200 English Grammar Mistakes!: A workbook of Common Grammar and Punctuation Errors with Examples, Exercises and Solutions So You Never Make Them Again

General Advanced Writing Mistakes
Below are some general advanced writing mistakes you need to avoid to
move from being a mediocre to an excellent writer:
Not Defining The Goal Of Your Writing
The first thing you need to ask yourself when you want to write is why you
are writing. The purpose you have in mind will determine the tone of the
writing. If you are writing an academic article, you know that you have to be
formal all the way through. You cannot make random and careless statements
in academic writing. You will have to get enough sources for the article
before you start. Every claim in academic writing will have to be backed up
by relevant studies. For example:
Incorrect: We all know that students of Harvard University are better than
students of Yale when it comes to academic performance.
Correct: 
According to Steve and Maloney (2012), the academic
performance of Harvard University students is better than that
of students of Yale in the last five years.

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For blog posts, you can be a little bit relaxed. It is required of you to add
relevant studies to increase the veracity of your claims. However, it is not as
stringent as when you are writing an academic paper. Hence, you need to be
able to discern whether you are writing to entertain or to present facts for
educational purposes.
The Right Content For the Wrong Audience and Vice Versa
It is not good enough to know the reason for your writing; you have to also
know your audience. If your audiences are young people seeking fun, you
have to write in such a way that will tickle their fancy. You will have to
deliberately write to pique their interest. If your audience is people in the
academic setting, you will have to be very careful to present facts in a logical
manner. They will scrutinize your arrangement of points and how you arrived
at your conclusion.
In the same way, if you are writing an article that will be read by kids, you
have to make it as simple as possible. You will have to be deliberate about
writing short, simple sentences that they can understand. You will have to use
illustrations and bullet points to aid their comprehension. For example:
Incorrect: Snails are aquatic and terrestrial animals that hibernate during
winter due to their ineptitude to withstand volatile conditions.
Correct: 
Snails are animals that can live on both water and land. They go
into hiding during winter to be able to survive harsh weather
conditions.
Fluff
Fluff in writing is unnecessary words that are redundant. They are often
added just to fill up blank pages. Fluff shows that the writer is bereft of ideas.
It is easy to detect fluff because of its tendency to make a piece of writing
boring and ridiculous. For example:
Incorrect: It is not good to treat women in an awful manner. Treating
women in an awful manner is just not right. It is just not the
right thing to do to treat women wrongly.
Correct: 
It is not good to treat women in an awful manner. Treating
women awfully is a sign of lack of respect. It shows that such a
person does not understand the value of a woman.

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