essay writing mistakes

Top 20 Errors in Undergraduate Writing

Main navigation.

The Top Twenty: A Quick Guide to Troubleshooting Your Writing

Readers judge your writing by your control of certain conventions, which may change depending on your audience, purpose, and writing situation.  For example, your instructor may or may not mark errors in your paper if he’s more concerned with its argument or structure than he is with sentence-level correctness; he could also decide an error is not serious.  Some instructors may even see the errors listed below as stylistic options. However, a large-scale study by Andrea Lunsford and Karen Lunsford (2008) found that these errors are the most likely to attract readers’ negative attention.  Before handing in your papers, proofread them carefully for these errors, which are illustrated below in the sentences in italics.  

THE TOP TWENTY

1. wrong word.

Wrong word errors take a number of forms. They may convey a slightly different meaning than you intend ( compose instead of comprise ) or a completely wrong meaning ( prevaricate  instead of procrastinate ). They may also be as simple as a wrong preposition or other type of wrong word in an idiom.

Use your thesaurus and spell checker with care. If you select a word from a thesaurus without knowing its precise meaning or allow a spell checker to correct spelling automatically, you may make wrong-word errors. If prepositions and idioms are tricky for you, look up the standard usage.

Here are a couple of wrong word examples:

Did you catch my illusion to the Bible?

Illusion means “an erroneous perception of reality.” In the context of this sentence,  allusion was needed because it means "reference.”

Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is a magnificent sixteenth-century allergy.

A spell checker replaced allegory with allergy.

2. Missing Comma after an Introductory Element

Use a comma after every introductory element—whether word, phrase or clause—to clarify where it ends and the rest of the sentence begins. When the introductory element is very short, you can skip the comma, but including it is never wrong.

Without a comma after the introductory element, it’s hard to see the location of the subject (“they”) in this sentence:

Determined to make their flight on time they rose at dawn.

3. Incomplete or Missing Documentation

Documentation practices vary from discipline to discipline.  But in academic and research writing, it’s a good idea to always cite your sources: omitting documentation can result in charges of plagiarism.

The examples below follow MLA style.  In this example, the page number of the print source for this quotation must be included.

The Social Media Bible defines social media as the “activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.”

And here, the source mentioned should be identified because it makes a specific, arguable claim:

According to one source, it costs almost twice an employee’s salary to recruit and train a replacement. 

Cite each source you refer to in the text, following the guidelines of the documentation style you are using. 

4. Vague Pronoun Reference

A pronoun (e.g., he, this, it) should refer clearly to the noun it replaces (called the antecedent).  If more than one word could be the antecedent, or if no specific antecedent is present, edit to make the meaning clear.

In this sentence, it possibly refers to more than one word:

If you put this handout in your binder, it may remind you of important tutoring strategies .

In some pronoun usage, the reference is implied but not stated.  Here, for example, you might wonder what which refers to:

The authoritarian school changed its cell phone policy, which many students resisted.

To improve this sentence, the writer needs to make explicit what students resisted.

5. Spelling

Even though technology now reviews much of our spelling for us, one of the top 20 most common errors is a spelling error.  That’s because spell checkers cannot identify many misspellings, and are most likely to miss homonyms (e.g., presence/presents), compound words incorrectly spelled as separate words, and proper nouns, particularly names. After you run the spell checker, proofread carefully for errors such as these:

Vladmir Putin is the controversial leader of Russia.

Every where she walked, she was reminded of him.

6. Mechanical Error with a Quotation

When we quote other writers, we bring their voices into our arguments.  Quotation marks crucially show where their words end and our own begin. 

Quotation marks come in pairs; don’t forget to open and close your quotations.  In most documentation styles (e.g., MLA Style), block quotations do not need quotations marks.  Consult your professor’s preferred style manual to learn how to present block quotations. 

Follow conventions when using quotation marks with other punctuation. Here, the comma should be placed inside the quotation marks:

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction", Virginia Woolf argues.

7. Unnecessary Comma

We often have a choice about whether or not to use a comma.  But if we add them to our sentences when and where they are not needed, then we may obscure rather than clarify our meaning.

Do not use commas to set off restrictive elements that are necessary to the meaning of the words they modify.  Here, for example, no comma is needed to set off the restrictive phrase  of working parents , which is necessary to indicate which parents the sentence is talking about.

Many children, of working parents, walk home from school by themselves.

Do not use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) when the conjunction does not join parts of a compound sentence.  In this example, no comma is needed before the word  and  because it joins two phrases that modify the same verb, applies.

  This social scourge can be seen in urban centers, and in rural outposts.

Do not use a comma before the first or after the last item in a series.

The students asked their TAs to review, the assignment rubric, a sample paper and their comments, before the end of the quarter.

Do not use a comma between a subject and verb.

Happily, the waiters, sat down during a break.

Do not use a comma between a verb and its object or complement.

On her way home from work, she bought, a book at the bookstore.

Do not use a comma between a preposition and its object.

On her way home from work, she bought a book at, the bookstore.

8. Unnecessary or Missing Capitalization

Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives, the first words of sentences, and important words in titles, along with certain words indicating directions and family relationships. Do not capitalize most other words. When in doubt, check a dictionary.

Financial Aid is a pressing concern for many University Students.

9. Missing Word

If you read your work outloud before submittingit, you are more likely to notice omitted words.  Be particularly careful not to omit words from quotations.

Soccer fans the globe rejoiced when the striker scored the second goal.

10. Faulty Sentence Structure

If a sentence starts out with one kind of structure and then changes to another kind, it will confuse readers.

The information that families have access to is what financial aid is available and thinking about the classes available, and how to register.

Maintain the grammatical pattern within a sentence.  Each sentence must have a subject and a verb, and the subjects and predicates must make sense together.  In the example above, thinking about the classes available does not help the reader understand the information families have access to.  Parallel structures can help your reader see the relationships among your ideas.  Here’s the sentence revised:

Families have access to information about financial aid, class availability, and registration.

11. Missing Comma with a Nonrestrictive Element

A nonrestrictive phrase or clause provides additional information that is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence.  Use commas to set off a nonrestrictive element.

David who loved to read history was the first to head to the British Library.

The clause  who loved to read history does not affect the basic meaning of the sentence.  The clause could be taken out and the reader would still understand that David was the first to head to the British Library.  

12. Unnecessary Shift in Verb Tense

Verbs that shift from one tense to another with no clear reason can confuse readers.

Martin searched for a great horned owl.  He takes photographs of all the birds he sights.

13. Missing Comma in a Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses.  When the clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), use a comma before the conjunction to indicate a pause between the two thoughts.

Miranda drove her brother and her mother waited at home.

Without the comma, a reader may think at first that Miranda drove both her brother and her mother.

14. Unnecessary or Missing Apostrophe (including its/it's)

To make a noun possessive, add either an apostrophe and an s (Ed's phone) or an apostrophe alone (the girls’ bathroom). Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive pronouns ours, yours, and hers. Use its to mean belong to it; use it's only when you mean it is or it has.

Repeated viral infections compromise doctors immune systems.

The chef lifted the skillet off it’s hook.  Its a fourteen-inch, copper skillet.

15. Fused (run-on) Sentence

A fused sentence (also called a run-on) joins clauses that could each stand alone as a sentence with no punctuation or words to link them. Fused sentences must be either divided into separate sentences or joined by adding words or punctuation.

The house was flooded with light, the moon rose above the horizon.

He wondered what the decision meant he thought about it all night.

16. Comma Splice

A comma splice occurs when only a comma separates clauses that could each stand alone as a sentence. To correct a comma splice, you can insert a semicolon or period, connect the clauses with a word such as and/or/because, or restructure the sentence.

The students rushed the field, they tore down the goalposts. 

17. Lack of pronoun/antecedent agreement

Pronouns typically must agree with their antecedents in gender (male or female, if appropriate) and in number (singular or plural). Many indefinite pronouns, such as everyone and each, are always singular.  However,  they can be used to agree with a singular antecedent in order to use inclusive or gender-neutral language.  When antecedents are joined by or or nor, the pronoun must agree with the closer antecedent. A collection noun such as team can be either singular or plural, depending on whether the members are seen as a group or individuals.

Every guest left their shoes at the door.

18. Poorly Integrated Quotation

Quotations should be logically and smoothly integrated with the writing around them, the grammar of the quotation complementing the grammar of the neighboring prose.  They usually need to be introduced (with a signal phrase) rather than dropped abruptly into the writing.

An award-winning 2009 study of friendship "understanding social networks allows us to understand how indeed, in the case of humans, the whole comes to be greater than the sum of its parts" (Christakis and Fowler 26).

"Social networks are intricate things of beauty" (Christakis and Fowler xiii). Maintaining close friendships is good for your health.

19. Missing or Unnecessary Hyphen

A compound adjective requires a hyphen when it modifies a noun that follows it.

This article describes eighteenth century theater.

A two-word verb should not be hyphenated. 

The dealers want to buy-back the computers and refurbish them.

20. Sentence Fragment

A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is presented as if it were a complete sentence.  The following illustrate the ways sentence fragments can be created:

Without a subject

The American colonists resisted British taxation.  And started the American Revolution.

No complete verb

The pink geranium blooming in its pot.

Beginning with a subordinating word

We visited the park. Where we threw the Frisbee.

These 20 most common errors can be avoided in your writing if you reserve time to proofread your final draft before submission.

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Karen J. Lunsford.  “Mistakes are a Fact of Life: A National Comparative Study.”   CCC 59 (2008) 781-806.

Twelve Common Errors

Download this Handout PDF

This list includes only brief examples and explanations intended for you to use as reminders while you are editing your papers. If you would like to learn more, consider the following options:

• Take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation classes offered by the Writing Center.
• Set up an appointment for an individual conference in the Writing Center.
• Confer with your course instructor.
• Consult a handbook for additional examples and complete explanations

1. Sentence fragments

Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence.

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

[2nd sentence = fragment]

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the cloth contains the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption. Although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption, although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

2. Sentence sprawl

Too many equally weighted phrases and clauses produce tiresome sentences.

The hearing was planned for Monday, December 2, but not all of the witnesses could be available, so it was rescheduled for the following Friday, and then all the witnesses could attend.

[There are no grammatical errors here, but the sprawling sentence does not communicate clearly and concisely.]

The hearing, which had been planned for Monday, December 2, was rescheduled for the following Friday so that all witnesses would be able to attend.

3. Misplaced and dangling modifiers

Place modifiers near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually appear in the sentence.

Not sure what a modifier is? Check our our FAQ.

When writing a proposal, an original task is set for research.

When writing a proposal, a scholar sets an original task for research.

Many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried.

Still unsure? For more explanation and examples, see our grammar and style FAQ.

4. Faulty parallelism

Be sure you use grammatically equal sentence elements to express two or more matching ideas or items in a series.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, a national health program, and the educational system.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program, and improving the educational system.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as postponing it for so long.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as they are to postponing it for so long.

5. Unclear pronoun reference

All pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents [nouns].

Use it, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.

Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain the universe.

Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his ability with numbers to explain the universe.

Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in economic development, he sometimes neglects it.

Because of his interest in economic development, Senator Martin sometimes neglects the environment.

6. Incorrect pronoun case

Determine whether the pronoun is being used as a subject, or an object, or a possessive in the sentence, and select the pronoun form to match.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between he and President Kennedy.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between him and President Kennedy.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than them to judicial reinterpretation.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than they [do] to judicial reinterpretation.

7. Omitted commas

Use commas to signal nonrestrictive or nonessential material, to prevent confusion, and to indicate relationships among ideas and sentence parts.

When it comes to eating people differ in their tastes.

When it comes to eating, people differ in their tastes.

The Huns who were Mongolian invaded Gaul in 451.

The Huns, who were Mongolian, invaded Gaul in 451.

[“Who were Mongolian” adds information but does not change the core meaning of the sentence because Huns were a Mongolian people; this material is therefore nonrestrictive or nonessential.]

For more information on commas see Commas: Punctuating Restrictive and Non-restrictive Modifiers and Punctuating Coordinating Conjunctions and Sentence Adverbs , or take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation workshops offered by the Writing Center.

8. Superfluous commas

Unnecessary commas make sentences difficult to read.

Field trips are required, in several courses, such as, botany and geology.

Field trips are required in several courses, such as botany and geology.

The term, “scientific illiteracy,” has become almost a cliche, in educational circles.

The term “scientific illiteracy” has become almost a cliche in educational circles.

9. Comma splices

Do not link two independent clauses with a comma (unless you also use a coordinating conjunction: and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet ).

Instead use a period or semicolon, or rewrite the sentence.

Comma splice:

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France, by the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France. By the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed, however half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed; however, half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

10. Apostrophe Errors

Apostrophes indicate possession for nouns ( “Jim’s hat,” “several years’ work” ) but not for personal pronouns (its, your, their, and whose).

Apostrophes also indicate omissions in contractions ( “it’s” = “it is” ).

In general, they are not used to indicate plurals.

In the current conflict its uncertain who’s borders their contesting.

In the current conflict it is [it’s] uncertain whose borders they are [they’re] contesting.

The Aztecs ritual’s of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

The Aztecs’ rituals of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

11. Words easily confused

“Effect” is most often a noun (the effect), and “affect” is almost always a verb.

Other pairs commonly confused: “lead”/”led” and “accept”/”except.”

Check a glossary of usage to find the right choice.

The recession had a negative affect on sales.

The recession had a negative effect on sales. (or) The recession affected sales negatively.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advise.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advice.

12. Misspellings

Spelling errors are usually perceived as a reflection of the writer’s careless attitude toward the whole project.

Don’t allow your hard work to be marred in this way!

In addition to comprehensive dictionaries, you may want to use electronic spell checks, spelling dictionaries, and lists of frequently misspelled words found in handbooks.

Grammar and Punctuation

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Using Dashes

Using Commas

Using Semicolons

Using Coordinating Conjunctions

Using Conjunctive Adverbs

Subject-Verb Agreement

Using Gender–Neutral Pronouns in Academic Writing

How to Proofread

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

Clear, Concise Sentences

Productivity

Productivity tips

Write better: The 10 most common writing mistakes you should avoid

A former editor of mine once described wordy article introductions as "throat-clearing," as in, this person doesn't know yet what they're trying to say, so they're hemming and hawing before getting to the point.

You could chalk it up to writers liking to explain things or the need to dramatically set up the scene, but when it comes to everyday non-fiction writing—especially on the web—it's usually better to get to the hook as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking.

(Already I've spent too much time on this intro.)

If you want to polish your prose—whether you're writing a blog post, an email, or a report for your team—the next time you get to typing, consult this checklist of common writing mistakes. It'll help you communicate more clearly and put the focus on what you're saying rather than on stray commas or needless words.

Thanks to the editors, writers, and readers who chimed in with their advice for this post, which no doubt has several errors in it. Let's just consider them Easter eggs.

Table of contents

Explanations are handwavy or lacking backup

Passive voice

Too many words

The conclusion doesn't conclude or doesn't exist

Homophone confusion

Apostrophe catastrophes

Comma and semicolon confusion

Repetitive words

Misused words

The most common m ajor writing mistakes

When approaching a piece of writing, most editors first check for the big picture to do "macro edits." Here, we're dealing with the content of the story—how it flows, if it all makes sense, if the tone is appropriate, and if there are any questions we didn't answer that readers might have. I like to call this "defensive editing," much like defensive driving.

After that, we can get into "micro editing" for the nitty gritty of editing for mechanics and language issues (see the next section if you, too, nerd out on words).

1. The intro is unnecessarily long

Get to the point. The example above isn't as bad as my initial attempt at the lede (the first couple of paragraphs that introduce an article), but, at 152 words, it's long by most web content standards.

To remember the urgent need to get to the point, keep in mind this excerpt from former Guardian editor Tim Radford's advice for journalists (emphasis added):

1. When you sit down to write, there is only one important person in your life. This is someone you will never meet, called a reader. 

2. You are not writing to impress the scientist you have just interviewed, nor the professor who got you through your degree, nor the editor who foolishly turned you down, or the rather dishy person you just met at a party and told you were a writer. Or even your mother. You are writing to impress someone hanging from a strap in the tube between Parson’s Green and Putney, who will stop reading in a fifth of a second, given a chance.

The lede is one of the most challenging parts of writing an article, report, blog post, or even an email or memo —and also one of the most important. Advice from all the writers and editors I talked to? Just write the thing and then after the piece is done, rewrite it as much as needed, which might be several times.

[Re: Writing the lede first or last:] I usually write it first, then delete it, then write it last, then delete it, then delete everything, then drink some tea and contemplate my life choices, then I write something else entirely, and then I write it first again. So... first, then rewrite later. — Joe Yaker (@joeyaker) March 12, 2018

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing the lede: Does the lede make sense—explain briefly what's to come? Is it supported by the rest of the document? Does it quickly hook the reader to continue reading? Bonus if you write for the web: Does the lede have the keywords you're targeting for SEO?

2. Explanations are handwavy or lacking backup

That same editor who introduced me to "throat-clearing" ledes also taught me the word "handwavy," similar to how  magicians wave their hands to draw attention away from the actions behind the magic trick. It's not that we're trying to fool the reader when we're handwavy; it's that we haven't provided the reader all the facts or steps they need to understand what we're trying to explain.

So, for example, if I'm writing an article for the general public about transferring files between computers over the internet, I should explain what SFTP is when first mentioning it, since most people might not know that SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol and that it's a way to transfer and manage files between computers over a secure connection. In the same vein, here at Zapier, we try not to assume the reader knows what Zapier is when they first come to our blog or what "Zaps" (our word for automated workflows) are.

Pro tip: Just avoid jargon, unless you're going to explain that jargon. No one wants to feel like an outsider. Try the Hemingway app to test writing for readability.

Similarly, you need details to prove your point. If I state that exercise helps prevent colds, I'd best link those statements to research proving that point or to experts, such as doctors, who would back up that claim.

It's about being clear to your readers and also making sure your content doesn't have any "holes," so you can establish trust. As Radford writes: "If in doubt, assume the reader knows nothing. However, never make the mistake of assuming that the reader is stupid. The classic error in journalism is to overestimate what the reader knows and underestimate the reader's intelligence."

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Are terms most people don't commonly use explained or linked to definitions? Are claims all linked to relevant research or backed by authoritative sources? If you were the target audience for this content, would it make sense to you?

3. The content was written in passive voice

Passive voice is used too often by writers. Writers use passive voice too often. Active voice, as in the previous sentence, is more direct and stronger because the subject (writers) is doing something (using passive voice), rather than the subject taking a backseat.

Alan Henry , Special Projects Editor at WIRED , said:

By far, the most common thing I wind up editing out or changing is passive voice. It's fairly simple to identify once you understand it, but it can be deceptively difficult to many writers to pick out of their own work, even if they go back and review their writing when they're finished. If the subject isn't clear, undefined, or you're using verb tenses that struggle to describe the action taken by a person or party not named in the sentence, you're probably using passive voice. In the same vein, I find many writers rely too heavily on present participles (-ing words, for example) when the simple present version will work better, and engage a reader more directly. For example, "Bill was setting the table" is fine, but "Bill set the table" is more direct, active, and engaging, which is critical to make sure your reader sticks with you, your story, or your article all the way through—and derives value from what they just read for their own use!

Whitson Gordon , Senior Manager of Marketing Content (Gaming) at ASUS, added:

Passive voice isn't always the worst thing in the world, but when it makes a sentence incredibly wordy, you're doing a disservice to your readers. If you catch yourself saying "One of the reasons for this is," or something similar, you should probably rethink what the subject of that sentence is.

That said, sometimes using passive voice does make more sense than the active voice. When the action is more important than who's doing the action, passive voice is totally acceptable. For example: "My computer was stolen yesterday" is more fitting than "Someone stole my computer yesterday," since it puts more emphasis on the event versus an unknown perpetrator.

Here are some examples of when the passive voice is the right option. Rewriting these sentences in active voice would make them decidedly awkward.

Passive: Sergeant Smith was wounded in Vietnam. 

Active: Someone wounded Sergeant Smith in Vietnam. 

Passive: Joey was hurt during the soccer game.

Active: The soccer game hurt Joey.

Passive: I've been bamboozled!

Active: Someone bamboozled me!

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Is the sentence natural and clear? Will active or passive voice make the sentence more direct and engaging? Try to rewrite with as few "to be" verbs as possible and default to active verbs and tangible nouns.

4. Too many words

If you're familiar with the Zapier blog, you've probably noticed that our articles are sometimes more like novellas than blog posts. While we're fans of long-form content, we try not to be wordy .

It's similar to the long lede issue: Wordiness within the body of the piece is beating around the bush. From Strunk and White's seminal guide The Elements of Style :

Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Common culprits? Overused adverbs and adjectives , such as "very" or "actually" or "quite." Emily Triplett Lentz , Senior Manager of Content Marketing at Calendly, said:

Your writing will be more concise and persuasive when you lose the overused adverbs and adjectives that ultimately detract from the meaning you wish to impart. Does the first of the following two sentences honestly convey any more meaning than the second?

T wo-factor authentication is very important technology. OR Two-factor authentication is important technology.

To take it a step further: Any time you’ve modified a noun or verb with "very," you can probably choose a more precise word, which leads to more powerful writing:

Two-factor authentication is critical technology.

Just like many people use "uh" and "um" to fill space when they're thinking of what to say next, when we write, we often use filler words—or, as Smart Blogger calls them, "grammar expletives." Look for the words "here," "there," and "it" to spot them in your writing: "Common constructions include it is, it was, it won’t, it takes, here is, there is, there will be ." Before-and-after examples:

It's fun to edit – Editing is fun

It takes time to write – Writing takes time

There are many people who write – Many people write

There's nothing better than blogging – Nothing's better than blogging

Here are some things to consider: – Some things to consider are:

Also, you can probably cut "that" from most sentences without changing their meaning, said Bryan Clark , VP of Editorial at Graphite. For example, "I think that waffles are better than pancakes" could just be "I think waffles are better than pancakes," or even better: "Waffles are better than pancakes" (it's assumed that's what you think). (In the previous sentence, "just" could be edited out also. But I'm leaving it in for tone and color—but watch out how often you use "just" in a piece.)

And it's not just about repeating words—repeating ideas across multiple sentences is another easy trap to fall into. Be concise.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Does this word or sentence add anything to the meaning or the flow of the piece? Can you read the sentence without running out of breath?

5. The conclusion doesn't conclude or doesn't exist

If the lede is meant to hook readers and convince them to keep reading, the conclusion is meant to neatly tie up the piece, so readers come away satisfied. Often, though, I see drafts where the piece abruptly stops, as if the writer expended all their energy on the meat of the post and had no room left for the conclusion (the dessert, in this analogy).

Conclusions can be tricky: How do you tie up everything in a way that makes a lasting impression? Triplett Lentz's advice:

When you don’t know how to conclude a piece of writing, try answering the "so what?" question. Why should anyone care about this? How does your idea apply to the reader as a human being? Can you situate your thesis in a broader context? If your post is about how to work a 40-hour week , for example, use the conclusion to address why that's a goal worth pursuing, or discuss the widespread problems that our culture of overwork creates.

The conclusion is an opportunity to ask readers to engage with you further, direct them to relevant content, or give them more to ponder.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: What's the takeaway for the reader, and is that expressed in the conclusion? Bonus points if you don't use "Conclusion" for your header for this section.

Micro writing mistakes we all make

Now that we have the major writing issues out of the way, let's talk about micro issues—the punctuation, word choices, and other things that copy editors usually catch, if you're lucky to have a good one. They're little things like using "their" when you mean "there" or "would of" instead of "would've" (a contraction of would have).

Nitpicky as the Grammar Police might be, grammatical and mechanical errors that are easy to overlook can make your readers do a double-take and perhaps doubt your authority.

It would take years to cover every grammatical mistake or point of contention, so for now, we'll just go over the most common mistakes and point you toward more resources for diving deeper.

6. Heed the homophones

Pro tip: The best way to deal with homophones is to create a mnemonic or memory aid to remember when to use which word. For example, I remember the affect/effect example by thinking affect starts with a , which starts "action," while effect starts with e, which starts "end" (as in, the thing that happens at the end after the action).

Here's a list of more common culprits:

Accept/Except:  

Accept means to acknowledge or agree to receive; e.g., "I accept your proposal." 

Except means apart from or excluding; e.g., "Everyone was present except Jane."

Complement/Compliment:  

A complement is something that completes or matches something else; e.g., "That nail polish complements your eyes." 

A compliment is a flattering remark; e.g., "Thanks for the nice compliment on my article."

Principal/Principle:  

Principal can be a noun or adjective. As a noun, it refers to the person in charge of a school, college, or organization; e.g., "Roger was called into the principal's office." As an adjective, it means main, or most important; e.g. "The principal reason for this meeting is to gather content ideas for Q2." 

Principle refers to a fundamental truth or belief; e.g., "Roger's educational principles are sound."

Stationary/Stationery:  

Stationary means not moving; e.g., "The car remained stationary."

Stationery refers to paper, pens, and other writing materials; e.g., "Simon looked for a blue ink pen in the stationery section."

For more homophone fun, head to homophone.com , a site dedicated just to homophones.

7. Apostrophe catastrophes

We can blame many cases of homophone confusion on apostrophes, that pesky punctuation mark that turns "your" into "you're." The former, without the apostrophe, means you own something. The latter, with the apostrophe, means you are doing something or are something. Similarly with "its" versus "it's." "Its" means that thing owns something, while "it's" means "it is."

Pro tip: Any time you use an apostrophe in a contraction, where you're combining the verb with the noun (such as "it's" for "it is" or "here's" for "here is"), expand the contraction in your mind so you get the subject-verb agreement right. "Here's the best apps," for example, does not work when you expand the "here's" contraction—"here is the best apps." It should be "here are the best apps." Just don't use contractions in this case.

As usual, The Oatmeal has a fun graphic explainer on how to properly use apostrophes .

Here are a couple more common apostrophe mistakes:

Who's/Whose:

Who's is a contraction of "who is"; e.g., "Who's calling Alan at this hour?"

Whose is a possessive pronoun that means "belonging to [someone]"; e.g., "Alan, whose phone hadn't stopped ringing all morning, barely ate anything for breakfast."

Let's/Lets

Let's is a contraction of "let us"; e.g., "Let's consider another example of a writing mistake."

Lets means allows; e.g., "The key lets you open the door."

Pro tip: Check out The Little Book of Confusables for lots more examples of spelling and usage tips to help you avoid writing mistakes.

8. Comma and semicolon confusion

Semicolons are a point of contention on almost any content-minded team. You either love them or hate them. Use semicolons to connect two complete thoughts together—more of a pause than using a comma but less of a hard stop than using a period. I used to be on Team Hate and agreed with my former manager Danny Schreiber, who quipped: "A semicolon is just a confused period," but I've been coming around to this punctuation mark; my former teammate Jill Duffy pointed out Annie Dillard's essay "Total Eclipse" in The Atlantic , which has gems like this:

It had nothing to do with anything. The sun was too small, and too cold, and too far away, to keep the world alive. The white ring was not enough. It was feeble and worthless. It was as useless as a memory; it was as off-kilter and hollow and wretched as a memory. When you try your hardest to recall someone’s face, or the look of a place, you see in your mind’s eye some vague and terrible sight such as this. It is dark; it is insubstantial; it is all wrong.

(Hey, if you can write like Annie Dillard, do whatever you want with punctuation.)

That said, if you do use a semicolon, make sure the parts that come before and after the semicolon are both complete thoughts (with both a subject and a verb). "I love semicolons; but hate commas" is incorrect because the "but hate commas" part can't stand on its own, while "I love semicolons; but I hate commas" works—even if you're better off using a comma here. Which brings us to the next point:

Commas are the worst.

They're the trickiest punctuation mark to master and a cause of contention when it comes to style. Should you use the Oxford comma (a.k.a., serial comma) or not? The Oxford comma, if you recall, is the comma that's added before the last item in a list. So, for example: "X, Y, and Z" follows the Oxford comma rule, as opposed to "X, Y and Z" (missing that last comma). Those who are not in favor of the Oxford comma cite aesthetics and one fewer character needed. Those on the side of the Oxford comma cite clarity.

Basically, pick your side, and stick with it. But if you're on the fence, go with the Oxford comma: It can help you avoid a lawsuit that hinges on a single comma .

From our blog style guide, here are other guidelines for using commas correctly:

Remember the FANBOYS rule before adding a comma: If you're connecting two complete thoughts with a coordinating conjunction (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, or So), you should always use a comma before the coordinating conjunction. However, if only one part of that sentence is a complete thought, the comma is unnecessary.

Incorrect: "I'll order the cheeseburger, but don't want the pickles."

Correct: "I'll order the cheeseburger but don't want the pickles" OR "I'll order the cheeseburger, but I don't want the pickles."

"Don't want the pickles" wouldn't be used, in most cases, as a standalone sentence, so we don't need the comma. "I don't want the pickles" is complete with subject and verb, so we add the comma. (Alternatively, you could shorten the sentence to "I'll order the cheeseburger without pickles.")

Also, add a comma after "Also" at the beginning of a sentence, but don't add a comma after "Or" or any of the other FANBOYS unless it's followed by a parenthetical.

Incorrect: "Or, you could download this other to-do app."

Correct: "Or you could download this other to-do app" OR "Or, if you want more features, you could download this other to-do app."

Pro tip: Every time you want to add a comma or a semicolon, consider whether the words after the punctuation mark form a complete thought that could stand on its own.

9. Repetitive words repeat

According to Grammarly , one of the most common writing mistakes is using the same word often in a piece. Sometimes this can't be helped:

But other times repeating the same words or phrases is a sign that you're struggling to communicate or fully explain your topic without beating around the bush. Readers (that is, people) like variety, and, in some cases, the thesaurus is your friend.

Pro tip: Grammarly's advice: Read your piece out loud, then cut down or replace frequently used words. When writing, ask yourself if you've already made this statement before in your piece.

10. Misused words

Writing is all about choosing the right words in the right sequence to convey your thought or idea. Simple, right? The problem is there are so many words at your disposal and picking the "best" word is impossible. But some words are better than others when you want to get your point across and also be precise and accurate.

One of my pet peeves is when people use "less" when they should be using "fewer." As in, "I have less readers than I did when this post was published"—it should be "fewer." Use "fewer" when you can count whatever you're referring to (in this case, readers) and "less" when you can't, such as less readership or audience. Similarly, you'd say "less water" (not countable) but "fewer raindrops" (countable).

If you want to go down the word usage rabbit hole, here are the 58 most commonly misused words and phrases . One example I see a lot is the difference between "home in on" and "hone":

Home in on means zero in on (get closer to a target). 

Hone is what you do when you sharpen a knife (or a skill).

Pro tip: The next time you misuse a word and correct it (or your editor corrects it), come up with a mnemonic to remember the right word.

Fix your writing mistakes

While these are the 10 most common writing mistakes my colleagues and I run into, there's plenty more where they came from. One big mistake that's coming up a lot recently is over-relying on AI. While AI writing generators can help you write better technically speaking, they will absolutely not help you sound like a human . Use them for brainstorming, outlines, and refinement, but also be sure there's a human brain at the helm.

Related reading:

Free writing software: tools to help you create better content, faster

How to write great copy: 11 copywriting tips

How to self-edit: A 5-step process

This article was originally published in 2018. The most recent update, with contributions from David Hartshorne, was in November 2023.

Get productivity tips delivered straight to your inbox

We’ll email you 1-3 times per week—and never share your information.

Melanie Pinola

Melanie Pinola is a NY-based writer. Besides trying out new productivity systems, she enjoys cooking, playing video games with her family, and traveling. Follow her at @melaniepinola.

• Media and editorial

Related articles

How trauma affects your work—and what to do about it

How trauma affects your work—and what to do...

14 morning and evening routines that will set up each day for success

14 morning and evening routines that will...

How to manage your perception of time

10 iPhone automation ideas—and how to set them up

10 iPhone automation ideas—and how to set...

Improve your productivity automatically. Use Zapier to get your apps working together.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Essays

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Jordan Sanchez in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Essay length, cohesive writing, reusing essays.

In this post, we discuss mistakes to avoid when writing your college essay . For more information, check out this post about how to write this year’s Common App essays . 

A common college essay mistake is writing an essay that’s too short. For example, the word limit for the Common App essay is 650 words, and you should try as hard as you can to reach that number. A 400-word essay is definitely too short. Make sure you’re using all the words available to you.

If you’re having difficulty meeting the word limit, your essay topic may be too specific. Also, you may not be including enough details or descriptive language. Conversely, if your essay is too long, you may have sections that could be simplified. Look for any areas where the writing may be repetitive or redundant. Consider whether your essay is too broad. Are you trying to cover multiple topics? It can be helpful to break down your essay paragraph by paragraph and ensure that everything you’ve written aligns with the goals of the essay.

Since supplemental essays tend to have low word limits, you can do more telling than showing when writing these. That said, while you don’t want to waste words, if there’s an opportunity to add a bit of personality to a supplemental essay, you should take it. 

Another common mistake is incohesive writing. Cohesive essays are easy and enjoyable to read. If an essay is jumping around and doesn’t have a clear narrative or connection between ideas, it can be distracting. The reader will be wondering what’s relevant and what they should be caring about, which takes attention away from the content and purpose of your essay.

Incohesive writing happens in two major ways. The first is when a writer doesn’t use effective transitions. These show the reader how different ideas are related, and without them, an essay can be disorganized and difficult to understand. Transitions can be as short as one or two sentences or as long as a whole paragraph.

Incohesive writing can also happen when the writer is inconsistent. Your essay should maintain the same tense, point of view, and writing style from beginning to end. Don’t use extremely complicated vocabulary in one paragraph and incredibly simple language in the next. Write in your natural style and voice, and you’ll never go wrong. 

To check the cohesion of your writing, go over your first or second draft and answer the following questions: “What is the main idea of this paragraph? Does it align with the central theme of the essay? How does this relate to the previous paragraph? Do I illustrate the connection here or later in the essay? What point of view is this written in? What about tense? Is it narrative or creative? Distant or close and engaging? Informative or persuasive?” Your answers should be the same or similar for each paragraph. 

It’s crucial to write your essay in the correct form. The Common App essay is similar to a narrative or memoir in that it’s a short personal story. Many students have little to no experience writing in this form, and if you’re one of them, that’s okay, you’re not alone.

Keep in mind that this is not a five-paragraph essay. You won’t have an introduction or conclusion in the traditional sense. Your introduction will be the hook of your essay, whether it comes in the form of dialogue, descriptive language, or imagery. The conclusion will be a short wrap-up, perhaps a few sentences in length. 

The essay isn’t a thought piece either. You shouldn’t be writing something speculative. You want to include specific personal details from your life. This will ground the essay so it doesn’t feel lofty, and it will help the reader get to know you better. 

Not sounding like yourself is a big issue in college essays. The admissions committee is not expecting the most beautiful prose or intelligent language. They want to read an essay by you and about you, so be sure to write your essay in your own voice.

Don’t include words in your essay that you don’t use regularly. You don’t need big, fancy words to impress admissions officers. Your character and your story will impress them for you. In the same vein, your essay should center around who you are today. It’s okay to write about something that happened in the distant past, but the bulk of your essay should be about events that occurred between 10th and 12th grade. Don’t talk too much about your past without connecting it back to who you are today. 

Throughout the college application process, you’ll write several essays, including personal statements and supplements. A few of these essays can be used in applications for several schools, but be careful not to reuse the wrong ones.

Admissions officers can tell when you’re reusing an essay that you shouldn’t. It shows carelessness and a lack of interest in the school and can lower your chances of admission. To avoid this mistake, before writing any of your supplemental essays, copy and paste all the prompts into a single document, and take inventory of how many you’ll actually have to write and how many you can reuse.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Creative writing mistakes are nothing to feel down about. All good creative writing is not just writing : it’s writing, revising, editing, and proofreading—not only to polish the beauty of our language, but to work with common creative writing mistakes that pop up for all of us.

Today, we’ll be looking at eight common writing mistakes, and how to work with them. Again, the emphasis is not to be self-critical or nitpicky, but to understand the less helpful patterns we all fall into, and how to work with them. This can be a great primer in creative writing for beginners—but it’s all applicable no matter how many Nobel prizes we’ve got.

Why These Common Writing Mistakes Pop Up

English writing mistakes are quite common, even for native speakers, and much of what ultimately needs revising or reexamining in creative writing falls into one of a few patterns.

The English language is tricky. Most other languages have the luxury of consistent (or at least more consistent) spelling and grammar patterns, but English learners have to memorize tons of rules and exceptions. Even native English speakers make these common writing mistakes, to the chagrin of language arts teachers and dictionaries everywhere.

Creative writing is also tricky, and school usually doesn’t teach us much about what makes compelling reading. It’s up to us to find our way, and that starts partly with finding what doesn’t work—so creative writing for beginners is a lot about learning to notice common patterns in our writing that tend to impede the reader’s enjoyment and immersion.

Here’s the frustrating part: even though these mistakes are common, professional publications will still reject your writing if it’s cluttered with them. English writing for beginners is frustrating, but these simple rules will clear some of them up!

8 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid

1. common writing mistakes: refusing to learn.

Creative writing is a skill that you learn and never stop learning. Once a writer stops learning, they close every possible door they could have taken towards new and better work. Even masters of the craft are always discovering new possibilities in their work, because writing is filled with endless possibilities, and there are too many ideas to write in just one lifetime.

Even masters of the craft are always discovering new possibilities in their work.

Refusing to learn is perhaps the worst of creative writing mistakes. And learning doesn’t have to be tedious, either. If you read literature like a writer , then you’ll learn something new in every book you read. If you learn a new word every day , then you’ll have an even richer vocabulary to draw upon in your writing life. Even if you just read a poem a day , you’ll open yourself to entirely new possibilities of language.

For a more structured way to learn creative writing, take a look at the upcoming courses at Writers.com . Any one of our courses are designed to teach you the skills of creative writing, with great readings and quality feedback on all of the work you submit.

2. Common Writing Mistakes: Lacking a Clear Message

Words without a clear message are like bones without marrow. What do they support? Where do they stand? Far too many English writing mistakes stem from not having a clear “thesis”— whether you’re writing poetry or prose, academic essays or a stand-up comedy routine.

Words without a clear message are like bones without marrow.

What does a thesis for creative writers look like? Think back to your 9th grade English days: the thesis statement summarizes your argument or position in an essay. In essence, the thesis defends why the essay exists; without it, the reader doesn’t know why they’re reading the essay. While creative writing doesn’t have a thesis, per se, it does have a clear reason for existing.

If thesis statements scared you in high school, don’t worry—the creative writing “thesis” is much more pleasurable! For starters, it doesn’t go at the end of the first paragraph in works of fiction and nonfiction. Writers can place the core message anywhere in their work, provided that the reader feels pulled towards this message.

For example, Leo Tolstoy opens his novel Anna Karenina with the novel’s core theme:

The risky writer might place their thesis statement at the end of their work. If they can stick the landing, so to speak, then this strategy could work out fantastically—so long as the story is compelling without a clear thesis in the meantime. Eka Kurniawan does this in his novel Beauty is a Wound . When asked why he loved a “hideous woman,” the character Krisan replies:

“Because beauty is a wound.”

Still, this kind of strategy requires a lot of luck, confidence, and skill. I wouldn’t recommend it as any sort of creative writing tips for beginners.

Poetry can also have a thesis, though sometimes that thesis is implied, rather than directly stated. Some poetic forms require a thesis, like the sonnet or the villanelle . In the sonnet, this thesis is called the “volta”; usually occurring between the 7th and 9th lines, the volta is a “twist” in the poem—something surprising, unexpected, or gutting. Take the following sonnet from Terrance Hayes’ collection American Sonnets for my Past & Future Assassins:

Any day now you will have the ability to feed the name Of anyone into an engine & your long lost half brother As well as whoever else possesses a version of his name Will appear before your face in bits of pixels & data Displaying his monikers (like Gitmo for trapping, Bang Bang for banging, Dopamine for dope or brains), The country he would most like to visit (Heaven), His nine & middle finger pointing towards the arms Of the last trill trees of Bluff Estates & the arms Of the slim fly girls the color of trees cut down & shaped Into something a nail penetrates. I admit, right now Technology is insufficient, but you will find them Flashing grins & money in the photos they took Before they were ghosts when you click here tomorrow.

The volta here (in bold) is a bit complex because it’s spread between four different lines, but the thesis is clear: there is no safe country (Heaven) for black boys and girls if they are always being “cut down & shaped.”

In other poetic forms, the thesis takes the form of a “through line,” or a line that’s strategically repeated throughout. One form that does this is the villanelle, which requires the first and third lines of the poem to be repeated in successive tercets. Take Dylan Thomas’ poem “ Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night ”:

The thesis of this poem (in bold) are the first and third lines, repeated throughout the poem and then reunited in the last two lines.

Not all poems have stated theses, of course. Some poems are a thesis in their own way, while other poems imply their meanings through the use of poetic devices.

To master creative writing for beginners, start with clarity. Your readers need to know why they’re reading your work, so let your writing surprise, educate, challenge, move, and inspire your readers.

3. Common Writing Mistakes: Using Too Much “Purple Prose”

Writers love words. We love words as much as a fish loves water or a bird loves the sky; we’re constantly trying to make our words better, dreaming and thinking and editing and researching our way to better words. Sometimes, we get a bit carried away, producing what some writers call “purple prose.”

When writers say to “kill your darlings,” they’re referring to purple prose. Purple prose is unnecessarily ornate writing that occurs in all genres, including poetry; even though it’s one of the most common writing mistakes, it’s perfectly normal and happens to even the most experienced writers.

Purple prose is unnecessarily ornate writing that occurs in all genres, including poetry.

Purple involves stretching out simple ideas into lengthy, verbose descriptions, often meandering through the page with delicate, adjective-heavy imagery. For example, let’s say you’re writing a story and your protagonist walks past a large tree. This tree has no effect on the story, it’s just a piece of the overall imagery. A polished, edited sentence would read something like this: “She stumbled down the block, clinging onto mailboxes and tree branches.”

If I was writing with a purple prose mindset, my sentence might run like this:

The purple prose is cluttered, dense, and unnecessarily long. If a woman is stumbling down a block, the sentences should be swift and short. Instead, the purple prose elongates the description into something pretentious, self-important, and Victorian-sounding. The reader is left with slapdash musings on the world, rather than the action of the sentence. What purpose does it serve to the reader?

There are times when purple prose makes sense. If a character is getting lost in their own private musings, then this style of writing can offer a glimpse into the character’s mind. There are opportunities for powerful, poetic language, even in prose writing—just don’t become too self-indulged. Avoid English writing mistakes like purple prose passages, and stay focused on the action (verbs!) in your writing.

For more on this, check out our article on purple prose:

What is Purple Prose? The Case Against Overly Ornate Writing

4. Common Writing Mistakes: Overly Erudite Word Choice

In addition to purple prose, poor word choice is one of the most common writing mistakes. There’s a misconception among beginning writers that they need to sound scholarly in their writing, or that they need to use as wide a vocabulary as possible. Instead of writing simple, straightforward sentences, their words meander into paragraph-long sentences, using strange and erudite words like “parataxis,” “luculent,” “phenomenologically,” and “kwashiorkor.”

If you had to look those words up, don’t worry—you’re not supposed to burden your writing with these words, unless they are extremely relevant and necessary to your writing. Otherwise, you end up losing your readers’ attention and, in some instances, their regard for your writing.

Of course, there are exceptions. Personally, I enjoy it when people describe their characters with big phobia and philia words—like, if your character loves wine, it’s fun and interesting to describe them as an oenophile, rather than a wine-lover. Figuring out which words to use in what contexts is a skill cultivated by writing itself, so this isn’t a black-and-white rule by any means, but one to remember nonetheless.

Pay attention to your words, and don’t overdo it on the academic language.

I see this mistake a lot in creative writing for beginners classes, but luckily, there’s an easy solution: revising it out! By all means, the vocabulary in your writing should be rich and diverse, but it should also be well-chosen. Delicate, refined word choice is a skill that can only be mastered through practice, so pay attention to your words, and don’t overdo it on the academic language.

5. Common Writing Mistakes: Ambiguous Antecedents

Any set of creative writing tips isn’t complete without a brief lesson on grammar. Specifically, the grammatical antecedent. You might remember from your Language Arts days what nouns and pronouns are: a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea, and a pronoun (he, she, they, it, etc.) refers to a noun.

The noun that a pronoun refers to is the “antecedent.” Sometimes, writers will use pronouns without identifying whom the pronoun refers to—this is an ambiguous antecedent, and it can ruin the clarity of your writing.

Ambiguous antecedent: when a writer uses pronouns without identifying whom the pronoun refers to.

Here’s an example of ambiguous antecedents: “The nurse and the doctor got into an argument. He called her a lunatic!”

The nouns “nurse” and “doctor” haven’t been assigned names or gender, so it’s unclear who “he” and “she” are in the second sentence. Both nurses and doctors can be men or women, so we don’t know who insulted whom.

Here’s another example:

In this sentence, “they” could be referring to both Americans and Europeans. You might have assumed one or the other in place of “they,” but the author’s message is unclear, potentially misleading the reader. A better version would be:

Or, for brevity:

This might seem like a simple grammar mistake, but it’s one of the most common writing mistakes. Pay close attention to your pronouns in each sentence!

6. Common Writing Mistakes: Misused Homophones

Homophones are words that sound similar but have different meanings, such as “bear” and “bare.” Because English spelling is tricky, many writers misspell words by using the wrong homophone, and word processors won’t always catch these mistakes. Spelling errors are some of the most common writing mistakes; our guide on the most commonly misspelled words corrects these errors in detail. Read it below!

Commonly Misspelled Words: Working with Homophones

7. Common Writing Mistakes: Refusing to Revise

Writing is revising. If no one told you, then this is the most important creative writing tips for beginners. Take this to heart: revise, revise, revise .

Unfortunately, many beginner writers don’t properly revise their writing, or they don’t revise at all—leading to the many spelling, punctuation, clarity, and other common writing mistakes we’ve covered in this article.

However, real revision doesn’t just mean correcting grammatical mistakes, it can also include the following:

• Restructuring—moving paragraphs or stanzas around the entire piece.
• Killing your darlings—removing parts of the piece that are beautifully written but, as a whole, not essential to the piece.
• Reorganizing—introducing characters in a different order, adding or withholding certain pieces of information, etc.
• Rewriting—choosing better words, developing better metaphors, writing with different sentence types, etc.

Take this to heart: revise, revise, revise .

Revising is essential. Nobody churns out perfect first drafts, otherwise we wouldn’t wait so long for sequels in books and TV shows. Additionally, revising helps you approach your work as a reader might. Seeing the piece from a fresh perspective will help you refine and perfect every word, as well as help you revise the common writing mistakes that all of us make. Try to revise your work with an unbiased, critical gaze—you might be surprised by how much potential your piece has.

Revising and Editing for Creative Writers

8. Common Writing Mistakes: Refusing to Read

Writers who don’t read are limiting themselves as writers. Reading jogs your creativity like nothing else can, and if you aren’t constantly learning and taking notice of other writers’ craft, then you aren’t challenging yourself to grow.

There’s truly no excuse for not reading, one of the all-too-common English writing mistakes. If you don’t have time or you’re visually impaired, then listen to an audiobook on your commute or while you’re eating. (Yes, audiobooks count as “reading”—you’re still engaging with literary language!) If you’re short on cash, you can still read digital journals or find free ebooks online, including the free archive of classical literature at Project Gutenberg . And, if reading doesn’t appeal to you, then you’re not reading the right books, because there’s definitely something for everyone.

Writers should try to read as often as they write. We’ve discussed many important creative writing tips for beginners, but you’ll learn far more just by reading and paying attention. I’ll close this section with a quote from Stephen King, who says it better than anyone else:

Creative Writing Tips: Find Your Writing Community

Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it happens in a community. The best creative writing coincides with friendship and continuous education.

Sadly, these kinds of resources aren’t always available. Taking a class requires both time and money, and it’s hard to find like-minded writers to share and discuss feedback with, especially in these isolated times.

We get it! That’s why we’ve attempted to make these resources as accessible as possible. Take a look at any of our upcoming courses to find the next milestone in your creative writing journey. Our instructors are welcoming to beginners and experienced writers alike, and there’s something for every writer looking to master the craft.

And if you’re looking for ongoing feedback and community, join our Facebook group and connect with other committed writers.

The only thing that limits us as writers is the reach of our own minds. Pay attention, and keep learning: the more you notice, memorize, and internalize, the richer your writing and vocabulary.

Sean Glatch

The past tense of lie is lay, not laid.

“The cat lay down on the sofa.”

The past perfect tense would be “The cat had lain down on the sofa.”

I fully expect that in a hundred years all these common misuses of ‘laid’ will become accepted as standard usage, but at the moment some are still incorrect.

Yes but the past tense of ‘lay’ is actually ‘laid’, as stated. For example: Present tense – ‘I lay the table with the best silverware’ , ‘I lay a wreath on the coffin’. Past tense – ‘I laid the table with the best silverware’, ‘I laid a wreath on the coffin’.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

BibGuru Blog

Be more productive in school

• Citation Styles

Common essay writing mistakes and how to avoid them

Whether you’re writing a research paper , an argumentative essay , or an exploratory essay , there are some key mistakes that you want to avoid. In this post, we discuss common essay writing mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Failing to stay on topic

One common mistake when writing essays is failing to stay on topic. It's important to stay focused on the main idea and avoid introducing tangential information that does not contribute to the overall argument.

The best way to counteract this is by revising your work throughout the writing process. If you revise your work systematically, you will catch those places in your paper where you might be going off topic.

2. Not properly citing sources

Another common mistake is not properly citing your sources. It's important to give credit to the authors of any sources that you use in your essay, whether you’re quoting directly from a source or simply paraphrasing it.

Not citing your sources can lead to plagiarism , which can have serious consequences. To help avoid plagiarism, use an accurate citation generator like BibGuru . A citation app like BibGuru will also save you time.

3. Poor structure and organization

Because academic essays are often written in multiple steps, papers can become disorganized and disconnected. It's essential to have a clear introduction , body, and conclusion in your paper, and to make sure that each paragraph is focused on a specific point that supports your overall argument.

To combat poor structure or organization, try creating an outline and reading your drafts aloud. These methods will help you construct a more organized paper.

4. Quoting too much

Another mistake to avoid is relying too heavily on quotes, without providing your own analysis or interpretation. While it's necessary to support your arguments with evidence, it's also important to demonstrate your own understanding and critical thinking skills.

Choose quotes wisely and be sure to provide adequate analysis. A basic rule of thumb is that your analysis should be at least as long as the quote that you’re analyzing.

5. Not supporting claims with evidence

Whenever you make a claim in your essay, you need to support it with proper evidence and analysis. Many writers make the mistake of making claims that are not backed up by research. To avoid this, make a clear outline that connects each claim with accompanying evidence from your sources.

You should always strive to avoid making generalizations that cannot be properly proved. Also, choose the best possible evidence from your research, not simply the first few results from Google or an academic database .

6 . Not proofreading

One of the biggest mistakes that academic writers make is not planning enough time to properly proofread their papers. Make time for proofreading your work before you turn it in.

Watch out for spelling or grammar mistakes and make note of places in your essay that may be confusing or overwritten. Aim for a tone that is appropriate for the audience and purpose of your essay.

7 . Procrastination

Finally, avoid procrastination. Writing an essay can be a time-consuming process and waiting until the last minute can lead to rushed and poorly written work. Make a plan and set aside dedicated time for researching, outlining, and writing your essay.

The bottom line

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can improve the quality of your essays and achieve better grades. Remember to give yourself enough time to plan, research, and write your essay, and to seek feedback from others to help improve your writing skills.

Frequently Asked Questions about common essay writing mistakes

Firstly, you should avoid procrastinating when you’re writing an essay. Other things to avoid include plagiarism, poor organization, and not proofreading.

A bad essay is poorly organized, full of grammar and spelling mistakes, wordy and digressive, and/or plagiarized.

Common essay writing mistakes include: failing to stay on topic, not properly citing sources, poor organization, quoting too much, not providing enough evidence and analysis, not proofreading, and procrastination.

The best essays have a well-written introduction, a clearly identifiable thesis, strong signposts, a state of the field or literature review, solid body paragraphs that present evidence and analysis, a clear conclusion, and an accurate bibliography.

Different types of essays may be harder to write than others. However, many writers struggle to come up with a clear and defendable thesis statement. Students also struggle with creating accurate citations and bibliographies.

Make your life easier with our productivity and writing resources.

For students and teachers.

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Writing Errors: Top 20 to Avoid

Krystal N. Craiker

Most people write every day for work, school, personal reasons, or hobbies. However, most people aren’t writing experts. Even grammar experts make mistakes when they are writing!

Some errors are more egregious than others. No one expects the average person to know all the ins and outs of English grammar, but these twenty writing errors are some of the most basic mistakes you should avoid when writing.

Most Common Punctuation Mistakes to Avoid

Most common grammatical mistakes writers make, most common spelling errors writers make, most common writing errors to avoid.

Punctuation is tricky. Here are the mistakes to avoid.

1. Incorrect End Marks

When you’re in the flow of writing, you might mess up the end punctuation by accident. Sentences can end in a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. Most sentences are statements or declarative sentences. These should end in a period.

Questions should always end in question marks. Sentences that show heightened emotion like excitement, surprise, or anger are exclamatory sentences. They should end in exclamation points.

2. Comma Splices

A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are combined with nothing more than a comma. Independent clauses are clauses that can stand alone as a sentence. They have a subject and a verb.

There are two main ways to combine independent clauses in the same sentence. First, you can use a semicolon. This is the easiest way to get rid of comma splices. You can also use a comma + a coordinating conjunction.

Here’s what this looks like:

Comma splice (incorrect): I went to the grocery store, they didn’t have any milk.

Semicolon (correct): I went to the grocery store; they didn’t have any milk.

Comma + conjunction (correct): I went to the grocery store, but they didn’t have any milk.

Other ways to get rid of a comma splice include using other punctuation like em dashes or colons, making one clause a dependent clause with a subordinating conjunction, or separating the clauses into two sentences.

3. Too Many Dots in an Ellipsis

One common error people make is misusing the ellipsis. An ellipsis (...) is used to show thoughts trailing off or to omit words.

The biggest mistake with the ellipsis is using too many dots! An ellipsis only contains three dots. No more, no less. Some style guides allow you to add a period after an ellipsis, so it looks like four dots. But the ellipsis itself is only three!

4. Hyphens Instead of Dashes

Hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes are three very different punctuation marks. A hyphen (-) is one small line typically used to connect two or more words or parts of words (e.g. ex-boyfriend, merry-go-round, skin-tight.)

An en dash (–) is used to show a range, such as a timeframe, numerical range, or serial order. For example, you might write January–March, 2000–2005, or an alphabetical range like Ca–Ch. It’s longer than a hyphen and shorter than an em dash .

An em dash (—) has many uses. It’s the length of two hyphens , but it’s incorrect to just place two hyphens next to each other. Some programs will autocorrect this into an em dash , but others won’t. If you have a numerical pad, write it by using the alt code ALT+0151.

5. Missing Commas

Commas help prevent sentences from becoming run-on sentences . Here are some places to always include a comma:

• Before a coordinating conjunction
• After a dependent clause at the beginning of a sentence
• Between items in lists
• When setting off interjections

This isn’t an exhaustive list of when to use a comma, but it’s a good starting point. If you learn these rules, you’ll cut down on your missing comma mistakes drastically.

No one expects you to know all the comma rules. After all, ProWritingAid exists and will highlight where you’ve missed a comma in your writing.

Grammar mistakes that don’t involve punctuation are easy to make because there are just so many rules to remember! Here are five grammar mistakes that everyone should avoid.

6. Subject–Verb Agreement

One of the most common grammar mistakes involves subject–verb agreement. Verbs have different forms depending on the subject. Be careful that you don’t use the wrong verb form for the subject that you’re using.

Here are a couple of examples.

Incorrect: She run fast.

Correct: She runs fast.

Incorrect: We goes to the movies every week.

Correct: We go to the movies every week.

Subject–verb agreement can be as simple as the examples above. But, there instances where using a singular verb versus a plural one can become tricky. Don’t rely on memory for all the grammar rules, use ProWritingAid to correct wrong subject–verb use.

Start correcting your writing with a free ProWritingAid account.

7. Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence is a sentence that is not properly punctuated with commas, semicolons, or other punctuation marks. Punctuation marks, like periods, commas, and semicolons, are used to show a natural pause in speech. They help separate information so your writing doesn’t sound like someone is speaking in fast-forward mode.

Take a look at this run-on sentence:

I went to the store I needed to buy milk but they were out.

Whew! That’s a mouthful. Let’s see how punctuation can help fix this.

I went to the store. I needed to buy milk, but they were out.

8. Incorrect Verb Tense

Not only do verbs have different forms for different subjects, they also have different forms depending on tense and mood. Use the correct tense in your writing and don't switch between tenses.

Incorrect: I went to the store next week.

Correct: I will go to the store next week.

Incorrect: I used to danced ballet.

Correct: I used to dance ballet.

9. Pronoun–Antecedent Agreement

Just like subjects and verbs need to agree, so do pronouns and their antecedents. An antecedent is the noun to which a pronoun refers. The pronoun must match in number (singular or plural) and person (first, second, or third person with matching gender).

In the example below, there are two or more teachers. The pronoun must be plural, not singular.

Incorrect: The co-teachers wrote her names on the board.

Correct: The co-teachers wrote their names on the board.

10. Sentence Fragments

To be a standalone sentence, a sentence must contain a subject and a verb. If it doesn’t have both, it is a sentence fragment.

Incorrect: Goes to the movies on Sundays.

Correct: She goes to the movies on Sundays.

The most common spelling mistakes involve homophones, or words that sound the same. Here are five sets of homophones that you should know to improve your writing.

11. There/They’re/Their

There is an adverb that usually refers to a location, e.g. Put it over there .

They’re is a contraction of they + are , e.g. They’re getting married next month.

Their is a possessive pronoun, e.g. Who is catering their wedding?

12. Its/It’s

Its is a possessive pronoun, e.g. Where is its owner?

It’s is a contraction of it + is , e.g. It’s snowing outside!

13. To/Too/Two

To is a preposition, e.g. Fly me to the moon.

Too is an adverb that means in excess or also , e.g. She is too short for the ride.

Two is the written form of the number 2 , e.g. We’ve been together for two years.

14. You’re/Your

You’re is a contraction of you + are , e.g. You’re my best friend.

Your is a possessive pronoun, e.g. Here is your book.

15. Than/Then

Than is a preposition used for comparisons, contrasts, or exceptions, e.g. He is taller than his brother.

Then is an adverb, usually dealing with time, e.g. Back then , I lived in Manhattan. Then I moved to Los Angeles.

Some writing mistakes aren’t necessarily grammatical errors, but they still hurt the clarity of your writing. Here are five common writing mistakes that are more than spelling and grammar errors.

16. Sentence Sprawl

Sometimes, we might write sentences that are just too long. They aren’t run-on sentences because they are punctuated correctly. But superfluous commas and too many equally weighted phrases can bog down your writing.

Here’s an example:

We went to the grocery store because we needed milk, but they were out of milk, so we went next door to the convenience store, and they had milk, but it was so expensive.

All of those commas are correct, but it reads like we are rambling! Separate sentences like this to prevent sprawl.

17. Vague Pronoun Reference

If you’re writing a sentence with multiple nouns that have the same pronoun, it’s easy to confuse readers with vague pronoun use.

Vague: Dad told Jeremy to fuel up his car before he left.

Does "his" refer to Dad or Jeremy? What about "he?" Reword sentences like this to be clearer.

18. Faulty Parallelism

Parallel structure refers to using the same pattern of words or phrases in a sentence. The structure should match throughout a sentence.

Incorrect: I like to dance, to cook, and swimming.

Correct: I like to dance, to cook, and to swim. OR I like dancing, cooking, and swimming.

19. Incorrect Word Choice

Avoid using the wrong word when you write so that your meaning is clear. Even words that are synonyms might not be interchangeable. For example, your grandma might be old but she isn’t antique or fossilized ! Pay attention to connotation and tone when choosing synonyms.

20. Wordiness

Even if your grammar and spelling are perfect, wordiness can make your writing hard to read. Be succinct and clear in your writing.

Whenever you are unsure about a writing error, ProWritingAid can help. Try our editing tool for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and style mistakes!

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Krystal N. Craiker is the Writing Pirate, an indie romance author and blog manager at ProWritingAid. She sails the seven internet seas, breaking tropes and bending genres. She has a background in anthropology and education, which brings fresh perspectives to her romance novels. When she’s not daydreaming about her next book or article, you can find her cooking gourmet gluten-free cuisine, laughing at memes, and playing board games. Krystal lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, child, and basset hound.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

Common Essay Mistakes—Writing Errors to Avoid [Updated]

One of the most critical skills that students gain during their college years is assignment writing. Composing impressive essays and research papers can be quite challenging, especially for ESL students. Nonetheless, before learning the art of academic writing, you may make numerous common essay mistakes.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

Such involuntary errors appear in:

• essays’ content;
• academic style;
• structure and overall organization;
• spelling and punctuation;

Good news for you! Our experts prepared a list that contains and explains all of them. Find out about common mistakes in essay writing and do your best not to make them.

• 📃 Content Mistakes
• 🔍 Stylistic Mistakes
• 📝 Structural Mistakes
• 🔤 Grammar Mistakes
• 📘 Vocabulary Mistakes
• ✍️ Spelling Mistakes
• ⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes

📃 Content Mistakes in Essays

A perfect essay usually has an impressive introduction, well-organized content, and a powerful conclusion. Lousy college essays often lack structure or content and do not impress the reader.

What should you do?

Follow these six tips when writing any type of essay:

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

• Always write an essay that includes relevant facts, concrete details, and specific examples. If you just write down a few paragraphs that have something to do with your topic, you will not succeed in writing a good essay. Read the question carefully before you start writing. Single out the keywords and then elaborate on your ideas with facts, details, and examples.
• Write a good introduction. An exciting introduction gives the background for the whole essay. In the introduction, you should make your presentation of the essay topic. To write a good introduction paragraph , tell your reader what you are going to write.
• Write a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement expresses the writer’s thoughts on the topic and tells the reader how the idea will be developed. A good thesis statement explains two critical things to the reader: what you plan to argue in your essay and how you plan to do it. Always support your thesis with your ideas in the central part of the paper.
• Never write a thesis statement if you do not have enough ideas to support it. While planning your essay, you should think carefully and ask yourself whether you have enough ideas to support your thesis. And if you are not sure, formulate another one that you will be able to argue.
• Use ideas that you can prove with examples. Keep in mind: Any idea should be clarified and proved. So always give appropriate examples. If some of your writing has awkward wording, you can use an online sentence changer to fix it.
• Write a powerful conclusion. In the end, take advantage of your last chance to say something important to your readers. You should emphasize the purpose and importance of what you wrote in your essay.

The thesis is the hook on which any essay hangs.

🔍 Stylistic Mistakes in Writing

Even if it’s written interestingly, your essay may make a poor impression if you do not use the correct style.

These are five essay mistakes that most students make:

• Word repetition. Here is the truth: Your essay will look dull and childish if you use the same lexical sets. So, use synonyms and word substitutes to avoid repeating the same nouns or verbs.
• Too many passive structures. When you use the passive voice in your sentences, they sound more impersonal and objective, but they are longer and harder to read. On the contrary, active sentences are clear and direct. So, if you want to write a good essay, you should use both types. A good rule of thumb is to write less than 20 percent of your sentences in the passive voice.
• Sentences that are too long or too short. If you use sentences that are too long, you make your essay harder to understand. On the other hand, you can destroy your idea’s logical development if your sentences are too short. Try to use a balance of both long and short sentences.
• Sentences beginning with coordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions are mainly used to connect words and clauses in the same sentence. Sometimes we can also use them to start a sentence. But if you begin too many sentences with coordinating conjunctions, your essay will be monotonous. It’s better to use corresponding conjunctive adverbs like nevertheless , moreover , or however , which have the same meaning. They are more appropriate in a formal context.
• Overly formal or informal words and phrases. Many students forget that an academic essay requires a vocabulary layer that we do not use in our everyday lives. Never use slang expressions and nonstandard verb forms like gotta or wanna in your academic papers. Check English slang dictionaries if you struggle to find a proper replacement phrase or word. You should use formal constructions and high-level vocabulary.

In doubt, always consult a good dictionary to choose the proper word. If you’re unsure whether you can implement a phrase in context, see it in other text. You can do it by typing it in a search engine.

Receive a plagiarism-free paper tailored to your instructions. Cut 15% off your first order!

📝 Structural Mistakes In Student Essays

An essay is a long-established form of academic writing, and there are strict rules for writing every type. They make it more manageable to organize one’s thoughts without limiting creativity.

The most common structural mistakes are:

• You can expand the fragment into a complete sentence by supplying the missing elements such as subjects, verbs, and clauses.
• You can incorporate the fragment into an adjacent sentence.
• Run-On Sentences: Run-on sentences occur when you join two or more main clauses together without appropriate punctuation. Run-on sentences confuse the reader. What can you do to correct them? Fortunately, this is pretty simple: Divide a run-on sentence into separate sentences to fix it, or add coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.

• the introduction,
• two main body paragraphs,
• and the conclusion.

Your text and sentences should have a clear structure and present your ideas’ complete development.

In the following sections, you’ll see how to avoid grammar, vocabulary, and spelling mistakes.

🔤 Grammar Mistakes in Writing

A successful essay must be grammatically correct. Learn the most common types of such errors in student essays, not to repeat them yourself.

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

• Noun form mistakes. You should study key grammar areas to help you succeed. Review the rules concerning countable and uncountable nouns. Make sure you know how to use determiners with singular and plural nouns.
• Subject-predicate agreement Pay attention to the cases when words like both , some , or neither introduce compound subjects and still take the plural predicate.
• Pronouns Pronouns always agree with the noun they refer to. Some indefinite pronouns can have only a plural form or merely a singular form, but some can have both depending on the situation.
• Verb form mistakes. Remember the main grammar rules related to the use of stative and auxiliary verbs and correct use of the infinitive and modal verbs.

For more information about correcting grammar mistakes in essays, consult grammar and writing resources around the web. To avoid them, proofread your writing. Always check whether you have used the grammar forms mentioned above correctly.

Still uncertain about what not to write in a college essay? You can get help from essay writing companies that provide editing and proofreading services.

📘 Vocabulary Mistakes in Essays

Even if you develop your ideas logically, your grammar is correct, and your style is perfect, your writing can be a disaster. How so? You may make vocabulary mistakes that can ruin your paper.

The three most common language errors in essay writing are:

• Misuse of homonyms. Many students typically misuse the following homonyms: hear vs. here , hole vs. whole , its vs. it’s , and many more.
• Wrong word form. When we write quickly, we may write a word form that differs from what we meant to write. For example, students often write verb forms instead of adjectives. This can result in an unintended change of meaning ( disable people instead of disabled people ).
• Confused words. Spellcheck will not identify the incorrect use of such words as loose – lose , affect – effect , quite – quit – quiet , and accept – except . You should proofread your essay carefully to make sure you’ve used the correct words.

You can use the following strategies to eliminate such errors:

• Plan your writing ahead, picking lexicon.
• Use a dictionary or Google to ensure the right meaning.
• Leave enough time for composing so that you won’t hurry.
• Always proofread your writing, paying attention to the language you used.

If you can, leave your paper for several days. Finish your first draft and forget about it for a while. Checking it for essay errors proves to be efficient when you’ve rested and haven’t seen the text some time.

✍️ Spelling Mistakes in Essays

Numerous students say that the English language’s spelling system is the most unpredictable in the world. That is not true. There are some tricky words in English , like weigh , Caribbean , or island . You can do nothing but memorize their spelling. But several other words do follow special rules.

The most common spelling mistakes are the following:

After you have written your essay, read it carefully and correct your spelling mistakes. Make a list of the words that you usually misspell and practice writing them over and over.

⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes in Writing

Punctuation is essential in essay writing. It is used to separate ideas, relate ideas to one another, and clarify meaning. Without correct punctuation, your readers will get confused and frustrated rather quickly.

Proper punctuation is required in college essays and research papers. Learn the rules regarding the use of commas, apostrophes, and hyphens to avoid making punctuation errors.

Here is a list of the vital punctuation rules to remember:

• Put a comma after the introductory dependent clause.

An introductory dependent clause is a phrase before the subject that does not form a complete sentence.

• Incorrect: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position she decided not to change her workplace.
• Correct: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position, she decided not to change her workplace.
• Use a comma to separate non-essential info in the sentence.

Are there some clarifications that may be removed from the sentence, and the reader will still get the key idea? Separate this information with punctuation marks!

• Incorrect: My sister who recently got married is pregnant now. 
• Correct: My sister, who recently got married, is pregnant now.
• Put commas around interrupters.

Interrupters are the words that provide additional detail by breaking the flow of the sentence. Always separate them with commas.

• Incorrect: Hopefully my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment. 
• Correct: Hopefully, my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment.
• Use semicolons in too complex sentences.

Sometimes the sentence is too long, yet the information should be taken together. In such cases, put a semicolon between two parts instead of separating them with a period.

• Incorrect: I was planning to study abroad however due to certain family issues I took a gap year and stayed at home. 
• Correct: I was planning to study abroad; however, due to certain family issues, I took a gap year and stayed at home. 

And now, last but not least. Here’s a helpful video about the most common mistakes in ESL student essays. The essay writing techniques explained in this video lesson are useful for any student who wants to write good papers.

Thank you for visiting our page! Use our tips and avoid common errors in essay writing. Don’t forget to leave your comment and share the article with your friends!

This might be interesting for you:

• Useful Revising and Editing Checklists
• Essay Checklist: How to Write an A+ Essay
• Effective Writing Strategies for College Students
• How to Control Words per Page
• Basic Writing Rules – Common Mistakes & Fixes
• 200 Powerful Words to Use Instead of “Good”
• List of Credible Sources
• An Ultimate Punctuation Guide

✏️ Frequent Questions

There are several tips to improve grammar in your article:

• Avoid overly complex grammatical structures;
• Use ready-made connecting phrases and collocations;
• Proofread your text several times, perhaps read aloud and correct your mistakes;
• Run your text through a grammar checker (through desktop software or online).

There is quite a few you should avoid in order to write a good essay, e.g.:

• Too colloquial phrases;
• Excessive repetition of some words;
• Misprints, mistakes, and wrong formatting;
• Too emotional and subjective sentences;
• Too long sentences with complex grammatical constructions, etc.

There are particular “stop”-words that you should not include in an article. They can be divided into the following groups :

• colloquial language, rude comments;
• simplified connecting words (e.g., “And,” “But,” “Or” at the beginning of a sentence);
• excessively complex and almost obsolete words.

You may correct your text in various ways. Some possible strategies are:

• Read the essay aloud;
• Ask your friend to proofread the essay;
• Read the paragraphs from the bottom to the top;
• Run an automatic checker (in desktop software or online), etc.
• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to LinkedIn
• Share to email

You’re probably thinking: I’m no Mahatma Gandhi or Steve Jobs—what could I possibly write in my memoir? I don’t even know how to start an autobiography, let alone write the whole thing. But don’t worry: essay writing can be easy, and this autobiography example for students is here to show...

Some people know which profession to choose from childhood, while others decide much later in life. However, and whenever you come to it, you may have to elaborate on it in your personal statement or cover letter. This is widely known as “Why I Want to Be a Teacher” essay.

Assigned with an essay about friendship? Congrats! It’s one of the best tasks you could get. Digging through your memories and finding strong arguments for this paper can be an enjoyable experience. I bet you will cope with this task effortlessly as we can help you with the assignment. Just...

When you are assigned an autobiography to write, tens, and even hundreds of questions start buzzing in your head. How to write autobiography essay parts? What to include? How to make your autobiography writing flow? Don’t worry about all this and use the following three simple principles and 15 creative...

A life experience essay combines the elements of narration, description, and self-reflection. Such a paper has to focus on a single event that had a significant impact on a person’s worldview and values. Writing an essay about life experience prompts students to do the following: You may struggle with such...

Who has made a significant impact in your life and why? Essay on the topic might be challenging to write. One is usually asked to write such a text as a college admission essay. A topic for this paper can be of your choice or pre-established by the institution. Either...

Are you about to start writing a financial assistance essay? Most probably, you are applying for a scholarship that will provide additional funding for your education or that will help you meet some special research objectives.

What does it mean to grow up? Essays on this topic might be entertaining yet challenging to write. Growing up is usually associated with something new and exciting. It’s a period of everything new and unknown. Now, you’ve been assigned to write a growing up essay. You’re not a kid...

Probably, a murder essay is not a fascinating assignment to complete. Talking about people’s deaths or crazy murderers can be depressing. However, all assignments are different, and you are supposed to work on every task hard. So, how are you going to deal with a murder essay? You can make...

Are you a nursing student? Then, you will definitely have an assignment to compose a nursing reflective essay. This task might be quite tough and challenging. But don’t stress out! Our professionals are willing to assist you.

Throughout our life, we meet plenty of people and participate in various events. If some of them are just regular, the other people or occasions play a critical role in our fates. Your life-changing experience might become a perfect ground for creating a remembering essay.

Environment vs. development is a multifaceted present days’ dilemma. On the one hand, environmental problems are increasing year after year. We have more polluted areas on our planet, more polluted rivers, fewer trees that produce oxygen. On the other hand, can we stop development and progress in various fields? Is...

is there a set author taking credit for publishing this information ? because i would love to reference the author in my paper

Hello! You can reference it as a web source/web page.

People do not have much time for essays and are usually distracted in different things. Essays writing requires tons of concentration and a particular flow that the writer should maintain. Otherwise, it will not be interesting for the audience. Planning is so important in essay writing. Thanks for sharing these tips.

Thanks for your hard work

• Gradehacker
• Meet the Team
• Essay Writing
• Degree Accelerator
• Entire Class Bundle
• Learning Center
• Gradehacker TV

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Athina hansen.

• Writing Tips

Content Writer at Gradehacker

Updated January, 2023

How frustrating is it to hand in an essay you thought was good only to receive a low grade and a heap of corrections? That’s because you need to learn how to avoid essay common mistakes most students make!

Here at Gradehacker, we have years of experience helping students like you with custom-made essays for college students. We have come across many students who feel defeated as they keep receiving the same feedback on different essays. This can leave you feeling like you’re unable to fix the weaknesses in your writing to increase your grades and have a successful essay.  

Many of those corrections you might find spread throughout your essay are common mistakes in essay writing ! Though you may feel alone in repeating the same mistakes, this is not the case.

Excellent essay writing is a skill you need to complete college successfully . In this article, we share the five most common essay mistakes we have observed in essays and how to avoid them. 

This way, you can solve these essay mistakes and get that A+ essay you desire!

5 Common Essay Mistakes

Mistake #1: thesis statement problems.

A thesis statement is a sentence located at the end of your introduction paragraph that lays out the argument you will be making in your essay and the points that you will include to back this up.

Writing a Vague Thesis Statement

What makes a thesis statement vague and prevents you from making a meaningful essay is leaving out the points that will support why your argument is valid .

Let’s take a look at an example of a vague thesis statemen t:

Children should eat vegetables.

Does this thesis statement make the reader confident that children should eat their vegetables?

This thesis statement isn’t convincing because it presents an argument without any justification . It does not include why children should eat their vegetables.

How do I Make a Strong Thesis Statement?

When crafting a thesis statement, you have to remember to include the why aspect .

When you have an argument, ask yourself, “why is this so?” The answer to this question will be the points that will support your argument and must be included in the thesis statement.

Taking this into account, let’s tweak the previous thesis statement:

“Children should eat vegetables because they provide the necessary nutrients for growth, protect against diseases, and are an excellent fiber source.”

Compare the previous thesis statement to this one. This one sounds a lot more convincing, doesn’t it? This thesis statement was improved by simply including points that back up the claim.

We asked ourselves, why should children eat vegetables? And added on to the thesis statement by putting our answer after a ‘because.’

Thesis statements don’t always address a “why is this so?”. Sometimes, they address a “how did (any event) happen?”

That means that if asking yourself, “Why?” does not fit your thesis statement, ask yourself, “How?” When answering either a why or how, always include your answer as the supporting points.

Ensure you do not just include an empty statement, but you also make a complete sentence to justify your statement.

Choosing a Non-Justifiable Thesis Statement

Another mistake is choosing a thesis statement that you are not able to justify extensively . If you find that you chose a thesis statement but are struggling to find points that will support it, you are making this mistake!

You can end up with a non-justifiable thesis statement for two reasons:

• There aren't many facts out there to support the point you make in your thesis statement
• You chose a thesis statement before researching thoroughly and only based on your personal opinion

If you have a non-justifiable thesis statement, it will affect your entire essay! Your body paragraphs, which elaborate on the supporting points, will suffer as you end up justifying more with opinions instead of facts and information.

How do I Ensure my Thesis Statement Can be Justified?

Simply put, stick to the facts! And avoid:

• Choosing a thesis statement before researching a topic
• Picking an argument that has little evidence out there

Do not be afraid to change your thesis statement! Because you will end up losing more time and points on your grade if you stay put with a thesis statement that isn’t easy to justify.

Here’s a visual template you can follow to know if your thesis statement is appropriate for your paper o not. 

Don’t Forget About the Thesis Statement Throughout the Entire Essay

So, we pointed out that having a good thesis statement is a must-have , but is that it? No! 

A big mistake is including a thesis statement but not connecting back to it throughout your essay.

This common mistake occurs when we lose sight of it in the writing process. We may follow our essay plan and include the points we planned but forget to relate these back to the essay’s stance.

This error involves leaving the thesis statement in the introduction and forgetting about it in the rest of your essay.

How do Address The Thesis Statement Throughout The Entire Essay?

To avoid this, you must understand that each body paragraph(s) explores a separate point supporting your thesis statement.

Have your thesis statement in sight while writing , so you can always be reminded of your essay’s general argument. When you include evidence or facts within a body paragraph, always explain how this backs up your general thesis statement points.

Think of your thesis statement as a string to which each body paragraph is connected and ties back to.

 If you want to learn how to come up with an outstanding thesis statement in a few minutes, check out our video!

Mistake #2: Including Hard-to-Read Sentences

Have you ever had someone else read your essay and ask, what are you trying to say? 

Hard-to-read sentences are common errors found in essays. Many include fancy words and long sentences, thinking it will make them sound “academic.”

These sentences, you think, sound academic but will just be confusing to the reader if they are not concise and have superfluous words.

While academic writing does involve formal words and academic language, simple sentences that show clarity is one of the most important things!

How do I Make my Sentences Readable?

Nowadays you can use many online readers and grammar editors that will help you make your sentences easier to read and more accurate. 

Usually, online editors look like this:

Getting someone else to read your essay is a great way to avoid having hard-to-read sentences. Having another pair of eyes look over your essay will allow them to catch which sentences are difficult to understand.

You can also highlight lengthy sentences in your essay , review them, and ask yourself:

• Is this sentence difficult to read?
• Will this sentence be clearer if I shorten it?
• Will this sentence be more exact if I change the words?

Hemingway Editor is also a great online tool that points out confusing sentences that are hard to read and lengthy. You can learn more about it in our in-depth review .

Mistake #3 Disorganized Essay Structure

Sometimes, even though the ideas you brainstormed for your essay and the evidence you found are excellent, your essay’s structure is not great .

Having a clear and organized structure is what makes or breaks an essay. It facilitates getting your point across.

However, many students don’t pay much attention to the structure and end up with an essay with no apparent organization.

When you don’t have a good essay structure, your paragraphs will seem like they come from a different essay topic that does not relate to one another or flow effortlessly.

How do I Better Structure my Essay?

The only way to avoid this is to structure your essay before writing! This involves planning out each part of your essay, your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion .

You can make a bullet point list of what you will write in each section and remember each section is supposed to work together to illustrate a point. This point that each body paragraph needs to work together to present is the argument in your thesis statement.

When planning out what to write in each section, don’t forget to list out:

• The thesis statement in the introduction
• The evidence you will use in your body paragraphs to prove each point
• How each point relates to and backs up your thesis statement
• The significance of your argument in the conclusion

This is an example of a good essay structure you can follow so your writing can flow flawlessly. 

Make sure to limit each body paragraph to one idea so the structure isn’t confusing. Also, don’t forget to include transition words between paragraphs so that your essay flows nicely.

Always tie everything back to the thesis statement; this will make sure your paragraphs connect to one another.

Mistake #4: Rewording the Introduction for the Conclusion

There is a widespread misconception that all you need to do in a conclusion is reword the introduction. Yes, you cannot forget to revisit the points you make throughout the essay, but a conclusion is not the same as an introduction !

This is why students make the common mistake of not including the bigger picture of their academic essay.

Another mistake is beginning your conclusion with a generic term that marks finality, such as “in conclusion.”

How do I Make my Conclusion Better?

You should check whether your conclusion does these things:

• Revisit the points you made and how this supports the thesis statement
• Reflect on the argument you made and the "bigger picture"
• Mention any further implications of your argument

Try not to begin your conclusion with a generic phrase like ‘in conclusion,’ as these sound amateur. Also, a conclusion should be able to be identified without these introductory phrases .

If you want more tips on how to improve your essay conclusion , take a look at our quick video!

Mistake #5 Not Editing Your Essay Thoroughly

The biggest mistake you can make is not editing your essay thoroughly before handing it in .

By not rereading your essay, your silly mistakes will distract from what you are trying to say . Any mistakes, such as typos or punctuation mistakes, will make your essay harder to read for your professor and disrupt the point you are trying to make.

Skipping this final step in the essay-writing process will rid you of the chance of perfecting your essay and fixing any mistakes . This simple step has a significant impact on getting you from a C or B to an A!

How do I Revise my Essay Better?

Proofread your essay and pay attention to any:

• Grammatical mistakes
• Spelling mistakes
• Punctuation mistakes
• Not relating back to the overall message (thesis statement)
• Disorganized structure/flow

Asking someone other than yourself to read your essay is very helpful in the revision process. As they are in the reader’s position, they can see which areas are necessary to correct and give you suggestions.

Grammarly is an online tool you can use in the revision process to pick up any grammar and punctuation mistakes you did not catch. If you want more information about it, you can read our honest review to see its benefits, features, and costs!

Learning From Common Essay Mistakes

The best way to avoid making essay mistakes is to identify them in your work and learn from them. Keep these five common errors in essay writing in mind in the essay writing process . You will definitely see an improvement in your essay writing quality.

It is essential to complete each step of essay writing ( research, writing, editing ) precisely. Skipping one of these steps or completing one of these steps half-heartedly will impact your essay’s grade.

We know from personal experience and through our clients, that college essays are not a piece of cake! They involve skill not only in terms of content, but in terms of citing properly and finishing them in a timely manner.

But if you are in a rush or maybe you continue struggling with one essay or even a whole class , we can help you! Here at Gradehacker we have years of experience in the essay writing industry, and offer a variety of services to assist students like you achieve the grades they deserve!

If you need more tips on how to improve your essay writing skills, check out some of our related articles!

7 Best Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2023

Best iPads For College Students

How to Write a Research Paper | The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

APA vs. MLA Citation: What’s the Difference?

How Much Does it Cost to Write My Essay?

10 Effective Steps to Write Your Essay Without Wasting Time

Athina has worked with Gradehacker both as a content writer and a study consultant, where she assisted college students with nursing courses. Athina has a background of educating others and producing content, having tutored college students and produced articles for her school magazine. She brings her experience to her current role, where she writes content to empower and assist the non-traditional college student who is often overlooked. You can find her on LinkedIn

• Best Apps and Tools
• Financial Tips and Scholarships
• Career Planning
• Non-Traditional Students
• Student Wellness
• Cost & Pricing

• 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd Suite 300 Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA
• Phone: (786) 991-9293
• Gradehacker 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd Suite 300 Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA

About Gradehacker

Business hours.

Mon - Fri: 10:00 am - 7 pm ET ​​Sat - Sun: 10 am - 3 pm ET ​

© 2024 Gradehacker LLC All Rights Reserved.

5 Most Common Mistakes in Essay Writing

by Mel Beasley | Nov 10, 2022 | Academic Writing

Essay writing is often a daunting task, especially if you don’t feel confident in a particular format or about a specific topic. As a certified college writing tutor, I had the chance to work with tons of students at varying writing levels. It didn’t take long for me to notice some prevalent essay writing mistakes students continued to make in their papers, despite the format and topic. 

In this article, I will show you some of the most common essay writing mistakes I’ve seen while tutoring and how to avoid them. I’ve seen incredible success with improved grades from students who managed to correct these mistakes.

Here are the five most common essay writing mistakes and how to avoid them. 

1 | missing or unclear thesis statement..

You’d be surprised how many students I’ve tutored who thought they had a clear thesis statement when they didn’t have one at all. Every academic essay you write should have a clear thesis statement toward the end of your first paragraph. However, many students have a hard time determining what their statement should look like, and this often happens when they don’t fully understand the prompt or the topic they’ve chosen to write. 

Your thesis statement doesn’t have to feel hard! Writing your thesis statement should be one of the easiest parts of writing your essay. How can you avoid making this essay writing mistake? 

First, understand that your thesis statement is often your professor’s writing prompt rewritten and customized to fit your voice and perspective on the topic. Let’s take a look at an example essay writing prompt below, and then see what I would consider a solid thesis in response to that. 

Example essay writing prompt:

Video games have been the focus of heated debate for the last 50 years, with many voicing concerns about violence, innuendos, and video game addiction all playing a part. In recent years, many have dedicated their lives to playing video games as a sport, which has amassed a rather large community of digital “athletes.” However, many disagree that gaming should fall into the “sport” category because it requires nearly no physical training or activity. For this essay, you should choose your stance and answer the following question: Should video games be considered a sport?

Example thesis statement response:

Video games should not be considered a sport because, while they display some elements of a sport such as competing against others, they do not require any physical training, excursion, or literal skill.

As you can see from my thesis example, I’ve built a thesis statement from the question asked, and I have customized it to fit my stance on the topic. My next step would be to find scholarly sources that prove my stance as correct. If you follow this same method to create your thesis statement, you should never have any trouble organizing a clear and powerful essay. 

2 | They write the introduction paragraph first instead of last.

This may seem like a surprising essay writing mistake, but I’ve seen it happen to even advanced writers. It’s human nature to want to start at the beginning; however, I always recommend that students begin writing their essays from the second paragraph onward. After they have written their last paragraph before the conclusion, they should then write the introductory paragraph, followed by the conclusion.

Why? All writers have a tendency to use the intro paragraph to sort of work out the rough kinks of what their essay is about, which often leads to a disorganized, repetitive intro paragraph that doesn’t match the rest of the paper. Remember that your first paragraph is your professor’s first impression of your essay, so it needs to be extremely concise and a good representation of the rest of your paper.

How do you avoid this essay writing mistake? Start by listing your thesis statement at the top of your paper and let that stand as your intro for now. From there, jump right into your first body paragraph that makes your first point to support your thesis. Keep going down the list of reasons why your thesis statement holds water until you get to the end. At that point, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what your essay looks like as a whole and can then write a much more concise introductory paragraph to match it. 

3 | You’re missing topic sentences on your body paragraphs.

I frequently had students come in feeling like their essays didn’t “flow” correctly, but they couldn’t pinpoint why. If your writing feels like it doesn’t flow when you read it or that it jumps from paragraph to paragraph in an abrupt way, it’s likely because you don’t have topic sentences at the beginning of each body paragraph.

What’s a topic sentence? You can think of a topic sentence as a mini-thesis statement for each body paragraph. The same way your thesis statement lets the reader know what your entire paper is about, your topic sentence should do the same for each paragraph. 

For example, suppose I were to write a full essay based on the example prompt and thesis statement we used above. In that case, I’d likely start with a first body paragraph that addressed the fact that almost all video games involve zero physical training. 

Example topic sentence:

The dictionary definition of the word sport includes physical training; however, nearly all video games require little to no physical activity. 

This example topic sentence works exceptionally well for the first body paragraph because it clearly defines the point I’m about to support. Think of your topic sentence as your points one, two, three, and so forth. The rest of the paragraph is merely expanding on the topic sentence, so your reader can fully grasp why each point is valid and worthy of consideration for the argument as a whole. 

4 | Basic grammar and spelling mistakes.

You don’t have to be a spectacular writer to get a good grade on a writing assignment, but you should at least avoid basic grammar and spelling mistakes in your essay at all costs. We’re living in a world where there are many grammar and spell-check tools, most of which are free, so you have no excuse when it comes to avoiding grammatical and spelling errors. 

Microsoft Word and Google Docs include a basic grammar and spelling checker that you should become familiar with using. Additionally, there are many tools online that allow at least basic use for free. If you’re serious about improving your essay writing grade, you should consider paying a monthly fee for something like Grammarly, which even gives suggestions on craft, style, and word choice. 

There’s no excuse anymore to have bad grammar or spelling mistakes in your academic essay, so take your time and use the technology available to avoid this mistake. 

5 | Incorrect essay formatting.

Surprisingly, your essay’s formatting is the least concerning when compared to addressing all these other common writing mistakes. You’d be surprised what formatting issues a professor might overlook if you’ve managed to avoid the first four of these mistakes. However, formatting your essay correctly and according to your course’s guidelines will inevitably improve your grade. 

If all else fails, you should get your title information and page number formatting correct, as this is the easiest part of formatting and what I see done wrong most often. Don’t get on your professor’s bad side by overlooking the simplest aspects of formatting. It’s more challenging rules like in-text citations that your professor is more likely to ease up on, not the simple stuff like your page numbers!

If you need help formatting your essay, check out our resources below:

• MLA Essay Guide
• APA Essay Guide
• The Basics of Chicago Format

Mel Beasley has a bachelor’s in creative writing and journalism from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He brings 9+ years of digital marketing and writing experience to the table by writing for publications such as Lumina News and Encore Magazine. He spent 2 years as a college-level writing tutor, and is a certified writing tutor through the CRLA, which is a prestigious cert recognized by the Association for the Coaching & Tutoring Profession. He is a professional SEO blogger with experience writing for brands such as Boardworks Education and The Greater Wilmington Business Journal. One of his latest website and marketing projects has been building the website for the now New York Times Bestselling author, Nina de Gramont .

7 Tips for Setting Achievable Writing Goals – 2024

Mel Beasley Dec 21, 2023

5 Reasons a Creative Writing Degree is Worth It

Conner DiGiacomo Jul 28, 2023

The 5 Stages of Freytag’s Pyramid (Plus Examples)

Conner DiGiacomo Jul 15, 2023

Latest Articles

7 Unexpected Things You’ll Learn At Writing Workshops

Conner DiGiacomo Jul 8, 2023

Subscribe for Updates, Writing Tips, and More!

Thanks for subscribing we'll send you a confirmation shortly..., pin it on pinterest.

• Print Friendly

• LEARN WITH CHLOE
• ABOUT CHLOE

Stop Making These 13 Essay Writing Mistakes

Essay writing is HARD, right? So many rules, such a long, drawn-out process. Over the last four years I’ve worked one-on-one with hundreds of students to help them improve their essay writing skills. And now I want to share with you the most common essay writing mistakes I see so you can identify areas for your own improvement.

Improve your essay writing = achieve higher grades + make the process easier 

~ FREE TRAINING ~

How to Actually START Your Essay

Workbook + video training to take you from procrastination and overwhelm to understanding your question and mapping out your ideas with momentum. Easier, faster essay writing (and higher grades) await.

13 essay writing mistakes

1. expecting to be good at essay writing straight away.

A person isn't born a good writer. It takes years of practice to learn how to spell, how to put your ideas across, how to write clearly…etc. But it’s a pretty common essay writing mistake to believe we should excel at it straight away, and that if we don’t then we must just not be very good at it.

Holding this belief is gonna hurt your confidence and progress because if you don’t think you’re very good at essay writing, you’re more likely to procrastinate, leave it to the last minute and not put in enough effort to get a good grade.

In the same way you need to bake a number of cakes to become good at baking cakes, you need to actually write a few essays to become good at writing.

Essay writing is a craft so take on that apprentice mindset and focus on learning. Practice your skills with each essay, ask your tutor for feedback and advice, and develop your writing skills by reading one of my blog posts or buying my book.

2. Starting your essay too late

Q: How do you know a student’s got an essay due soon? A: Their bathroom is spotless and their kitchen cupboards are organised alphabetically.

Writing an essay involves a lot of uncertainty as the creation of something brand new is pretty taxing on our brains. This is why our mind tries to hunt out a more concrete task with a quicker reward e.g. cleaning or tidying.

Leaving an essay to the last minute is a really big essay writing mistake because you’re just not leaving yourself enough time to do well. A great essay takes shape over a number of phases and the crafting of strong, flowing arguments takes time. You also need to leave time for multiple rounds of editing to ensure your ideas are strong AND, most importantly, that your essay answers the question you’ve been set.

One way you can combat this essay writing mistake is to break down the process into stages so the task doesn’t feel so colossal, and so you can build momentum as you go.

3. Not answering the set question

The aim of an essay is NOT just to write down everything you know about the topic. It’s to argue a case in response to the question you’ve been set. Too often I review students’ essays and notice that, while they’ve written an interesting piece, they’ve not actually answered the question they were set – meaning low marks.

Starting writing without having a 100% clear understanding of the question is a common, damaging essay writing mistake to make. So make sure you understand the keywords in your essay – the directives (doing words) such as describe, evaluate, critically analyse, illustrate…etc.

4. Starting writing without any planning

Students are often split into two camps – those who plan before they start writing and those who just dive straight in.

Unfortunately, the eager-beaver second group are making a big essay writing mistake by not planning. Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

When you don’t plan you’re way more likely to go off on a tangent and start answering a different question, include irrelevant ideas, and make weaker arguments because you haven’t planned your evidence – all of which will lead you to scoring low marks.

Factor in time for planning for your next essay so you can select only the relevant material to include, and outline a sensible order to follow that’ll take the reader (your tutor) on a journey to your answer.

5. Failing to back up your ideas with course material

The aim of an essay is NOT to answer a question with material off the top of your head. Your essay is a chance to demonstrate your understanding of the material your course has taught you AND your ability to apply it to answer a question or problem.

A common essay writing mistake I see with my clients is that they don’t refer back to the course materials enough. They include whole paragraphs without referring to what they’ve learning and/or including references for their sources.

Each point you make needs to be backed up with evidence. 

6. Writing your points in any ol’ order

Another common essay writing mistake is to include your points and arguments with no particular order. This makes for a much harder reader experience and can make it more difficult for your tutor to understand your train of thought.

And if they can’t understand your arguments…you’re unlikely to score high marks.

Instead, think of your essay as a journey. You want your ideas to build upon each other and flow from paragraph to paragraph, leading sensible to your conclusion.

7. Accidental or deliberate plagiarism

Plagiarism is a massive essay writing mistake to make. It’s a bloody big deal for universities and if you’re caught you are likely to fail assignments or entire modules, or be kicked out – depending on the severity.

It is plagiarism to pass off someone else’s work as your own. This can range from accidentally including someone else’s ideas without referencing it, to lifting sentences or paragraphs from the internet or someone else’s work to use in your own essay, all the way to copying an entire essay.

I’ve had students contact me before and ask for my advice on essay writing mills – those sites that ‘claim’ to write an original essay for you.

These are crappy for a number of reasons:

– You’re cheating yourself out of a chance to learn these skills yourself AND develop your understanding of your course material

– The essay you receive will probably be shoddy and will most likely be a copy of someone else’s essay. If your university uses a plagiarism checker (most do) – you’re screwed

– If your university finds out, you’re also screwed.

So if you’ve plagiarised accidentally before – develop your skills in referencing/citing and writing in your own words.

And if you are a deliberate plagiariser – it's time to stop. You CAN do this by yourself, I promise. 

8. Writing with bias

One of the most important pieces of advice I received from a tutor was, “I don’t care what you think personally. I care about the argument you can put forward and the evidence you can back it up with.”

I offer an essay proofreading service and one of the most catastrophic essay writing mistakes I see is when a student brings bias into their writing. They express personal opinion, they present their own ideas or common sense as evidence for their argument, they refute the claims of a credible theorist but give no evidence for their criticism. It’s highly unlikely a student will achieve a high grade if they write with bias.

As the author, your job is to present an unbiased case. You must look objectively at the evidence available and piece together a logical, reasoned argument without taking your own personal beliefs into account. If you do want to express your own ideas, give the reader a reason to take you seriously by including convincing counter-evidence.

9. Not engaging in critical thinking and evaluation

Critical thinking is one of those words that sows fear into a lot of students, but it’s a pretty common essay writing mistake to not engage in it. Critical thinking is the process of evaluating information to make judgements on its value. It’s about questioning ideas and evidence, seeking out all perspectives and uncovering any potential bias in your source.

For example, an Instagram influencer who recommends a dietary supplement may explain that the “shake will help melt away your fat.”

But the influencer is being PAID to promote this product and is being told what to say by the company who are likely to twist or make up entirely the benefits of their product. Does it mean their claims aren’t true? No. But it means we should dig much, MUCH deeper to determine the evidence and judge its value for ourselves.

As you progress through your studies you WILL be required to think critically and analyse the evidence you’re reading and using so it’s vital you develop these skills.

10. Fluffy writing

I could probably condense this pretty hefty blog post into a few hundred words that just delivers the meat. I choose however to include more explanation and details to aid your understanding of these points.

Academic writing, however, needs to be concise so there’s no need to beat around the bush. While you won’t lose marks directly for fluffy writing, it can make it harder for your tutor to understand your ideas and takes up precious word count that could be used for additional points – an essay writing mistake we don’t want to make.

So during your editing process, look at each sentence in turn and see where you can shave off unnecessary words and reorder it to lose some fluff. Your ideas will be stronger and you’ll have saved some word count.

11. Not correcting poor grammar, spelling and punctuation

While most word processors have a spellchecker, it’s a common essay writing mistake to rely on them too much. Again, you may not lose many (or any) marks for poor grammar, it does make it A LOT harder for your tutor to understand what the hell you’re saying. They are unlikely to grasp the full oomph of your awesome points if they have to keep stopping to decipher your sentences.

Therefore, educate yourself on grammar, spelling and punctuation rules so you can proofread your essays thoroughly.

12. Not reaching the word count

Word counts are set for a reason so it’s a pretty big essay writing mistake to submit a piece that’s well below the word limit.

Now sometimes life happens and you have to submit an unfinished essay. But, this shouldn’t be an aim or general practice for any student who wants to achieve good grades.

Not meeting the word count means you haven’t included enough content for your tutor to grade you on and allocate marks for.

Spend more time in the brainstorming phase before you start writing. Scan through all your materials and notes to come up with possible ideas, concepts, examples that you can include and ensure you’re developing your arguments fully with critical analysis.

13. Hiding from feedback

It’s common for students to take a look at their mark and then ignore the rest of the feedback – especially if they’re not happy with their grade. But it’s a big essay writing mistake to ignore your feedback as this is a super valuable tool to help you improve your writing and increase your marks next time.

Rather than see feedback and constructive criticism as a slight on you as a person, try to view it as an opportunity to improve your writing craft and express your ideas more clearly next time so you can achieve a better grade. 

You may also like...

7 ways to write a sh*te essay (and how to write a great essay instead).

In this episode, you’ll learn the do’s and don’ts of academic writing to help you write a great essay. We’ll start by highlighting seven common mistakes that lead to subpar essays – or what I refer to as shite essays. Because learning what NOT to do can really help you get clear on what you

How to Become the Student Who Graduates With Their Dream Grades

If you’ve ever wondered how to graduate with dream grades, here’s your roadmap. Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and stressed out on your academic journey? It’s time to break free from that cycle. We’ll explore the powerful concept that results are a product of behaviors, which are rooted in your identity. You’ll learn how

7 Essential Ways to Ensure This Is Your Best Academic Year Yet

Are you ready to embark on your best academic year ever? Getting ready for the new academic year is about more than buying new stationery and setting up your study space. It IS possible to take a few simple, intentional actions now to set the stage for an easier studying life AND epic grades. The

What do you want to learn? 

Either select the study skill you want to dive into, or choose whether you're in the mood to check out a blog post or podcast episode.

• Confident learning
• Critical thinking
• Distance learning
• Essay writing
• Exam preparation
• Higher grades
• Mature student
• Note taking
• Organisation
• Procrastination
• Productivity
• Study challenge
• Study habits
• Studying while working

FREE EMAIL SERIES

How to Build Unshakeable Studying Confidence in Just 5 Days

Learn 5 powerful strategies to build an unshakeable foundation of studying confidence.

Say goodbye to self-doubt and traumatic school memories getting in the way of you acing your learning as an adult.

And instead say hello to studying with more motivation, positivity and ease so that you can graduate with the grades you want.

~ ENROL IN THIS FREE TRAINING ~

It's time to say goodbye to procrastination and overwhelm and hello to easier, faster essay writing.

I will never sell your information to third parties and will protect it in accordance with my privacy policy . You may withdraw this consent at any time by unsubscribing.