Writing is by far the most important skill in the world. When you write well, you think well, communicate well, and speak well, too. Over the past decade, I’ve worked on over 20 books and thousands of pieces of content, so I can confidently attest to the power of writing.
I have good news and bad news. The good news is, with strong writing skills, you can achieve anything you want. But writing can be difficult, and mistakes kill your credibility. Credibility is the salient idea here. Writing, in addition to conveying your ideas, determines whether you’re credible.
In fact, credibility is why writing matters so much. Writing—and communication in general—amplifies who you are, what you do, and how you do it. Good writers are perceived as credible people (even when they’re not). That's the result of human psychology.
To help you improve your writing and gain credibility, I’m sharing in this article 10 “non-obvious” writing mistakes that instantly kill your credibility. But beware. This article is not a grammar book. It’s a full-blown writing masterclass. It’s everything you should know to write professionally.
The mistakes I’m sharing aren’t technical grammar or punctuation mistakes. You won’t read about run-on sentences or comma splices in this article. (If you’re looking to improve your grammar and style, see The Architecture of Grammar.)
These high-level mistakes cause confusion and misunderstanding for readers. In fact, they’re mistakes that keep you from being taken seriously if you make them. That’s why I’m so passionate about sharing them.
Note that these mistakes apply not only to book and content writing but to just about any type of writing you may make. In other words, these mistakes are universal. To account for differences between writing genres, I’ve included “caveats” for each writing mistake.
10. Overly Long Sentences
9. Missing, Unnecessary, or Disorganized Details
8. Using Words Unknown to the Audience
7. Too Many Abstract Words
6. Unparallel Lists
5. Switching Verb Tenses
4. Switching Persons
3. Change in Tone
2, Weak Transitions
1. Missing Punctuation
Don’t write like it’s 1856. During the Victorian Era, seventy-word sentences were common, but not anymore. In fact, today, overly long sentences are frowned upon. If you write for a general audience, avoid overly long sentences. Also avoid writing too many long sentences in a row.
Long sentences are hard to read. Many people can read them, but they need to put in double the effort to understand them. While in some cases readers and context demand long sentences, even then you are choosing to make reading more difficult than needed.
Long sentences signal to your readers that you don’t care about them. They also signal that your thoughts are long-winded and you lack succinctness. Complexity may be commonplace in some academic circles, but no one becomes a beloved thought leader by making readers’ lives difficult.
Overly long sentences make you come across as someone who is uncertain, unclear, and unprofessional. Strong, confident communicators convey more by saying less. Overly long sentences, on the other hand, show a lack of structure, discernment, and organization.
Keep an eye on sentence length. The average sentence in modern English is 15 to 20 words. Vary your sentence length and avoid going over 40-45 words. Make it a game. 6-11-19-8-12-9-22. These numbers represent, in word count, the length of the two last paragraphs’ sentences.
Some sentences do need to be long—to explain a complex thought or to create variety in your writing style. But long sentences should be the exception, not the rule. Remember, long sentences are part of an engaging writing flow. They should always be used sparsely.
“While it’s true that the intricacies and nuances of the English language can be quite fascinating, particularly when one delves into the syntactical structures and various forms of punctuation, it’s crucial to acknowledge the importance of maintaining brevity and conciseness in one's writing, as excessively long sentences tend to overwhelm readers, hinder comprehension, and ultimately detract from the overall effectiveness and impact of the intended message.”
The sentence above is 66 words long, which is unnecessarily lengthy. Such a long sentence may be acceptable in literary fiction, but not in nonfiction or business writing. Think of the sentence’s goal, which is to convey an idea. It doesn’t need to be so convoluted.
“Effective writing requires a balance between the allure of linguistic intricacies and the need for brevity, ensuring that readers can easily comprehend and engage with the intended message.”
The sentence above is 28 words long. While longer than the average English sentence, it remains an appropriately lengthy sentence. The last part of the sentence, starting with the word “ensuring,” can be a little wordy. To shorten this sentence, we could end after the word “brevity” and start a new one.
Good sentences contain not only ideas but also details. In fact, the quality of your details determines the quality of your ideas. In the writing process, you may inadvertently omit details, add unnecessary ones, or put details in the wrong order. When you do, you’re in trouble.
The Problem
To be compelling, writing—whether descriptive, explanatory, narrative, or persuasive—needs good and coherent details. If you’re missing important details, you’re falling short of that goal. This is frustrating to your audience, and you’re wasting readers’ time (as well as yours).
Why It’s Bad
Readers rely on you for context, accuracy, and precision, so they’re interested in details as much as they are in your main ideas. Details, after all, support your ideas. When your details fail to support your ideas, you seem confused and inexperienced, which hurts your credibility.
Missing, unnecessary, or disorganized details make readers feel that you don’t know what you’re talking about. To be seen as a true expert, you need to consistently provide the right information, in the right order, without fail. The right information in the right order is the key to communication.
Details can be time, location, reasons, method, and so on. I like to think about details through question words: What, When, Where, Why, How, When, etc. When writing a sentence, determine your main idea (Who and What). From there, ask yourself what else readers need to know and add the necessary details (Where, When, Why, etc.) in order of relevance.
Once you hone your writing skills, the quantity and nature of details you need (as well as how you should organize those details) becomes natural. You won’t even need to think about it. By reading and writing a lot, you’ll organically develop the mindset to write details/
"The event was successful, and attendees enjoyed the food, drinks, music, and entertainment."
The sentence above leaves the reader with unanswered questions. What was the event about? Where did it take place? Who organized it? The sentence also includes unnecessary details like "food, drinks, music, and entertainment," which are generic and don’t provide specific information that would make the sentence more informative or engaging.
"The annual Gala Fundraiser held at the luxurious Grand Ballroom of the Riverview Hotel captivated attendees with an enchanting evening of delectable gourmet cuisine, a vibrant live jazz band, captivating performances by renowned local artists, and an exhilarating charity auction that raised over $100,000 for children's education programs."
In the sentence above, the details are specific and well-organized, and they provide a clear picture of the event. It mentions the event's name ("Gala Fundraiser"), the venue ("Grand Ballroom of the Riverview Hotel"), and the various elements that made it special, such as the gourmet cuisine, live jazz band, performances by local artists, and the charity auction. This sentence captures the reader's attention and provides a vivid description of the event, conveying professionalism and seriousness.
Many writers show arrogance and condescension by using every $100 word they know. Perhaps you too use too many complex words in your writing. And while you may not be arrogant, your audience may perceive you as such. Only use a $100 word when it’s the only word that conveys what you mean.
As a rule of thumb, if you can’t explain something to a child, you don’t master it well enough. True experts can simplify their ideas to the maximum without losing the essence of their message. If you can’t do that, remedy the situation instead of hiding behind $100 words.
When you use complex jargon—or simply words your audience doesn’t know—you’re putting a wall between you and your audience. Because they can’t understand you as well, your audience members can’t relate to you as much, which means they can’t trust you as much.
Your success as a communicator is measured by how well people understand you. If your audience doesn’t understand you, they can’t experience the fruits of your knowledge, story, or expertise. And because of that, they can’t find you credible.
Using unnecessarily complex language is a sign that you don’t know your audience well enough. If you get feedback that your writing is overly complex from a target audience member, go back to your audience and understand their level of knowledge and their reading level.
You may be writing something novel for fellow experts in your field. If that’s the case and you need to introduce new terminology, by all means, do it. If a word is novel, obscure, or unknown to your audience for a legitimate reason, it’s perfectly acceptable to use it—as long as you explain it.
“The scholarly paper delved into the fundamental merging of historical inclinations, shedding light on the intricate connections between contrasting phenomena in the context of modern socio political discourse.”
This sentence uses several big words and complex language, making it difficult for a wider audience to understand the intended message. The sentence may come across as pompous or unnecessarily complicated.
"The thoughtful analysis explored the essential combination of ancient tendencies, explaining the complex details of the contrasting events in present-day social and political discussions."
In this example, the sentence is rephrased to use simpler and more commonly understood words. The sentence conveys the same idea but in a way that is more accessible to a broader audience. Using familiar language helps readers grasp the message without feeling alienated or overwhelmed by unnecessarily complex vocabulary.
Have you ever picked up a book, sat down to read it, only to feel completely lost and confused? This might have been the result of an excess of abstract words. Bad news, though… You too may be guilty of this mistake, in which case you’ll share a prison cell with many inmates.
Abstract words are like empty Tupperware. They’re uninteresting. Open one and you’ll find nothing but disappointment and hunger. Concrete words, on the other hand, are like Tupperware filled with delicious pasta. Open one and feel excitement and delight.
Readers are not only overexposed to writing on their devices, but they also read a lot of mediocre writing and AI-generated content, which abounds with abstract words. If you don’t stand out from the crowd, your chances of keeping their attention are extremely low.
Excessive abstract language causes your readers to get lost in your writing and to fail to understand you. Again, if your readers can’t understand you, they can’t find you credible. They may think you’re smart because you use complex language, but that’s not the goal. Clear is better than clever.
When you edit your writing, look for abstract words like “truth,” “honor,” “kindness,” and “grace.” You can’t visualize truth, can you? Neither can you imagine honor. When you identify these words, your next step is to rewrite abstract passages into concrete passages.
If you’re writing something academic or philosophical, you need abstract words. The more conceptual your piece is, the more abstract words you’ll use. However, you can still ask yourself, “is there a way to avoid using so many abstract words without impacting the quality and meaning?”
"The concept of happiness is a subjective experience that varies greatly among individuals, as it is influenced by numerous intangible factors such as fulfillment, contentment, and overall well-being."
The sentence above uses several abstract words such as "happiness," "subjective experience," "fulfillment," "contentment," and "overall well-being.” These abstract terms make the sentence feel vague and detached from tangible examples or specific details.
“Each person's perception of happiness differs, shaped by tangible elements like personal achievements, moments of joy, and a sense of physical and mental satisfaction."
In this revised version, the abstract terms are replaced with more concrete language. The sentence now mentions "personal achievements," "moments of joy," and a "sense of physical and mental satisfaction" to provide tangible examples that readers can relate to. By grounding the sentence in specific experiences, it becomes more relatable and vivid for the audience.
Every once in a while, you need to use a list in your sentence. The list could feature a series of people, objects, actions, or phrases. In order to read well, lists need to use one grammatical category only—or else they’re unparallel. For example, the second sentence in this paragraph was a list of nouns.
The mind likes clarity and consistency, and a list in a sentence implies a relationship between similar elements. It makes sense, then, to make lists clear and consistent through the use of one single grammatical category. Without such clarity and consistency, the mind gets confused.
Reading a list in a sentence should be neither difficult nor confusing. When you use the same grammatical category (e.g., noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc.), you make it easy for readers to follow along. When you don’t, you put a barrier between you and your reader.
Unparallel lists are confusing and aesthetically unpleasant. While they’re not the worst blow at your credibility, they do distract readers and make you come across as an amateur. Most people, whether consciously or not, know that credible people communicate clearly and professionally.
When writing a list, use one single grammatical category. Grammatical categories include nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, among others. What matters is that the words following each comma are in the same grammatical category. (If you need a refresher about grammatical categories, read The Architecture of Grammar.)
There is no exception to this rule as it is universally accepted, regardless of context, audience, and goal. However, one caveat is that parallelism goes beyond lists. We won’t dive into it further in this article, but parallelism is an important part of writing and rhetoric.
“On our vacation, we enjoyed swimming in the ocean, hiking through scenic trails, and the beautiful sunsets."
In this sentence, the list starts with verbs (swimming, hiking) and ends with a noun (sunsets). The lack of parallel structure makes the list unparallel and creates a sense of inconsistency in the sentence.
“On our vacation, we enjoyed swimming in the ocean, hiking through scenic trails, and watching the beautiful sunsets.”
In this revised version, the list maintains parallel structure by using gerunds consistently. Each element in the list (“swimming,” “hiking,” “watching”) is in the same grammatical category, ensuring parallelism. The sentence reads more smoothly and maintains a cohesive structure.
A piece of writing provides information (or entertainment) at a specific point in time. Authors, for instance, often tell stories that took place in the past. Other writers regularly provide technical information or description about what is in the present. Whichever verb tense you use, stay consistent.
To enjoy a piece of writing, we need to be immersed in it, and time is an integral part of the immersion. Switching verb tenses causes confusion in readers, and confusion causes distraction. Distraction is every author’s arch enemy because it keeps readers from getting into the writing.
A story that happened in the past only happened in the past. Likewise, a story currently unfolding is only happening in the present. Not only does switching tenses cause confusion, but it also opens the doors for narrative and logical inconsistencies. Confusion and inconsistencies reflect poorly on the author.
Switching between verb tenses may not be the end of the world, but it feels jarring to readers and causes confusion. It makes you look distracted or as though you don’t pay attention to details, both of which we don’t associate with credible people. Credible communicators are attentive and sharp.
Be very clear from the start on the verb tense you should use in your piece of writing. If the story took place in the past, use the past tense. If you’re providing information, the present tense is generally the best choice. Whatever verb tense you choose, though, keep in mind as you write that you must keep it consistent.
While using the past tense to tell a story in the past, you may occasionally need to use the present tense to refer to phenomena with present-day implications. Doing so is not the same as switching verb tenses throughout the story. It is normal, in certain stories, to allude to the present while telling the story in the past.
"On that rainy Saturday morning, I woke up early in the morning and made myself a cup of coffee. As I'm sipping the hot beverage, I receive a phone call from my friend. He tells me about a party happening tonight, so I decide to go. Later that day, after hours of reading and writing, I put on my favorite dress and walked to the party venue. When I arrived, the music was already playing, and people are dancing. I joined in the fun and had a great time. The next day, I woke up feeling tired from the late night.”
In this sentence, the verb tense switches between the present and past tense. However, the present tense is used to tell the story, not to allude to present-day implications. The story, therefore, is confusing because we lack certainty around when it took place.
“On that rainy Saturday morning, I woke up early in the morning and made myself a cup of coffee. As I sipped the hot beverage, I received a phone call from my friend. He told me about a party happening tonight, so I decided to go. Later that day, after hours of reading and writing, I put on my favorite dress and walk to the party venue. When I arrived, the music was already playing, and people were dancing. I joined in the fun and had a great time. The next day, I woke up feeling tired from the late night.”
In the revised version, the verb tenses are consistent throughout the series of sentences, maintaining a coherent and continuous narrative. The use of past tense ("woke up,” "made," "sipped," "received,” "told," "put on," "walked," "arrived," "joined,” "had”) is consistent, creating a smooth and cohesive paragraph.
“On that rainy Saturday morning, I woke up early in the morning and made myself a cup of coffee. I remember it as if it were yesterday. As I sipped the hot beverage, I received a phone call from my friend. He told me about a party happening tonight, so I decided to go. Later that day, after hours of reading and writing, I put on my favorite dress and walk to the party venue. When I arrived, the music was already playing, and people were dancing. I joined in the fun and had a great time. The next day, I woke up feeling tired from the late night.”
In this version, every sentence is in the past tense, except the one where the author mentions remembering that day as though it was yesterday. Remembering the event is a present-day implication and isn’t a part of the story.
Whenever you tell a story or convey information, you’re talking to someone about someone or something. While you can occasionally switch who you’re talking about, don’t switch whom you are talking to. This will cause confusion to your readers and distract them from your point.
Imagine someone is telling a story to you personally. Then, without warning, they turn their head and continue telling the story to another random person. Likewise, imagine that someone is telling you a story about themselves, but it turns out the story is about you. How would you feel?
Confused.
Switching persons signals a lack of consistency and coherence. At best, it causes a slight, temporary confusion in readers. At worst, it makes readers lose trust and interest in your message. Avoid switching persons at all costs.
Sticking to a consistent person is one of the most basic writing principles. Failing to follow it demonstrates a lack of communication skills, which are expected from credible people. It’s something people can get away with orally, but it’s difficult to do the same in the written form.
Stick to one person only. If you’re telling a story about yourself, stick to the first person (I). If you’re speaking directly to the reader, stick to the second person (you). And if you’re telling a story about someone else, stick to the third person (him/she/they).
In some rare cases, experimental literary practices may call you to switch persons. But that’s not a mainstream practice. In most writing you’ll find yourself doing throughout your life, you’ll need to avoid switching persons.
“At XYZ Company, we prioritize your needs and provide top-notch solutions. When you're facing a problem, we offer guidance to help you find the best path. Once you reach out to us, we assess your requirements and develop a customized plan. Customers appreciate our prompt responses and attention to detail. Our commitment to them is to deliver results that meet your goals. Contact us today, and let us help you achieve success!”
In the paragraph above, the person switches from “you” (the reader) to “they” (other customers).
"At XYZ Company, we prioritize your needs and provide top-notch solutions. When you're facing a problem, we offer guidance to help you find the best path. Once you reach out to us, we’ll assess your requirements and develop a customized plan tailored specifically for you. You'll appreciate our prompt responses and attention to detail throughout the process. Our commitment to you is to deliver results that align with and help you achieve your goals. Contact us today, and let our expertise and support propel you towards success!"
In the revised version, the paragraph maintains a consistent perspective, addressing the audience as "you" and referring to the service provider as "we" and "our." This creates a coherent and persuasive advertisement that focuses on the benefits and personalized approach of the service.
Tone is an essential part of your voice as a writer. It consists of the language you use and the emotions you convey with such language. Your tone can be formal, informal, or neutral. It can be a host of other things as well, including confident, humorous, and analytical. Always keep your tone consistent.
The mind not only looks for consistency, but it also loves familiarity. Once you’ve established a pattern in your writing, readers expect you to maintain this pattern (unless there's an important reason not to). Breaking the pattern can feel jarring to your readers.
A piece of writing is a mutual connection between the author and the reader. The connection is topical, emotional, intellectual, and linguistic. The tone helps shape the emotional and linguistic connection. If broken, this connection creates distance between the author and the reader.
How we communicate is as important, if not more important, than what we communicate. Your tone shows who you are and is targeted to whom you are communicating with. If you change your tone midway, you display a lack of social awareness and skill.
Be intentional about the tone you’re using, and stay aware of how you’re conveying it. No one changes their tone deliberately; they change their tone because they didn’t pay attention to how they were communicating. Awareness and intention are key.
If you write a piece that features dialogues, then it’s natural that different speakers have different voices. This means their
“Our organization is dedicated to providing exceptional services to our esteemed clientele. We hold an unwavering commitment to professionalism, and we strive to exceed expectations in every endeavor. Through meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of our clients’ unique needs, we tailor our solutions to deliver optimal results. By the way, we place great emphasis on maintaining the awesome standards of quality and integrity in all our operations. Our distinguished team of experts brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every project, ensuring unparalleled excellence. It is our privilege to serve our valued clients and contribute to their success.”
The paragraph above, meant to be formal in tone, switches to an informal tone with the phrase “by the way” and the word “awesome.”
“Our organization is dedicated to providing exceptional services to our esteemed clientele. We hold an unwavering commitment to professionalism, and we strive to exceed expectations in every endeavor. Through meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of our clients’ unique needs, we tailor our solutions to deliver optimal results. Moreover, we place great emphasis on maintaining the highest standards of quality and integrity in all our operations. Our distinguished team of experts brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every project, ensuring unparalleled excellence. It is our privilege to serve our valued clients and contribute to their success.”
The paragraph above is consistently formal in tone.
2. Weak Transitions
Writing can be difficult because it requires information to flow seamlessly and logically throughout across sentences and paragraphs. To make the information flow, you need transitions. Weak transitions, or the lack of transitions, make your writing incoherent.
Most of the words and phrases we use provide content. But content alone doesn’t always make sense. In various instances, we need connecting words and other transitions to demonstrate the relationship between the content in our writing. Otherwise our content is nonsensical.
At best, weak or absent transitions force readers to work harder in order to understand you. At worst, it causes incomprehension. However, in both cases, you’re likely to lose readers along the way and fail in achieving your goal. It’s your role as the author to make yourself understood.
Transitions are the core of clarity and logic. Without proper transitions between sentences and paragraphs, you run the risk of being misunderstood and leaving readers disappointed, frustrated, or angry. If you’re going to write, you need to write clearly.
Use appropriate transitions, including connecting words, when necessary. Remember that transitions help guide your readers through your piece of writing. There’s nothing wrong with giving your readers a little help. After all, they’re your readers.
Extremely skilled writers who master their topic can sometimes get away with few transitions. When writers master the art of ordering information and making the complex seem obvious, they can use fewer transitions without sacrificing understanding.
Paragraph with Weak Transitions
“The first step in our process is to conduct thorough research on the topic. We delve into various reliable sources. We analyze relevant data and gather valuable insights. Once we have a solid foundation of information, we move on to the next phase. In this phase, we carefully outline the main points we want to address in our writing. We organize our thoughts. This step helps us maintain a clear focus throughout the piece. Finally, armed with our research and outline, we begin crafting the content. We weave the information together. We employ effective writing techniques to engage our readers and deliver a compelling narrative..”
In this paragraph, the sentences lack strong connections, resulting in a disjointed flow. The sentences are standalone and don’t flow seamlessly from one to the next. This weakens the coherence of the paragraph and may require readers to make more effort in connecting the ideas.
Paragraph With Strong Transitions
“The first step in our process is to conduct thorough research on the topic. As we delve into various reliable sources, we analyze relevant data and gather valuable insights. Once we have a solid foundation of information, we move on to the next phase and carefully outline the main points we want to address in our writing. We organize our thoughts, which ensures a logical and coherent structure and helps us maintain a clear focus throughout the piece. Finally, armed with our research and outline, we begin crafting the content. We weave the information together, employing effective writing techniques to engage our readers and deliver a compelling narrative. Our strong transitions ensure smooth connections between ideas, allowing readers to follow the flow effortlessly."
In the paragraph above, there is a smooth flow between sentences, ensuring a logical progression of ideas. Each sentence connects to the next, using transitional words and phrases like "once we have," "finally,” and "armed with.” These transitions enhance coherence and readability.
Punctuation not only shapes your writing style, but it also allows readers to understand you. Missing punctuation may not always hinder what you mean, but when it does, it causes great damage to your piece of writing. Readers get confused, sometimes lost, and may well stop reading you.
Punctuation marks indicate the relationship between words. If you miss or misuse punctuation marks, readers can’t understand you. Needless to say, miscommunication between you and your readers defeats the entire purpose of writing in the first place.
Writing is a means to convey information from one person to another. To facilitate this exchange, language uses certain fundamental rules, which include the use of punctuation. When we fail to follow these rules, we make the transmission of information more difficult.
Punctuation is a mark of knowledge and education. Even though schools don’t do so well at teaching grammar and punctuation, society still expects credible people to know how to write with correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Maintain a solid understanding of punctuation and grammar at large. If you struggle with grammar and punctuation, a refresher may be in order. While you should aim to assimilate the most basic rules, you can always use a a grammar-check app such as Grammarly.
In certain artistic and literary endeavors, authors don’t adhere to normal punctuation rules. This doesn’t pose a problem because, in many cases, art isn’t meant to be understood; it’s meant to provoke feelings and to show different facets of reality.
"The executive board gathered to discuss the agenda. The budget review was the first item followed by the marketing campaign update, the board also talked about upcoming projects new hires and company expansion."
In this paragraph, the missing punctuation marks, which include commas and periods, create a lack of clarity and potential confusion for the reader. The absence of punctuation boundaries between the sentences and clauses makes it difficult to distinguish the different topics being discussed and their relationship to each other.
“The executive board gathered to discuss the agenda. The budget review was the first item, followed by the marketing campaign update. The board also talked about upcoming projects, new hires, and company expansion.”
In this revised version, proper punctuation is used to separate sentences and provide clarity. Each topic is given its own sentence, and commas are used to separate elements within the sentence, such as items in a list. The use of punctuation helps to convey the intended meaning and allows the reader to understand the distinct discussion points addressed by the executive board.