Do you know the reason why most authors are inclined toward the idea of hiring companies offering ghostwriting services for authors? The answer is due to their perfection! Book writing for authors can be intimidating; that’s why hiring ghostwriting services is a good idea.
Moreover, have you ever read a bestselling book and found an absolute writing error? Unfortunately, many avid readers have experienced it. It is the overall quality readers expect from a bestselling book, and it might be diminished if authors leave many writing mistakes. And this could ultimately result in low ratings and bad reviews, which are enough to impact your book sales negatively.
A finalized manuscript might also contain some occasional errors that the author would have overlooked. However, aiming for precision is always an admirable goal so that authors can go through the editing process with greater clarity if they are aware of the most common writing errors; this will also prevent them from falling into common traps.
So, what are the most common writing mistakes that even bestseller authors make? Continue reading to get answers to all the major writing mistakes covering everything from general errors to specific punctuation and grammar issues.
Exhibit, Don’t Just Tell.
This could be the writing error that editors point to the most. Authors have a tendency to tell rather than exhibit. This indicates that the author summarizes or recounts what happened instead of allowing the reader to understand a story through its ideas, action, dialogue, and sensations. They frequently accomplish this by outrightly declaring a character’s emotions instead of demonstrating how those feelings are expressed.
It’s surprising how easily writers can fall into the trick of narrating the story in order to make a point rather than allowing the characters to show it through their own words and deeds. So, don’t assume that the reader will not be able to infer what they need from an intriguing conversation; instead, allow the characters of your book to tell their story. Instead of summarizing or narrating what happened, allow the reader to experience the story.
Starting With A Weak Opening
Have you ever put down a book after reading just a few pages? When the story is started in an incorrect setting, it happens. Making a mistake here is simple. Although the author is aware that something amazing will soon occur, the reader is unaware of this. It’s likely they won’t continue reading around long enough to learn what something amazing is if they are not immediately captivated at the beginning.
The tendency of many authors to provide too much of a backstory at the start is a primary problem. It is essential to immediately pique the reader’s interest, which calls for engaging characters and action—an action that doesn’t necessarily involve outbursts but tension, movement, and opposing ideas—from the beginning. Even if they are masterfully crafted, lengthy explanations can end a story before it even gets going.
Therefore, avoid starting a book with a lot of backstories. You already know which element will help your story become interesting, but if potential readers aren’t instantly engaged, they probably won’t read all the way through to the end.
Over Describing The Scenes
When a writer over-describes a character’s activities, it is unnecessary information is given. This disrupts the scene’s natural flow, lowers the suspense, and slows down the tempo.
Many authors struggle to have readers infer action in a scene, particularly action. Characters who, for example, cross a room, open a door, enter it, and then shut it are often encountered. Readers may find such information tiresome, which would delay the pace. The character simply needs to enter the room through the door. The rest will be evident to readers.
So, avoid giving extra information about the characters’ behavior. This disrupts the scene’s natural flow, lowers the suspense, and slows down the tempo.
Developing Unlikely Conflicts
Conflicts shape the story in numerous fiction genres. It’s important to offer disputes, whether they be internal or external. However, the reader is rarely satisfied when new authors base problems on misunderstandings that could be cleared up if the protagonists would just have a simple conversation.
Every story will contain challenges the characters must overcome, as well as highs and lows from the journey the characters take. These external tensions are required to advance the plot, but they aren’t what makes a reader want to keep reading. The most flattering stories also feature the main characters struggling with their own internal emotional issues; these conflicts are unique to them, prevent them from meeting their interest, make the case they are working on personal, and make the journey they are on difficult.
The most thrilling and alluring stories have an internal conflict that emotionally engages the reader, causes them to cheer for the character, and concludes with the character overcoming it.
To genuinely delve into the character is the best approach to produce internal confusion. Consider what makes them tick, what inspires them, where they came from, and what experiences have shaped who they are today. For example, consider the feelings someone might have as a result of being in circumstances that play to their conflict and express these on paper.
Point Of View
A story’s success greatly depends on choosing the appropriate point of view. However, this changes with the genre you are writing. For example, young adult novels are mostly written considering the first-person approach, adhering to the proximity of young readers to relate to emotional experiences. So, an author needs to be able to switch gracefully between the characters’ perspectives. For example, romance is usually delivered in the third person omniscient. So, the success of a book depends on the point of view because it affects how a story is delivered.
Inexperienced writers frequently mix up omniscient points of view and deep points of view because they can both be written with a third-person approach. They also often allow omniscient point-of-view elements to clog up stories that are otherwise written from a deep point of view.
Similarly, from an omniscient point of view, it’s a strength to reveal the ideas of several characters in a scenario, but from a deep point of view, it’s a flaw. Even the phrase she thought after a passage of internal dialogue is inappropriate in a novel with a deep point of view. If we are in the character’s perspective, we cannot possibly be reading anybody else’s thoughts. So, a story’s success greatly depends on choosing the appropriate point of view for the story.
Letting Readers Assume
Draft after draft of a book is common for authors. It can be easy to forget that readers only know the information delivered to them on the page after numerous edits. This is the biggest mistake any novelist or writer can make. From firsthand expertise, rigorous research, and observations, the authors have a wealth of information about their book. Countless pieces of information, as well as illustrations of their plot, characters, and settings, have overloaded their minds. Writing in this scenario often undermines the story while leaving a lot for the readers to assume.
So, to avoid this, develop a character report if you want to point out the places in your novel or book where you hurried through important information. Write down the information you learn about each character as you follow them throughout the story — not what you already know, but what you have delivered to the reader. The gaps left by assumed information will be exposed, and you can cleverly fill those gaps.
Name and Spelling Inconsistencies
Even though it’s usually the copy editor’s job to spot these inconsistencies, authors should also look out for flaws when proofreading their manuscripts.
Approximately twenty different perspectives of a story exist in the minds of authors. A detail that isn’t picked up constantly all over the story is one of the errors that can be considered a writing mistake. Readers can become confused when a new name appears that hasn’t been there earlier. However, finding and replacing commands can help you with this, but it’s not always precise. Therefore, checking all your character names and their spellings before publishing your book is important. To check for obsolete names and their spellings and to ensure none have slipped during proofreading, it is recommended to utilize the find and replace tool in Microsoft Word.
Conclusion
So, these were the seven most common writing mistakes that even bestselling authors make. They make book writing for authors a challenging task. However, the best approach to tackle these common writing mistakes is to work with a professional book writing service while drafting a flawless manuscript.
