100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid: eBook Review
Have you ever met a person who was kicked out of a high school English class for sarcastic remarks during grammar lessons? Well, now you have.
I was never a big fan of grammar; in fact, I was pretty much its worst enemy.
Fast forward to today, and in a strange twist of irony, I find myself writing for a living. Grammar and I have had to put our shaky past behind us and make friends.
So it was with some trepidation that I decided to do an eBook review for 100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid.
What’s it about?
100 Writing Mistakes is less of a book and more of a guide. It is designed for new writers that want to avoid some of the most common errors when it comes to spelling, usage and punctuation. Included are several spelling and usage variants that depend upon whether you are using British or American English.
As a note, this is probably not for the seasoned writer. The seasoned writer is well aware of these spelling and usage mistakes and no doubt wakes up in a cold sweat over the proper usage of effect and affect. This is more of a quick reference for the new writer or the writer who wants all his commonly-encountered writing errors in one place.
What’s inside?
The book delivers 100 common mistakes that you will come across most often when reading on the Internet. Whether it’s in blog posts, forums, or social media, these are the blunders that drive the grammar Nazis insane.
The guide is broken down into sections for spelling, usage, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Each mistake is listed with an incorrect and correct usage along with a brief explanation as to proper usage.
Here’s a taste of some of the things that you’ll go over:
Loose / Lose
You’ll see this one all over the place. I don’t know how the world isn’t filled with runaway items as people continue to loose things on such a regular basis. I think the problem with lose is that is sounds like it should have a double “o” in it. Well, now you know it doesn’t. So just stop it people!
Whether / Weather / Wether
I’ve done this one myself many times and it sure makes me look like a Donny Dunce. Weather refers to the atmosphere while whether is a function word that goes properly in constructions such as whether or not. Wether, apparently, is a castrated sheep or goat; which we may just have to do for people who continue to spell these words incorrectly.
Averse / Adverse
Here is one that I’ve been using incorrectly for a long time. Here’s what the guide has to say on the matter:
INCORRECT: I’m not adverse to a glass of wine at dinner
CORRECT: I’m not averse to a glass of wine at dinner.
Averse is an adjective meaning “having an active feeling of repugnance or dislike.” Adverse is an adjective meaning “being in opposition to one’s interests.”
Although, not having a glass of wine is certainly in opposition to my interests, so could I still say I was not adverse to the offer?
Beg the question / Raises the question
You’ll sometimes hear people use beg the question when they want to appear to be all civilized and urbane. I think people who use the phrase “begs the question” need to have their head examined. It sounds ridiculous and if you use it around me the only thing you’ll be begging for is a beating.
Could care less / Couldn’t care less
I like this one. These phrases spark a lot of debate and basically boil down to personal preference. Used in one way it could give the impression that you care a little bit while what you’re really saying it that you couldn’t give a rat’s arse about the whole thing.
Scotch / Scots / Scottish
I’m part Scottish but I still fear getting a punch in the stomach from Sean Connery if I ever use these words incorrectly. Scotch is a drink while Scots are a people. And just to get you confused even further, don’t go into a pub in Scotland and order scotch because they call it malt whisky there. And if you get it wrong and get punched in the stomach, don’t come crying to me.
Conclusion
There is a whole bunch more where that came from, and the guide does a good job of covering all the most common pitfalls.
Where I think the guide comes in really handy is for writers who are committing these mistakes and may not even realize it. These aren’t the kind of things that are picked up in a spell check and unless we know what to look for, in all probability, we will continue oblivious to these types of errors.
While most of these mistakes can be found with a quick search on the Internet, it is handy to have them all in one place. This is especially true if you need to review from time to time to see if you’ve fixed some problems or picked up some new bad habits.
The eBook is available for $9.99 from the Daily Writing Tips website.
Leave a Comment
Is the book just a collection of commonly misused words? That’s what it sounds like, judging from this review. If so, there are dozens of free websites dedicated to exactly this task. No need to shell out $9.99 for information that’s already free to anyone with a functional internet connection! This site is a great start: http://homepage.smc.edu/reading_lab/words_commonly_confused.htm
The book is not only about misused words.
It includes spelling, punctuation, grammar and spelling mistakes too.
Hope this helps.
I would like to see this book in the hands of everyone who writes on the Web. It’s discouraging when I see these kinds of errors every day, even on “smart” sites.
“Although, not having a glass of wine is certainly in opposition to my interests, so could I still say I was not adverse to the offer?”
Setting aside the confusing double/triple negative, the sentence is still incorrect. But if you accept the glass of wine because you’re not averse to it… and then another, and another, and another, you might find they have adverse effects the next morning.
(Effects/affects is another very common grammatical mix-up.)
for some reason – lose/loose makes me want to loose my mind.
Hi,
The eBook looks pretty good.
I think this mistake deserves a lot of attention:
Your: Your blog is good.
You’re (You are): You’re much better at blogging than him.
I see this mistake on a LOT of blogs, even big ones!
It’s unbelievable how people can make these mistakes after years of writing/reading and so on.
writing content is something i have always put in the hands of my clients but i have been trying to get better at offering to help (because it takes forever to get content!) and i think this book is a must buy for me! thanks for the review
Great review Travis – thanks!
I never knew that one about Whether – the castrated sheep – it certainly made me laugh.
I think your review is a great reminder that even professional writers can make silly mistakes and that getting a decent freelance proofreader on board is key to ensuring that your website and blog remain high quality.
Br
Neil
I would buy it. But i don’t see why it’s priced 9.99.
why not just 9.50. after it’s the net. i dont see why anyone prices net sales withh #.99 or #.95
Of course, the problem with “begs the question” is worse than just sounding pretentious. One of the definitions of “beg” is “dodge, evade, or avoid dealing with a point,” and that’s the definition intended in this phrase. “Beg the questio” describes a logical fallacy, referring to arguments where the assumption on which an argument is based is actually what it being proved. In essence, something that begs the question is saying, “If we start out assuming that X is true, I can prove it’s true.” In other words, you’re not really proving anything at all.
“Beg the question” is related to circular reasoning.
So I beg you, if you mean raises the question, just say, “raises the question.”
I was going to leave a comment about begging the question, but I see that Cynthia has already, quite awhile ago. Just wanted to note that, sometimes, “begs the question” is the proper phrase to use
every comment that I have read is just trying to show how smart they are with writing. This is sooooo boring. You know what, I am gonna make some many many mistakes just to tick every one off. Including the person who soooo smartly wrote i instead of I. There, did my good deed for da day,
I find the part about SCOTCH / SCOTS / SCOTTISH really funny but its very informative, really.