Watch for mixed metaphors! “Her eyes flew across the room” is a classic example. If this doesn’t conjure up eyeballs springing from someone’s head and soaring across the room, like often seen in cartoons, I don’t know what does. While the reader is likely to know what you mean and may not even catch it, this is one of the things a pro will avoid. Metaphors are great, but need to be constructed with care.

This confusion can also happen with misplaced prepositional phrases. Make sure they’re in the most logical order or they can have a similar effect. I know that my thought process as an author is often not linear, which can cause this to happen. I get quite a few laughs when I start editing.

What works for me is to make sure related phrases are kept close to whatever they describe. If it relates to the character, then make sure it is next to the subject, not trailing along at the end of the sentence. This also serves as another indictment on prepositional phrases, which generally should  be used judiciously and avoided when another literary vehicle will do the job more effectively.