This post is all about the five mistakes I made as a new writer so you can learn from them and make your own writing journey a little easier.
Being a new writer can feel overwhelming. You want to write a book, but you’re not quite sure where to start or what you should be doing first.
There’s a lot to learn when you’re a new writer, and you will learn many of those lessons as you write. But there are also a few things that can make your writing journey much smoother if you know them before you start writing.
If you can avoid these five mistakes before writing your first book, your writing journey can be a lot smoother and a lot more fun. I made all five as a new writer, and in this post I’ll share what they are, what I learned from them, and how these lessons can make writing your first book a little easier.
Here are five mistakes I made as a new writer and how you can avoid them. If you prefer the video version, check out the YouTube video below for the five new writer mistakes I recommend avoiding.
Mistake #1: I Started Writing Before Learning the Basics
When I started writing, there was a story I really wanted to tell, and I was so excited about it that I just started writing. I didn’t stop to think that maybe it would be a good idea to learn a little from established writers and people who actually knew what they were doing. I just went straight into writing.
That meant I was mostly relying on what I instinctively knew about storytelling from the novels I had read and the movies I had watched. I hadn’t read any books about story structure, character arcs, or the craft of writing, with the exception of Stephen King’s On Writing.
It was only after I had already started writing my novel that I began buying books about the craft and learning as I went. And while that definitely helped, it would have been even more useful if I had read some of those books before I started writing.
Two books that were especially helpful for me as a new writer were Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody and Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland. Those are probably the minimum I would personally recommend reading before starting your first novel.
Learning some of these fundamentals can save you a lot of pain later during the revision stage. Revision becomes much more complicated when you’re not clear on the main plot points, when you don’t know your characters well enough, or when you’re not sure how they would react in certain situations. Understanding your characters’ wants, needs, and arcs can also make it much easier to figure out how the story should move forward.
So I highly recommend learning at least a little about the craft of writing before you start your first novel. But there’s another side to this: don’t postpone writing indefinitely because you feel like you still don’t know enough. You don’t need to read 50 writing books before you’re allowed to begin. At some point, you actually have to start writing.
So my biggest lesson here was that knowing the fundamentals would have saved me a lot of time and made revision much easier. But don’t wait until you become an expert. Learn the basics, start writing, and then keep learning as you go.
Mistake #2: I Started Without Really Knowing My Characters
Since I hadn’t planned any character arcs before I started writing, I began the novel with one character in mind as the main character. But soon enough, I realized that while that character was still one of the main characters, the bigger story actually belonged to someone else.
So I started making changes, and luckily, I was still fairly close to the beginning of the story. So luckily, it wouldn’t be that much to fix. Or at least, that’s what I thought…
Later, when I was talking to my developmental editor about the characters, I realized that she was convinced the main character was still the one I had originally started writing about. That made it pretty clear that not having my character arcs and journeys figured out from the beginning had created confusion in the story itself about who the main character actually was.
If I had spent just a little more time thinking about my main characters, creating a clear character arc for each of them, and getting to know them better before I started writing, I think the whole story would have been much more clear from the beginning.
So the lesson here is to start with your characters in mind. Get to know them really well. Think about where they are at the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and what they want versus what they actually need.
Your characters will help drive the entire story. The better you know them, the easier it becomes to figure out what should happen next, how they would react in different situations, and where the plot should go. And ultimately, it will make your story clearer for both you and your readers.
Mistake #3: I Wrote Without Any Real Plan
I had an idea of what I wanted my story to be and a general sense of how I wanted it to progress. But I didn’t know anything about story beats, outlining, or how to actually create a roadmap for a novel before I started writing.
By the end, my story did have a logical progression, mostly based on what I instinctively knew about storytelling from all the books I had read. But the story would have been much stronger from the beginning if I had created an outline or at least decided on the main story beats.
That’s why, when I prepared to write my second novel, I did things differently. I first worked on my characters, and then I used Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to outline the main story beats before I started writing.
And that went much better. It still wasn’t perfect because I was still learning how to write a novel, but having that outline made a huge difference. The first draft of my second novel was definitely an improvement compared to the first draft of my first novel.
Of course, I know outlines don’t work for everyone. If you’re a pantser and you love discovering your story as you write, I admire your ability to do that! But if your brain needs structure, like mine does, I highly recommend figuring out at least your main story beats before you start writing.
So that was my lesson here: sometimes it’s better to spend a little more time creating a roadmap before you start writing than to reach the middle of your novel and realize you need to completely change direction. That would involve a lot more rewriting and a lot of time spent trying to fix things.
I believe this is especially true if you’re a new writer because, when you’re just starting out, you’re still learning how story structure and flow work. Having an outline can make the whole writing process feel much more manageable and help you keep your ideas organized as you write.
Mistake #4: I Tried to Edit Every Paragraph While Writing
Another thing I didn’t know about writing, and really wish I had known before I started, was that you don’t need to edit while you write.
At the time, I thought you were supposed to edit the text as you write it. I didn’t even consider that, before worrying about the wording, I might eventually need to make developmental changes that could completely change or even remove that paragraph.
Then, as I started reading more about writing and watching videos from lots of AuthorTubers, I kept hearing about writing sprints and the idea that you don’t need to edit while you’re drafting. Instead, you can simply focus on writing for 20 or 25 minutes at a time, and writing goes so much faster because you no longer stop to edit each sentence. So I tried it for myself, and I saw firsthand how effective writing sprints can be.
RELATED POST: The Pomodoro Technique for Writers: Write More in Less Time
So my lesson here is very simple: write first and edit later. But of course, ideally have some kind of outline before you write. You can use writing sprints to help you stay focused during your writing sessions and get your first draft written fast. Once you have your first draft, you can start to revise and edit it.
Mistake #5: I Thought Finishing the First Draft Meant the Hard Part Was Over
When you think about writing an 80,000-word novel, you know that’s going to be a lot of work. And it is! It took me a long time to write mine, especially since I was writing while working a full-time job. And it was my first novel, so it wasn’t easy.
But it was also so much fun. I loved writing it and spending time in the world of my novel. It gave my creativity a place to come alive, and writing also became a relaxing activity that helped me take my mind off the stress of my job.
Still, writing a full-length novel is not easy. It was a lot of hard work, but eventually, I did it. I finished my first novel. And when I was done, I remember thinking, “Wow, I actually finished writing a novel! But at least the hard part is done…”
I was sooo wrong.
Writing is the easy part. It’s the fun and exciting stage where you get to bring your imagination to life, make friends with your characters, and live in your story world for a while.
But then comes the editing. Oh boy, the editing…
Now that’s the hard part. You have to go back through everything you’ve written with a critical eye. You actually have to be critical of your own creation. That’s your baby, and now you have to find and point out its flaws. You have to face your mistakes, have the courage to accept them, and be willing to change them.
And then you have to create a revision plan and revise your manuscript again and again until you finally reach a point where you wouldn’t be embarrassed to share it with a reader. So, in my opinion, that’s the hardest part. But I know this is very subjective, and other writers might actually love the revision stage.
So my lesson here is this: instead of being critical of yourself because your first draft is messy or needs a lot of work, be happy and proud that you wrote a whole book. That is already a huge accomplishment.
At least now you have something to improve on. And yes, revision can be a lot of work, but all that work is helping you turn your messy first draft into a book you can eventually feel proud to publish.
This post was all about the five mistakes you could make as a new writer and how to avoid them. If you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy this post:
The Life Lessons I Learned When I Left My Job in Academia to Pursue a Creative Life
Now it’s your turn. What mistakes have you made as a new writer, and how have you handled them? Let me know in the comments.
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