5 Writing Mistakes
High School Students Make
— and the fix for each one —
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What’s Inside
These aren’t grammar mistakes.
They go deeper than that.
After 28 years of teaching and tutoring English — and homeschooling five children of my own — these are the five writing habits I see most consistently getting in the way of writing that actually works. Once a student understands the fix, the writing changes. Often immediately.
Writing to Sound Smart Instead of Being Clear
The most common mistake — and it starts with the best intentions. Learn why clarity is the harder skill, and how to test for it.
Opening With the Warm-Up
Most first paragraphs are not actually the beginning of the piece. They are the paragraph the writer needed to write in order to find where the piece actually starts.
Telling Instead of Showing — Even in Non-Fiction
“Show, don’t tell” applies far beyond creative writing. Discover how this mistake shows up in essays, reports, and analytical writing.
The Disappearing Voice
Students who are vivid and specific when talking become generic and formal when writing. Here’s why — and how to fix it.
The Summary Ending
The ending that restates everything the reader just read. It doesn’t just waste the final paragraph — it actively damages the piece.
“These are not grammar errors. They are habits of thinking about writing that get in the way of writing that actually works.”
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Susan Kihleng
The Seaside Collective
I’ve been teaching and tutoring English for over 28 years — the last three entirely online, with students from across the globe. I’m also a homeschool mom of five. This guide grew out of the same thinking that led me to build Story, Voice, and Purpose: a writing course I couldn’t find anywhere else, so I created it myself.
The five mistakes in this guide are the ones I see most often — in my students’ work, and in the work of my own children. They are fixable. And once students understand why the fix works, the improvement tends to stick.