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Books - Perfect Bound, Self-publishing Posted by Ann O'Brien on 02/26/2025

Worried about writing errors? Plenty of self-published authors complete the writing and editing process independently, without any help or input from another publishing professional. But is that a good idea? Coming up with a book concept, writing it down in a readable, engaging way and then making sure that writing errors don’t sneak their way into the final printed copy is a big task for most authors.

Instead of shouldering the burden of cleaning up a working draft into a polished, perfected manuscript alone, many authors partner with an editor to ensure their printed copy looks as clean and professional as traditionally published books. To make the most of your work with an expert editor, fixing these 10 common writing errors before you send your book to the editor can help you focus on turning your book into a beautiful, impeccably written manuscript quickly and more efficiently.

1. Writing Errors — Boring, Flat Characters

One of the tasks of an editor is to address the characters in your story to ensure that each one is interesting, well-thought-out, and contributes something tangible to the story. Predictable, boring characters without depth don’t add to a story, so focus on creating characters that change, evolve, and add meaningful stories to the book before connecting with an editor.

2. Writing Errors — Tired Cliches

We have heard them all before: cliches that capture an idea in a quick soundbite with tired, recognizable phrasing, story structure, or plot line. Editors don’t like it when writers use cliches because their predictability is tiresome for readers. Instead of developing a unique plot element, character, or turn of phrase relies on stereotypes and doesn’t inspire readers. Instead, look for different ways to describe a situation using colorful language and precise word choices, distinctive characters that don’t fit into stereotypical types, and plot lines that will surprise and delight your readers. Your editors will thank you and so will your readers.

3. Writing Errors — Inconsistencies in Plots and Characters

One of the jobs of an editor is to catch discrepancies in a story, from characters that don’t act according to their previously described demeanors, to subplots that contradict other parts of the story to plot lines that include incongruent behavior, dialogue, or events. Fixing inconsistencies involves taking a close look at each character, their dialogue (both inner and outer), their interactions with other characters, and how they fulfill their part in the plot. By looking at the details that develop each character, you can locate and fix any small inconsistencies that will confuse readers and weaken your overall story.

In the same way, focusing on the plot points of a story and how characters contribute to moving the story forward will help you discover any discrepancies within the larger story as well. A common job by editors, searching for and fixing these types of writing errors in your writing will allow an editor to focus on character development and building a strong story instead of putting out little fires throughout your manuscript that flame up, confusing readers by obscuring clearly defined characters and plot lines.

4. Writing Errors — Missing Motivation

Readers should have a good idea of why characters act the way they do in your story. Similarly, events in a book should have some context so readers understand and believe the plot twists that arise and can buy into a surprising turn of events in a book. Building a character’s motivation into a story can be challenging for even experienced writers, and editors often spend time fixing writing errors of omission like this. Authors can avoid this costly addition to editor work by looking for missing motivations within their story to avoid spending an editor’s time aligning character actions with their goals, purpose, and personality.

5. Writing Errors — Imbalanced Character Speech

Walking the line between too-short dialogue between characters and too-long dialogue are common writing errors that editors have to fix when working with authors on their manuscripts. Balancing how much a character reveals in their speech can be tricky. Those who speak with minimal words may present a thoughtful or reticent character to the reader, but the lack of plot revelations within their dialogue may result in a too-slow plot, confusion in the reader, or a missed opportunity to move the plot forward.

On the other hand, characters who speak in lengthy speeches come across as unrealistic or pretentious, leaving the reader with a poor opinion of the character, the story, or the writer. A great way to fix both of these seemingly opposite problems is to trade off speech, no matter how verbose or brief, with actions. A raised eyebrow, a confused look on a listener’s face, or a disgruntled noise made by the speaker all contribute to the scene’s meaning and sometimes actions speak much louder than even carefully chosen words.

6. Writing Errors — Not Using Spell Check

One of the most egregious writing errors is ignoring the support that spell check can provide their manuscript. Ignoring spell check’s helpful grammar suggestions can result in a messy, confusing draft that takes an editor’s attention away from more meaningful work like strengthening the character development or clarifying plot details to produce a smoother story.

To ensure that minimal errors like this sneak through to an editor’s draft, authors can use a secondary strategy to clean up their writing before handing their draft to an editor to work on. Typos, grammar errors, and punctuation problems all can be caught by reading your draft aloud, allowing your listening ear to catch stray commas, awkward sentences, oddly chosen words, and other grammatical errors that an editor would otherwise have to spend time fixing.

7. Writing Errors — Overwriting

We have all experienced overwriting, either as someone who tends to overinflate their writing or simply knowing it when we see it. Writers who spend too much time describing something because they use a bucket of words to get an idea across when a small sprinkle will do are overwriters, and editors hate this common mistake. Overwriting can be written off by some authors as a stylistic choice, and a few writers do it very well.

But the truth is that sentence variety is more interesting to read, and overly complex sentences can slow down the average reader and lead to boredom, confusion, or even frustration with a text. Editors are quick to point out when authors overwrite as it can diminish otherwise excellent writing, so fixing this problem before paying an editor to fix your writing is beneficial.

8. Writing Errors — Repetitive Words

Authors tend to use their favorite words repeatedly, but the readers notice. Instead, use new AI tools to scan your writing for overused words that editors will pick up on. ChatGPT, Jasper, and Gemini all offer quick scanning capabilities that will decrease the incidence of this common writing pitfall.

9. Writing Errors — Forgetting to Show, Don’t Tell

Probably the most common writing error that editors will point out is when an author spends too much time telling the reader what is happening instead of showing it through actions and dialogue. Authors who use too much narrative writing will end up telling the reader about interactions that could have easily been presented as enjoyable and consequential short scenes that readers will love much more.

Look for places where no direct action or dialogue is present and consider replacing the narrative section with any kind of character interaction. Flashbacks, scenes retold between characters, or quick snippets of dialogue all can play a significant part in transitioning your writing into a more showing vs. telling style.

10. Writing Errors — Unnecessary Scenes

The opposite of showing versus telling is the inclusion of scenes that don’t have a purpose. When authors include scenes that don’t move the plot forward or show a character acting in a way that does not support their part in the plot, it can feel like a page filler. Editors dislike these extra scenes because readers can develop an incorrect opinion about a character, the plot can become murky, or readers can simply become bored with this unnecessary plot diversion and put the book down.

Keeping a record of each scene, the characters in it, and how the scene relates to the plot or subplots can help authors track their writing to see where potentially unnecessary scenes might be reconsidered.

 Do I Need an Editor to Prevent Writing Errors?

As a self-publishing author, you may initially decide to take care of all aspects of publishing your writing, from the writing itself to designing the book cover to developing a marketing strategy to getting your book into the hands of your readers. But even the most talented writer often decides to focus their attention and skills on what they are best at – writing – and select some experts to support their efforts in some areas.

An editor is one of the professionals that many writers choose to work with because a book editor’s eye is trained to catch the big and little writer errors that will be problematic for the typical reader. You may decide to have professional acquaintances, friends, or family who are particularly adept at giving you writing feedback help you with your book (and you should!), but working with an experienced editor often is money well spent because they can ensure that your self-published book looks and reads just as polished and professional as other traditionally published books.

When Your Book Is Ready to Print

When the editor’s proverbial red pen has finished its task, partner with an experienced printer like Dazzle Printing to finish the process of self-publishing your work.