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You’ve run your draft through every grammar checker, cleaned up the red underlines, and polished until there are no errors left. At least, according to the five AI checkers you just ran it through and your large language model.
So why does your writing still feel… off?
Here’s the truth: AI tools don’t always catch the most subtle mistakes. And one of the biggest culprits is a grammar slip-up that even seasoned writers miss.
Readers won’t flag it. They won’t leave a comment about it. But they will notice something’s wrong. Your sentences will feel rushed, unpolished, or amateurish, even if everything else is technically correct.
The mistake? The comma splice.
Read more: AI Can’t Fix This Grammar Mistake (But Your Readers Will See It)
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Your characters might be saying all the right things—but if your dialogue punctuation is off, editors (and sharp-eyed readers) will notice immediately.
Misplaced commas, capitalized tags, or confused action beats can break the rhythm of your scene and make even great writing feel unpolished. Worse, these mistakes are so common that many self-published books are riddled with them—hurting reviews, credibility, and reader immersion.
The good news? Dialogue punctuation follows a handful of clear rules. Once you know them, you’ll be able to write cleaner, smoother conversations—and avoid the tiny errors that drive editors up the wall.
Let’s break it down.
Read more: Why Your Dialogue Punctuation Is Driving Editors Crazy
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You’ve trimmed your sentence to tighten it up—and now it sounds sharp. But is it still a complete sentence? Or did you accidentally turn it into a fragment?
Sentence fragments are one of the most common issues in both fiction and nonfiction writing. They often sneak in during revision when you cut too much, change your structure, or try to add punch. Worse, grammar checkers don’t always catch them, especially if they “look right.”
The result? Your writing may feel choppy, rushed, or confusing to readers.
In this article, you’ll learn how to quickly tell the difference between a full sentence and a fragment, the most common types of fragments writers fall into, and how to fix them without losing your style or voice.
Read more: Is It a Sentence or a Fragment? Here’s How to Tell (and Fix It)
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If you’re like many writers, the words that and which probably seem interchangeable—or at least tricky to use correctly.
But mixing them up can subtly change your meaning, confuse readers, and make your sentences clunky or unclear. Even experienced writers struggle with this one!
In this article, we’ll break down the key difference between that and which, show you easy ways to spot mistakes, and explain when it’s okay to bend the rules.
By the end, you’ll have a simple, reliable trick to make sure you’re using these words confidently—and making your writing clearer in the process.
Read more: Are You Using “That” and “Which” Wrong? Probably.
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Spellcheck is great. Grammarly’s even better. But if you think those tools are catching everything, think again.
Grammar checkers are designed to catch obvious slip-ups, including misspelled words, missing punctuation, and some awkward phrasing. But they can’t replace a trained eye or a deep understanding of how language works. In fact, some of the most distracting, credibility-killing mistakes in your writing will still pass right through even the most advanced grammar tool.
That’s why readers (and editors) notice issues that software won’t.
In this article, we’ll walk through the top writing mistakes that grammar checkers miss—and show you how to catch them yourself before your readers do.
Read more: Your Grammar Checker Won’t Catch These Mistakes (But Readers Will)