Common Author Mistakes

Written and edited by Kelsey Spence – March 4, 2026

As a copy editor and proofreader of books and other written content for almost a decade, I have noticed the same grammar mistakes being made over and over again by writers. The errors outlined below are easy to make, but they are also easy to correct.

As an author, or even as an editor or proofreader, you can use this article as a checklist to globally search for some common writing issues and correct them before your written piece falls into the hands of an editor or publishing company.

Dialogue Tags: Punctuation and Capitalization

It seems as though many authors have trouble determining when to use a comma versus a period before or after—or within the middle of—dialogue. The right decision revolves around whether a dialogue tag is used. This is a phrase typically consisting of a noun or pronoun and a verb that identifies the speaker of the dialogue, and perhaps includes additional information, such as the speaker's tone of voice.

The rule is this: If a dialogue tag is used, a comma is placed before, after, or in the middle of dialogue; otherwise, a period is used. However, if a question mark or exclamation point is the punctuation used at the end of the dialogue, this punctuation is always maintained within the dialogue, whether a dialogue tag is used or not.

As for capitalization, if a dialogue tag is used in the middle of dialogue or after it, the dialogue tag is lowercase.

Some examples of dialogue using dialogue tags include the following:

• I want to see him," she stated, "right now."

• "I absolutely love steak!" he exclaimed.

• She replied to her brother, "Of course I know that."

• "Come with us," they whispered to the man.

• The woman yelled loudly, "Take your hands off of me!"

Here are some verbs that authors mistakenly think are part of dialogue tags:

• Smile

• Laugh

• Gasp

• Grimace

• Sigh

Toward, Not Towards

A super common mistake writers and Americans in general make is using towards instead of toward. Technically, towards is the UK English version of the word, whereas toward is the American version. The same goes for afterward, forward, backward, upward, downward, and onward.

An easy way for American writers to correct this issue is to globally search for wards to find all the words that have the incorrect ending. You can do this by using the search and find function in Microsoft Word.

Further vs. Farther

If you're not paying attention, you probably use further every time you are writing and simply ignore the existence of the word farther. I know I do. However, farther should be used when literal, physical distance is being implied. On the other hand, further is utilized for describing metaphorical or figurative distance.

Here is an example of the words being used correctly: I threw the ball farther than him, and he verbally harassed me further.

Straight Apostrophes and Quotation Marks

When a document is written on your mobile phone, it often leads to the use of what many call "straight apostrophes" and "straight quotation marks" instead of "curly" ones. These are very easy to miss when trying to find them with your eyes alone, so this is another common mistake that you should use the search and find function to locate.

Get onto a PC or Mac to replace straight quotation marks and apostrophes with curly ones (or you can copy/paste the curly marks if you only have access to a mobile phone).

Contact a Qualified Proofreader and Copy Editor

If you are ready for a copy editor or proofreader for your book or other written content, reach out to Spence Proofreading & Copy Editing today. With low rates, high-quality work, and almost a decade's worth of expertise, what better choice is there?