(not even all of the general notes fit onto one comment! gah! I am being terribly wordy!)

None of these common errors are prevalent or noticeable enough to detract much, if any, from your writing. You could probably ignore everything I've said above, and nobody would care a whole lot. On the other hand, most people probably wouldn't notice if you did start to do all of them completely accurately 100% of the time, but those of us who would notice would definitely have even more respect for you than we already do.


For the specific editing, I'll try to refrain from mentioning any of the "common errors" unless you'd like me to go through and highlight the ones I noticed - just let me know. Strikethrough shows that I am suggesting a deletion, bold an addition, and italics are my comments. Underlining something is just to draw attention to it for the comments. I hope this helps you, and feel free to question and/or ignore any of my suggestions. I did an edit on the first week of this, too, so hopefully you didn't mind my particular style too much...

Of all the incredible things that the renowned explorer Sir Reginald Hatter had seen in his journeys all over the world...
I think you could probably use a word a bit less, uhm, common than "things" - possibly "incredible sights", but then you'd be getting into "the sights he'd seen". Spectacles, marvels, or wonders - you use "marvel" later, but "wonders" or even "scenes" might work.

I like dioscorea's point about the subtle head shake.

At first glance, the newly-discovered island appeared to be a tropical paradise. It was only once you set foot on the island that you realized... repetition - Besides the obvious "on it", you could say "on this nirvana".
...that the vine you had reached for to save yourself was actually the tentacle of a tree squid... Seriously, if there is one bit of grammar everybody ignores, it has to be this. Except for veryveryvery rare cases (can't think of any at the moment, sorry), a preposition has to have a phrase. This should technically be "the vine for which you had reached". Most people will think this reads awkwardly and is outdated (which it almost is). I never expect people to actually change this, but I can't in good conscience *not* point it out.
Killer island description! (and dear god, that was an accidental pun.)

Sir Hatter took one last forlorn look over his shoulder and vowed one day to return to the island and see up close the marvel that stood in the center of the crater up close. Using "and" makes it two separate things that he is vowing; using "to" or "in order to" makes it one vow. (Does that explanation make sense?)

...although strictly speaking, he wasn't literally following in Hatter's footsteps... It seems redundant to say both "strictly speaking" and "literally".

Leading that expedition was the odious Professor Teiger, who had sworn to beat them to the center of the island in the name of his own personal glory rather than that of the advancement of science and the betterment of humanity.
Reuben sipped some tea to wash away the bitterness and calm his nerves. There's something about sipping *tea* to remove bitterness... assuming he's the tea purist I picture... Great great great sentence.

The relentless pace that they had set for themselves after their meeting with Teiger was taking its toll on him. This cut serves two purposes: first, makes the sentence more concise; second, makes it slightly more accurate, at least in my eyes. When you say "a meeting with X", I imagine something formal and prearranged (except for something like "a meeting with Death", but that's a whole different matter). However, if you just say "after meeting Teiger", it shows that it was a surprise to see him.

I really like the way you brought new writers up to speed through each person's thoughts, because those who have been reading all along don't feel as though it's repetitive or boring. The personal opinions from each of them are really great.