Category «Mistakes»

Editors are rude (Mistake #122)

Believing that editors are rude is much like believing that people are rude — most are not, but a very few are. But really this is about all sorts of editorly behaviour which is taken to be rude by writers new to the game of writing. Being ignored by editors is widely perceived to be …

Unwritten letters (Mistake #121)

There have been paeans to letters before, of course, and I’ve written a few myself too, but when a recent one by writer Beatrice Charles captured some of the many charms of letters (and postcards) and indeed the joy of writing them, I felt moved to produce another. In the second of my writing e-guides, 50 …

Worrying about the expert (Mistake #120)

My writing specialisms are food allergies and food intolerances, which I’ve been writing about for well over a decade – news, articles, features, blogs, four books, with a fifth due soon. Naturally, I read a lot of material which covers my subjects, and a lot of what I read I think is poor. Is this …

Stopping when stuck (Mistake #119)

I don’t agree with all of Jeanette Winterson’s advice in this Guardian article from the beginning of the decade, but I do like the following: Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether. She meant it about …

Brexit II (Mistake #118)

It’s been well over a year since I wrote Brexit Part I. Where has the time gone, my friends? Even though we have since decided not to remain, the opportunities to write about Brexit do remain. In fact, I’d say they’ve grown. Had we voted to stay, I reckon they’d have declined. Some consolation, perhaps, …

You have one job (Mistake #117)

If being a writer and only a writer isn’t working out, then it may be time for a change-up. This isn’t about giving up being a writer – although I have written about that before, in Mistake #108, and don’t believe it’s something you should never consider – but about being more than a writer. …

Sat and sitting; stood and standing (Mistakes #115 and #116)

It is perfectly correct to say, “I was stood at the bus stop” — but only if someone picked you up physically, walked you to the bus stop, placed you down and stood you there. It is just fine to say, “We were sat at the table in the restaurant” — but only if the …

The single-sitting read (Mistake #114)

There had been no plan to try to do it. Once I’d decided to, once I’d moved past the half-way mark, there was not much consideration for the fact that it would be my first time, were I to succeed. But I was closer to the end than the beginning. It seemed doable. And by then I was …

Can Cook, Won’t Cook (Mistake #113)

Although I now specialise in allergies and intolerances, before that I used to cover diet and nutrition. I eventually got a bit disillusioned with writing about this vitamin, that mineral and those antioxidants. Did my readers really need to know all this detail? Was being informed on such complex matters really necessary? In today’s food culture, I think …

Not making the most of ideas and material, by Patsy Collins (Guest Mistake #3)

If we pitch an idea to an editor and no commission results then clearly it was a rubbish idea and we should give up on it. If we do get the commission, then once we’ve gloated over seeing our name in print and spent the fee, that’s the end of that. I made both of …