Writing Mistakes

As a habit, when I start writing from where I left off, I usually read the last few chapters so I can regain the story within my thoughts. Most of the time when I do this I find a few mistakes in my writing and make corrections. The thing is that I only read a few paragraphs, but I find mistakes in just those few words. I correct them, but it makes me think of how many other errors are within the pages I haven't yet reviewed. Because of this, editing becomes all the more important in the later stages. And like I always say, getting words onto paper should be the first priority, everything else comes later. Knowing this, living this, means I need to analyze my most common mistakes and search for them when the time for editing comes. So here are the things I get wrong, search for, and inevitably change:

Towards – Toward

Backwards – Backward

Afterwards – Afterward

Forwards – Forward

He said jokingly – he joked.

Than and then – Work on not confusing them.

To, too, and two – Don’t confuse

Don’t overuse the word “that” – eliminate as many as you can….

Contractions:

Is not – isn’t

Are not – aren’t

They are – they’re

He is/he has – he’s

She is/she has - she’s

There is – there’s

I am – I’m

I have – I’ve

They have – They’ve

And …..

Point of view is the voice of the person telling the story. In a novel length work, it is preferable to have one point of view per chapter, if not, one per scene is acceptable.

No Table of Contents

No underline - Bold chapter titles, but no underline.

No ‘’ – use italics, same with titles of movie or reference to other items.

Prologue and Epilogue, Overview is for the back cover…

Delete content that is irrelevant or doesn’t drive the story forward.

Delete points of view unless absolutely necessary.

Don’t interrupt flow by adding ‘he said’ in the middle of a point or conversation.

Thesaurus – Use it more…