Category «Mistakes»

Writing to demonstrate knowledge (Mistake #21)

This is an interesting one, which I tend to see in younger writers, perhaps just out of school or college or uni, and therefore maybe fresh from writing essays. Articles are not essays, clearly. One of the key differences – there are many – is that in an essay you are typically writing to show …

Numbers with character (Mistake #20)

It’s summer. Everybody’s been talking about hot temperatures. Here’s the Press Association, here’s Sky, here’s the Daily Record, and here’s the Daily Express, all insisting that a temperature can be hot. But it can’t. Temperature is a number. A number can be high. A number can be low. A number can be average. What a …

“Oh $&#£ off!” (Mistake #19)

A couple of months ago I read a BMJ editorial by Rhona Flin, Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Aberdeen, in which she argued that experiencing or witnessing rudeness at work makes you more likely to make mistakes. This would seem to be common sense, although it’s not something to which I’d previously …

‘What do you think of this?’ (Mistake #18)

When you’re a writer – especially when you’re also a tutor or you offer advice or criticism to new and budding writers – you get a lot of people showing you their work. Some comes from acquaintances, or acquaintances of acquaintances, and some is from strangers. Sometimes I’m happy and have time to help and …

Not investing in your career (Mistake #17)

I want to say upfront that in my experience British people are not cheap. They are quite happy to spend money on holidays, on home improvements, on clothes, on gadgets, on cars, on … pretty much anything. And they don’t only treat themselves. Brits are notoriously generous when it comes to, say, Christmas gifts and …

Admitting ignorance (Mistake #16)

A weird one this, but I’ve seen it a fair bit, so thought it deserved a few lines. As a writer, you must be authoritative. You might not be an expert in the subject about which you are writing, but for the duration of those 800 or 1,200 words, you need to act as if …

Ampersand Anarchy (Mistake #15)

Okay, it’s a pet hate, but it’s still wrong, and you really shouldn’t do it. This is the ampersand: &. It is stylised from the Latin word for and, which is et. It has very specific uses, and almost always exclusively in the context of proper names, such as in company names, in an artistic …

Unfinished business (Mistake #14)

“Make sure you complete things,” says motoring journalist and author Maria McCarthy, who also runs writing workshops and classes. “Don’t have lots of ‘beginnings’ stuffed in drawers.” The second I came across this tip I realised it was a winner. Maria was referring to fiction, as it happens, but it could easily be applied to …

Loose brackets (Mistake #13)

So: round brackets, properly known as parentheses. What are they used for? * to offer the reader an aside (which is a thoughtful thing to do); * to give an unimportant piece of information (in which only a few readers may be interested); * to offer extra information (such as a fuller explanation of a …

“I can’t write for Yachting Monthly!” (Mistake #12)

Or Dog’s World. Or Hair Today. Or any other number of specialist titles which make up the bulk of publications you find at major newsagents, in the areas of cars, computing, horses, classical music, crafts, genealogy, religion, gardening and the rest. Wrong. You can. I often encourage students and new writers to consider these specialist …