Common Mistakes of an Author
Every author is different, with a unique writing style. However, a large number of authors make some common mistakes that often need a professional book editing service to rectify.
Wordiness
Authors risk wordiness by over explaining things, describing scenes and situations too much and using redundant language. Writing a novel is about using strong nouns and verbs and not excessive adjectives and adverbs.
Tendency to Tell Rather than Show Readers
This mistake comes from trying to explain too much with the belief that readers will not understand. Give credit to your readers for being smart and filling in the gaps using their own imagination.
Describing the Character Too Much
Many authors have a tendency to introduce a character and immediately describe the character from head to toe, and this continues throughout the manuscript. Refrain from doing this. It is boring and also breaks the connect a reader forges with the protagonist and storyline.
Narrating too Many Points of View
Having too many points of view will prevent readers from bonding or identifying with the protagonist. So stick to the single point of view from the protagonist or two at the most, if two strong characters are part of the storyline. Anything more is chaotic.
Incorrect Dialogue Tags
Using dialogue tags is a clichéd way to mark speech. Remember, people don’t growl, laugh or yawn. The dialogue itself will reveal to the readers the state of mind of the character.
Misplaced Modifiers
This is the most common grammatical error authors commit. If you use a clause or phrase that is not related to what follows, you are using misplaced modifiers.
It is important, as an author, that you send the copy of your manuscript to a professional editor for novel proofreading or booking editing services. Manuscripts proofreading is affordable as several editors offer online book editing. Authors editing their own manuscript copy may not catch these common mistakes. However, a professional book editing service can help eliminate common grammar and syntax mistakes so that the book publisher’s editor will have to spend less time making corrections. This increases the chances of getting published.
