Writing is said to be an art in which there are no masters, only students. As we tell our stories, we grow alongside them. We continue to develop our skills and learn new ones. Our characters might encourage self-reflection or invite us to view past events in a new light.
Writing your first book is an exciting thing. However, as is often the case with any new venture, it's not without its challenges. It's a journey of making mistakes and learning from them.
In this post, we're breaking down some of the most common writing mistakes made by writers working on their first-ever novel.
Too Many Ideas, Not Enough Story
Remember the Space Bag infomercial? Too much stuff, not enough space? Usually aired among ads for HeadOn and the Shirley Temple Little Darling Collection?
Aside from that rush of nostalgia that I've just given you, there is a solid lesson to be found here.
When you're in the planning phase of a new story, coming up with ideas can be fun and feel effortless when you're in the right headspace. Plot bunnies spring up left and right. Sure, there might be the occasional stretch of writer's block, but the relief of finally navigating that creative lull often sparks a burst of inspiration.
However, it doesn't take much for your list to become so long you end up entangled in (if not ensnared by) it. You may want to weave in every single idea that excites you in the hope that readers will be as excited by them. Or you want to be certain that your story's setting is immersive and you pile on the worldbuilding details.
In the traditional publishing realm, debut novels only have so much wiggle room where word counts are concerned; this will vary between genres and categories.
Back with my earliest attempt at writing a novel, I was certain I was going to be a one-hit-wonder. That it would be the only book I'd ever write. It was the story. And I therefore needed to incorporate every single plot thread that crossed my mind, no exceptions. Every minor character had a detailed backstory. Any scene fragment I found interesting was expanded upon. Not to mention I was adamant about showing off how much research I'd done on the time period through detailed exposition.
It's easy to cross the line between depth and density. Even if every single idea that crosses your mind is brilliant and brimming with potential, they might not mesh together.
Remember that your first novel might not be your last. There will be a home for your ideas, even if you don't know where that is just yet.
My personal advice is to create what I like to call a Graveyard Doc to save your murdered darlings and favorite unused ideas, just in case they can be resurrected for a future story.
Going It Alone
Writing is often portrayed as a solitary activity, something we do by ourselves hunched over our keyboards at ungodly hours of the night. Our characters exist because we've made friends with the voices inside our heads. You get the gist.
For much of my early writing years, I was rather secretive about my writing. It wasn't out of worry that my high school classmates would judge me for my interest in writing and writing romance specifically because, let's be honest, that was already sort of happening. I was actually open about the fact that I was writing a novel (or at least attempting to) but you'd be hard-pressed to get me to expand on the details. Character names would be omitted from conversation and limited to their first initial if I referenced that WIP online—even on the blog. You'd hear nothing about the plot out of overprotectiveness but also to avoid spoilers just in case you picked up the finished book someday. If you so much as laid a finger on that beat-up binder I was penning my "manuscript" in, you would be met with an icy glare.
I was overly wary when it came to my writing, influenced in part by what I understood the culture around writing to be. That solitude-turned-isolation. Not to mention all of the horror stories you'd find of plagiarism ranging from a character name being stolen after a writer referenced it in a Tweet or a trusted beta reader claiming a final draft as their own work and self-publishing it via Amazon.
There's an abundance of things I would tell my younger self about writing, one of the most crucial being that writing can be something you do by yourself but that doesn't mean you should close yourself off. In fact, you shouldn't.
Sharing your work with other writers gives you an opportunity to learn from them and hone your skills. It's great if you're able to enroll in writing classes, but they're not necessary. A lot of the improvements in my writing is not the result of the courses I took in college as an English major but from my writing friends. I've been lucky to attend a smattering of virtual conferences and in-person events that have reshaped my approach and built on the knowledge I already had.
If there aren't any programs or clubs in your region (or budget), it's become pretty easy to connect with fellow writers online. That's actually how I found my current writing groups and everyone in them has been so lovely. We've had so many insightful conversations. It's a comfort to know that I have friends to bounce ideas off of and get sound feedback from, which has in turn made my writing so much better.
There are certainly times where writing alone makes sense. Early on, I like my writing to be an intimate thing. One-on-one with the story and its characters as we try to figure it all out. But, sooner or later, it's a good idea to open that door and let others in.
Rushing The Process
When I first started writing at fourteen, I didn't have a solid understanding of how long it can take to complete a manuscript. I thought it would be a few months tops for the first draft, maybe another month of editing, a brief query phase, and picked up and published within maybe eighteen months. And by my high school reunion, I'd be a bestselling author with a film adaptation of my novel in the works, complete with Toby Regbo cast as one of the protagonists (he would have also been my date to the class reunion in this fantasy to help promote said film adaptation).
Needless to say, things didn't pan out quite as I'd hoped. For one thing, I've never even met Toby Regbo!
All jokes aside, I didn't understand how long it actually takes to go from a first draft to a published book.
The precise timeframe will vary from one writer to the next, but writing a novel seldom happens overnight—and if it does happen overnight, readers will be able to tell (and that's not a good thing, typically...).
Focusing on speed rather than substance can create a whole host of problems for your book. It can create plot holes that need to be filled in. Errors may be overlooked. You might even be running the risk of burnout.
Speaking from experience, my efforts to write faster during NaNoWriMo did result in the beginnings of a novel, but they weren't good. The pacing was wonky and my characters were underdeveloped, which made for a lack of tension. As one of my writing friends put it, "this scene is where the story starts for me, but also where it ends."
Writing swiftly doesn't automatically result in a bad story. However, it takes time to learn the craft and develop an understanding of what makes a story work not only for you as the writer, but for future readers. And while I'm sure you're running towards that dream of seeing your name (or pen name) on a book cover in your local Barnes & Noble or Waterstones, know that speed is a double-edged sword. Sure, you might race by deadlines and reach the finish line sooner, but you may also hit a wall at top speed.
That's why they're called Writing Sprints and not Writing Marathons.
Give yourself time. Find your pace.
Expecting Perfection
Another reason I anticipated attending my high school reunion as a bestselling author was an overabundance of confidence infused with naivety.
I've always had a bit of a perfectionist streak in me. And I was so sure that the novel I was scribbling down in a battered-to-Hell-and-back three-ring binder was going to be the next big thing that I sorely underestimated the number of drafts there would be and how long editing "The Behemoth Tome" would take.
I didn't get it right on the first try. Or the second or eighth, for that matter. Getting notes back on a short story during a peer workshop for Intro to Creative Writing freshman year of college was a humbling experience that I'm especially glad for.
For some writers, it's not so much not knowing what the process of writing a novel entails or teeming with confidence in their abilities to write, but expectations, whether those expectations are influenced by how social media sometimes portrays the writing process or the expectations set by their peers. It's human nature to seek validation. It might be in how we see ourselves, how our loved ones and acquaintances perceive us, or how well we fit in with society at large. And that fear of our work not being well-received may drive new writers into a spiral of trying to write the perfect book.
Let me spare you a load of time: it is impossible to please absolutely every reader out there. You may very well burn yourself out trying to do so. Worse yet, speaking from experience, you might also lose sight of the story you want to tell.
These days, my goal with every draft is not perfection but instead to take it as far as I can with the level that my skills are at. To bring my story as close to its best self as I can.
There are always going to be things in your work that could have been done better or differently. You know what they say—if looking back on your past work doesn't make you cringe, you haven't grown in your craft!
Don't stress about getting it perfect. Focus more on what feels right to you as a writer.
Dismissing Critiques And Constructive Criticism
This list doesn't end with the completion of the first draft.
Finally typing THE END is a rush of emotions, but THE END is only ever just the beginning. If you weren't already receiving feedback from a critique partner while you were writing the first draft, the revisions phase is where you should start reaching out to trusted friends and fellow writers for help.
However, some first-time novelists make the mistake of skipping this step or, worse yet, dismissing constructive criticism altogether. This might be the result of overzealous confidence, the urge to protect their ego, feeling too attached to or overprotective of their story, or a fear of failure or making big changes to their work.
No matter the cause, resisting feedback may cause more problems for you than being receptive to it.
Years ago, I was in a writing group in which one participant dismissed any feedback that did not praise their work. They got snippy when other members of the group pointed out significant pacing issues that made the story difficult to follow as a reader or raised questions about the worldbuilding and lore out of genuine curiosity. This particular writer treated these comments as a personal attack against them—which was far from the case—retaliated by making intentionally rude comments about everyone else's work, and quit the group soon after.
Feedback is useful for so many reasons. It allows you to get a glimpse into the mindset of a potential reader picking up your story without the knowledge you have as an author. CPs and betas can help you identify what works and any weaker spots that need a little more attention; often, they'll even suggest ways to improve. In the event that you disagree with something that has been said, don't shut down or shut your test readers out. Instead, open yourself up to discussing the disagreement. Ask for more context as to why your reader has brought this up (without arguing or getting defensive!) because, chances are, there is a reason behind their feedback.
If you're doing a positivity pass, a kind of critique in which you focus only on the good things in a draft, that's one thing. And it can honestly be wise to be selective with the feedback because you'll lose your wits (and sight of your story) trying to incorporate every single note that comes your way. But you need to at least be open to what others have to say and take those thoughts into consideration.
Only by letting our stories be roughed up can we polish them into a shiny book!
Writing is an art of trial and error and imperfect drafts. Mistakes are inevitable, and that's okay. What matters is what we learn from them.
Even though we all have our own unique paths, many writing mistakes are commonly shared but can be avoided if you've got a keen enough eye and the knowledge of what to look out for.
What mistakes did you make as a new writer? Share them in the comments!
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