Technical Writing: Common Spelling, Grammar, Style and Formatting Problems
I spend a lot of my time reviewing the technical writing of postgraduate and undergraduate students, and of my research collaborators. There are recurring writing problems that I have corrected over and over, for many years, indeed decades – and some of them on an almost daily basis. Sometimes it is beginning to feel like torture. Even when I correct these problems, some folks don’t seem to take my corrections on board, and I see the same mistakes again when reviewing their subsequent documents.
Having to correct these mistakes distracts from engaging with the contents of the written work – and everyone loses out that way.
Before I move on, let me say that I fully appreciate and understand that some people are struggling with writing, for very valid reasons. If you do, then the comments and the listing on this page may not be very helpful for you. Let me assure you I am 100% receptive to and supportive of individual circumstances, in any situation in life and at work.
Here is the list of the common technical writing issues that I am dealing with almost on a daily basis. Please, if you are using the words and grammar structures below, and if you do not know what these examples refer to – do a web search. There are many sites that will explain the significance and the difference.
Spelling / Grammar
- Complementary / complimentary
- Principle / principal
- Dependent / dependant
- Lose / loose
- Your / you’re
- Its / it’s
- They’re / their / there
- Affect / effect
- Who / whom
- Who / that
- Less / fewer
- Of / have (for example: “I could have missed this” – not “I could of missed this”)
- Use of I / me
- ‘However, ‘ at the beginning of a sentence vs ‘however’ in the middle of a sentence.
Formatting / Style
- coming soon