Few professionals strive for perfection as much as writers in the professional field. And yet, many writers can be easily susceptible to simple mistakes. Not only do these errors embarrass writers, but they also reflect poorly on certain skills and capabilities. I
Writers can be making mistakes that can be completely overlooked. But how can a writer know if no one tells them? By knowing what blunders to watch for, you can avoid mediocrity and be the writing professional you envision yourself.
What might be more embarrassing than misspellings in your writing? Misspelling a word while simultaneously confusing it with a homophone instead. In a speech, you have no need to worry about spelling errors. In writing, your mistakes are clear as day and prove you to be either incompetent or just careless. Either one makes your work look unreliable to your readers.
Making other mistakes that are technically correct can cause the same effect, such as the misuse of apostrophes. Always remember that it’s wrong to misuse its purpose blindly. Apostrophes should be primarily used to indicate ownership and avoid contractions, but you must understand the exceptions to the rule.
An easily more embarrassing error in content writing however could be falling into “text speak”. In the world of smartphones and the internet, we have fallen into habits of abbreviations and shortcuts. But in professional writing, using these makes you not only look unprofessional but makes your work difficult to digest. We use abbreviations in texts for short messages, but content writing requires more time, thought, and comprehension.
Few problems are more frustrating than a writer who writes so haphazardly with inconsistent rules and phrasing. Misspellings with homophones are just one example, but consistency goes beyond spelling. One of the greatest offenders of an inconsistent writer is one who cannot choose a verbal tense.
Verb tense dictates the time of occurrence for your words: past, present, and future. Switching tenses in the middle of your work makes a writer look confused or even passive for their own work. You may switch to past tense to refer to a past event in another sentence, but you must switch to present when you want to talk about today’s events.
Regardless, based on what you write about, choose a tense, and stand by it. Regularly slipping into other tenses makes your writing not only sloppy but also full of insecurity. Be confident in what you write and what you want to say.
An unprofessional writer can lose readers quickly, but so can a pompous-sounding one. Readers do not want to be talked down to by you. Rather, they want someone who can level with them, break down and explain ideas in simple terms. How might you end up losing them by trying too hard?
For one, avoid exclusive terminology or bigger words. Not only will you lose readers but confuse them and make your work overall harder to understand. Instead of focusing on sounding smart, focus on being concise and getting straight to the point for the audience. Along with avoiding fancy words, consider also avoiding overly formal writing. Instead of writing like a manual, write like a person talking to another human being.
By knowing the consistent problems that weaken your writing, you can ultimately work to make it stronger. If you are struggling to write to and build your audience with widespread content, you can find help. Through services such as law firm marketing, social media management, and blog distribution networks, Actionable Agency can help you. By offering many marketing solutions and web development for law firms across the country, we extend their reach and develop their business. At Actionable Agency, we can provide an analysis of your current strategy and website of your firm to help formulate new solutions. For more information, call us toll-free at (855) 206-9689.
