fire control

Just a quick question, Revisited the old topic, "OK, stickburners... let's see those small and hot fires." and though my fire looks nothing like that. Those small fires in those pics looked to me that the wood was just barely burning, is that still a clean fire? I've always though you need to...

Since the Brethren continues to grow, Im sure there are a lot of novice and rookie Qers that come for great advice to help them become better at the pit. What I was wondering is can people share what they think are the most repeated errors that rookies make.