5 Mistakes Made by New Writers

Readers of this site will know that Blood Red Turns Dollar Green i s my first book - but, I have been writing for a long time. These are five mistakes I’ve seen writers in general make.

1. They don't want to serve their apprenticeship.

Most writers write a lot. They die, get murdered in reviews and play to empty houses or collect dust on the bottom selves. But they go back to their keyboards and write again. Something different. Something better. With new skill and lessons learned. And not because of a critic - because like any trade - the more you do the better you get.

Here’s a review of one of my plays. Well, two reviews of the same play reviewed on the same night, side-by-side in the same paper by two different reviewers.( click to open ) [image error]

Your first story should be terrible. It should be oversold, overly emotional(my first story was called 'Emotions.' Ugh. In my defense I was nine) and it should have a hundred problems for you to fix. This is how you pay your dues. This is how you become better. And this is how you learn to talk to your audience.

2. They have no patience.

Writing is all about the long game. The only thing fast about writing is the speed in which readers move on to the next story. The writing process, the submission, the editing, the formatting, the rejections, the release date(if you're lucky) all take a long time. I once got rejected from an establishment three years after they had already taken my work.

I read people online talking about releasing seven to ten books a year. They talk about the numbers, the volume of stuff they can put out to ‘maximize the exposure to the buyer.’ I just want to cry when I read that type of article or thread. More about that here.

3. They don't get out there enough.

This is directly linked to number one. Just because your mother/wife/friend or writer friend finally likes what you're doing doesn't make it good. It might just mean that they can't possibly hurt you again or they might all have horrible taste. Stand in your mother's living room. Observe. See, she's has terrible taste. So don’t be happy with what she says. If your confused as to whose opinion to trust, use this one rule - if you were made by them or they have seen you naked, they will lie to you to make you feel better/not kill yourself.

Take your book/play/screenplay etc and find a way to get it into as many hands/eyeballs/TV's as possible. No one biting? Do it yourself. I wrote, produced, directed and built the sets for my first five plays having never seen a play before. I did it because I felt I had worked long enough on the theory and I needed to get to the practical.

You need to get in front of a large crowd and fucking die. Be horrible. Then you'll learn.

4. They change. Not in a good way.

By all means read, observe and study how others do it. Then forget everything you’ve just read, observed and studied. You are not them. They are better at writing like themselves than you are. Find out why it’s important that someone listen to you. What have you got to say? Why are your words important or entertaining? If you can’t figure that out then I hear there’s a huge market in fan fiction at the moment.

Early in my career I spent a long time with excellent writers in the west of Ireland. I was totally sucked in by their skill and their turn of phrase. I then started to write like them - only badly. I left the next day.

Be good or be shit but for your writing's sake be yourself.

5. They expect too much too soon.

Again, see number one and number two.

Your first story shouldn't be a hit. That would destroy you. You don't have the skill or the experience to continue at that level. Be happy selling a modest number of books, or seats in a theatre, while you learn your craft. At least that way you will suck in front of less people, so when you do get good at your job not as many will avoid you based on past writing.

We've all seen the athlete who was brought up to the majors too soon. Loads of potential but no experience. What happens to that person? Do you want to be that person?

When I hear people talking about not having the motivation to continue because their first book didn’t make amazon’s top 100 I smile. Why do I smile? Cause it’s writing’s Darwinism. You’ve got to keep going and you’ve got to keep getting better, write more, write differently. And even after twenty years and twenty books, writing owes you nothing.

Don’t expect too much. Write because it’s what you do. The world will let you know if your good or bad enough at it to get paid.

I hope you do write though. It’s a wonderful way to spend your life - writing about someone else’s life.

Good luck!