As a part of the proofreading services that we offer here at SkillBites, we see a lot of mistakes. Among them is our author’s tendencies to over complicate grammar and diction. Our authors get so caught up in trying to sound professional that they end up making more mistakes than if they had instead written in their usual manner.

Before you start to write a eBook for us here at SkillBites, you should know that grammar does matter. We know that grammar can be intimidating for people, but you would be surprised at how little effort using correct grammar actually takes. For both our business and lifestyle eBooks writers, we would like to take this opportunity to discuss your grammatical choices.

The single biggest mistake that our eBook authors make is that they try to fit their diction to what they perceive their professional standing demands. You shouldn’t be trying to use the biggest words you can think of to describe what you are trying to teach. Engaging in this manner of exaggeration will only serve to confuse your readers.

Remember that you are trying to write a eBook for the ordinary American, not explain your research goals to the Nobel Prize committee. John Q. Public doesn’t want to be spoken down to by some high and mighty lecturer on a topic. You may be knowledgeable in what you do because you are a professional, but if you spend your eBook trying to sound like a professional, all you are going to do is frighten your readers away.

The first time your reader encounters a five syllable word in your business or lifestyle eBooks, they are going to become intimidated. If they don’t know what that word means, and must resort to looking it up in a dictionary, that intimidation will quickly become annoyance. You must remember that your attempt to write a eBook to teach your reader a new skill set is close enough to a form a work in your reader’s eyes as it is. Sending them scrambling to a dictionary is only going to drive them away more quickly.

When you do decide to write a eBook, avoid making yourself sound more important than you actually are. The best advice that we can give to our business and lifestyle eBooks writers when it comes to grammar and diction is simply this: Write like you would speak at work.

In the home setting, our grammar and diction is usually more relaxed and less formal. Due to differences in the relaxed style of language throughout parts of America, writing like you do at home may end up being a little too informal for teaching new skills. But at work, everyone speaks a little more clearly and explains their ideas a little more precisely. By writing like you would speak while earning a paycheck, you will find that the majority of your grammatical problems take care of themselves in the writing process.