Common 
Writing Mistakes
Copyright © 2001, 
by Michael LaRocca

Most books aren't rejected because the stories are "bad."
They're rejected because they're not "ready to read."
In short, minor stuff like typos, grammar, spelling, etc.

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Now, I don't mean places where we, as authors, deliberately break the rules. Those are fine. That's part of our job. Language always changes with use, and we can help it on its way.  No, I'm referring to places where someone just plain didn't learn the rule or got confused or overlooked it during the self-edits. I've been editing novels for over a year. Looking back at my experiences, I feel like sharing the most common mistakes I've seen. If you'll go through your manuscript and fix these before you submit it to a publisher, your odds of publication will increase dramatically. Once you've found a publisher who publishes what you write, you want to present yourself in the best way possible. Submitting an unedited manuscript is a bit like going to a job interview wearing a purple Mohawk, no shoes, torn jeans, and a dirty T-shirt. Your resume may be perfect, and your qualifications impeccable, but something tells me you won't get the job. The publisher's investing a lot in every book it accepts. E-publishers tend to invest loads of time, and print publishers tend to invest an advertising budget and the cost of carrying a large inventory. Why ask them to invest hours and days of editing time as well? If the publisher gets two or three or ten nearly identical books, you want yours to be the one requiring the least editing. The first thing you need to do, and I hope you've already done it, is use the spelling and grammar checkers in your word processor. It'll catch many of the "common mistakes" on my list. But I've been asked to edit many books where the author obviously didn't do this, and I confess that I may well have been lazy and let a couple of mine get to my editors unchecked. Bad Michael!

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There are some other valuable lists on-line at the following websites:

Common Errors in English http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors

Words That Are Often Confused http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz/words.html
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Here's a list of the mistakes I see most often. * Dialogue where everyone speaks in perfect English and never violates any of the bullet points below. Okay, I made that up. That's not really a common problem at all. But I have seen it, and it's a terrible thing. * It's is a contraction for "it is"  and its is possessive. * Who's is a contraction for "who is"  and whose is possessive. * You're is a contraction for "you are"  and your is possessive. * They're is a contraction for "they are,"  there is a place,  their is possessive. * There's is a contraction for "there is"  and theirs is possessive. * If you've been paying attention to the above examples, you've noticed that possessive pronouns never use apostrophes. Its, whose, your, yours, their, theirs... * Let's is a contraction for "let us." * When making a word plural by adding an s, don't use an apostrophe. (The cats are asleep.) * When making a word possessive by adding an s, use an apostrophe. (The cat's bowl is empty.) * A bath is a noun, what you take.  Bathe is a verb, the action you do when taking or giving a bath. * A breath is a noun, what you take.  Breathe is a verb, the action you do when taking a breath. * You wear clothes.  When you put them on, you clothe yourself.  They are made of cloth. * Whenever you read a sentence with the word "that," ask yourself if you can delete that word and still achieve clarity. If so, kill it. The same can be said of all sentences. If you can delete a word without changing the meaning or sacrificing clarity, do it.  "And then" is a phrase worth using your word processor's search feature to look for. * Keep an eye on verb tenses. "He pulled the pin and throws the grenade" is not a good sentence. * Keep an eye on making everything agree regarding singular and plural. "My cat and my wife is sleeping," "My cat sleep on the sofa," and "My wife is a beautiful women" are not good sentences. (I exaggerate in these examples, but you know what I mean.)

* I and me, he and him, etc. I hope no editor is rejecting any novels for this one, because I suspect that most people get confused at times. In dialogue, do whatever the heck you want because it sounds more "natural." But for the sake of your narrative, I'll try to explain the rule and the cheat.  The rule involves knowing whether your pronoun is the subject or object. When Jim Morrison of The Doors sings, "til the stars fall from the sky for you and I," he's making a good rhyme but he's using bad grammar.  According to the rule, "you and I" is the object of the preposition "for," thus it should be "for you and me." The cheat involves pretending "you and" isn't there, and just instinctively knowing "for I" just doesn't sound right. (I think only native English speakers can use my cheat. For the record, I have great admiration for anyone who's writing in a language that isn't their native tongue.) * Should of, would of, could of. This one can make me throw things. It's wrong! What you mean is should have, would have, could have. Or maybe you mean the contractions. Should've, would've, could've. And maybe 've sounds a bit like of. But it's not! Of is not a verb. Not now, not ever. * More, shorter sentences are better. Always. Don't ask a single sentence to do too much work or advance the action too much, because then you've got lots of words scattered about like "that" and "however" and "because" and "or" and "as" and "and" and "while," much like this rather pathetic excuse for a sentence right here. * On a similar (exaggerated) note: "He laughed a wicked laugh as he kicked Ralphie in the face while he aimed the gun at Lerod and pulled the trigger and then laughed maniacally as Lerod twisted in agony because of the bullet that burned through his face and splattered his brains against the wall and made the wall look like an overcooked lasagna or an abstract painting." Now tell me this sentence isn't trying to do too much. * Too means also,  two is a number,  to is a preposition. * He said/she said. Use those only when necessary to establish who's speaking. They distract the reader, pulling him out of the story and saying, "Hey look, you're reading a book." Ideally, within the context of the dialogue, we know who's talking just by the style or the ideas. When a new speaker arrives on the scene, identify him or her immediately. Beyond that, keep it to a minimum. Oh yeah, and give every speaker his/her own paragraph.

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Michael LaRocca is the author of four published novels and an EPPIE 2002 Award finalist. He is an American living in Hong Kong, and he's been a full-time author and editor since December 2000. His website is designed to help you find the best free & low-cost quality reads, and to help you improve/publish/promote your own writing free and avoiding scams. http://free_reads.tripod.com

I'm always writing HOW-TO articles. Send a blank email to michaellarocca@sendfree.com and you'll automatically receive a list of them all. Read them, enjoy them, share them with your friends, plug them into your newsletter.

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Don't wait to be a writer. Write now. start with fillers. start with jokes. start with vignettes. START. Remember, there are some people making a good living who don't do a thing but come up with IDEAS other writers can develop. The key is to begin scribbling and don't look back. If nothing else, start yourself a blog. When positive feedback begins to trickle in you'll gain confidence to stretch out to bigger and better things. Click on the Cover and  Get the Free Book,  The companion title has now been published too..... Sell Everything You Write... Take advantage of every subject and every author in this book.  Any one of them could be worth a million dollars to you.  You can stack the odds in your favor and sell virtually everything you write.  You will find over 30,000 words of pointed advice here telling you how to do exactly that.  Articles by Lin Stone, Robert Bly, Judy Cullins, Kathy Burns-Millyard, Robin Nobles, Max Shifrin, Michael Carr, Lynda Lotman, June Campbell, David Vallieres, Bill Platt, Maria Stefanova, jl scott, ph.d., and others have been assembled into one powerful package that you can use to catapult your career into high gear.  There is a resource box at the end of most articles.  If the author has given you good value then be sure to visit their web site or resource facility to see what else the author has available for you.  This has been published by Browzer Books in pdf format for your instant pleasure.  RIGHT CLICK HERE to download.   Now there is a third book ready for your perusal.   It is a 100 page book, a series of shortcuts in learning to write and speak well. Book Four How To Write A Whole Book, When You Can't Write A Word. Eight Special Tools for Writers, Click HERE Quotes for Writers  Use these quotes to brighten up your prose.  Use them to brighten up your day.  Use them for a springboard to brighten up your career. Are you able to come up with enough ideas to write about?  Here is a resource, and it is a FREE resource, that will give you not only ideas, but complete ideas to write about.  Just download and go to work.  Now, if you decide you want a continuous supply of these great ideas then, and only then, should you sign up for the low cost service.  Me, I love it.  Click HERE for your first, FREE look. Have you ever dreamed of becoming a professional cartoonist? Now you can get your own cartoons PUBLISHED and EARN REAL $$$$ within THREE MONTHS... GUARANTEED! Some people begin making money immediately.   http://yourcartooncareer.com/ordernow.htm Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and space. It starts with awareness of what works and what does not. It continues with examining what needs grease, or other needs. Search for the truth for what you need in order to rev up your writing.   $20 Book Covers  Use your cover to make your books look real  BEFORE you write them -- and this will help you to sell your books to publishers and editors.  Book Sales Made Easy   The Casablanca Secret.  Good writing is often designed around a character who has a distorted vision of himself or of the world. During the story, he is placed under sufficient pressure to force an epiphany, a moment of clarity in which, he sees the world as it is, not as he wished it to be. Writing Books for Kids who think they hate to read. Bullet Proof your Proposal  When your book DIES  Sell Your Books While Asleep   Learn the art of SALES POWER.  Why Should You Get e-Published? A success story from Lin Stone. Cafe Hemingway, news, peace and rest. Do ebooks want to be free?  Every writer needs to get away from it all so, Get Your Own Country Estates  DIRT CHEAP! There are many success systems available to the world of writers, including the Christian's Self Improvement Plan.   How to tell if you are helping web pirates.   CONTACT Travel Writing Search Engines  Writer  Friendly Insurance  Free pictures that can help get you published in a hurry. Golden Writing Resources Over 100 articles are available to help you write better, faster, and find the readership you crave.

Literary Treasures
Last Forever

The heroes of Homer still romp through the Trojan plains.  The wisdom of Confucius still rings with truth.  The last minutes in the life of Socrates shall never die.  Christ rises triumphant from the tomb.  The immortal works of Shakespeare shall yet claim the thespian boards of deepest space.  Gulliver shall travel on forever. Maybe none of the writers you see working here at Tale Wins will ever be that good, but we intend to give them every chance to make it into the Literary Hall of Fame.  Remember too, you don't have to be THE best to be proud of doing your best. It is said you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. On the web that is very definitely NOT TRUE.  Writers on the web can change the ending of each story twice a day, or even change it every time a new visitor comes, according to whether it is a man, woman, or child visiting, or some other criteria entirely. On the web you can go on improving your story any time and every time you feel like it.  You can have your own web site and rearrange each page in it as often as you like.  You can change the links and the navigation system as often as you like.  If you aren't getting paid enough you can find better advertisers.

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