9 writing mistakes you shouldn't make

Frantic writer

Whether it's our first book or our eighth, all writers make mistakes, but today I'm going to
focus on the common mistakes made by newbie writers, so that you don't have to go through
what we did.

Let's get ourselves into some difficulty.

It is possible to over-explain things.

This is the first and most serious of the faults.

Despite the fact that you know your readers are not stupid, you may be leading them to
assume that you do.

Yes, that sounds dramatic, but it happens more frequently than you might think.

Many writers have the terrible tendency of explaining everything in great detail, even when it
isn't essential.

Luis had presented to his boss the project that he had been writing for the last few days, but
he did not like it and told him that it was rubbish. Luis had gotten angry about that and he
was furious.

Consider this: You're on page seven of that book you just bought, and...

-What a dreadful day! My boss irritates me! yelled Luis, who had been having a bad day due
to his boss. "Look at you telling me the project was a waste of time!"

What are your thoughts on this?

Well, let's prevent that situation from happening with one of our books.

Don't let the dialogues flow

Annotations in dialogue are fine, but only when they are necessary to express a nuance that
is not understood. If it is clear who each interlocutor is and we have nothing important to
contribute, let them talk to each other; Let's be polite and don't interrupt them. They will
appreciate it and so will our readers.

Repeat words
Without realizing it, we have a natural tendency to repeat words. It happens to all of us. That
is why it is important that we review the text and use synonyms (or expressions that fulfill the
same function) to reduce these repetitions, which give a feeling of linguistic poverty that is
not real. But let's not look for bombastic words; the narration should flow naturally and
respect the overall communication style of the work.

Not giving importance to the first page

We can have a fantastic book: interesting, exciting, well structured and written… But if we
forget the first paragraphs, it is very possible that we will lose readers.

Do we not take a look at the first pages of the book that we are considering buying in our
favorite bookstore? Or, worse still, what about that novel that we acquired the other day but
that after four pages still does not get hooked? Is it possible that we park it in a corner of the
shelf where it just collects dust? And what will we say if they ask us about it?

We create interest from the first page. What's more, we squeeze our brains to cause an
impact that makes it unthinkable not to buy and read our book.

Not documented

Imagination has no limits, but when we talk about a specific topic or place we must
document ourselves.

If we are going to write a detective novel, it would be inexcusable for us to confuse, for
example, positions and hierarchy; And if we think about setting it up in Edinburgh, what less
than collecting a little information about the climate, the character of the people, the
numbering of the streets, the type of houses or the socio-demographic profile of the
neighborhoods in which the action will take place.

It is not about doing a scientific investigation, but about knowing the main points, lest
someone make us blush when they think about our work.

Change the narration time

This error is very common, and it can occur in at least two ways:

Narrator who is telling the story in the past and, suddenly, it is in the present (or vice versa).
Specific changes in verb tense: «It was late. It had been a hard day and now he had to start
studying.
Neglect the cover

Whatever they say, the first impression is very important. Books are out there, but time is still
tight. It is difficult for someone to spend two hours on Amazon comparing books if the first
one that caught their attention and that made them read the synopsis and the reviews of the
readers ended up convincing them. And the same thing happens in a bookstore.

So we dress our literary creation in the best clothes so that it does not go unnoticed.
Eye-catching (that doesn't mean tacky or crude), professional, and consistent with the
content. That is the ideal cover.

Do not pass the book for correction

I am sure you write well, but to think that your book does not contain any typos or
grammatical and style errors is to be too optimistic.

I am a proofreader and my books, finished but without going through correction, have errors.
This also happens to great writers.

A writer has to have imagination, ability to tell a story, facility to convey emotions ... but he
does not have to be an expert in linguistics.

Don't put a great job at risk by wanting to save a few euros.

So far, we've covered the nine most typical errors made by inexperienced writers. I've
already admitted to falling into more than one at the same time, but... what has been your
experience? I hope you found this article useful.