7 HUGE Mistakes Writers Make (That Hold You Back In Publishing) 

My husband is actually brutally honest. I showed him a scene I had just written the other day and he told me, "wait, that makes no sense. Wouldn't (insert potential plot holes here)"

Jennifer Jump: why can't family members do that? There's nothing wrong with it. It's bad for them to say that it's perfect when it isn't but I can't see anyone talk about the plot holes and be considered bad for doing that. It's brutally honest if they say "this part sucks. You call yourself a writer?" But showing why things wouldn't work should be encouraged.

Ha! Joke’s on you! My family hates me!

Nonameless my mum is super honest and expresses her opinion openly no matter what it is and never lies but just avoids instead

My older brother is one of my beta readers, and let me tell you, he has absolutely no issues telling me what he thinks doesn't work...

I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't see my work as a first draft because I edited it constantly as I wrote. Every bit had been gone over, over and over again, so to me it was more like a twentieth draft. Then I went over it again a few times smoothing out issues and addressing things others had said before sending to agents. What I didn't realise was that structurally it was a first draft. When I found out, I had to cut lots of my lovely details in the restructuring. Never mind, live and learn; writers are supposed to suffer lol.

Well my sister wrote her first draft convinced it was perfect and sent it without looking at it a second time. It was published. She is the lucky few lol

I did. My first draft was the best thing I had ever read. That's because I didn't read anything else. Big mistake.

It wasn't publidhed, but first book had onr draft. No one told me otherwise when I was 14 😅

@@s.a.8548 Yep, there are those literary geniuses who have that word magic just like those brilliant musicians or athletes.

When I meet people who think they're perfect/refuse to edit/listen, I don't sweat them too much because I know they won't last long! Like, I'm only trying to help--it's on the other person whether or not they want to help themselves :)

Wow... glad you got rid of Bob. And that you had the self-awareness to know that "change nothing!" was too good to be true.

I learned from the great Hemmingway that the 1st draft is crap. I'm on the fourth draft now and I still see areas that need improvement. Editing may be dull, but it's great to see how far it has come.

The plot should be everything, though, not just the climax. Your problem seems to be conflict based, just add loads of conflict that makes sense to your story with lots of tension and appropriate dialogue, so then things will feel more interesting to write and you'll be more engaged, but it's already been like 6 months so im sure youre fine by now(((:

Why not just write the part you're excited about first so that you can make sure that it's written the best it can be? And then later you write the part that accompanies it and then redo the good part to remaster it. If you wait a while to write a scene in a story that you were initially excited for, it seems that you won't be as excited to get to it after a while and it might sound horrible compared to how you would've written it when you first thought of it.

@@shadowspector3611 But that can backfire. If he writes about the most exciting parts first, he'll blow away his balls with three potential pistols of failure. And those guns are: unenthusiasm to write the next scene, a writer's high that will destroy his pacing, and, or, a messy plot that will seem perfect because he written what he wanted to write -- thus making him satisfied in writing his overall piece, no longer challenging himself. He should NEVER write the most exciting parts first. In all honesty, EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE has to be exciting.

Daniel Smith: oh dang, you're right. Writing the part you're most excited for make it so you have nothing to look forward to. But what if you get the idea for the perfect way to express the exciting scene but you're writing a long piece and you're nowhere near getting to that portion? I've also had issues when I'm on one project and then I think of a separate project and I get really excited to write for it, but I stop myself since I want to finish my current project since I feel I won't finish it when I start the other project. Then it turns out that when I finish the first project and move onto the next one, the excitement of writing something new has subsided since my mind has "come down from the clouds" and then its not as fun to write anymore despite putting a tremendous amount of thought into the outline.

@@shadowspector3611What's up Shadow. I'll tackle your second situation first, and then I'll answer your first question regarding ways to maintain an idea despite not reaching that point in the story yet. Now, for your Cloud 9 dilemma, I used to have a small problem like that in the past. And, for me, I realized that the problem was inspiration itself. Now, inspiration isn't evil -- in fact, it's one of the greatest flames of motivation to fuel your creative drive to craft worlds to share with others in a grand scheme to make the world a better place for the sake of bringing humanity closer to who they once were -- HOWEVER, over time, the more I immersed myself in inspiration's fires, the blacker that tempestuous inferno for creative hunger became, thus becoming a poisonous fire. Eventually, it became so deadly that I grew addicted to it's high, and, soon, though my imagination ran rampant, my writing fervor was being brunt alive because it got to the point where I relied on the writer's high. Over time, I learned to conquer this. And eventually, I've reached a level where I can write for hours on end -- even if it's not "fun;" even if I don't feel like it. But how did I reach this? I simply focused on my desire to improve my skills and become a better writer for the sake of others and the grand scheme -- for the sake of telling stories that won't just matter to me, but for others who need to experience the story for the enrichment of their lives. And a big thing that helped me write without inspiration was enjoying the process of syntax structure and writing style. One I focused on being consistent in my craft, working on new ideas even if I''m not "high" on inspiration, I learned to simply appreciate every single word, and every single sentence that was being written on the page -- from how I wrote the words to how the sentences were structured and designed. Soon, after having a working knowledge of syntax structure, I learned to develop a certain writing style, and it became one of the things that made me write -- whether I wanted to or not. Once I improved, I developed a habit to work consistently on new and old ideas and stories because I fear that I'll lose my writing strength and style if I don't keep practicing and utilizing it. So what does writing have to do with storytelling consistency? What great role does it serve in forcing one to write even if one feels bored in writing it? The writing style. Once a writer wholeheartedly embraces metaphors, similes, hyperboles, personifications, alliteration, allegories, word-play, diction, and all other forms of writing techniques in tandem to how these writing techniques will correspond to the overall thematic structure, mood, tone, plot, worldbuilding, and all other structural elements of the story, then the chances of them working on and COMPLETING the new idea increases tenfold. Therefore, enjoy the mere process -- every step -- of giving birth to the story, intimately shaping it like Leonardo giving life to the face of Mona Lisa, and you'll find yourself working on your new stories more consistently -- despite finishing up your older story and feeling a little "uninspired." And before I move onto your last question, another thing to have in mind is the story's thematic, structural, and overall purpose. By asking yourself -- and knowing the answers to -- questions such as, "What is my story about," "How will it end," "What are the main themes of this piece," "Who are the characters," "What do they want or what what is their goal," "What is their motivation or why do they want to accomplish said goal and for what end," "What is the main conflict," "Is the main conflict man v man or man v nature and etc," and the like, then you are more than likely to work on and finish your new idea or story. Now, for your first question, if you fear that you'd lose a powerful idea for your story because you won't get to it in time or that it's too far away in the narrative because there's too much ground to cover, a big thing that helps is writing a short sentence of the idea down in your story outline. Basically, just make a note of it for later. Another thing that helps is the scene list. With the scene list, it'll help determine at what point your cool idea will arrive in the story, so that, even as write your piece, you won't forget where it is. An example of a scene list is this Act 2 Scene 34: McCury gets into a fight in the alleyway. Scene 35: McCury reflects on what happened. Before reaching his friend's house, he gets a phone call S36: McCury does this... S37:... S38:... S39:... S122:... S145:... S298: Final Scene. Books conclusion. McCurry gets shot to death. The scene list is TANTAMOUNT to keeping track of your story. It's one of the things that will save your ideas so that you won't forget about them in the future as your working on the story. Check out Randy Ingermanson and The Snowflake Method. That mess will save you TONS of time and help you with keeping track of your ideas.

Thank you!

I was just thinking the same thing. (I was literally thinking, "your makeup is really on point today!")

T C Is it the thing about statring as a teen? I'm not sure is any of them was, especially Tolkien

I hope you enjoy it!

Bruh, can relate, i really want someone to critique my writing so that i can fix it.. but don't want them to use my idea as their own's..

It's always great when friends/family can actually be helpful! It does happen! And my advice for getting better at giving critique is to note down any questions you have while reading, and share those questions with the writer. Also note any places you grew bored/started skimming.

This is EXTREMELY EXTREMELY late but you know, for future reference? When you delete a scene that you value or a scene that you think has some great ideas, you should copy paste it somewhere else so you can draw inspiration from it later--or in the best case scenario, you can come back to it later with fresh eyes and find a way to make it fit better into your story that you originally intended for it to be in.

@@iferawhite7661 I do that I have a document for deleted scenes, some I don’t ever use again buts just nice to go back and read them

The key is to continue to level up with other projects and then come back! Amanda Foody and Claire Legrand just published books they came up with as teens--they just had to work on other books, and then come back to them later :)

I agree that there are exceptions! Two I can think off off-hand are Amanda Foody and Claire Legrand, whose most recently published YA novels were both ideas they came up with as teens, but came back to in their mid-20s. If you're traditionally published, you could theoretically sell your books anywhere, but those sales won't "count" with your publisher the way they will through traditional distribution channels. ie: you can purchase copies if your own book at a discount (that's part of your author contract) and then sell them at full price wherever you like, but the numbers won't factor into your sales totals like they would if they were sold via a bookstore or online retailer. If the "official" numbers don't matter, you can totally sell them yourself if you want, AFAIK.

Thanks for relying! Interesting conundrum. I'm nowhere near publishing yet, but am definitely Ms. Random Thoughts, lol. There's plenty to think about there, considering I'm in Alice Springs, a small tourist town visited by people all over the world.

Hi Sadie! I found you on the internet randomly, how funny. See you at the next Kaila word sprint!

Lol, nice! I've had that happen with one or two of the other ladies. I didn't realize that you had a youtube! I should have known though, since you seem pretty active with Instagram stories and now IGTV. And your new website going up (I'm working on one for myself too).

That is actually a myth. Not ALL publishers and editors with force you to completely change your book or cut out characters. If your editor or publisher is trying to make YOUR book into THEIR book, ditch em. Unless you're desperate for money--in any other circumstance, ditch them

Title can certainly impact a book! If your publisher doesn't like your title, they'll have you submit new ones, and then their team will choose. Your agent will guide you through it.

Alexa Donne Good to know, cause mine doesn't have a name and I still refer it by the main character's name.

I've shared and published stories on Wattpad so I might be biased or something, but I think it's a good idea! It can give you valuable feedback but it comes with limits. Most books that are posted onto Wattpad aren't really fit for publishing and being put in book stores, but Wattpad does offer deals to publish your books, make movies out of them, etc. So..I'd say go for it!

I'm not a published author but I have had the same "problem" with my fanfiction. My solution? I use OneNote and generally make a notebook per fic (or one for several short stories) and I use the sections and pages to outline and plot, but always include a "brainstorm" section where I'll just dump whatever thoughts came to me for that fic. Sometimes that means while working on the fic itself, other times I just dump thoughts of new/other fic ideas in their respective notebooks so I won't get sidetracked from my current fic or if I'm too busy to work on it. Usually writing the ideas out helps getting them out of my head for the time being and allows to me focus my energies elsewhere.

You really don't have listening comprehension.

Mine didn't. You'll live.

@@Carolina013 What did I misunderstand? Because what I was saying was my mom does not sugarcoat her opinion of what I write, unlike what most peoples' family members are probably doing.

I have a video on finding critique partners, that includes resources. Novel Tea Show also has an episode on it, and a podcast coming out in a few weeks.

Alexa Donne thank you! I was trying to literally watch all your videos but haven’t gotten to that one yet.

I heard that Walter Gibson (the main writer for The Shadow) never did second drafts either, and he was pushing out two novella-length pulps a month. Either they do a lot of mulling over the story before committing to paper, or they're just examples of exceptions to the rule.

@@dr.kineilwicks7002 Maybe they look over while they're writing. My sister does that and she's never done a second draft.

@Salmo Ali That could be it--I do that all the time with my fanfiction and I rarely if ever do a second draft (only when it's been so long since I've written the first that it needs fixing). ...Although considering Walter Gibson definitely did his work on a typewriter, I imagine a lot of White-Out was used. Merry Christmas Eve! :D

That's so cool! :)

All great writers have been rejected. Failure is the most important step in the path to success in anything.

Perhaps change your way of thinking? If you get a rejection it doesn't mean you're "really not" good; it simply means the agent/publisher doesn't feel it fits with the kind of books they sell and/or is not marketable at the moment.

Which is why you don't show all your cards.

Daniel Smith IV Yeah, you show it to other writers to get feedback on your writing style in the first place

If you're thinking of self-publishing, this is actually a good avenue for poetry! It's very difficult to get poetry traditionally published. So it's not a bad idea! You could also submit your favorite poems to literary journals that take submissions. Or, if you just want to share your poems with fellow fans, you could also publish them on a blog. I say don't be afraid! Share your poetry if you want to--I'm sure your teacher is right and they are really good!

Thank you for this. I even work with my close friend in every stage of the book, while giving the later ones to another friend. I've made so bad experiences with beta readers formerly unknwon to me yet, that I doubt their use. So many who just startet the first paragraphs, then came back with "oh, I don't have the time, but would you bother with working trhough my book instead?" or puting comments in just out of envy, after I did edits which they didn't like on their work. If I find the right people, I guess that would be even better then the friends (who are naturally closer to my books, because they are close to my creative process), but it's really hard to find those people, I guess. And: I always give my books to my mother, because she normally don't read the genres I'm writing in. Why do I do this? Because she's more keen to see plot holes and logical mistakes gnere readers may look upon ^^

@@RocketJo86 I hope you treat your friends and family to lunch or dinner for their time. After all, they're doing you the favour when like all the unknown beta readers, they could be focusing elsewhere

@@ziloe Well of course I do ^^ Would never let them do the work for nothing.

Unfortunately I don't have time to take on additional CPs. I have a video on how and where to find CPs that has current links in the description box!

rewrite it with different names and post it in a busy fandom as an AU... ask for betas in your ANs or ask the first reviewer with any semblance to constructive crit to do it? *answer is half joking... sorry, I don't know.

How so? I didn't get that sense at all.