The Worst Writing Mistakes I Made 

My biggest mistake was writing a 700 page book and making sure to never use the word "said".

A great flashback drives the central story forward. They have a literal impact on the character's actions that impact the narrative momentum. A bad flashback exists to fill in a plot hole or answer back-story questions.

Confessions don't hurt your credibility. They help other authors ease into the mistakes they're bound to make. Thanks for opening up.

I _definitely_ did the italics thing. Though, to be both fair and even more critical, I had absolutely no concept of POV for a long time so I probably didn’t have it all consistently in first person anyways.

I've uploaded my first book yesterday and I was completely frightened. Hearing that you've had the same issues makes me feel better about it. It's so hard to accept that it isn't perfect. 😔

I prepared my self well before writing my first novel. The mistake I made was writing a 300k word count manuscript including 7 POV characters as a debut novel. I had to cut the manuscript in half and reduce the POV characters, it was horrible, and it's taking me forever to finish.

I wished my mistakes had stopped at age 18.

lol this is making me worried my subplot with a dream is too melodramatic

The biggest mistake I did in my first draft (that wasn't a novel at all, although I thought it was), was too many pointless dialogue. I small-talked the whole thing. It was horrible.

OK, first off, I'm now highly embarrassed to admit that I actually use italics for direct thoughts (in third person) A LOT, and I didn't even realise this was incorrect. So, if I'm understanding correctly, does that mean we should just leave the thoughts as plain, unitalicised text? I'm also guilty of the dream thing lol

Hmm... Avoiding thoughts in italics is a new one. I liked it because you can drive home a plot point by briefly getting inside the character's head. Plus you could be a bit more colorful with language than standard third-person. But I get how it can act as a interruption to the flow of the narrative.

dream sequences can be incredible when you repeat them in living circumstances in the acting. or scene. imho

I write science fiction and have self published about 3 books. My books are heavy on future technology. I did not spend enough time with filler. I have several others I am working on and will try to remedy the situation. I call the books the 'Wizards of Mars' series.

This is great! Two videos in, great advise - great vibe. Bong! You've got yourself another subscriber. Kudos! Shabba

Great advices! I was guilty of a lot of these mistakes when I was younger^^ Btw I think for the visuals, when you describe something "negative" as in this video, in order to draw a mental distinction between these and the "positive" ones. I think it would be easier on viewers' minds in order for them to remember the informations, to put the square containing the data in red rather than blue and on the other side of the screen, that would give a sort of an intervideo relevance to your channel and people could remember them better as it gives a process through which the information is already treated as in a category before even being further explained and understood as they are somewhat extremely relevant.

I'm new to this writing thing, and I want to tell you that your videos are helping me so much. Thank you for sharing those with the world.

"It was Exhausting " 6:48, you're so Taylor. This is my favorite video so far - wicked entertaining. You should talk about you more often. I was traveling in LA one winter with my employer, I was ~18YO. He woke me up ~3A and said "I don't need you any more" and put a $100 bill on the night stand. He quipped "the motel is paid through the week" and left for LAX. I woke up the next day and surmised "I had a dream that I got fired" and found a $100 bill on the nightstand...

Great points Shaelin, especially the bit about dreams. Tbh every time I come to a dream sequence in a novel, I usually skip over it lol

Thank you for this. Insightful, concise, and helpful. Brava.

Thats a great thing to share. Thankyou. Ive had to be really tough on removing thought bubble observations by a character constrained by its circumstances. Im currently trying to use surrealism (so similar to dreams!) to recontextualise the relashionships between characters and their surrounds and hope it will work as theyre so interesting to write!

Thank you for telling us your mistakes. It's nice to know you are not alone

Dreams in real life are important. If you work with a councelor discussing what a remembered dream means to the client. In fiction dreams can be a devise for a charecter to get in touch with something from their unconscious.

Dont be too hard on yourself about your writing mistakes! First novel at 13 y/o is something I consider to be a child prodigy. But thank you for your clear minded description of your mistakes because they sure helped me!

If you ever make a video about your biggest mistakes in general, cutting your hair shorter than this has to be a contender for #1. 👍🏼

great video!👍

I am glad you mentioned the show Lost, I stoped watching it out of frustration, and I thought that was an indicment of my patience.

This always grinds my gears when I hear that Lost left so many unanswered questions. Name one. Most or all of the mysteries were at least partially resolved, even if only in a vaguely mythological way; others answered halfway with your imagination and common sense logic filling in the blanks. The only ones that didn’t have any answer, left completely to your creative inference, don’t matter, like why the numbers or why Walt special. These were trivial things to the overall mystery of the Island, which by virtue of being a modern myth, leaves spiritual matters beyond human comprehension. I think people were pissed the ending was spiritual at all, or they simply weren’t paying attention like GRRM saying “they were dead the whole time” and showing his complete lack of understanding. Sorry for the rant, “the Lost effect” gimme a break!

I really enjoyed your tip about solving the mysteries you have created. I'm working on my first novel and the more tips I hear from writers the better situation I think I'm in. I don't want to sound cocky, but I think I have avoided almost all the mistakes you listed. That one about mysteries was definitely one I needed to hear. My first novel being the first part of a five to seven book series. I have opened up lots of mystery threads that will take years within the story to solve. Lots of them are good, but in order to keep the reader interested there needs to be solvable mysteries between those large, slowly developing threads. Thanks a bunch! Also even if I feel like I'm not falling prey to the other mistakes, I definitely took a lot from your video.

I barely found this video and oh so glad I watched it! Do you have any videos or links to information that can help find what your story really is? Much appreciation, I love your channel!

TBH cliffhanger in comics is something i hate but it keeps me going.

5:58 *Inception walks in*

Good information. My biggest mistake as a writer was the italics, which I use now, but less.

My reliance on filter words was the single biggest immersion destroyer for my writing. Once I learned what to look out for-using a list at first, then internalizing the concept-my writing changed completely.

Her: Dont use dreams Rick Riordan: ...

I also did way too much emotion in my middle drafts of my novel. I was trying to reach the 'ideal' word count expected by publishers and thought I should describe every detail and emotion of characters. A few months ago I saw it was melodrama, and most of it is gone now. I cut like 10,000 words of just emotional introspection that wasn't advancing the plot. It helped my books pace sooo much, and made the struggles seem more genuine, less forced. Great tip

Haha your thoughts were very organized as a teenager!

The dream sequences in American Gods still stick with me years later (especially the "trunk" one, which was cleverly deceptive). I think it depends on the story (yes, even abusing italics). Most of these tips are probably rooted in trying to mimic tricky storytelling elements that, when done sparingly by someone with experience, can actually enhance a story. It's a lot like making a bunch of cringey anime art as a kid, then getting to university and getting told not to do that. So that kid goes back to basics and sets a solid foundation in figure drawing and portraiture, but they learn along the way that hyper-realism isn't the highest form of art; instead, art is about conveying an image or idea with consistency, which implies that everything that they present to the audience is on purpose. Then, as an adult, that person can return to the stuff that they wanted to mimic as a kid and deconstruct those things. You seem to understand partially what led to these decisions when you made them in the past (italics were an attempt at clarity, melodrama was an attempt at describing emotional impact etc), but without offering a solid alternative for each one, it just sounds like you're being really rough on yourself for the sin of.... having been a teenager once? I firmly believe that there is a lot of value in the passions and opinions of young people. It's something precious, and you often don't realize how precious it is until you're in your thirties and you can't remember what it was to be fearlessly, embarrassingly passionate about anything. Then suddenly you're 40 and you're using italics like an unrestrained hedonist. Value what younger-you wrote. They worked hard on it, and you should be proud. Try to see the value in the decisions that they made and guide those dreams along with the skills that you've acquired. It's good to keep a nice relationship with your inner child - you might be going back to them for inspiration some day, you know?

When I was younger, I wanted to have a character travel to a prison to talk to an inmate that lost his memory. It took him 2 chapters to reach that inmate. The first chapter consisted mainly of describing the forest he rode through, the second chapter consisted mainly of describing the prison hallways. When I found out I could've just as well start the story in the hearing room I got salty and skipped straight to an action scene later in the book that I didn't understand the point of.

I am a new writer, and I'm doing the italics for thoughts thing, and I'm older than 18

I'm 1/3rd through my detailed outline of my first book, and I realized relatively early on I had a dream sequence for the same reason you had them. To fill in a gap, and to melodramatically show something symbolic. I think I'll cut it out, actually. I know drean sequence doesn't automatically mean bad, but I think this one is. As for your other mistakes you mentioned, I think I'm pretty good with them.

I was pretty melodramatic and said 'softly' and 'just' waaaaaaaay too much lol. I told instead of showed. But now things are a lot better! I've learned a lot, and the Lord has been so faithful, helping me grow! Thanks for the honest vid! I enjoyed it. :)

The only dreams I use are nightmares.. but only if they tell a bit of a broken past or something a character is struggling with

1:06 is such a smooth cut, sound wise.

First off (and I'm irked I'm not seeing this in other comments) thank you for such a brave, painful, and difficult-to-make video. Second, I'm not a beginning writer, I'm a long time uncommitted writer. I think my biggest struggle is including too much detail that doesn't work for me. I struggle to find striking images and detail.

List of flaws with me: My writings were (and may still be) mostly skeletal, sometimes devoid of atmosphere of emotion. I noticed halfway through my novel, and had to go back and add extra stuff, but then it became over encumbered with descriptions, and plot became blend, which again I had to actively correct. My characters sometimes feels cold and emotionless, or just copies of each other, lacking real motivation or personality. The world I built can become too involved sometimes, but other times too absent. Sometimes I forget my own continuity and world building quarks. It seems with enough edits, things eventually turn out ok.

Still a newbie writer here, but when I wrote my first novel, my biggest issue was way too many POVs and chapters that didn't move the narrative forward. In hindsight, it was valuable writing I did get learn my characters and world better, but I've lost track of how many words/chapters I've written and cut from this book. I think that's one sign that I'm getting close to finished...

I did too many rapid scene transitions to boost excitement, but readers were just aggravated .

That’s the exact reason I stop watching Lost when it came out. All build up but after the first few episodes there was little to no pay off.

Dude, thoughts can be italics. Brandon Sanderson literally teaches that in his YALE lectures. If its past tense and thoughts are present tense then it makes sense.

Early 4-5 grader me had the problem of switching between 1st and 3rd person way too quickly and not using proper punctuation. Another big problem was deciding to do a group project with my stories starting and not thinking of what else other than the few blips I came up with and so I will forever have pages and pages of unfinished stories with potential I didn't write down an over all idea for. I also have the problem of solving the problem too quickly and making perfect characters.

Funny, JJ Abrams was involved in Lost, he directed TFA and look at the unresolved mysteries in TROS.

Ah I disagree with the dream point dreams are essential if done right and if someone tells you about a dream they had listen it's not randomness they are projections from the subconscious

My biggest mistake was using cliché plots eg: poverty, death, heartbreak, betrayal, sickness etc etc

I think flash backs are okay as long as it proves a point. In my short story "16 Sense", my character Desirea does a lot of day dreaming about her childhood. One reason for that is her parents divorced and her mother had memories as well.

So, Im writing a Harry Potter fic and I'm starting the book in year five. But I want to put some (enough I'd say) flashbacks, especially in the beginning, so as to give a past for the main characters. But Im hoping to go with just storyline once I'm done with year five going to year six. I just hope it's not to much

As a writer of stories, songs and being a musician what PISSES me off. Is the fact that publishers, whether book or songs. Have you jump through so many hoops and tangle you up with it has to be this way. And to it seems like you're only writing for other writers. Writing should flow. How I write is what most publishers hate. Just not knowing what comes next. If you are being told all the time that you can't do this or that. Too many guidelines. To me it beats the life out of your artistic creations. And has caused a lot of amazing song and story tellers to give up on it.

question would it be a good idea to use one dream every few novels. i am writing a book and the first quarter of it is based on a dream

I’m trying to learn how to write a flashback. Do you have a resource for that?

I'm still guilty of italicizing _some_ first-person thought. To me, it's the difference between narrating to the reader, and talking to yourself. When you talk to yourself, doesn't the "font" seem different than when you are just thinking?

I actually wrote a book with short chapter in 2019 and I was about 11 and I read it just now and I can see the mistakes I made. :)

Very interesting

Your mistakes are nothing, compare to mine. Like I had so much that I even can't count them.

My characters have issues from their past. Do you have any advice how to not do too many flashbacks or space them out? Just cause it's part of showing why they're messed up in the present. I have the flashback issue and I don't really know how else to do it. When it's about showing how people are affected by the suicide of a loved one. And how they each knew him.

Everybody tells me to use italics. Now what? Ugh... All my "mistakes" are visual and technical stuff. I read with my ears. "Dreams don't have stakes" Me: writes a story revolving around lucid dream and astral projection. If something goes wrong, they can die in their sleep. So...yeah, stakes.

Oh God. I do #1 when I'm not writing actual novels. (When I'm writing bored fanfictions) And I feel personally attacked 😂😂 I do most of these and also #6 and that's why my wattpad readers hate me. I also do #7

I still write thoughts in italics. 🤣🤣🤣 whoops. I’ll quit doing that now.

Dream-flashbacks: kill 2 birds with one stone

So, are you saying that in third person, past tense, you shouldn't put a character's thoughts in metallic?

Some of the characters have dreams in "Inception".

I have only just started writing my first book yesterday. I know I am using one of my dreams as inspiration, but I'm writing my story around it. My character won't be having the dream herself.

My biggest mistake in writing a novel is making like a screenplay. I write my novel in 3rd person POV, and every chapter, commonly has a lot of scenes. It jumps from one scene to another. Although I learned to do it fluidly, still, some people say it kinda ruins the mood. Can I do something about this? I think I did that because I don't want my story to be super duper long so I compress many scenes in a chapter.

OMG, did you know there are way too many dreams in the Twilight series? It's so funny because in real life once in a while you'll have a really revealing and symbolic dream and the rest is random weirdness. In Twilight, Bella would dream super symbolic dreams, a different every night, and it was so fake and forced it made me sick... as if it's not enough we're in her head all the time. :D

How many books have you officially published

Wow I’m proud to say I made almost none of these, except for this one story I’d make the main character constantly have the same dream

My biggest mistake, a long time ago, was using the writing of Hunter S. Thompson as a model for my writing, and to view Hunter S. Thompson as a role model for my life. All the stuff I wrote then is in the city dump now, and Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide rather than exist in the doldrums of old age. He also inspired a whole generation of kids to be drug crazed maniacs.

My biggest mistake 1) Thinking a long book makes a good book. My first self-publish novel was over 500 pages long with 7 POVs and more than 10 Main Characters. I soon discovered that 2 and even 1POV was more than enough to tell the story I was willing to tell. Honestly I don't suffer much from writing dream sequences or flashbacks, but I can see how those can be infections.

I know you hate the dreams thing, but in reality, not all dreams are just random. The whole thing about dreaming is it's your subconscious mind "defragmenting" itself and sorting out experiences and thoughts. Sometimes dreams really _are_ symbolic, or they may even seem prophetic in that they are providing foresight. So those are the kind of dreams that might have a reason to be in a book. Not the nonsensical ones, of course.

Cliffhangers are good with serialized writing, but not chapters in a novel.

I love my random hallucinations that happen when I'm awake

I think it's very okay to be melodramatic when you're a teen writing writing for a teen audience. So dont be ashamed of that, I think it's okay. I think teenage girl reader dig melodramatic thoughts.

But if this like fantasy genre story has a dream that actually really is important to the plot and becomes true, then wouldn't that be a good tactic?

Nothing wrong with thoughts in italics. The game of thrones books use that and I love those books couldn’t put em down. I loved the italicized thoughts too. 😕

I wrote a novel over the course of a couple of years and then rushed through the editing because I just wanted to be done. It was a mess 😅

6:07 but i care abt ppl's dreams 😞

😍

I am currently trying to write a book. I write many short storys just to practice and use them sometimes for school😈. My book is all about aliens and I cannot really see any mistakes. I watched dosents of videos about writeing mistakes and I had none of them. I don't think though that I have none. 🤔🤔🤔

Whats wrong with putting thoughts in italics if you're writing in third person

Tense shifting (she says as she still struggles with tense shifting)

I am a new writer I really enjoy writing but every single time I try and write I always seem to try and force myself and put myself down about my writing cause I usually think it can be better even though I am less than 13 years old.

Who has decided that Italicizing thoughts is wrong? Some college professor? The International Committee on how you are or aren't supposed to write a book? There are many good and successful authors who do it all the time. G.R.R.Martin for one, who is definitely not an amateur and knows what he's doing. I agree it can be jarring if overdone or not done right, but it's really up to the author's taste whether to make use of this device or not. If you use it relatively sparingly and only for direct thoughts, while writing most of the 'regular' thinking into the narrative, I think it can be a very useful tool that can really enhance the reading experience. I agree with the other stuff in this video.

You were writting books at 13? I'm 26 and I'm writting my first book. And I know it will take a few years to end it. If I had written a book at 13 (wich I would definitelly not even end it) i woukd have been so horrible. You are a better writter because of all of this. I have zero experience.

Cliffhangers are just clever HAHAHAHA

I always make that mistake:(

Any video on grammar~? Or just more general stuff

I'm lucky because I learned from my mistakes, but, then lost every writing piece I did from five years ago back. So I don't have to go through the cringtastic crap I wrote in high school. My biggest problem is I have no attention span to actually read someone elses work. I'll probably start the "using an audio book with a print book to get through it" plan (if someone reads to me without the book in front of me to follow along, my brain shuts off). Trust me. It takes me a while to get a manuscript done with me, especially because it noisy from dawn until dusk at my house. I can't wait to move out.

Am I the only one that started learning and practicing writing since I was nine years old?

Learn from the, 'past lives of the famous & infamous'.⏰ People make, mistakes. Mistakes cost, money. 💰

So .... I'm over 50 and trying to write my first novel ... and I'm making tons of mistakes! 🙄 I feel like apologising over and over to my poor beta readers for putting up with my sh_t first chapters. Now at least I'm at the stage where the beta readers are asking me for the next chapters, so things aren't as horrible as they were when I started 3 years ago. 😅 Just to go over a couple of mistakes: My original chapter 1 opened with a flashback/ nightmare. I got rid of that, and now the protagonist just wakes up and begins what they hope to be their normal day, until the inciting incident hits them. And I've cut most of the exposition from chapter 1, because it isn't needed. The whole reading experience of chapter 1 is so much better after those 2 changes!

A big mistake is to waste time working on a novel thinking there aren't already millions of them. With information overload people want to reduce noise. Good writing isn't even about an interesting plot anymore, people want fiction that is reflective or somehow conducive to real life. Non-fiction can spar with fiction when done right, so what's really lacking is originality, independent thinking, stuff that comes with life experience more so than just the practice of writing.

I feel called out....