3 Common Writing Mistakes That Make Editors Cringe

Nails on a chalkboard. The word “moist.” Slurping the last dregs in a cup. Everyone has pet peeves—and editors are no exception. We polled our editing staff at WritersDomain to find out what common writing faux pas feel like nails on a chalkboard to them, and the results are in. Check out these 3 common writing mistakes that make our editors cringe and how you can avoid them in the future. 

1. Misplaced commas

Comma usage can seem deceptively complicated, but there are a couple guidelines that will keep you on the right track. Two of the most common comma issues we see are when commas appear with conjunctions and around parenthetical phrases.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, yet, so) are used all the time, both with and without commas—which can make it tricky to know when to use a comma and when not to. Here are a few of the most common comma + conjunction rules.

1. A comma does not appear before a conjunction if the next clause is dependent:

“I like chocolate and cake.”

The clause “and cake” cannot stand on its own, so it needs to be connected to the introduction “I like.” A comma here would get in the way.

2. A comma does appear before a conjunction if the next clause is independent:

“I like chocolate, and I like cake.”

Since “I like cake” can stand on its own as an independent clause, the comma helps to separate the clauses as two distinct thoughts.

3. Commas should almost never appear after a conjunction:

Wrong: “So, make sure to follow these three tips.”

Right: “So make sure to follow these three tips.”

We often pause here when speaking, but a comma should not appear here in written text. The exception to this rule is when a parenthetical phrase follows, which we’ll discuss next.

Parenthetical Phrases

A parenthetical phrase (just parenthetical for short) is a nonrestrictive phrase inserted into a sentence. This means that the parenthetical phrase can be removed without causing any confusion to the reader or changing the meaning of the sentence.

A parenthetical phrase opens and closes with the same kind of punctuation, whether that’s commas, dashes, or parentheses.

For example:

        “The chocolate cake, which I bought from the bakery down the street, was delicious.”

Without the parenthetical phrase “which I bought from the bakery down the street,” this sentence would still make sense as “The chocolate cake was delicious.” The parenthetical phrase helps to shed some light on which chocolate cake was so delicious, but the sentence can be perfectly understood without it.

Often, the word “that” precedes a parenthetical phrase:

        “Be sure that, if you don’t want to waste time, you preheat the oven.”

The statement “Be sure that you preheat the oven,” makes sense on its own. The phrase “if you don’t want to waste time” is a parenthetical and requires opening and closing punctuation.

As mentioned above, a parenthetical phrase is the only time a comma should appear after a conjunction:

        “So, to bake the perfect chocolate cake, make sure to follow these three tips.”

Since “to bake the perfect chocolate cake” is a parenthetical phrase and requires commas around it, the comma after “so” is necessary and correct.

Be sure to revisit our training on commas for more information.

2. Wordy noun and verb phrases

Another common issue we run into is lengthy noun and verb phrases. A noun or verb phrase is, simply put, a phrase that functions as a noun or verb within a sentence. But sometimes complex wording can creep into these phrases and disrupt the clarity and flow of your sentences. 

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase includes a noun plus its modifiers. Consider the following sentence:

“I enjoyed the cake that you made.” 

In this case, “the cake that you made” is a noun phrase because “that you made” modifies “the cake.” Modifiers distinguish the noun in the sentence to clarify meaning. For instance, without the modifiers “that you made,” you aren’t sure what cake the speaker is referring to in the sentence—is it the cake from the bakery, the cake your friend made, or the cake you bought? 

Noun phrases can clarify your meaning; however when noun phrases are too long or wordy, they get harder to follow and are more likely to confuse readers:

“When baking a cake for a holiday party, you want the cake that you are going to be baking to be perfect.”

In this case, the reader already knows that the cake in question is the one they are baking, so “the cake that you are going to be baking” is an unnecessarily lengthy and complex noun. Try to avoid re-stating things the reader already knows. Four hundred words isn’t very long, so each part of the article should be as concise and useful as possible.

Verb Phrases

Similarly, lengthy verb phrases can muddle your meaning and disrupt the flow of your sentences. Often we can convey the action of a sentence with a one-word verb; however, sometimes writers need more complex verb phrases to illustrate their meaning. A verb phrase comprises the main verb plus the auxiliary (or helping) verb.

For example:

“You should have been listening more carefully.”

The auxiliary verbs in this example clarify the relationship to time and provide insight into the speaker’s judgment on her actions.

But sometimes extra helping verbs do more harm than good. For instance:

“When you will have to be baking a cake for a holiday party, you want it to be perfect.”

This might seem like a pretty extreme example, but we do see this type of wordiness every now and again. It would be easier on the reader and on you, the writer, to just say, “When baking a cake for a holiday party, you want it to be perfect.” Wordy sentences are more difficult to understand and tend to have more mistakes, so it’s best to keep things as simple as possible.

For more help with concision and keeping things simple, check out this post on reducing filler and excess in your writing.

3. Lack of parallelism 

Humans are drawn to symmetry in nature, in design, and yes, in the way we read and write. One way to make your writing more elegant, appealing, and easy to read is to use symmetry to your advantage.

Enter parallel structure.

Parallel structure is a simple principle, but has significant effect on the clarity and flow of your writing. Essentially, every part of the sentence (or article) has to match and agree with (make sense with) the other parts, thus creating a symmetry in the structure of your writing.

At WritersDomain, we tend to see parallelism issues most often between the title and headings of an article. For example, if the title says something like “3 Mistakes to Avoid When Baking a Cake,” the reader anticipates that the headings will address the mistakes and say something like:

• “Forgetting to preheat the oven”
• “Cooling in the pan”
• “Frosting too soon”

When the headings are not parallel, they don’t align (i.e., agree) with the title. Consider these headings:

• “Remember to preheat the oven”
• “Cool on a cooling rack”
• “Wait to frost”

These are three things that readers should do, not three mistakes to avoid, so they don’t match with the title “3 Mistakes to Avoid When Baking a Cake.” It’s important to make sure that the title and headings align so readers don’t get confused and so your writing flows smoothly.

Parallelism and Lists 

Parallelism issues also appear in inline lists—especially when the sentence doesn’t feel like a list. Let’s use those same three tips and have a look at a correct example of parallelism within a sentence:

“When baking a cake, remember to preheat the oven, cool it on a cooling rack, and wait before frosting.”

This sentence lists things readers should remember, and each section ties back to the introductory phrase:

• “When baking a cake, remember to preheat the oven.”
• “When baking a cake, remember to cool it on a cooling rack.”
• “When baking a cake, remember to wait before frosting.”

The most common error we see in this kind of sentence looks like this:

“When baking a cake, remember to preheat the oven, cool it on a cooling rack, and you need to wait before frosting.”

The phrase “you need to wait before frosting” doesn’t work with the introduction “When baking a cake, remember to…” :

“When baking a cake, remember to you need to wait before frosting.”

Yikes!

When you’re struggling with parallelism within a sentence, it helps to break it down and see how each section ties back to the introductory phrase, as we did earlier in this section.

Check out our blog on parallelism for more information on how to apply this principle correctly in your work.

Luckily, like most habits, these common writing mistakes are easy to avoid with a little extra attention. Take a look at your writing to see if you might be guilty of any of these mistakes. Your editor will thank you for it!