7 Most Common Writing Mistakes

While writing, I make mistakes. Some common and some glaring. Many supporting tools do eradicate the spelling and grammatical anomalies. Yet certain writing mistakes need attention.

“Mistakes are proof that you’re trying” Ernest Hemingway

I made a checklist for me to fetch and rectify such errors.

This checklist will give a guideline to the newbies.    

1. Avoid Long Introductions

Lengthy introductions bore the readers. The introduction is meant to enlighten the reader with the subject. There should be a glimpse of what is coming next.

An introduction is the first impression of the writer to the reader. According to Will Rogers’ point of view,   

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”

Hook the reader with a strong statement. It should be crisp, concise, and to the point.

The introduction should occupy 10% of the whole paper.

2. Give Explanation with Backups

At times, writers give out information but forget to add authentication. If the readers read some stuff that has a verified and validated link to it. They gain confidence in the writer.

It is advisable to give facts and figures with evidence. Lead the readers through linkage and prove the point. References authenticate the writing material. It also increases the integrity of a writer.

3. No Repetition of a Keyword Unless Necessary

        Repetitive use of a keyword is valuable for search engine optimization (SEO). But not anymore. Overdoing renders a result of keyword stuffing. The recommended word density is about 1-2%.

“ The eye loves repetition but does not want to be bored. It likes familiarity, but needs surprises.” Edith Bergstrom

Repeating a keyword or phrase is no more productive. A writer should avoid it at all costs unless deemed essential.

 4. Free the Content from Needless Words

          The phenomenon of using two words with the same meaning leads to pleonasm. ‘Burning fire’ or ‘black darkness’ like words are bad ways of writing.

“Omit the needless words” William Strunk Jr.

Make a concise sentence instead of wordy. Eliminate determiner phrases and grammatical modifiers.

 5. Don’t Forget the Range of the Paper

          Before writing, writers decide the length of a paper and make an outline plan. They follow and finish within decided parameters.

“Stay within the limit… or be ready to pay the price…” Tathagata Chatterjee

In fluency, fewer writers forget and cross the limit. Later they end up with extra material. Now the reduction costs them sacrificing some essential part(s).

Writer(s) can avoid such drifts by following the prescribed outline plan.   

6. Out of Context Writing Pushes Away the Readers         

Sometimes, the reader feels irrelevancy while reading. This happens when some ‘Out of Context’ storyline disturbs the flow of the story added by the writer.

There is a reason behind it. The writer has different references in his mind that may relate to the context. But the reader is ignorant of those references.

That results in, the reader loses interest and walks away. 

The writer should stick to the plan. Avoid adding any irrelevant material to the paper.

7. Conclusion Doesn't Conclude the Subject

The conclusion is a fall of ‘Stage’s Curtain’. It symbolizes the end of a happening. The writer summarizes all the arguments of his paper. The conclusion makes a lasting impression on the reader.

The readers should feel the closing of a subject by concluding remarks.

The conclusion should occupy 10% of the whole paper.

Conclusion

          “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing” John Powell     

Many mistakes relate to writing. No hard and fast rule complies when handling such anomalies. Readers gain trust when a flawless and well-written paper keeps the interest alive and rolling.  

The writer(s) can focus on the highlighted mistakes to get better results.

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Selfie – A Friend or Foe

By nature, the human being is amused with pictorial memories. The transformation from Petroglyph (carving stones) to digitized images reflect the deep desire. People preserve their memories in images to cherish by themselves. And, later by their successors.

Digital Revolution

Digital cameras and smartphones have raised the expectations to a new level. Almost everyone has an interest in self-projection through a social media platform. So, about 1.8 Billion people upload images to such platforms every day. Platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and Snapchat.

The word Selfie

In 1839, Robert Cornelius introduced his self-portrait. In the ’90s, the character Mr. Bean (TV Show) used a Polaroid camera to take his picture. That came under the category of a selfie.  

After a couple of years, in 2002, Australia claimed the invention of the modern-day selfie.

Oxford English Dictionary chose the word " Selfie" as "Word of the Year" in 2013 which means:

"A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website."

Popularity

          Selfie got much recognition when formally a ‘day’ was dedicated to it for the celebration. In 2014, BBC officially declared a Selfie Day. The whole world celebrates “21^St June” as a selfie Day. 

The Psychology Behind

Dr. Mark Griffiths in his blog “The Psychology of the Selfie” enlightened the motives behind a selfie. His research highlighted six motivational factors:

ü   Self-Confidence

ü   Environmental Enhancement

ü   Social Competition

ü   Attention

ü   Mood Modification

ü   Subjective Conformity

The above factors, not only helped in filling up personality devoid. But also reduced the social distancing in a society. But the fact remains, selfies do lead humanity to narcissism.

Security Hazards

ü   Every online posted selfie(s) carries recognizable information of surroundings, locations, and geotag. Such data is enough for a malicious or criminal act.

ü   Selfie(s) leads to social engineering attacks. Cybercriminals steal identity and commit crimes by impersonation. 

Selfies’ savagery

Apart from the propitious aspects, selfies are far more harmful than nosegays. So far, 78 countries suffered from the cruelty of selfies. Wikipedia shared a  list of selfie-related injuries and deaths covering the period 2011-2020. The statistics show worldwide occurrences: -

Figure – I – Fatality Rate

Such a death rate compelled the governments to declare certain areas as “No Selfie Zone”.

Futuristic Approach

Selfies, in a constructive mode, are very useful in different fields of life. A signature smile or facial expression will replace the hassle of user IDs and passwords. The selfie will solve the purpose of identification.

Selfie will be a great help in daily life. It can support in medical diagnosis, secure authorization, and a payment tool as well.

The beneficiary’s sectors would be:

Healthcare: Patients can send their high definition (HD) selfies to the concerned specialists. The doctors can diagnose, prescribe treatment, and render medical advice.

Banking: Selfies will help as a biometric identifier. Another security layer adds to authentication as the selfie carries a tag. That entails the detail of the owner’s registered cell phone.

Daily Workout: Periodic selfies show weight loss or gain while paying a regular visit to the gym.

Social Identifier: Visitors could enter into shopping malls, national parks, or entertainment arenas. Selfies will act as a social identifier.

Clothing & Measurements: Customers get measurements of their clothes through smartphone apps. Selfies allow users to check different clothes with a virtual try.

Conclusion

People, at an initial stage, categorized selfies as self-praising or self-projection. But, now, it becomes part of daily life. People of all ages upload millions of pictures, especially selfies. That indicates people’s interest and their choice.

Pros over-ride the cons.  Selfies are no longer just a picture. Futurologists predict the utility far beyond its present role.

Aging, dieting, and false positives or negatives are the hurdles. But periodic updating of selfies resolves it otherwise.

Selfies are more of a FRIEND than FOE.

Procrastination: Reasons & Remedy

Procrastination Vectors by Vecteezya

Deadlines are the cutoffs when jobs meet their culminating point. But when a delay occurs due to any reason, it is procrastination. Reasons could be intentional, habitual, carelessness, or laziness. Sometimes, it may be over-confidence or disliking.

In medical terms, people call it “Ergophobia” which means “fear of work”. It is a combination of fears like failing a task or public speaking. Fears create anxiety which leads to procrastination.

At times, the impact of procrastination is negative and severe. Which may extend to a psychological disorder. Doctors diagnose procrastinators with mental illness.  The illness of depression, anxiety, neurological disorders, and low self-esteem.

“Do first what you don’t want to do most.” ― Clifford Cohen

Google Survey

A question put to 1,000 adults in the UK between 6^th  and 8^th  January 2020 using Google Surveys, “How often do you procrastinate?” the result shows: -

ü   15.6% of people claim never go procrastinate

ü   14.4% admit to procrastinating rarely

ü   27.4% do so sometimes

ü   22.1% do so often

ü   20.5% procrastinate daily

So, 84.4% of individuals procrastinate in some way.

Reasons & Remedy

          There could be several reasons which lead to procrastination. The next paras hold fewer causes and possible remedies to ponder upon.

Time Management:          

People see the project, its deadline, and the available time. They miscalculate that plenty of time is available therefore let’s do another task. They focus on the tasks according to the timeline but fail due to the wrong estimation. When deadlines are on their head then they panic and unable to manage. Even at times few projects do not have any completion date. The time miscalculation enforces procrastination.

Remedial Measure

People can complete their projects by making a breakdown of the timeline. Gantt Chart is the best tool which helps in making a schedule of a project into stages. Even for the projects with no deadlines. There are alternatives to the Gantt Chart that also serve the purpose.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism leads to an infinite loop. People do critical self-evaluations and never satisfied, so keep striving for better results. The room for improvement myth keeps them rejecting their outcomes. The pushing factor of perfection leads to a shortage of time. It also produces a lower standard output. Resultantly, perfectionists’ prey to procrastination. 

Remedial Measure

There is a workable way to get rid of perfectionism. Analyze and check your few completed projects. Try to find out some improving spaces. You will get some areas that need enhancement. Convince yourself to avoid the perfection complex.

Self Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) helps perfectionists to reduce perfectionism. They recognize their irrational thinking and seek alternative ways to handle situations. Carrying out an effective self CBT without a therapist at home which will be helpful.  

Confidence

The most common factor is confidence. Procrastination occurs due to over-confidence or lack of confidence.

People afraid of criticism and worry about other’s opinions. They lose confidence in themselves and tend to procrastinate.

Another stress factor is the level of overwhelming confidence. People think that they know how and when to start the project. They claim to complete the task as per the timeline and tend to procrastinate.

Remedial Measure

People can overcome the habit of overconfidence by: -

ü   Be truthful to own self

ü   Think the consequences while taking a decision

ü   Look into the past examples of their failures

ü   Be open to constructive criticism

ü   Stop compare themselves with others

 People can overcome the habit of lack of self-confidence by: -

ü   Acknowledge and accept the mistakes

ü   Convince yourself that you can do it

ü   Don’t be afraid of failures

ü   Celebrate success more often

ü   Stop compare themselves with others

Afraid to Commit Mistakes

In medical terms, people call it “Erratophobia” which means fear of making mistakes. Some people think that it is better to do nothing than committing mistakes. Fear of committing mistakes improves performance to some extent. But undue fear leads to procrastination.

Remedial Measure

People can overcome Erratophobia by: -

ü   Be ready to accept the greater adversity

ü   See around and observe, other people also commit mistakes

ü   Do commit a mistake and learn from it

ü   Mistakes enhance the competency

ü   Leave the comfort zone and you will see sky don’t fall

Overloaded with Tasks

People tend to take on projects in the lust of earning more. Or even over-estimate their capabilities. They are unable to complete the projects. Such people end up with procrastination.

Remedial Measure

People can overcome this aspect by: -

ü   Gauging their capabilities by self-judgment

ü   Managing workload according to their skillset

ü   Learn to say no to the extra projects

ü   Enhancing their skills, get the help of others

ü   Making use of technology (Tools)

Under-Pressure Syndrome

 Few people think that they perform well under a pressurized environment. They wait for the right time to start a project and fail to complete within a given time frame. The pressure tactics lead to procrastination as it affects focus and judgment. It also creates unwanted tension.

Remedial Measure

  Follow the schedule of the project. Think about performing the task without any pressures. If you can perform well under pressure then you can do your best under no pressure.

Conclusion

  Procrastination can be intentional, unintentional, or habitual. But it is not a disease that is incurable. If we understand the causes and misconceptions, we can handle it appropriately.

“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” ― Charles Dickens

Besides minors, time management is the main cause of procrastination. By effective timeline management of any project, people can handle procrastination.