Easy Checks and Fixes For the Most Common Errors in Writing

Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash

Copy editing is often the last thing we do when revising our own writing, and it’s easy to read what you think should be on the page, rather than what really is. By using a checklist like this one, you can check each aspect and correct, and it helps you to gradually learn how to avoid the errors as you write. Practice really does make perfect!

The other bonuses of using this checklist and improving your own language and writing abilities are: it makes you look more professional; publishers and editors can see you have made the effort of a final polish; and if you do want or need to pay for a copy editor, it will save you a huge amount of money to have done these corrections already.

1. Using the wrong its/it’s.
   Hint: Say the sentence out loud, substituting it is for its. Does the sentence make sense? If not, no apostrophe is needed.
2. Misusing commas. Use commas for lists and for clarity in longer sentences. If in doubt, leave the comma out. Reading your work aloud and pausing where you have put a comma will often show you if it’s really necessary or not.
3. Vague pronouns, e.g. John and George joined me, and he shook my hand. Which he — John or George? If in doubt, repeat the name.
4. Wrong choice of words — common errors here include affect/effect…