What is the biggest mistake a new writer can make?

Paul_Tromba

Paul_Tromba

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1. Being a perfectionist with everything they write without giving themselves any credit.

2. Thinking that everything they write is perfect and without flaws. Refusing to take any advice or negative feedback to a narcissistic degree.
 
KuruKinaar

KuruKinaar

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Getting caught up in editing while writing the first draft.

I often speak with new writers and they ask for feedback while in the middle of writing their first story, which is a mistake. First time writers need to write out their story how the envision it first. If they get caught up in taking feedback while the story is still being drafted and constructed, it ruins the creative flow that inspired them and causes them to lose interest or think that their writing sucks, and eventually abandon their project.

Write your dream and be happy with how you first envision it, then ask for feedback when your idea is done being drafted out to polish and refine it. Can't polish and refine something that isn't created in the first place.
 
Kalliel

Kalliel

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Blackout said:
Little to no planning the plots and/or the general direction of your series. That was the mistake I made when I first started.
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That's literally me. And my story is still doing well, I think.
 
Jemini

Jemini

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Paul_Tromba said:
1. Being a perfectionist with everything they write without giving themselves any credit.

2. Thinking that everything they write is perfect and without flaws. Refusing to take any advice or negative feedback to a narcissistic degree.
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Oh God! I've been the former and I've seen the latter. In the latter case, it was hilarious just how outrageously bad that writer was. The REALLY funny thing was that this atrocious writer's friend later took over and re-wrote the story, correcting everything that was complained about, having actually taken the reader feed-back. The story was better in terms of conventions and form, but all those corrections managed to do was to reveal just how bad the overall plot of the story was. It always had a bad plot, but the other glaring issues had distracted from that. Suddenly having it be well written in everything except plot just left it feeling very weird.

The funny thing about my own experience being the former is that I don't worry about my writing so much now, and somehow it's so much better than when I'd been obsessing over every little error and detail and doing everything I can to correct everything. And that's not just a swelled head talking, I look back at some of my older writing from those days and compare it to today and it's just a huge world of difference.

I have seen writers phenomenally better than myself, but I know for a fact I right now am phenomenally better than my old self.

(Now the question is whether or not my easing off on my own mistakes is just a consequence of me having gotten good enough to be able to afford the breathing room.)
 
RepresentingEnvy

RepresentingEnvy

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Jemini said:
Oh God! I've been the former and I've seen the latter. In the latter case, it was hilarious just how outrageously bad that writer was.

The funny thing about my own experience being the former is that I don't worry about my writing so much now, and somehow it's so much better than when I'd been obsessing over every little error and detail and doing everything I can to correct everything. And that's not just a swelled head talking, I look back at some of my older writing from those days and compare it to today and it's just a huge world of difference.

I have seen writers phenomenally better than myself, but I know for a fact I right now am phenomenally better than my old self.

(Now the question is whether or not my easing off on my own mistakes is just a consequence of me having gotten good enough to be able to afford the breathing room.)
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It's good you said about comparison. That is also a mistake new authors can make, comparing themselves to everyone else. You can try to emulate someone else's style when you are starting out, but eventually you will come into your own. When you do it's better to compare your older stuff to your newer stuff. "Comparison is the death of joy."
 
Tsuru

Tsuru

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Santaisblue said:
As the title says, what is the biggest mistake a new writer can make when starting their first story?
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Having hope for humanity
or "thinking the world is a happy-lucky place like in fairy tales/animes" (heavy underlying meanings behind this sentence that encompass^answers)
 
Zinless

Zinless

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KuruKinaar said:
Getting caught up in editing while writing the first draft.

I often speak with new writers and they ask for feedback while in the middle of writing their first story, which is a mistake. First time writers need to write out their story how the envision it first. If they get caught up in taking feedback while the story is still being drafted and constructed, it ruins the creative flow that inspired them and causes them to lose interest or think that their writing sucks, and eventually abandon their project.

Write your dream and be happy with how you first envision it, then ask for feedback when your idea is done being drafted out to polish and refine it. Can't polish and refine something that isn't created in the first place.
Click to expand...
I feel called out...

Thank you for that!
 
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