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5 Bad Habits to Avoid When Article Writing

  • April 30 2015
  • Comments Off on 5 Bad Habits to Avoid When Article Writing
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As a content creator, you are responsible for writing articles that are both informative and easy to read and follow for your readers. This means that you must use standard grammar rules, keep your language simple and also ensure that your content is interesting for people to read. Often times, content creators rush through writing an article and as a result make errors that stick out to their readers and make them not want to continue reading. Here are five things that article writers should avoid at all costs in order to ensure that their readers remain interested in their writing.

 

 

1.  Passive Voice

Active sentences contain a subject that acts upon a direct object. For example, “I bought a toy.” Passive sentences happen when the object is written as the subject of the sentence and so is the recipient of the action rather than the source of it. For instance, “The toy was bought by me.” The passive voice tends to occur in articles when the implementer of the action is unknown or indefinite, for instance when an article writer feels uncomfortable with using subjective pronouns such as we or I. Using a passive voice tends to frustrate readers as it is cumbersome to read. It’s recommended that you look through your article to ensure that you avoid passive sentences.

 

 

2.  Unneeded Complex Sentence Structures

Although your article may require complex and sophisticated thinking, that doesn’t mean that you have to write in an unclear or convoluted manner. Dangling modifiers, meandering clauses, etc. tend to be very common in articles where the article writer is attempting to write in an overly complicated manner. Keep in mind that the goal of writing an article is to get an idea across in a clear manner so that your readers can easily understand what you’re trying to say. In order to avoid unneeded complex sentences, make sure that you streamline and simplify your writing. That being said, be sure that you don’t dumb it down too much. A good way to do this is to place yourself in the shoes’ of the reader to think about if your meaning is clear.

 

 

3.  Using Jargon Without Explanation 

Some article writers attempt to use jargon that make their writing unclear to many readers. Keep in mind that even if you are an expert of the subject that you are writing on, you must assume that many of your readers aren’t, and so using jargon that only an expert on the subject would know will lead your average reader to be confused. It’s recommended that you make sure to fully explain any jargon that you use so that your article can be read by anybody, and when possible avoid jargon altogether.

 

 

4.  Overusing a Word 

It can be all too easy to get used to using the same word over and over again in your article, especially if that word pertains to the main subject or connects two ideas together. Keep in mind however, that doing so can be repetitive for your reader and can lead them to become disinterested in your writing. Remember that a Thesaurus is your friend and looking up synonyms for words that you use often can be a great way to change it up for your reader, and keep your writing fresh and interesting.

 

 

5.  Plagiarism

This can be a bad habit of article writers, and could get them into major trouble if they’re not careful. Although in some cases plagiarism is intentional, many times it is simply caused by careless writing. Be aware that using others ideas is one thing, but using the same sentence as them is something that should be avoided at all costs. Ensuring that your sentences are unique will aid your article in being legitimate. If you are worried about plagiarism then it is recommended that you get a plagiarism checking software in order to guarantee that your words are no ones but your own.

 

 

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Cameron Mackey

Cameron is the Content Manager for the Vorongo Blog. He has spent three years in various content marketing roles. When he is not working with Vorongo he enjoys photography and hiking.

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