# Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I love this blog entry! http://www.holtuncensored.com/hu/the-ten-mistakes/#



> Like many editorial consultants, I've been concerned about the amount of time I've been spending on easy fixes that the author shouldn't have to pay for.
> 
> Sometimes the question of where to put a comma, how to use a verb or why not to repeat a word can be important, even strategic. But most of the time the author either missed that day's grammar lesson in elementary school or is too close to the manuscript to make corrections before I see it...


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

Sage advice; thanks. 

It's always amazed me that people who would never say ballet is easy, think writing is. E. M. Forster's _Aspects of the Novel_ is well worth reading by anyone serious about the craft.

CK

Edited to note that I agonized over that comma between 'easy' and 'think.'


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> It's always amazed me that people who would never say ballet is easy, think writing is. E. M. Forster's _Aspects of the Novel_ is well worth reading by anyone serious about the craft.
> 
> Edited to note that I agonized over that comma between 'easy' and 'think.'


Man, and here I was wondering why you put that comma in there.   

One thing a teacher in my youth taught me was to remove clauses to check punctuation:

It's always amazed me that people < > think writing is <easy>. So, the comma is not needed unless you were going to put commas on each end of the clause.

But, then again, I will say that quite often comma placement is subjective. I am more likely to "overcomma-ize" things, usually. For instance, I think I could have put a comma around "quite often" in the above sentence and still been correct, but it wasn't necessary.


----------



## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

Some grammar issues are clear but many are subjective.  I prefer Carolyn's earlier, comma-less version, but I see it both ways and I don't think either is right or wrong.

edit:  now I think I have too many commas in my sentence.


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

RedAdept said:


> Man, and here I was wondering why you put that comma in there.


It marks a separation of ideas, so I thought it necessary. That kind of usage is more British than American, and more Victorian than modern, like my reading preferences. 

CK


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I contemplated the comma. How could I not? 

I wouldn't have put it there, but I liked what it did to the rhythm of the sentence. I thought it was a cool choice, and I'm told it was carefully considered.

Mistake one, about "crutch" words really resonates with me. Once a word gets stuck in my head, I'll keep using it without realizing it. A friend first pointed out to me and I both hate and appreciate him for the knowledge. Because of it, I'm also keenly aware of when other people do it.

(Ha, I originally used _contemplated_ twice! And now, since I pointed it out, the count is back to two.)
*
Edited:* I was made aware of how often I used the word _aware. _


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> It marks a separation of ideas, so I thought it necessary. That kind of usage is more British than American, and more Victorian than modern, like my reading preferences.


I wasn't knocking your comma usage, Carolyn. To be honest, I wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> I contemplated the comma. How could I not?
> 
> I wouldn't have put it there, but I liked what it did to the rhythm of the sentence. I thought it was a cool choice, and I'm told it was carefully considered.


Thank you, Michelle. I really appreciate your noticing. 

CK


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> Mistake one, about "crutch" words really resonates with me. Once a word gets stuck in my head, I'll keep using it without realizing it. A friend first made me aware of it, and I both hate and appreciate him for the knowledge. It made me aware, and I catch it most of them time on re-reads. I'm also keenly aware of it when other people do it.
> 
> (Ha, I originally used _contemplated_ twice! And now, since I pointed it out, the count is back to two.)


That's my toughest obstacle. It's hard to come up with new adjectives for books, especially the really good ones.

Good, great, terrific, compelling, interesting, incredible....blah, blah, blah. I need a thesaurus.


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> Thank you, Michelle. I really appreciate your noticing.
> 
> CK


Oh, man! Now I feel bad for saying that I wouldn't have noticed it.

Dang it! I'm sorry. I will try to be more aware and appreciative of thoughtful comma usage.


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

RedAdept said:


> I wasn't knocking your comma usage, Carolyn. To be honest, I wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.


What can I say...I'm compulsive.  I used to copy-edit for a living.

Ever cordially,

CK


----------



## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Carolyn, FWIW my two cents  --  that comma is in a sentence with the same structure as the saying "Those who can, do."  Nobody would want to leave it out in that one...  So as in that sentence, the comma adds clarity by separating the ideas, even though there's no comma-bracketed clause.


----------



## sierra09 (Jun 20, 2009)

RedAdept said:


> That's my toughest obstacle. It's hard to come up with new adjectives for books, especially the really good ones.
> Good, great, terrific, compelling, interesting, incredible....blah, blah, blah. I need a thesaurus.


I have a Super Thesaurus you could borrow but I think it needs its own thesaurus since it doesn't seem to have many choices in it.


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> Carolyn, FWIW my two cents -- that comma is in a sentence with the same structure as the saying "Those who can, do." Nobody would want to leave it out in that one... So as in that sentence, the comma adds clarity by separating the ideas, even though there's no comma-bracketed clause.


Susan, besides being grateful for your opinion (since I truly writhed over that blessed comma ), I'm once again wowed to think that you grew up speaking German.

Mein Kompliment,

CK


----------



## Tanner Artesz (Feb 2, 2009)

I have to admit that I make most of those errors on my rough drafts. This is especially true in chapters like the one I'm working on now. I know what I want to happen, but the words are eluding me. So, rather than spend hours over each phrase, I'll puke the action onto paper and let my proofreaders tell me what to fix.

Comma usage can make one comma-tose...

Tanner


----------



## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Thank you, Carolyn!  


Tanner, "comma-tose" is great  --  it's probably a feeling that not only authors know but pretty much anyone who has ever written a term paper in one night....


----------



## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

And now, a comma song I wrote several months ago (lest you give Tanner full credit for 'comma-tose'...)
enjoy!

Ohhhhhhhh....

Commas are the bane of my existence.
They're always being where they shouldn't be.
Those independent clauses indeed should have those pauses,
But comma-splices are catastrophe!

I'm fine with periods and semicolons,
parentheses, for me, inspire no fear.
But commas make me sore. (Aack! A splice on twenty-four!)
Perhaps I'll get this down by late next year.

Now some folks think my 'single quotes' are quirky,
And others think my prose is quite verbose.
With more commas than I need, my response is: 'Those things BREED!'
Before long I reckon I'll be comma-tose!

Now, style manuals sit on every table,
I've read 'em once, and twice, and once again.
But salvation must be found with an editor of renown.
Turabian has fried my tiny brain.

Yes, commas are the bane of my existence.
I refer to them as 'curliques from hell!'
I'm deferring to the masters to fix editing disasters,
And you know something? It's just as well!

'Archer'


----------



## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> I contemplated the comma. How could I not?
> 
> I wouldn't have put it there, but I liked what it did to the rhythm of the sentence. I thought it was a cool choice, and I'm told it was carefully considered.
> 
> ...


But you used "aware" three times!


----------



## J Dean (Feb 9, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> Sage advice; thanks.
> 
> It's always amazed me that people who would never say ballet is easy, think writing is. E. M. Forster's _Aspects of the Novel_ is well worth reading by anyone serious about the craft.
> 
> ...


Writing is easy. Writing _well_ is what is difficult.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Writing fiction is telling a story; I can forgive anything of a good story teller, especially a few misplaced or missing commas - some misused punctuations and the occasional very long, run-on sentence.


----------



## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Hi all, you were all expecting me on this thread, to be sure.  

All of those easy fixes are in fact basics, but we all slip into them. A few however can be used to your advantage. i.e. LIST - By replacing the comma with the conjunction and (or - or), you can build tension. But a tension run should be limited to a list of five and be followed by a single word fragment (a voices full stop). He had eaten candy and popcorn and ice cream and spinach and carrots. Barf. FLAT writing is detected when the author falls asleep when during the read back. If it bores you, it will kill the reader. "To be" is best used in second person and is essential. I love to use -IE words, but their best used in sarcastic phrases or comedy. Repeat words should be catalogued by each author as we have our own collection, and then in the 1st revision replace them with alternatives. Empty adverbs and most adverbs should be expunged, in the words of S. King - they are pernicious weeds. False dialogue is a killer when used as a story mover. If you're telling a tale in dialog (which is certainly permissible), if its a long tale, it better to flashback and show it. I sometimes will dovetail a flashback into parenthetical dialogues. Some dialogue that points to action like "The door's opening," or "did I see her wink?" are killers in that they throw the reader from the credibility path. 

An eleventh easy fix is what I call "gantry filters." These are He knew that, he wondered why he, to so and so it appeared to be. Such phrases are important when writing the draft and should NOT be avoided as it grounds the author in  the POV. Shifting POV is a scene killer. Then in revision, leave the first filter and remove the others in any given paragraph (like removing a gantry from a rocket). Another easy one to catch (and we could list many more), is the logical redundancy. "She clapped her hands." Well, what else would she clap (erasers, or course). It's "she clapped." I love when an author writes, "he kicked the door with his foot." 

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.

Ed Patterson


----------



## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

OK Archer, my apologies  --  I thought Tanner invented it  --  or maybe he hadn't seen your poem, and invented it all over again!


----------



## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

No apologies required! Tanner is a friend, and I enjoy yanking his chain. 
Hey, Tanner--
Yank! Yank!


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Dave Dykema said:


> But you used "aware" three times!


And there you go. 

Actually, I can justify two of those to my own satisfaction.


----------



## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I missed the bit on "commas." Commas are demons, because of an optical/mental aberration, which facilitates writers to punctuate mentally without ever hitting the keyboard. Therefore, we omit commas that we actually see in our mind. Unfortunately, our readers can't read our minds. Some of our comma-ommisions make for some dandy grammatical comedy, much like that adverb vaudeville act called Swifties. Although fully responsible for every comma I omit or foist (which came foist, the comma or the egg), my editor - Peg of the Red Pencil is in charge of commas as well as past/passed, lose/loose and starred/stared. I'm getting better at it (in fact, I once submitted a chapter to Peg that came out _clean_ - a miracle, if ever there was one), but would love to just can them all, like I do the infamous (useless) semi-colon. One might say that, as an author, my novels have all had a semi-colonoscopy. 

Edward C. Patterson


----------



## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

One thing that article mentioned that I don't agree with is using the same word over and over.

Sometimes authors whip out the thesaurus, trying to come up with new words to use. If the character's walking through the door, let them go through the door, not the aperture.

Unknown words take the reader out of the story. That's not to say I don't try to mix things up. I don't like using the same words two sentences in a row if I can help it.

But sometimes a spade's a spade, or a door's a door.


----------



## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Dave, you're right.

Uncle Stevie says that in your wiritng tool box, vocabulary is in the top drawer and it should be your vocabulary and not someone else's. I rarely use a Thesaurus (I use my Chinese and Cherokee dictionaries more often). However, because I've been under the wing of Victorian authors and playwrights since I've been a wee boy, I've been accused of seeking out a Thesaurus. And here I thought all those times when I was beat up in the school yard it was because I'm gay, when all the time it was for using high-faluttin' words behind home plate. (I'm lying. The closest anyone would let me get to home plate would be in the bleechers).  

Ed Patterson


----------

