5 Fatal Mistakes that New Writers Make

Today I discuss five common mistakes that new (and veteran) writers make--with solutions for each!

****Links to Books/Websites Mentioned in this video****

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

FREE Myers-Briggs Test

Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey

Critters

Submission Grinder

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CHECK OUT MY OTHER VIDEOS:

5 Time-Saving Tips for Writers (And Readers!)

How to Write a Book Pitch

Writing Villains #1 - Start with Your Hero

Writing Villains #2 - Goals

Writing Villains #3 - Motivation

Writing Villains #4 - When to Introduce Your Villain

Writing Villains #5 - Plot Points for Villains

The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:

Save the Cat Writes a Novel REVIEW:

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#WritingAdvice #WritingTips #Writing

Credit to SkyDilen for my video intro.

[Buchnerd_Souly]

Fatal Mistake No 6: Having ideas but no clue, how to implement them in a story

[snakeySnakeybakey]

A huge mistake I made early on was explaining how the characters felt.
My friend criticized thrle shit outta it, and he was right. I was so focused on the complexities of the mind that I forgot to make it readable 😂

[ofmine]

Stephen King said, the first draft shoukd be written with closed door. And to give the manuscript only after the first revision.

[chad]

Another common mistake : spoiler in chapter title

[ulyx]

Fatal writing mistakes (not mentioned in the video):

1 - Drinking the super glue instead of using it to repair your ballpoint pen.
2 - Cutting your wrist with scissors instead of the newspaper clippings you got for your mystery novel cover art.
3 - Insulting your editor in the first chapter and getting stabbed in the heart with a #2 pencil.
4 - Accidentally doxxing yourself by ordering food over the phone and giving them your house address when your voice dictation software is still running.
5 - Writing down misremembered pharmaceutical emergency instructions.

[juju]

Does planning in my head count as writing?

[WriterBrandonMcNulty]

QotD: What writing-related mistakes have you learned from? Let me know!

[Eldanogrande]

Okay, penalty flag.

Yes, writers should consider different personalities and yes, Meyers-Briggs may be a useful tool for conceptualizing them, but PLEASE don’t call it psychology. Meyers-Briggs is nothing but flattery and Barnum statements, there is ZERO science behind it. There is massive evidence that the dichotomies it tries to establish aren’t remotely innate and depend on situation and mood. Meyers-Briggs has all the validity and scientific merit of a horoscope.

[LetsPlayWithPixels]

Me: "oh that thumbnail looks pretty cool" clicks the video "OH MY GOSH WHY IS HE SO CLOSE

[AlastorNahIdWinRadioDemon]

On number 2, even if you don't study the exact personality types, you should at the very least have a grasp on how to write characters who aren't too similar to each other. Having an entire cast of extroverted jokesters doesn't even work in almost any comedies, so if that's your cast for a more serious story because it's the only character you know how to write... You have to see the problem with that, right???

On number 3, I think the part of, "Write every day." Peope don't understand is that it doesn't have to be writing your current story or the magnus opum. I write reviews and for D&D when I'm not feeling the book I'm trying to write if only to keep both my abilities and creativity flowing for when I do get back into what I'm currently writing.

On number 4, even if not another writer, you should have someone who you can shoe things and get honest and potentially even harsh criticisms of what you're writing to read what you have.

On number 5, What is this supposed to mean? Who am I supposed to be submitting my work to??? I'm confused on this one.

[paulrukavishnikov]

Funny thing, although MBTI is perceived as pseudoscience among the science crowd, writing is probably the single medium where this thing can actually be useful. Indeed, making different characters can be greatly supported by thinking, about how exactly the characters can be different. But I would also suggest this: every personality typification is flawed because a real person is a dynamic and sometimes chaotic construct. That's why people with critical thinking (specifically free of confirmation bias) have a hard time answering those questionnaires — it's always very hard to choose one or the other option because you can easily think of situations where a particular answer doesn't make sense. So, when forging your character it's also useful to try to imagine how your logical character can act impulsively, what would drive a plan-everything-oriented person to chase a sudden opportunity, und so weiter.

[TheDarkSideOfIndustry]

With all due respect I think the personality tests are a whole load of BS. No way there are only 16 personality types in this world. And they aren’t very narrowed down either. So calling it a mistake to not study it is horse poop.

Also not to mention, you can write about characters who are nothing like you are. You don’t need some nonsense sigma male gigachad personality type list to tell you how to make a fictional character. Also if you're writing about serial killers why would you make a killer who is just like you are?

[MaggieMiller]

I made mistake #4 in reverse. I showed my work to two people and they proceeded to tear it apart. I put the book away for more than 10 years. I have a rule I will NOT break. Show your work to NO ONE. Years later one of the two denied they said anything negative. The other one said, "What happened to that book you were writing. I really liked it." IF YOU'RE GOING TO SHOW YOUR WRITING TO OTHER PEOPLE, YOU BETTER HAVE THICK SKIN. Love this channel, but I disagree with this one point. Glad I found this channel.

[emeraldqueen]

I personally suggest writing your FIRST DRAFT by hand, pencil and paper so you can always carry it with you and not have to worry about needing to let a battery recharge because you got yourself hooked by your own story and wrote for hours 📝 that’s what I do because I’m not comfortable typing… I’m paying a friend to simply type exactly what I wrote, page by page, and all editing well be done exclusively with the typed versions of my books because I don’t want to change the hand written ones…

[christianoutlaw]

Thanks for the awesome videos. I've been enjoying them thoroughly and they've been very helpful in improving my craft. I cannot emphasize how important point #3 of writing every day is. Last year I made a resolution to do that since I had gotten serious about writing again and was invigorated by getting finished with my first rough draft of a novel in November of 2021. More specifically, I resolved to write a page a day. This was a major success in one area in that it was the first New Year's Resolution that I made that didn't fizzle out by mid-February at the latest, but the first one that I kept through the year. Also, in tallying up the results at the end of the year, I didn't just manage 365 pages in 2022, but just over a thousand. A little bit over a long time adds up more quickly than a person might think. And in writing that little bit, a person will probably find that the ideas are flowing freely and it's much easier to keep going. And that's how you manage two, three, or even ten pages in a day without it being overwhelming.

[Greatermaxim]

Editing should be the majority of your work unless you get it right immediately.

[snakeySnakeybakey]

One thing I did when I was starting out was I took the Myers-Briggs personality test as each of my major characters

[Debiano_Banano]

Fantastic advice about the personality types! Thank you.

[stevensandersauthor]

Similar to writing groups, I suggest aspiring writers take paid workshops if any are available in the area. I’ve taken five workshops over the past few years with bestselling authors. Something about having a real author reading your stuff not only motivates you to write but to write your best, since a roomful of people are going to be judging your work. Just remember to have a thick skin and listen carefully to the criticism. And remember that when readers point out issues in your work, they’re usually right. But when they make suggestions for fixing the issues, they’re usually wrong.

[DemoboyOot]

TLDR : I've smoked a f***ton of meth and here's what i want you to write right now.