This book contains one hundred typical mistakes relating to papers, proposals, oral presentations, and correspondence with editors (e.g. journal submissions), reviewers (rebuttal letters), and editing agencies. The book is primarily intended for non-native English speaking researchers. However, it is also useful for editing agencies in order to help new or inexperienced editors spot the kinds of mistakes they need to correct in order to ensure their clients successfully have their papers published. Each section of a paper is covered separately: titles and abstracts; introduction and literature review; methods, results and tables; discussion and conclusions. Teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) will learn which areas of writing and grammar to focus on including readability, word order, sentence length, paragraphing, ambiguity and punctuation. The last section in the book highlights the key areas where presenters make the most mistakes in terms of the use of English. Other books in this series: English for Writing Research Papers English for Presentations at International Conferences English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style English for Academic Correspondence English for Academic CVs, Resumes, and Online Profiles English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises English for Academic Research: Grammar Exercises English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises English for Academic Research: A Guide for Teachers

Twenty-nine tips for writers on how to avoid being their own worst enemy when it comes to writing and selling their work.

This is the one guide that anyone who writes--whether student, business person, or professional writer--should put on the desk beside pencil, pen, typewriter, or word processor. Filled with professional tips and a wealth of instructive examples, this valuable, easy-to-use handbook can help you solve any and all writing problems.

"What do you think of my fiction book writing?" the aspiring novelist extorted. "Darn," the editor hectored, in turn. "I can not publish your novel! It is full of what we in the business call 'really awful writing.'" "But how shall I absolve this dilemma? I have already read every tome available on how to write well and get published!" The writer tossed his head about, wildly. "It might help," opined the blonde editor, helpfully, "to ponder how NOT to write a novel, so you might avoid the very thing!" Many writing books offer sound advice on how to write well. This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published. In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes When you write fiction, you march onto a minefield. This book gives you a map. Oh, what tricky terrain you're traveling! You must reckon with: Character, Conflict, Point of View, Dialogue, Editors, Editors, and Editors, who--by returning stories they see as problem-plagued--can burst your hopes of publication. Where are the problems? Editors rarely take the time to map them out, so Jack Bickham has. In this book, he spotlights the 38 most common fiction writing land mines--writing mistakes that can turn even dynamite story ideas into slush pile rejects. And he guides you in overcoming them. In to-the-point style, he shows you how to: conquer procrastination--and put ink on paper regularly dump wimpy characters--and build characters ready to act look for trouble--and create conflicts for your characters cut coincidence--and put better-than-life logic into fiction escape the fog--and find and stick to your story's direction free feelings--and fire your fiction with passion and emotion In short, Bickham helps you take a giant step toward publication. Read this book. Strengthen your writing. And start setting off explosions where they belong: on the sales charts.

This book analyzes the errors most commonly made in spoken and written English and presents them in a systematic, down-to-earth manner. It does not dictate grammar to the reader; rather, it presents the guidelines for English usage currently being observed by the most competent and careful speakers and writers. The most troublesome words and phrases—as well as grammatical terms—are listed alphabetically within 18 subject areas to enable the reader to check quickly on questions of usage. In each case, illustrative examples are given, and the guiding principle is stated for the reader to follow in avoiding the mistake and others similar to it. An extensive index for additional ease of reference helps make this book a handy tool for the modern reader who realizes that mere knowledge is no longer sufficient—that one must be able to express his knowledge clearly, forcefully, and correctly.

"How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! - 40 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs" is the follow-up to Brian Oliver's highly-praised book "How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! - 101 Common Mistakes to Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success." "How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics!" takes a close look at the essential lyrical elements found in the structure of all hit songs. It highlights and analyses the most common errors that are made when these key components are built into a song, and offers expert advice on how new writers can try to avoid such mistakes in their own lyrics. Most writers have, at some stage, had to endure the pain and disappointment of having their songs rejected because music publishers or record companies didn't think their lyrics were good enough-and many writers have ended up asking themselves: "Could I have done more to make my lyrics better?" This book aims to help writers recognise any weaknesses in their lyrics, so they can re-work them, make them stronger, and hopefully achieve the breakthrough that they're striving for. The music industry has been going through major changes in recent years. As a result, competition is now even more intense. So it's more important than ever for writers to make sure their lyrics stand out from the crowd by avoiding the traps and pitfalls that many inexperienced writers fall into. Written in an easy, non-technical style, "How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics!" identifies many frequent causes of lyrical shortcomings-from common mistakes in the basic construction of song lyrics ... to flawed choices with titles, opening lines, lyrical hooks, verb selection, cliches, and rhyming patterns. The book also shows new writers how to avoid common failings such as putting the most important phrases in the wrong place in a lyric ... and not making sure their lyrics are 'singable'. The book also highlights other causes of lyric writing problems-such as having the wrong mental attitude ... an unsatisfactory writing environment ... not paying enough attention to 'creative preparation' ... and not taking steps to avoid writer's block. The book's author, Brian Oliver-an experienced music publisher, songwriter and music consultant-warns that aspiring writers' chances of success could be hampered if they fail to spend enough time polishing their lyrics and eradicating weaknesses. "How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics!" will help new writers to produce better lyrics, while avoiding fundamental errors at each key stage in the song development process. It includes important tips on fixing and strengthening lyrics, along with a comprehensive checklist of more than 100 potential hazards that writers can measure their own lyrics against-no matter how 'finished' they think their songs are. # # # #"