Blog | Mistakes Writers Make ...

What gives you the right to write about that? (Mistake #57)

I was asked this when my book on coeliac disease (or gluten intolerance) came out, by a potential reader who had the condition. She seemed offended, almost, that someone who wasn’t a coeliac sufferer, or a nutritionist, or a gastroenterologist, or a doctor or medic of any kind, and not even, say, a caterer with …

You’re reading the MWMB Blog (Mistake #56)

“Get that up on that mistakes blog of yours this second!” retorted a friend when I used the expression ‘PIN number’ in an email in passing. It took me a few moments to work it out. A PIN is, of course, a Personal Identification Number, and so is a ‘number’ by definition. You don’t need …

There’s a best way (Mistake #55)

A freelance journalist colleague of mine, Janet Murray, is offering an apprenticeship to a young person with an interest in the business. She has today written about it in the Guardian, and you can find out more here. Most of the comments and tweets I’ve seen about this initiative – the first of its kind, …

“Unsolicited articles not accepted” (Mistake #54)

It’s a mistake to think this means “we don’t use freelance contributions”. It means “we don’t read articles you send us that we’ve not asked you to send us”. If they really want to try to put you off, they’ll say something like “Unsolicited articles are not read and cannot be returned” and perhaps add …

Editors have the time, really (Mistake #53)

It’s a favourite writers’ moan: editors not responding to articles or queries. I tend to trot out the usual defences: they’re under no obligation to reply, they get inundated with emails, they’re really really busy and don’t have the time… “Of course they have the time,” I hear too often, sometimes from established writers, and …

Selling the destination – not the story (Mistake #52)

Disclaimers to start: I don’t much like to travel, I don’t much like to hear about people’s travels, I don’t write about travel (two published travel articles in a fifteen-year career, if you want the figures), and, although I do enjoy a beautifully crafted and fascinating travel article when I stumble across one, I’m fairly …

“Dear Editorial Director…” (Mistake #51)

Query from a student, who’d been looking at the flannel panel in a publication: “To whom should an idea be sent?” Good question. I liked that the student asked it, that she didn’t just ignore the issue, that she didn’t think it unimportant, that she didn’t tell herself “Oh, it’s a dumb question”, that it …

Only talented writers sell (Mistake #50)

There are a lot of perfectly competent but otherwise fairly unremarkable writers earning a decent living from words. There are a few poor writers getting by as well. If you’re scratching your head, unconvinced, thinking that you rarely see average or poor writing in print, I have to declare a possible unfair advantage over you …

“Don’t be soft! I’ll send you a copy!” (Mistake #49)

This may be the first time I’ve featured a mistake that I have not only made, but that I continue to make. More interested followers will have noticed I’ve been quiet of late, and dedicated fans may even know that the reason is I’ve just published my fourth book. It’s called Coeliac Disease: What you …

No-thank you (Mistake #48)

Ingratitude is the theme of today’s post, and while I’ve deliberately waited until some months after my last professional experience of it in order to keep the emotion out of this, it’s possible some residual frustration will seep through. Excuse it, please. I want to say upfront that most people in the business will thank …