Writing Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Some of my own that bug me the most are missing words such as on, to, a/an, in, and similar short words. With the help of others (critique partners, beta readers, editors, copy editors) most get caught. Unfortunately, some still make it into print or publication. My sister-in-law found three missing words in my most recent published book.

I was so excited for my very first sale to a magazine. The issue arrived and I opened to my story and started reading. Oh, no! A typo. The sentence said, "there weren't any..." My manuscript had, "there weren't many..." Just one letter off and it changed the whole meaning. And nothing I could do, but hand correct my copies.

Those little mistakes are the hardest to catch. We "know" what it should say. We skim too much. We make a minor change and don't see how it affects something else in the sentence. We mistype. This is why many suggest changing the font of a manuscript so the sentences aren't in the exact same place on the page, then rereading. I did that with a story this morning and problems jumped out.

Recently I wrote guest posts on common writing mistakes for another blogger's site. (Thanks, Tessa Emily Hall, for the opportunity!) The posts were aimed at teen writers, but teens aren't alone in making them. Here the posts are if you'd like to read them:  Part 1 and Part 2.

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