As a freelance editor, I see a lot of variety in writing and grammar errors. It's kind of my whole purpose, to find errors. But even with the variety I see, there are some really common mistakes too. So without further ado, here are some, lets call them cliche errors: errors I see so often that they are maybe getting a little old (who am I kidding, I still enjoy finding and fixing them. I'm like Marie Kondo: I love mess).
Dialogue tags. A huge number of people get these wrong. The dialogue tag is probably one of the few things on my list that has hard and fast rules. Very simply put, a true dialogue tag has a comma between itself and the dialogue, whether it comes before or after. If the dilogue tag comes after the dialogue, it starts with a lowercase letter, but the dialogue starts with a capital regardless. Action tags are just complete sentences, so they always have a period between them and the dialogue. That's about it, really.
I do want to say, dialogue doesn't have to start a new paragraph unless it is dialogue between more than one person, then a new paragraph is needed when you switch speekers. I sometimes see an action tag coming before dialogue (totally valid, by the way), but because the author thought all dialogue had to start a new paragraph, the action tag was separated from the dialogue. Whoops!
Semicolons. I don't know why these get so muddled in everybody's minds, but they do. The rule on these is pretty simple, both sides of the semicolon must be a complete sentence. So each side must have subject, verb, and possibly object if the verb requires it. So . . . why not just have a period between them? Thanks for asking! The semicolon signals to the reader that the two sentences are closer connected than the period. So if those sentences were at a party, the period tells you that they are just two sentences sitting in the same room, only vaguely connected because they are in the same location. Semicolons show that the sentences are actually dancing together.
Some people hate semicolons, saying they shouldn't be used in fiction, but I disagree. They are cute! Like a little doggy with a tail! But do keep in mind that some feel like using semicolons makes your writing seem too scientific. As long as you are using them right and aren't overusing the same structure too much, I say take advantage of the tools you have!
By the way, a comma shows that the clauses (not full sentences) are holding hands, kissing maybe, but one is an appendage of the other. And an em dash can mean any of those, which is probably why it is a favorite among editors and authors alike.
Paragraphs. Paragraph cutoffs are much more nebulous and hard to pin down. However, sometimes it can help to use paragraphs the way are put together in essays. You start with a topic sentence, have a few supporting sentences, and have a concluding sentence. If sentences are at a party, the paragraph is the party. And new paragraphs are new, different parties. Yep, I'm not straining the metaphor at all.
Ok, let's say I've got this:
Every year since the Arrival, one or two friends and I sneak out of the compound and attend an event, one event of my choosing, incognito. In other words, I go in disguise and I don’t tell everyone there that I'm an alien. Not really a lie, just an omission. I just don’t think I need to share every single about myself with strangers.
I could divide that up however I want, give some emphasis to different sentences, but I decide I want them to be connected here. However, what if I also add this line into the same paragraph:
Sometimes I go to street soccer events in Africa, or high school swim meets in Chili, or political rallies if there’s one available.
If I keep this as the final line of my paragraph, I've buried the joke.
By the way, you also do not need to start a new paragraph every time you mention someone new, just make sure they are entering the paragraph because they support the main point.
I should probably say that the most common errors have to do with commas, actually, but I am not even going to touch that. It is a big huge scary bear. A group of bears. Giant, scary bears. Same with hyphenation. There are just so many rules, and much that can be interpreted different ways, and so many exceptions to every rule. So if you really want to get good at commas or hyphenation, just read a lot and then look things up when you wonder about it, and eventually you will start to see a pattern. Maybe. I still look things up. Even when I'm pretty sure. And I'm not always right. Like I said. A group of big giant hungry woman-eating bears.
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