4 Mistakes You’re Probably Making as a New Writer

It’s okay, I made them too

If you’re just starting out on this incredible writing career path, it’s a good idea to think of yourself as an intern. I like this idea because Internships are all about learning. The learning curves in any new job can feel pretty steep at the start, and writing is no exception. Luckily, there are tons of experienced writers willing to share their successes and their mistakes so that, hopefully, your path to success will be a quick one!

I’ve been in this business for over ten years now and, although I’m still learning, these are four of the main mistakes I see emerging writers make (I made most of them myself!).

1. Thinking the First Thing You Write will be Published

It might, but it probably won’t. Wait! Don’t throw it away. You will learn a lot by writing it, editing it and doing your best to perfect it. Then, if it gets rejected, just put it aside (I know you love it — you can drag it out again later) and write something else.

If it’s a novel and you’ve poured three years of your life into it then, sure, try publishing it. Just remember that only around 1% of books are actually published traditionally now.

If this is your first-ever piece of writing, I would recommend waiting a little while before you self-publish. Many self-published books are low-quality and don’t sell. I’m not anti-self publishing (I’ve just self-published a children’s book myself), but, for new writers, it does come with some extra risks.

It makes me cringe when I hear about new writers who, in their desperation to publish, spend thousands on vanity publishers. They get swept up in the excitement of seeing their book in print only to be devastated when no-one buys a copy, except their mum.

Self-publishing a book through a local printer or on Amazon costs around $3–$20 per book, plus your cover design (you can get this done on Fiver for around $50). Many printers allow you to print on demand or do a small print run (50 books) which keeps the costs manageable. Vanity publishers, on the other hand, ask you to fork out thousands and promise marketing that, in reality, they might not do.

Self-publishing is not necessarily a way to easy sales.

2. Thinking That The First Draft is Perfect

It’s not. Mine’s not. J.K. Rowling’s was not. Jane Austen’s was not. Yours is not.

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

OCTAVIA E BUTLER | Science Fiction Author

Most good writers will go over and over their content many times — even hundreds of times.

The best thing you can do is leave your work for a few days and then do the following:

• Read it aloud.
• Cut out anything unnecessary.
• Check your sequencing, think about your plot, and look at it with a critical eye. Is that paragraph in the right place? Do you need more dialogue? Would it sound better in third person instead of first?
• Then leave it again.
• Repeat your edit. Read it aloud. Cut!
• Perfect your wording. Can a better phrase be used? A better word?
• Repeat editing until you are happy with it.
• Proofread.
• Get someone else to read it.

“When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.”

STEPHEN KING

Editing and then editing (and then editing again) is the best thing you can spend time learning to do as a new writer.

3. Being Too Wordy

Many new writers try to sound sophisticated in their writing by using a lot of very creative phrases, beautiful metaphors, and unusual words.

This is part of the appeal of writing isn’t it? The crafting of beautiful language.

If you’re writing a literary fiction novel then that’s fantastic. For some other genres too, such as short stories, creative language can work well. Unfortunately, for many other types of writing it just comes across as amateur, unnecessarily wordy and difficult to read.

Find your natural voice. Don’t try to be someone you’re not in your writing.

4. Telling Rather Than Showing in Fiction

This is an incredibly common mistake that new writers make. If your content is reading like an outline, rather than a story, you might be doing this.

I’ll give you an example because it’s the easiest way for me to explain this idea.

Telling:

Jane woke up. It was early morning. She was tired from working 
on her novel till late. She got ready for work as fast 
as she could but, sadly, she missed the bus again.

Showing:

Jane stretched and rolled over to turn off her alarm clock. 
5:30am. Why did she always have to get up so early? 

She pulled off the covers, swung her legs over the side of her bed, 
and groaned. It was stupid staying up so late last night. Never again, she muttered to herself. Her novel would probably never get finished at this rate anyway. 

Jane pulled on her clothes and stumbled toward the kitchen. She slapped peanut butter on a slice of bread and glanced at the clock. That would have to do. She could always grab something else at work. 

Racing out the front door, Jane spotted the back end of a yellow bus turning the corner at the end of her street. Her bus.

Showing takes longer but it paints a picture in your reader’s mind and brings them along with your character. It’s as if the reader is sitting right there in the room.

One way you could think of showing is “If I was creating a movie and needed to explain to the actors what I wanted them to do, how would I do that?”

(There are times where telling is appropriate to use though too. It’s just knowing when to use it!)

Investing in Yourself Pays Off Long-term

If you’d like to develop your writing it’s a good idea to get a mentor. There is nothing more valuable that investing in yourself and your dreams.

If you’re serious about pursuing your writing dream then individualised feedback from a mentor is the next step. It will progresses your writing skills more than anything else.

Early in my writing career I was incredibly lucky to have two wonderful mentors: one for fiction and one for non-fiction. Their help and guidance was invaluable.

I attended writing workshops, read books on writing techniques, and did writing exercises but my mentors made the biggest impact by far.

If you love writing, don’t give up — keep practicing and learning, get that internship happening and enjoy this amazing craft of ours!

Join me at Because You Write for more support for your nonfiction.