Four kinds of writing “errors”

And how you can effectively respond when you spot them

“Oops” is only one of many possible responses when writing isn’t working. And in most cases, “oops” is NOT the most helpful framing. (Image by Samiran Modak from Pixabay)

Dear Troublemakers,

When you’re working with a developing writer, you may be doing a lot of different things – but one thing you’re almost certainly doing is reading drafts and making suggestions for improvement. My co-author Steve and I recently wrote about how that draft-reading work can (should!) shift as the writer develops and as any particular draft develops.

Today, though, we’re looking at another angle. Whether or not you’ve had any training in mentoring earlier-career writers (and most academics haven’t – hence our book!), there’s one thing you surely can do. That is: look at a draft manuscript and flag things you think ought to be revised – “errors”, if you will.

The developing writers you (and we) work with are trying to master a new writing genre – scientific writing – with its attendant conventions of format…