7 Common Mistakes New Writers Make

In this video I will go over 7 common mistakes newbie writers tend to make, especially when it comes to characters, conflict & pacing!

Related videos that go more in-depth into some of these topics:

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[kingkiitt]

"Killing people in the books is fun."

Well, I guess George R.R. Martin is having *too* much fun

[nixutree]

Here is a reason a lot of newer writers use "whispered", "grunted", or "articulate" etc.
English teachers tell you to not use "said" as it is used too "often" and the authors/writers just think 'I should use said less often because it's bad.'

[lowrez]

1. Info dumping: too much info, or back-story, esp. in the beginning. Better to spread the info out throughout the book via character interaction or action.
2. Describing everything: books are not a play-by-play of real-life. It's boring, it slows down the plot.
3. Not enough conflict: Story should be driven by Conflict is a continuing racketing of tension as the story continues.
4. Nothing Bad Happens to Main Character, or is Perfect, has no Flaws: This will put an artificial limit on how much conflict and/or bad events that drive the story forward.
5. Really Messy Dialog Tags: every dialog has a 'he said', or '[name] spoke'. Just use 'said'. Nothing more is needed. It's not detracting. Use any additional description very sparingly, when absolutely needed. Get your punctuation right, it's a simply thing to get down.
6. Too Many Points of View: Stories don't need extra POV; this drains the tension. It's also very difficult to execute well. Keep it simple, single POV from the main character.
7: White Room Syndrome: Variant on 'show don't tell'; aka when characters are in a scene but no description or detail has been provided. Story ends up feeling generic.

[leonaluna]

My characters have too many flaws honestly, their made up lives are so brutal.

[Chris_Cross]

Her: "What's the worst thing that could happen to my character?"
Me: "He gets hit by a truck and dies."
Her: "Do that thing!"
Me: "But then I don't have a protagonist, or a plot, or a hero, or... or a book..."

[ryujin]

it was drilled into me as a kid that using said was bad, its nice to know that I dont have to avoid it like the plague

[keithbrannon]

"We like our characters! We don't want anything bad to happen to them!"

Ha ha.

[iamjohnlocked]

In elementary school they taught us "said is dead" and I believed it. I began watching YouTube videos and reading blogs to help improve my writing. That's when I learned that you, as Alexa says, should use "said" 95% of the time.

[OverratedPerson]

"Bc we like our character, we don't want to do bad things to them"
Me: *is writing a book about a traumatizing experience to my character and how she gets crazy over time after killing her own best friend accidentally*

Me: oh well, so true

[pupukachu]

"what's the worst thing that could happen to your character? Do that thing"
greg walked into the street and was hit by a bus, story over

[GrahamConnor]

Just started watching these. I've just started writing my book today and, even though I think all that you mention are things that I already subconsciously knew, this video is great help. Wish me luck :)

[Kat_ko_]

"He edjaculated…don't use that". Hahaha, well that depends on what type of story you want ;)

(Though it does make for an interesting conversational tag…context people!)

[littleearth]

I read a fanfic (so it kinda gets a pass but still) that used “uttered” a little too much. Like I’m sorry, but usually I don’t read books that have dialogue like this:
“Where is it?” Sue uttered.
“Over there, behind the shelf, ” Bob replied.
“I saw it on the kitchen table earlier, ” Jimmy mumbled. He smirked, knowing he hid it earlier.

I usually hear “uttered” like:
As blood flowed from her chest, right where her heart was, she uttered her final words and took her last breath.
“It was under the doormat.”

But I’m a newbie to writing. So...yep. Let me know if I’m totally wrong and using uttered like a normal dialogue tag is okay. (You know when you DO use dialog tags)

Edit: another one I read (on wattpad or tumblr or something)
And I (not really) quote:
“You’re so sweet!” I *verbalized* as I sat down.
“Something something, ” He *opined* as he ate.
*hazed*
*issued*
*announced*

Like, ZERO “said” in there.

[walexander]

so guilty of white room syndrome. I get so caught up in the dialogue and character interactions and I forget to actually explain/describe where they are in the scene. interestingly enough, I started to attempt writing screen plays since they are mostly based on dialogue with brief set descriptions in the header. but that was even MORE difficult. it's really a double edged sword.

[ellie_shrug]

Well, the killing off characters thing is kind of common in my books. Like a lot. No one is safe.

[Ace_]

I’ve been working on a book series for almost three years now, I started writing it on my iPod but then moved on to a new computer after a year. I completely re-wrote everything and worked on characters and conflicts. It’s a sci fi series about aliens and stuff
I really put a lot of effort into it and I’m sure everybody here has too. It’s so great to see others like me writing stories🙂
But I have to say...killing off characters is fun

[violetlavi]

Rick Riordan does multiple POVs though, and I kinda envy him for balancing so many characters XD

[lharamae]

When you're a tragedy fan who's planning to start a book😈

[ashnikfield]

In my fantasy world, a lot of bad things happen to my characters! One of them gets really bad heat stroke and passes out for a long time, one gets their leg smashed by a rock, my main character gets bit by a poisonous spider and almost dies, one gets her foot slashed by a sharp tree branch, etc. I’m not afraid to give them injuries or conflict. It’s fun to put that in since it makes the story exciting

[Emo_Squirtle]

I feel like the Info dumping thing is a first book first draft must, especially if you don't yet know your book and the world yet. The real problem is when it stays there in the second draft and beyond.

"Murder is fun! MuRdEr!!" Hahahahaha yes

Also dying at the dialogue tag example and grammar lesson

I'm hella guilty of most of these at one point in my writing or another.