LIST OF COMMON WRITING MISTAKES

1. No lead
2. No title and author in topic sentence if applicable
3. No topic sentences at the beginning of paragraphs
4. Saying that you believe in both sides of an issue. Stick to one side!
5. You dont specifically state what you are saying yes or no to.
BAD Yes, they should be used.
GOOD Yes, I think school uniforms should be used.
6. Discuss two examples at the same time. (Do not say, Two examples are if youre not going to
talk about both of them in the same sentence!)
BAD Two examples of conflict in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi are when Rikki fights Nagaina.
GOOD Two examples of conflict in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi are when
7. Vague pronoun usage (saying he, she, they, them, us, we without first stating a noun)
8. Using you instead of a specific noun
9. Too much summary before answering the question
10. Words written in the text or question are misspelled in the answer
11. Incorrect literature type (i.e. saying a story is a novel)
12. Abbreviations and symbols are used
13. Tenses are inconsistent
14. Subjects and verbs dont agree
15. Paragraphs arent used or indented
16. Parallelism isnt used
17. Capitals are used haphazardly (meaning they are used when they arent needed and not used
when they are needed)
18. Contractions are used in formal writing
19. Useless/unnecessary words are used
20. No textual support is provided
21. Redundancy (repetitiveness)
22. Slang usage
23. Writing like you talk
24. Uses commas haphazardly or not at all
25. Comma splices
26. Run ons
27. Fragments
28. Using of instead of have
29. use an adjective when an adverb should be used
BAD I ran to the store really fast.
GOOD I ran to the store quickly.
30. Short stories, poems, article titles, tv episodes, and song titles arent put in quotation marks.
31. Book, movie, and magazine titles and tv series arent italicized when typing or underlined when
writing.
32. No closing