Writing is a nice hobby, and working as a writer is also a nice job. But this doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy one. Even if you’ve been writing for so long now, everyone does commit a mistake or two. And to be better, you have to come face-to-face with acknowledging these mistakes.
These aren’t meant to discourage you from writing, if any of it resonates with you. But at the very least, it should motivate you, as a learning experience. So, if you feel you’re making those mistakes, you can also do what you can to learn from them. Then you can slowly make those errors right.
To start with, these are the top five mistakes aspiring writers should avoid making:
1. Lack Of Editing.
Writers have to edit their work, too, but not many will actually take that extra step of doing so. While there are going to be editors that are more adept at doing this job, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do a little proofreading before submitting your work to the editors or to your chosen printers, one of the many being A&A Printing.
By editing, this means going deeper than checking for a few spelling and typo errors. Try to read your work aloud and see if what you’ve written actually makes sense.
To be a good writer, you have to be very patient. This means being ready to possibly cut chunks off your work, and re-writing or re-phrasing it for a better copy.
2. Waiting For Inspiration To Hit.
When you’re going to start writing professionally, you can’t just sit around and wait for inspiration to kick in, before you start writing. As an aspiring writer, you have to learn to generate your own inspiration, so you can keep writing, even on those days when you seem unmotivated to write.
Remember that when you do it as a profession, you’ve got clients who are counting on you to meet the deadline. And this doesn’t only mean submitting a written work, but a good-quality one at that. So, to practice that sense of professionalism as a writer, don’t just sit around and wait for inspiration to start you writing.
3. A Weak Introduction.
One of the most important parts of any writer’s work, apart from your title or heading, is the introduction. If you aren’t careful enough, this could also be one of the most common errors you can make as a writer. Your introduction has to be strong, given that first impressions are lasting.
To make sure your audience actually does continue reading your work, don’t just focus on the first sentence. Do make sure your first paragraph is strong enough to keep their interest going, so they continue reading.
4. Trying To Write Something ‘Different’.
While it works to strengthen your writing skills when you try something new, unfortunately, writing something different all the time will only make you even more confused. The danger with this is you may come up with work that’s half-baked in terms of quality or one that’s all over the place because it lacks focus.
As an aspiring writer, start with the niche you feel most comfortable writing in. Consider it as your strength for you to focus on. When you’re confident enough that you can try out other niche or types of written work, then that’s when you should touch on those. It doesn’t make you any less of a writer if you’re only limited to the niche you know you can best perform in.
5. Unnecessary And Missing Apostrophe Marks.
Even the most seasoned of all writers may commit the mistake of using either unnecessary apostrophe marks or too much of them.
Here are some rules to illustrate this point:
- When you make nouns as possessive, you add the apostrophe and an ‘s’, depending on the noun (e.g., Marc’s bag, the boys’ playroom)
- Possessive pronouns aren’t meant to have an apostrophe mark (e.g. hers, theirs, ours, yours);
- Use ‘its’ to indicate ownership, like ‘its dog’, and ‘it’s’ to mean ‘it is’ or ‘it has’, like ‘it’s a viral infection’.
Conclusion.
With this list of mistakes, are you now feeling more confident that you can become a better writer? It’s already a good enough start that you’ve got that aspiration to become a writer. Now comes the harder part of honing your skills and ensuring you make it superbly as a good writer. No matter the niche you belong to, these mistakes can crop up. After learning from them and correcting them, you can slowly make your way toward becoming a wordsmith.
