Writing

Professor Ball's "Top 10" List for Writing Mistakes

10. The misspelled word

A classic, but still all over the place

9. Using a word or expression that does not fit.

Avoiding this comes with practice, but choosing an appropriate word is important.

8. Repeating an idea (even a good one) over and over

Trust that the reader heard you the first time. Adding to an idea is one thing, but ideas do not get any better by sheer redundancy.

7. Exceedingly long paragraphs

This amounts to not using paragraphs. Going to a new paragraph after four or five sentences will help you be clear and intelligible. Why disregard the invention of the paragraph?

6. Neglecting to use a topic sentence

The new paragraph should customarily begin with a sentence that introduces a new thought that will be further explored in the new paragraph. The topic