwhelming for your readers. So learn to edit your work properly. One great method that works all the time is to read your content aloud, to your hearing.

Also, if you can go through the hassle of editing yourself, you should hire the service of an editor.

5. Telling Instead of Showing

This is poor use of description in your writing project. When sharing a narrative for instance, give your reader the opportunity to imagine the action that took place. It is a key technique that enables readers to immerse themselves in your story.

Here’s an example:

Telling: Sarah was sad and cried

Showing: Sarah’s eyes drooped, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, her mind so far away as she looked through the window.

Telling: The room was dark and scary

Showing: The shadows cast by the flickering candles danced on the walls, making the room ominous and foreboding.

6. Poor Openings

Your opening can either make your reader grow interest or lose interest. Your opening has to be compelling enough for your readers. This is because it is the gateway to your story. Your opening must be compelling so much to spark curiosity and draw them into your narrative.Avoid cliches, information overload, or using vague or generic statements.What you do instead is to start with a thought provoking question or statement, an interesting fact or statistics.

7. Zero Outlining

Many writers make the mistake of starting a writing process without creating a proper outline. In the end, they get confused with structure and topics. Outlining helps to give your work a direction, like a road map. It helps you know where and when to start and finish. If you want to be an expert writer, learn outlining.

8. Inconsistent Voice And Tone

When starting out as a writer, it can be difficult for you to maintain a consistent voice. This is especially so if you don’t know the type of voices used in writing. The tone you use in writing matters too. This helps to depict the emotions you are transmitting at that time to your readers. Mastering them is vital for effective writing. They help convey your personality , attitude and emotions to your readers.

For the type of voices, we have:Formal, mostly used in the academic and professional settings

Informal. Conversational and casual. Mostly used in social media content creation.

Sarcasm. Ironic and witty.Humor. Funny and playful

There we have for tone: Positive, Negative, Neutral, Emotional and detached tones.

You manage consistency by having an understanding of who your audience are, practicing different writing styles to know what they connect with more, this will also help you create your unique tone and voice.

9. Repetition

This happens when you are short of ideas and loss of words for your writing. Many writers struggle with this as a result of writer’s block. Pay attention to your word usage and also enrich your vocabulary. This helps you to be more articulate. More importantly, don’t play with reading wild and research. With research, you have more ideas to share with your reader.

10. Not Seeking Feedback

This will hurt your writing career especially if you chose to be a loner. Seeking Feedback from your readers will help you improve in your writing skills, adjust where necessary. It helps you to gain an in-depth understanding of how you affect those who read your words. If you are not confident seeking feedback from readers yet, you can always use the help of coaches, mentors, friends and family.

And that is that guys. These and more are costing you as a writer. So as you know, it’s bad for business.