If you’ve ever tried to write…well…anything, then you know there’s a lot that goes into it! Today’s post will focus on some simple mistakes that are easy to make, but that you should try to be conscious of avoiding. This is a great place to start when self-editing your manuscript!
I don’t claim to be an expert on writing, and I believe that all writers should constantly be learning, evolving, and improving their craft. I have been (and oftentimes continue to be) guilty of all the mistakes below, so if you read them and realize you’re doing these things, don’t fear! Just bring this information into your consciousness and perhaps look out for these things on your next pass through of your work.
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1. Using too many different dialogue tags
You may have heard the phrase “said is best.” What this means is that “said” should be the main dialogue tag used in your writing. A dialogue tag is the phrase used before or after dialogue, such as “said,” “replied,” “asked,” “mumbled,” “yelled,” “joked,” etc.
It can be really tempting to use a wide variety of dialogue tags to keep your writing interesting. However, in reality, using tons of different dialogue tags is a sure way to pull a reader out of your story. Readers’ brains basically skim over “said” because it is so common. When you start adding in lots of more complicated dialogue tags, they have to slow down and it can remove them from the flow of the story.
Also, the less you use other dialogue tags, the more powerful they will become when you do use them. Dialogue tags like “shouted,” “whispered,” “mumbled,” etc. become so much more powerful when they are used sparingly.
2. Telling instead of showing
This isn’t show-and-tell. It’s show-don’t-tell! Telling is when you simply give information to the reader with blunt descriptions. Showing is when you “show” it to them by painting a picture and allow the reader the catch the gist.
For example:
- Telling: He looked tired.
- Showing: He had dark circles under his eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, a yawn came out instead.
- Telling: The driveway was made of crushed up seashells.
- Showing: The seashells crunched beneath her feet as she traversed the driveway.
Showing instead of telling draws a reader into the story and makes them feel more a part of the narrative. You have to trust your reader to glean the necessary information from your descriptions.
3. Using too many adverbs
As Stephen King says in his memoir On Writing, “the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other words forms. They quite often end with “ly.” Think: slowly, quickly, gently, harshly, etc.
Adverbs should be used sparingly because there is often a better, more concise way to get your point across using only a verb, adjective, etc. without the adverb attached. Focus on finding stronger verbs to express what is happening. The thesaurus is your friend!
For example:
- “He ran quickly to the door” could be replaced by “he sprinted to the door.”
- “She ran her hands harshly through her hair” could become “she plowed her hands through her hair.”
Adverbs tend to clutter sentences. By picking stronger verbs, you can eliminate adverbs and make your writing stronger!
Going back to dialogue tags and “said is best,” we also want to make sure not to use lots of adverbs along with our dialogue tags. If you feel you need to use an adverb to get your point across (like “he said loudly”) then that is probably a good time to pick an alternate dialogue tag like “shouted.”
4. Using filter words
Filter words are verbs that are used at the beginning of sentences that show the scene as it is filtered through a character’s eyes. They add an unnecessary layer and remind the reader that they are experiencing something through someone else’s eyes.
These are verbs like: saw, felt, watched, heard, noticed, thought, etc. They can often be cut out to make the writing more concise and allow the reader to stay in the experience.
For example:
- Filtered: “She heard a loud noise that made her jump.”
- Unfiltered: “A loud noise made her jump.”
- Filtered: “He noticed there was a small box in the corner.”
- Unfiltered: “There was a small box in the corner.”
The reader wants to be essentially watching the story play out on a stage in front of them. When we insert filter words, we create distance from the story by seeing things through the character’s eyes rather than our own.
5. Using unnecessary words
This is obviously a broad category, because many different types of words can be unnecessary, but I’ll focus on a few types of words that are consistently used unnecessarily.
- “Of” & “that” – these two words are often added in places where we might use them naturally when speaking, but when written they just clutter writing.
For example:
- “all of the tables are occupied” can become “all the tables are occupied.”
- “I didn’t know that you knew her” can become “I didn’t know you knew her.”
Obviously, these two words are sometimes necessary to make a sentence grammatically correct or make the meaning of the sentence clear, but if they can be omitted, they should be!
2. Filler words – not to be confused with filter words, filler words are words like “just,” “actually,” “really,” etc. that often aren’t needed to understand the meaning of a sentence, and if they are needed to understand the meaning, a stronger word can be chosen!
For example:
- “A really loud noise” can become “a piercing noise.”
3. Redundant words – sometimes we add unnecessary descriptive words to verbs that would be clear enough on their own. For example, if we read “he nodded,” we know what that means – we don’t need to say “he nodded his head up and down.”
For example:
- “she sat down the floor” can just be “she sat on the floor”
- “he stood up” can just be “he stood”
- “she spun around to see him” can just be “she spun to see him”
- “he jumped up and down” can just be “he jumped”
Essentially, you’re trying to use as few words as possible while still making the meaning clear. By adding unnecessary words, you clutter the writing and can throw off the flow of the story for the reader.
6. Using the passive tense
Verbs can either be used actively or passively. Active verbs are used when the subject of a sentence is doing something. Passive verbs are used when something is being done to the subject of the sentence.
For example:
- Active: “My mom read that book to me when I was little.”
- Passive: “That book was read to me by my mom when I was little.”
- Active: “The cat scratched the boy.”
- Passive: “The boy was scratched by the cat.”
Using active verbs and an active voice is preferable because they are more direct and powerful and will keep your writing flowing clearly and concisely.
It’s not that there’s never a place for the passive voice, but in general you want to keep an active voice!
Many of the ideas above are discussed in Stephen King’s book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, which I recommend to all writers even if they are not King fans.
7. Using cliche openings/descriptions
BONUS TIP!
I decided to add this extra tip that’s slightly different than the ones above (less about word choice and more about how you’re framing scenes) because these two common clichés can feel natural and easy to use, but typically don’t add anything to your story. Since they occur at the beginning of your story, you want to avoid anything that might turn a reader off from continuing reading.
- Avoid opening your book with a character waking up.
- Your opening scene should drop the reader right into the action. We don’t need to start their day and go through their morning routine with them. Unless them waking up is an integral part of the story (perhaps they’ve woken up hungover in a hotel room in Vegas after getting drunkenly married to a stranger), then there’s no good reason to start with this.
- Avoid describing your character while having them look in the mirror
- Character description can be sprinkled in organically, making it feel much more natural than an info dump while the character is looking at themself in a mirror. For example, “she ran her fingers through her straight, blonde hair” or “he pulled his sunglasses down to cover his ocean blue eyes” can be slipped in more casually and allow the reader to begin building their vision of the character.
Again, this doesn’t mean there’s never a time and place for the things listed above, but many writers will tell you these clichés are commonly used and weak. There are so many better ways to open a scene and describe a character.
By following the tips above and avoiding those mistakes, your writing should become clearer, more concise, more direct, and more powerful. If you know of any other common mistakes and/or writing tips you’d like to share, please drop them in the comments!
