No matter what kind of a writer you are, you write to express yourself. For your message to be decoded and interpreted well, you need to have writing skills. As an author, there are some mistakes you should always avoid to maintain your credibility. Some common mistakes lower your professional ability.
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Punctuation marks
When writing an article, you may not correctly use punctuation marks. Incorrect use of punctuation marks makes your article look worthless. No matter how good your article is, if you have not correctly used punctuation marks your audience or readers are likely to assume that the whole article isn’t meaningful, the article looks like it was written by someone with little commands in the language the article is written in. Now that you can’t avoid using punctuation marks in your article you should have a look at them to know where to use which punctuation and where not to use.
Spelling
This is the combination of words to form a meaningful written word. Different words have different spelling. Spelling mistakes come in when you have misspelled some words in your article. Misspelling a word may make it meaningless or mean something else away from what you intended.
Spelling mistakes lead to confusion as the reader will not get the intended message. To make your article free from spelling mistakes you should use spelling checkers and other writing tools. Some words when misspelled means something else therefore after using the spelling checker to make sure you proofread your article before publishing.
Incomplete sentences
Incomplete sentences in an article raise many questions. Your aim as a writer isn’t to have your readers asking themselves questions, you are writing to inform them.
An example of an incomplete sentence would wait for the bus. Such a sentence raises several questions such as who waited for the bus, where was he/she waiting for the bus and many more. To avoid this make sure every sentence in the article is meaningful. Know how to join two run-on sentences to have one meaningful sentence.
After writing, always proofread your text to identify and rectify such mistakes in your article before publishing.
Ambiguous sentences
Some readers don’t have time to read and hence it is you as the writer to make your article precise. Long articles tend to discourage readers. Don’t write to fill a given number of pages but write to pass a message. Every sentence in your article should be meaningful.
Format
The article layout has a great impact on the eyes of the reader. A well-formatted article attracts readers. When writing an article don’t only use simple text, consider using several styles and formats. If you cannot choose the proper format for your academic assignments, you better ask for professional help.
Overusing some words
In your writing avoid using the same words repeatedly. Word overuse shows that you don’t have good command in the language you are writing in. To avoid this, look for synonyms (words with similar meaning).
Use simple language
When writing your article, avoid vocabularies that require the reader to seek their meaning in dictionaries. You aren’t writing to show how good you are in the language you write in but to share a message with your readers. Using some vocabularies is like encrypting your article, only a few people with the ability to decrypt it will read your article.
Some readers may not have access to dictionaries and time to look at what some words in your article mean. Use a language that can be understood by many and not professionals only.
Incorrect tense
Verbs can be used to tell when an action happened or will happen. Incorrect use of tense will automatically mislead the reader. When writing, avoid using verbs that don’t tell when the action happened. The tense you use determines whether the action has happened, is happening or it is to happen.
Proofreading
After writing an article, many writers do not proofread before publishing the article. Proofreading is essential as it helps identify errors in the article. No matter how professional you make sure you proofread before publishing and sharing your writing.
Using contractions
Contractions make your article easier to read and comprehend. Learn how and where to use contractions. Using contractions makes your article look more professional. Contractions also make your writing look friendly, using you’re instead of you are and I’m instead of I am.
Starting a sentence with conjunctions
When writing an article, avoid starting sentences with words like and but. It isn’t wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction but when you start with conjunction, make sure you write a complete sentence.
If you are new to article writing you are perhaps also new to maintaining a website, here are a few common Mistakes new WordPress users make.
