By Anne R. Allen
We all make mistakes. It’s how we learn. But some mistakes have the potential to end a writing career before it starts. Today I’m talking about the things a lot of writers do that can keep them from having a career—or derail it for a long time. How do I know about them? I did a lot of this stuff myself.
1) Writing in a Vacuum
It seems at least half the people I meet are “working on a book.” A lot of them have been working on that same book for years—even decades.
But they never show it to anybody.
These are the people who also never read writing guides or blogs or magazine articles that might improve their writing skills or educate them about the publishing business. This is especially true of nonfiction writers, for some reason. They think a memoir or how-to book is somehow easier to write than a novel.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Nonfiction needs to be even more carefully structured than fiction—especially memoir. A simple chronology almost never makes for compelling reading. (For more on writing memoir, see my post on How to Write a Publishable Memoir.)
Many new writers don’t even Google their subject to find out how many similar books are out there.
Even though nobody in your immediate circle may know what it’s like to be married to a narcissist or care for a parent with dementia doesn’t mean the books aren’t there. (Amazon lists over fifty pages of books on narcissism and at least that many on Alzheimer’s disease.)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t write on these subjects—they are popular and most people need more education about them—but if you intend to publish, you need to know what’s available so you can approach your subject in a fresh way.
Writing can be valuable for therapy, and I’m not discouraging anybody from using writing to deal with personal trauma or tragedy. But if you do hope to publish that work at some point, you’ll need to pay attention to the business you’re trying to enter.
Then there are the writers who pile up files of half-finished stories and essays for years and never polish them or send them to potential publishers.
I know why they do it. I was a “closeted writer” in my early writing years.
If you don’t show your work to anybody, and don’t compare it to anything in the marketplace, you can hang onto the fantasy that your work is brilliant and unique.
You can revel in your fantasy that you’re a fabulous self-taught genius who has so much talent you don’t need to take a class or learn anything about writing craft.
Hey, you went to college. You’ve always got your nose in a book. Of course you know how to write.
As long as nobody reads your work, you can believe your genius will propel that WIP from your computer’s hard drive to the top of the bestseller lists in no time once you make the decision to share it.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t know how.
Actually, this attitude may be a good one when you’re taking those first baby steps into writing. You can pound out that first draft in blissful ignorance and learn the rules later. Nothing wrong with that, and if you have a tendency to self-doubt, it may be the best way to begin to write.
But if you hope to publish someday, spending years in a writer-closet will not work in your favor. You’re setting yourself up for nasty disappointment and/or some serious scamming.
Scammers thrive on your delusions. Make sure you get a reality check before you step out into the marketplace. And check out Ruth Harris’s post on learning from the University of Hard Knocks.
2) Not Reading Bestsellers
It’s amazing how many people who want to be writers do not read. Try to talk to them about books that have sold in the past 5 years and they go blank, or get huffy and say, “I only read the classics.” (Which they probably haven’t opened since college.) I hear so many new writers say they don’t read bestsellers because:
A) “They’re all crap.”
Which is usually followed by statements like:
“I’ve read Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Faulkner, Fitzgerald…and every word Vonnegut ever wrote. You seriously expect me to learn from reading books by Snooki and that Duck Dynasty guy?”
The problem with that argument is that you can’t enter the marketplace if you don’t know what buyers are looking for. As brilliant as the novels of Virginia Woolf are, they’re not bestsellers right now. And even if you are the reincarnation of William Faulkner, you’re probably not going to attract a lot of 21st century readers writing lush, Southern Gothic prose . You need to learn how to write for the people buying books right now.
No, you don’t have to read Snooki Does Duck Dynasty.
But if you’re a romance writer, you need to read Nora Roberts, and if you’re a horror writer, you’d better have some Stephen King in your library. And if you write epic fantasy without any knowledge of George R. R. Martin—you’re going to be reinventing the wheel.
I just read a great piece of advice from an agent who said you should read the debut novels of top-selling authors in your genre. Don’t only read the stuff superstars are putting out now they’re famous. See what popular writers first created that allowed them to break into the business. Studying those will help you break in, too.
B) “I’ll be influenced by them.”
Oh, I know that one: “I don’t want to lose my voice. I might start writing just like Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Margaret Atwood, or George R. R. Martin.
I used to say that stuff too. Until I realized I should be so lucky. A few echoes of the greats in my work would not be a problem.
The great painters all started by copying the classic works that came before them. Picasso copied El Greco and Goya, and you see lots of references to their work in his. As he said, “Good artists copy. Great artists’s steal. ”
3) Cart-Before-Horse Thinking
Too many writers are being taught to think about publishing and marketing before they’re given time to master the craft.
This isn’t entirely new. Even though there was no social media when I was starting out, I had tons of anxiety about being sent on a book tour, and I’m ashamed to say I obsessed about this stuff before I’d even finished my first novel.
But now, because of the indie publishing revolution, many more writers are obsessing about book-selling instead of book-writing long before they have to.
I heard from a writer recently who had already paid a vanity press a huge amount of money to publish his book, but he’d never had the manuscript read by anybody. He wanted to know where he could find beta readers. Ack! He had the process completely backwards.
Learn to write before you try to find a publisher! You need to have a manuscript (or two) polished, critiqued, edited and polished again before you even think about publishing.
I met another writer who was obsessed with marketing. He told me he had a website, X number of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram and Tumblr. He asked me…did I think he had a big enough platform to start writing his first story?
Poor guy. He had never written ONE WORD of fiction, but he’d spent a year building a platform to sell it.
This is like putting all your money into renting a store before you have any idea what you want to sell, and no money left to buy the inventory.
If you aren’t compelled to write stories every day of your life, fiction is probably not your passion.
If you like blogging, then by all means blog. But don’t use it for selling non-existent fiction.
There’s nothing magic about writing fiction. Most professionals will tell you it’s a lousy way to make money. Some people feel compelled to write it, and some people don’t. This guy didn’t.
He might make a great social media marketer, though. And it’s generally a much more lucrative profession.
On the other hand, if you’re tearing away on your WIP and you don’t want to stop to mess with social media, don’t.
Keep writing.
You don’t need to worry about marketing or finding a publisher until you’ve got at least a couple of polished, critiqued books in the hopper, some short work published in journals or anthologies, and you’re ready to start a writing business, either indie or traditional.
4) Expecting to Make Money with a Single Title
This is embarrassing, but I have to admit that after I signed with an agent with my first novel, I quit my day job and expected to be paying bills with an advance by the end of the year.
You guessed it: Did. Not. Happen.
The agent shopped it around, failed to sell it and dropped me. When I got the bad news, I hadn’t even finished a first draft of a second novel.
I was so devastated, I got another bookstore job and didn’t write another word for several years.
It’s easy to get discouraged when you’ve been slogging away on a book for a year and then realize revising it may take another six months. You’ll probably start querying the rough draft and get nothing but rejections.
“But I’ve been at this for so long and I don’t have a penny to show for it,” you say.
Here’s the thing: it turns out a year is nothing. Try ten. At least put in your 10,000 Malcolm Gladwell hours. Very few authors have ever made money on a first book. When you hear about authors having huge successes with a “first novel,” keep in mind it’s their first published novel, and they’ve probably got many years’ worth of practice novels in their files.
Write because you love it—because you can’t help yourself—not because you’re counting on becoming the next J.K. Rowling within the year.
If you need money right away, try something else. Like picking up cans for recycling. Seriously. You’ll make more money than you will with the average first novel. Until you have at least five titles, you’re not likely to make substantial money, whether you’re traditionally published or indie. Yes, it’s been done, but those authors are the exception to the rule. Many of the big-earner indies like Russell Blake and H.M. Ward have fifty or sixty books out there.
We have a guest coming up next week, Jackie Diamond, who has written a hundred and one novels. Yes, I’m in awe.
5) Writing Novels Exclusively
This was me, too. Once I decided I wanted to have a writing career, I dove right into writing novels. I left short stories and poetry behind. People told me they were for amateurs. (And in those days, nobody wrote novellas because they were considered “unpublishable.”)
That’s because in the early 90s, most magazines had stopped publishing fiction. The only way to publish was to spend a lot of time researching the small, low-circulation literary magazines. Which of course could only afford to pay in copies.
The only way to find these magazines was to buy a pricey copy of Writer’s Market along with the Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. The bottom line didn’t look good to me. I figured: why should I spend more to buy the directories than I’d ever make getting short stories published?
Later I did subscribe to them and started placing a few stories, but by then I had already published my first novel.
I was short-sighted. If I’d had more publishing credits and contest wins, I would have found a publisher for my longer fiction faster.
I’d also now be sitting on a goldmine, since short stories, novelettes and novellas are hot commodities See more about the value of short fiction in my article for Writer’s Digest. And here’s a post on how to structure a novella by by Paul Alan Fahey. Paul also has a new book out on writing and marketing short stories and novellas, The Short and the Long of It.
And note that I include short story, poetry and creative essay publishing opportunities and contests at the end of this blog
6) Begging Writing Advice from Family and Friends
Not all writers are in the closet. Some are the opposite of shy. They want everybody to read their work, no matter how rough or unedited it is.
Also, when some of us come out of our writing closets, we can do a complete 180 degree turn and implore everybody we meet to read our stuff.
That’s what I did when I started my writing career. (And if any of my first readers see this post, I apologize. I know I was probably obnoxious and needy about it.)
But you’ll often find loved ones are reluctant to be your first readers. (If they offer a read, be grateful, but realize the results may not be what you hope.) And if they say no, accept it. They’re not being unkind.
They’re probably afraid they won’t know what to say. That’s because they don’t, unless they’re in the writing business themselves.
And this is a good thing. They could end up swelling your head with over-the-top praise for your splendiferous adjectives, spritely adverbs, and uniquely creative dialogue tags.
On the other hand, they might criticize an excellent beginning effort and squelch your fledgling muse from a fear of not being “honest.” Or they may be so envious that you’re actually writing and they only dream about it that they’ll say something hurtful. (This is more common than you might imagine. Almost everybody thinks they “have a novel in them”.)
This is why I recommend that all new writers get feedback from knowledgeable people. Take some classes, join a critique group or find beta readers to exchange reads of new work. For more on how to get feedback, see Jami Gold’s post on how to find beta readers.
7) Writing to Please Everybody
Although the right group or connection can provide you with the support and informed advice your loved ones can’t give for your writing career, don’t try to please all of them. For one thing, they’ll probably have wildly conflicting opinions. In the end, it’s your book, so don’t change anything only to please somebody else. There is no one right way to write a book.
I do recommend critique groups for new writers, but remember to take their advice with many grains of salt. I wrote about why to ignore most of the advice from your critique group here on the blog a few years ago. I also wrote a post on why you need to be wary of the Writing Rules Police.
Never take advice unless it resonates with you. If you get feedback and think, “I knew there was something wrong in that scene, but I never knew what it was”—then you’ve got a helpful critique. If you feel like you’ve been sucker-punched and devalued, run. Not all groups are created equal.
Whether you meet in person or online, good writing groups can provide information and support. They can give sympathy through the rough patches and help celebrate your successes. They also provide a network that might be all-important to your career.
A group I highly recommend is Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group. Alex is going to be guesting on the blog on June 12th .
Kristen Lamb’s “WANA tribe” (We Are Not Alone) is also a safe online community where writers can find mutual support.
CritiqueCircle.com offers many different groups in a variety of genres, with the extra benefit of critiques. There are also great writers groups on Facebook and Google Plus and in forums all over the Web.
National organizations with local chapters like RWA, SCBWI, and Sisters in Crime can also provide up-to-date industry information as well as support. Some also offer online and in-person critique groups.
But remember these groups do not have all the answers, and amateur writing groups can often result in the blind leading the blind.
If you’re participating in a critique group, it’s wise to invest in a couple of good writing books or a vetted, solid writing course as well.
8) Partying Like it’s 1999
With all apologies to the late, great Purple One, authors who pretend the last 16 years never happened are unlikely to have successful writing careers.
Most of the people I know in real life are aware I literally wrote the book on HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE, but I’m amazed at how many of them won’t take a look, even if I offer a copy of the book as a loan.
“Oh, I know all that stuff,” they’ll say.
Then they’ll come to me and say “I just paid a couple thousand bucks to get my book printed. I’ve got six cartons in my garage. How do I get them on Amazon?”
Sigh.
If you don’t read blogs, don’t participate in social media and pretend the Internet doesn’t exist, you’re not going to make it as a writer in the 21st century.
As Emma Stone said to Michael Keaton in Birdman: “You mock bloggers, mock Twitter, and you don’t even have a Facebook page. You don’t exist, Dad!”
I’m not saying you have to jump on every new tech toy that comes along—I’m a Luddite who still has a flip phone—but if you don’t join the online publishing community, nobody will know about you or your books.
It may be that your military memoir would do much better as a series of blogposts than a book, or that you might find a self-publishing cooperative of romance writers can offer you a better publishing deal than Harlequin. Or your mystery might sell best to a digital-only small press. Don’t shut yourself off from the innovative parts of the industry because you’ve got an outdated fantasy of how publishing works.
Note: I’m writing this advice for people who hope to have a writing career. If you don’t plan to publish and are writing as a hobby for your own personal satisfaction, ignore all of this. Writing makes a great hobby that keeps the mind fit—enjoy it!
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) May 8th, 2016
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What about you, Scriveners? Did you do any of these things when you were starting out? What other career mistakes did you make? Do you see other writers making the mistakes you made? What do you tell them?
Ruth Harris has a new post on her blog about how it’s Never Too Late to follow your dreams. And I’m continuing my series on Poisoning People for Fun and Profit with Part 3: Hemlock.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
This is the second in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. It’s about an unorthodox small press in the English Midlands, and a couple of writers who should have done a lot more homework about the business before they tried to publish.
SHERWOOD, LTD: Camilla Mystery #2
Suddenly-homeless American manners expert Camilla Randall becomes a 21st century Maid Marian—living rough near the real Sherwood Forest with a band of outlaw English erotica publishers—led by a charming, self-styled Robin Hood who unfortunately may intend to kill her.
When Camilla is invited to publish a book of her columns with UK publisher Peter Sherwood, she lands in a gritty criminal world—far from the Merrie Olde England she envisions. The staff are ex-cons and the erotica is kinky. Hungry and penniless, she camps in a Wendy House built from pallets of porn while battling an epic flood, a mendacious American Renfaire wench, and the mysterious killer who may be Peter himself.
Available in ebook from:
All Amazons iTunes GooglePlay Scribd Inktera Kobo Nook Smashwords
Available in paper from:
*****
OPPORTUNITY ALERTS
GREEN BRIAR REVIEW CONTESTS $10 ENTRY FEE. Categories poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Up to three poems per entry. 1st Prize for poetry $250 and publication. Nonfiction and fiction deadline May 31, 2016. 1st Prize in each $250 and publication. Limit 6,000 words. Poetry deadline May 30. Fiction and nonfiction deadline May 31.
Literary Death Match 250 word Bookmark Contest. Judged by Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket). Must be under 250 words. $1000 first prize. All finalists will be invited to read at LDM events near where they live. $15 for one entry $20 for two. Enter via submittable. Deadline May 16th, 2016
FINDING MR. RIGHT an upcoming anthology, is seeking true story essay submissions from female writers worldwide. Entry Fee $5. In addition to paperback publication, cash prizes of $200, $100 and $75 will be awarded to the top three authors that win our judges’ hearts in the categories of “Love At First Sight,” “Near Mrs.,” “Stupid Stuff I Did For Love,” “Were You There Along?” and “Table For One.” Deadline May 15, 2016.
200 CCs. A new publication is seeking 200-word Flash Fiction. 200 CCs are short stories of around 200 words: you can err about 15 words on either side. Accepting submissions year-round. Any genre. Pays $2 per story. Stories will be considered for an anthology. Looking for holiday themed stories as well.
THE ROCABERTI CASTLE WRITERS RETREAT October 7th-12th, 2016 Held at Rocaberti Castle, Figueres, Spain (75 miles from Barcelona.) Not only is this the vacation of a lifetime in an enchanting castle, but participants get real publishing and movie deals here. Out of the eleven writers who attended the first Rocaberti retreat, one had her script optioned before the end of the retreat, two are currently in the midst of negotiations for books and scripts, and deals are in the works for several others. If you put “AA” for Anne Allen on your application, you’ll get a 10% discount.
List of Markets for Short Pieces, compiled by the Insecure Writers’ Support Group. This is a great list to bookmark. I’m going to be phasing out the opportunity alerts, so I can have some more time for writing my fiction, but so you might want to save this for future reference.
Thank you for the blog shout out! 🙂 And for the great post. As a survivor of the slush pile, let me add a few more frequently-encountered trip wires. Would-be writers with no discernable knowledge of basic grammar and no idea how to shape a scene or introduce a character much less write a line of dialogue that any human being might actually utter. To those newbies, correct punctuation (and spelling) seemed a galactic mystery as did sentences containing both a subject and a verb. Good editors and lots of study and experiences are the remedy. Be advised: IME there are no short cuts.
Ruth–It is amazing to me how many people write whole novels without studying the basics of grammar. This is like somebody entering a golf tournament who has no idea how to swing a club. Or a plumber showing up to fix a leak who has no idea what a wrench is for. Writing is a craft. It has basic rules. A grammar book is essential. It’s not hard to look that stuff up.
On #2, the biggest problem is that a lot of writers focus on rules, because those are a safety net–and a trap. So they read a best seller, see the author breaking “the rules,” and their first reaction is “This is terrible writing. How did they get published? They broke all these rules!” There’s an air superiority to this thinking, too–“I’m better than the best seller because I’m the one following the rules.” They can even start thinking that publishing is broken because no one is taking their story, while they took this one where the writer clearly headhopped (Michael Connelly; Danielle Steele) or some other imagined slight. But what they fail to understand is that there’s a reason those writers sell so well, and those are the ones they need to learn from.
I would not recommend critique groups for writers just starting their first book. They’ll be way too vulnerable to “please everyone” or giving up after three chapters because they don’t really know who they are as a writer. I was at Ravencon, and a very insecure writer asked how to deal with all the negative comments she was apparently getting on her story. The panelists’ response was to not show it to anyone, but she really needed to know herself the story was good, not ask other people to validate that it was good to her. If you need someone else to tell you the story is good, you’re not ready for a critique. In a critique, you have, have, have to be able to make judgment calls about comments, and in some case, work around emotional issues that may arise. That really only can happen if you at least believe in your story going in, and believe that you did the best you could writing it.
Linda–Great point about the bestsellers “breaking the rules”. I’ve seen reviews from “rule police” who just don’t get it. “Dickens was a terrible writer because he head-hopped.” You know these people are in critique groups, where they’re probably super-annoying.
I agree that critique groups are not for the writer who is first taking baby steps. That’s why I said writing that first book in a vacuum isn’t such a terrible idea. Then beta readers should probably be the next step, rather than getting into a group situation, which I agree can be a negative experience for a beginner.
Learning to believe in your work and developing tough hide is part of the learning curve all writers have to go through, but it has to be gradual. Thanks for pointing that out.
Linda, your right. Thankfully I love my book enough after learning better grammer, punctuation, and other basics that I’d step back a bit on some of the critiques and mull them over before doing anything.
Also, it’s a good idea to get at least two more critiques on the chapter. If most of them are saying basically the same thing then then, yep it’s a problem and time to edit it.
The positive thing I see in writers that develop an on-line platform as they are writing their first book is that they tend to be more aware of the world that they are about to market in. They see examples of what not to do and also examples of what they are comfortable with. They can gradually learn in bits and pieces rather than be thrown into the waters in a panic once the book goes live. I also think they have more time to educate themselves on the publishing world and have a more realistic view of what’s possible and what’s not – and as you say in your post – don’t tend to be the author with boxes of thousands of books in their garage trying to figure out how to get them on Amazon. But….it is an excercise in time management so that not all available time is spent on one thing or another.
All in all a wonderful post again this week!!
Barb–Exactly. Pretending it’s 1999 and then jumping into the online world all at once after your launch is going to be pretty miserable.
It’s possible to learn about the industry and build your platform slowly while you work on your first couple of books. People tend to go to all-or-nothing extremes. Either they’re on social media 24/7, or not at all.
The trick is to keep up with the online stuff, but always give the WIP top priority. One way to do that is compose on a computer that isn’t connected to the Internet. Or set aside writing time every day when you don’t look at social media.
Here’s the quote I’m reading to my class first thing this week: “If you aren’t compelled to write stories every day of your life, fiction is probably not your passion.”
Anne, as usual, you capture the topic beautifully!
Ruth, I have to comment on your point about would-be writers who don’t know grammar. I am starting my Crafting a Novel class this week with my “When to start a new paragraph” handout. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Ten years ago, I didn’t have to. Probably next term, I’ll have to lead with “What is a sentence,” sigh.
Melodie–It seems weird to me that so many people think writing fiction is superior to writing nonfiction or blogging. Not every writer needs to write fiction.
Oh, dear. It’s discouraging to hear that students’ knowledge of grammar is getting worse. I do fear a “what is a sentence” handout might be in order. I see so many newbies who think dialog tags should be a separate sentence. “Oh, oh, look, Jane.” Said Dick.
Sigh.
Hey, thanks for mentioning the IWSG!
You’re right about critique partner advice. If it resonates or inspires something better, might be time to make adjustments.
Proud to say I did not expect to make any money with my first book! Or second. Or third. The money was all bonus. And no, I never wanted to quit my job. Full time writer? Too much pressure.
And the thought of Snooki Does Duck Dynasty will haunt me all day long now…
Alex–I’m a huge fan of the Insecure Writers Support Group: one of the most truly supportive (and polite) writing groups on the Internet. I love it that you became a bestselling author “by mistake” via building community, which you did mostly out of friendliness.
Sorry about the Snooki thing. 🙂
Hello Anne!
I’d add “intermittent” writing to the list of self-sabotage methods.
This is usually evidenced in people who say “I write only when I’m interested”, or “I write when I’m inspired”. I know these people well, I used to see one of them in the mirror every morning when I shaved. Still do from time to time.
It took me a while to realize that writing is work. Hard work, and there are times when I’d really rather be something other than grinding out another paragraph that simply refuses to work properly. Or editing, or reviewing a critique of my work lovingly provided by my writers’ group, or well, you get the picture.
I’ve gotten much better at being regular, so to speak. I found that doing just 15 minutes a day helped me a lot. It’s not a great deal of time to set aside, but the words do pile up after a couple of months, and — most importantly — it develops a habit. After a while you can bump it to twenty minutes, then thirty and so on.
Mileage may vary from one writer to the next, but I found the 15 minutes a day thing really helped, Hmmm…does writing this blog comment count against my daily total? 🙂
Brant
Brandt–Great point! “Waiting for Inspiration” might be #9. I love the tip to write every day, even if it’s only for15 minutes.
I think it’s especially important to visit your WIP every day. Even if you don’t write more than a word or two, it keeps the characters and situations in your head, so your subconscious can keep the creative juices flowing and pondering the story.
About the best advice I’ve seen on here…yeah, every day, do something with that story…
HI, Anne. #3 on the list really resonated with me because I find a great deal of frustration over the need or compulsion to market, market, market. When I first joined the indie world (after my agent didn’t sell my first book), I was so overwhelmed by the work that is involved in writing, publishing, and marketing your own book. It completely zapped the joy out of my love for writing. The whole process is very time consuming, and it was taking away hours of creativity. I found myself becoming greatly discouraged. Now, I don’t try to run numerous promotions (which are a waste of money most of the time) but rather work on my list of writing projects, future books with titles just waiting to have their pages filled. Cheers!
Sydney–Marketing and “Building Platform” have become obsessions for so many writers–not just indies. There’s a big emphasis on “platform” in trad pub today too. We do need to put a little effort into building an online community, but we don’t need to obsess about it. And I agree that a lot of marketing schemes are a huge waste of time and money. Adding to the glut of book spam doesn’t help anybody.
Having inventory is the most important thing for a writer, so it sounds as if you’re doing it just right.
Hi Anne. This is an excellent post and not just for new writers. I’ve now at the place where I’m getting some of the basics down – not sure if I’ll ever get them all – and what’s becoming increasingly clear to me is that virtually all authors who are making money (ie. selling lots of books) reach a tipping point that comes with multiple books. Not sure if this is 3, 5, 8, or 20, but the main thing for writers who want to achieve financial success is we have to keep learning and producing. Thanks so much for the great perspective – as usual. Now, I gotta get back to learnin’ & producin’ 🙂
Garry–That number seems to be climbing all the time. So yes! Write more and keep learning are the best rules to follow!
A brilliant post, Anne, yet again. Yes, most newbie authors live in a world of delusion. I’ve just corresponded with a lady who spent $5000 with successive editors to have her manuscript edited professionally (yes, she was scammed), somehow managed to get an agent, then rejected every word of advice her editors and agent gave her.
Another fallacy is: ‘I know how to write. Haven’t I published a zillion non-fiction titles in my life? Or worked 40 years as a journalist?’ Well, I could say the same. But when I did my MA (MFA) then PhD in creative writing, and wrote my first novels, I discovered that experience was worth zip. It was like spraying graffiti compared to painting the Sistine Chapel. Fiction writing is a whole new discipline. We have to learn it. A lot of newbies aren’t prepared to invest the time or money to do so.
Yes, it’s a great idea to read modern best-selling authors before they became famous. The early novels of David Morrell are minor masterpieces. Then he invented Rambo, discovered Hollywood, and his style went to hades.
And yeah, a lot of gurus tell us nowadays that we need a ‘platform’, ‘tribe’ or ‘cartel’ before we can sell books. Heard those words before? They’re all over the web. Those gurus are charlatans. Their published books (I’ve read them) are dreck. They’re just selling dream-eyed newbies an entree to their own tribe.
Sorry to blather on. But you’re spot on, Anne, as always.
John–I much appreciate the “blather”–you always have great tips. 🙂 Writing novels is a specific craft. I’m amazed at how many people think it’s just some gift everybody is born with. Is everybody born knowing how to knit a sweater or build an engine? Learning takes time.
I thought that was a great tip too. Especially for series writers. The early books of a lot of mystery writers are brilliant, but the cookie-cutter stuff that’s churned out later only sells because of the name, so they are not good role models.
Haha! I love the idea of a writer’s cartel. I think the smartest thing on that subject was Cat Michaels post here last month. What we really need to do is build a community: in other words, make a few friends. Friends are good for a career. But this “10,000 true fans” thing is bs. People aren’t that loyal. It just doesn’t happen.
And yes, a lot of the stuff out there is just hokum. It may have worked once, for a short time, but there’s no guaranteed way to sell books. (Except maybe by lying to writers.)
Very true, Anne. The ‘tribe’ concept is one of my hot buttons. The last thing our modern world needs is more tribal leaders. They populate graveyards. What it really needs is independent thinkers with built-in BS detectors. But I digress…
Re: cartels for selling books. They don’t work. I have a big warm mailing list, approaching 10,000, meticulously cleaned. Plus 4700 Google+ followers. That’s a platform, isn’t it? Yet the book sales I’ve gained from those platforms across the last 12 months barely netted me $600 before tax. Nope, platforms or cartels – by themselves – don’t do it. Did anyone mention Facebook ads? 😉
John–Wow. That is discouraging. I think the great big platform is overrated. (I have a pretty big one myself and my sales have been stalled for a while.)
I think a much smaller targeted audience seems to work better. I have a friend who’s having great success with very niche books using FB ads. That’s because she knows exactly who is going to buy her books and FB helps her find them.
Anne, thank you so very much for posting links to my guest post on writing novellas and also for that nice plug for The Short and Long Of It. This is a very good example of how much you help support us all. I have to admit I’m partial to the “See what’s out there in your genre and read in it.” One thing I learned from the two nonfiction anthology proposals I wrote is that it taught me to think about the target audience for my book and also to look at the competition and see what the heck was out there already. Another invaluable post. And thank you again for the double mention. Paul
Paul–Happy to give your book a mention. It’s a great little guide.
Nothing like writing a nonfiction proposal to give you a perspective on the industry. It’s amazing what’s already out there. And we need to know that while we’re writing, so we can add something extra and not just compete with what’s already there.
Anne,
I’m not sure if I can add to the commentary already left; except to perhaps put someone else’s comment in my own words…or perhaps another language?
Nah…I’m a better writer than that.
I will, however ask a question. You gave excellent advice (I think) on “Writing in a vacuum” and “Writing to make people happy.” But I wonder what you might say to “Writing with a specific audience in mind?” I’m not referring to writing to a “Sci-Fi audience” or a “Humor audience.” I’m more referring to “Mom, Dad, college roommate, ex who ruined your life…” those kind of specific audiences. Would you view that as potentially constructive? Waste-of-time? “Sure…why not?” Or perhaps, “Ok…have a seat. You need to hear this…?”
Jeff–You bring up a great point! I’ve known people who spent years writing to please a long-ago writing teacher, or guru (or an over-critical ex) instead of finding an authentic voice. I think for a long time I wrote to please my mother, who was a university professor of English Literature.
I had to banish her from my consciousness in order to develop my own voice.
Sometimes anger can be good fuel for writing, so maybe that ex can serve as a reverse-muse of sorts, but only if you’re writing what YOU want to write.
While I can’t say conclusively that “Every” writer feels this way; surely I’m not the only one who gets irritated when someone tells me what I “Should be” writing. I’m sure family and fiends mean telling me things like, “You’re wasting your talents” with sincere complimentary intent. However, I would like to reserve the right to choose, at least the subject of the great American novel for myself.
Fabulous post!!
Lucy–Yes, I clicked through to find your real name–Thanks! Now go put your full name on your blog. It’s a great blog and you’re very funny. Let us know who you are! My best to the Duke of Wellington. 🙂 My sleuth, Camilla has a cat named the Duke of Buckingham.
I wrote my first novel long-hand in the early morning hours by candlelight. It was a magical time, but that’s only because I was blissfully ignorant about the “rules” and structure of novel-writing. I had HUGE dreams. Still do. Nothing’s wrong with that unless you don’t also get a healthy dose of reality. When I first read that “most” writers don’t get published until their fourth or fifth novel, I was devastated. But because I wanted that dream so badly, I worked my tail off to study the craft (still do).
As it turns out, it was my fourth novel that got published. When I look back at those early years, a small part of me envies my naivete…before I knew how soul-crushing this business could be. It makes me wonder if I’d known about the pitfalls, about how easy it is to drown in slush piles, about the pressure I’d soon put on myself to improve and grow, would writing have lost its magic? It hasn’t yet, but maybe that’s because everything happened gradually over time. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed. During my journey I’ve met top-notch mentors who’ve become dear friends (Larry Brooks, Jordan Dane, Caleb Pirtle, Joe Clifford, the list goes on and on). Without them I never would’ve made it this far, and I’ve only jumped the first few hurdles. I’d hate to think where I’d be if I met the wrong mentor.
Sue–Writing longhand by candlelight! Was it in a garret in Paris? It sounds like the writers romantic dream! Yes, be grateful you had that time. I think writers need some time in that cave. Maybe we should write in a “vacuum” for the first year or so, to really enjoy that first hopeful stage of writing.
The realities of writing for a living are anything but romantic and we keep getting sent back to what Ruth calls “Hard Knocks U” to get a refresher course in how tough it all is. But for those of us who love it, there’s still no better life.
But yes–the wrong mentor or “guru” can be a disaster, as Dr. John mentioned in his comment. If people are making a lot of money dictating “rules” to newbies, be skeptical.
I’ve definitely fallen into the hole outlined in #7. There’s a lot of advice out there. Some of it’s good. And even the most cursory look will turn up good advice that conflicts with other good advice. It seems a big part of this writing world is developing filters that help discern what’s bad advice, what’s good advice but applies to other writers, & what’s good advice that applies to one’s self & one’s WIP.
Thanks for another fine post.
CS–I have too. But you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Especially since they usually have opposing opinions. And everybody thinks they’re experts, even if they haven’t published as much as a flash fiction piece in their lives.
Plus fashions change. People who learned to write in the 1970s are going to give you totally different advice from somebody who’s learning the ropes now. Some people want absolute realism, down to every character’s potty breaks–and others want nothing but a skimmable plot, with none or that character stuff to get in the way.
We have to listen, cherry-pick what works and ignore the rest.
Don’t be embarrassed by number 4 I did exactly the same thing. It seemed that all my dreams had come true and it was cruising from here on in. I got published which was great but later on I got dropped and really went into a decline for a few years. Now I keep reminding myself how low and lost I get if I don’t write and I’m finishing stuff again. Thanks for your wonderful articles. Always enjoy them.
Softsenta–Thanks! I know so many authors that has happened to. Well, pretty much all of them. I don’t know any authors personally who have stayed with one agent and one publisher throughout their careers. There are always the agents who leave the business, the editors who get fired, and the dreaded “not earning out your advance” that lands you back at square one. It really is a game of Chutes and Ladders, whether you trad pub or self-pub.
The ones who succeed are the ones who can dust themselves off and start all over again.
I love the note: “Ignore all of this!” As The Happy Amateur, though, I wouldn’t ignore any of your posts. Free education, and a fun read — a great combo 🙂 Thanks, Anne.
I always enjoy reading the comments, too.
Sasha–It’s true. If you’re not writing as a business, you can do whatever the heck you want. 🙂 Enjoy being the Happy Amateur!
Number 7 I can’t stress enough. It’s one thing I told myself when I first decided to publish.
Patricia–You’re so right. Trying to please everybody is the road to pleasing nobody…even yourself. Listen to your muse.
Reading Patricia’s comment gave me a thought about something that’s been bothering me.
I run into lots of articles that say you have to write the synopsis first. O.o how in gods name are you to do that when the book isn’t even written? Not everyone uses an outline.
To be honest, I don’t read bestsellers. I’m sure most of them are very good, but they just simply don’t impress me enough read one. I do read a lot of current stuff that is out there, but that current stuff is from those who aren’t on the NYT or USA Today or even People’s best sellers list.
Having said that, I have picked up a lot of writing tips from other writers in the 8+ years that I’ve been blogging and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Except maybe the time to take a creative writing class to see what I’ve missed by slogging away by myself on this writing journey.
GB–It’s not about whether the bestsellers are “good” or your cup of tea. It’s about understanding the market. What are people buying? I didn’t love The DaVinci Code, but I learned a lot about tricks of plotting. I kind of hated The Lovely Bones, but I saw how grabbing the reader’s emotions allows the author to manipulate the reader. Gone Girl was clever, but I was kind of p-o’d after reading it. On the other hand, I saw how the “unreliable narrator” can draw a reader into a story. Consider these books an inexpensive course in marketing, not something for your enjoyment. (Getting them from the library makes it all free. 🙂 )
As always, stellar advice. Me? I’ve broken pretty much every “writing (genre) rule” and am actually finding a bit of traction doing that BUT I’m actually going back to square one and attempting to adhere to some novella basics. I’m terrible at short form and want to get better.
As for critique groups in my experience, I have found them to be a mixed blessing. I joined a “live” one that really didn’t work out but am working on putting together a group of what used to be called “midlist” indies (all of whom are more successful than yours truly) so that we can learn from each other via loosely structured as-needed critiquing.
My likely downfall will be (or has been already): not writing to please anyone but myself. I always claim I “write what I want to read” which most times ends up being classified as “romance” because so many of my books have a romantic relationship at their core but then tend to veer into too much reality for the typical romance reader. I honestly tried to do it differently and found myself dreading the moment I opened my laptop to add to whatever it was. So I stopped, took a look at the fans I had (not legion, but not crickets either) and beefed up/changed the way I was promoting my one self published series as I contemplate new series in the future–keeping with my style/preference for plots and characters.
I will likely not ever join the ranks of the super successful romance authors because of this, but I’ve made peace with it and now don’t dread opening the laptop to add to whatever’s sitting there waiting for me!
Thanks again, Anne. You are an inspiration to us all.
Liz–It sounds as if you write women’s fiction, rather than romance. It’s not as lucrative as romance, because it can’t be skimmed in a couple of hours, so people don’t buy it so often. But it’s a more satisfying read for a lot of us. Think Jennifer Weiner or Jodi Picoult, and a lot of Danielle Steel’s books. You may do better if you don’t call it romance and don’t try to compete with the popcorn-for-the-brain category romance style.
Forming a critique/support group with other authors in your genre is a great idea. Only people who read and write in your genre can completely understand what you’re going for and whether it works.
Check out Paul Alan Fahey’s post on novellas that I linked to above. His book is great, too. He shows how to use the screenplay format to write novellas.
Have I managed to write one? Um, no. 🙂 But I’m still trying.
The piece of advice I mean to follow and still haven’t is writing something other than novels. I have a few short stories started but I never stay with them. Thanks for mentioning IWSG.
Susan–Contests can help give me the incentive to write in the shorter forms. Not that I write them as often as I should either.
The best thing I ever did was invest in an editor for my books. I literally learned how to write by being critiqued and edited by someone who wrote books for one of the Big 5 (at the time). It cost me a bit of money but was worth every dollar. I still take classes and have found someone whose classes really help me out a LOT. I look back at my first book that I sent query letters out for – I cringe! It was so not ready and I’m embarrassed to remember it. But I “didn’t know no better” as they say. But I do now.
Patricia–I recently found a box in my garage with all my old query letters. Talk about embarrassing! I was sooo clueless. In those days, there were no forums or even agent websites. All we had was Jeff Herman’s book and it wasn’t enough to get through to me how much I had to learn.
I agree that a good editor is key. I was lucky to have several at the small publishing houses that first published my books. I will always be grateful to them.
I’ve been saving up for one. I think it’s a must for me with my dexleca. I’m good now at spotting when something is jumbled but not always.
Meanwhile, the critique group I’m in are great for spotting the errors that I miss.
This is excellent advice. Thank you.
Cynthia–Thanks for stopping by!
Right on, as usual, Anne. Even after you’ve published a lot of books it doesn’t mean you’ll be making lots of money. And like you said so well, you need to read the kind of books you want to write–and you need to learn how to write.
Marilyn–That is so true–whether you self-pub or go the trad route–most writers still need to have day jobs. (It makes me furious when superstars say it’s “easy” to make lots of money self-publishing. Easy for superstars with superstar agents and movie deals.. For the rest of us…not so much.)
So we need to enjoy the journey…and read and write what makes us happy.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t know how.”
I’m still cackling over that one.
Great advice. I can see a lot of myself from my early days writing fiction. It’s also good to see that despite being an old dog, I’ve managed to learn some new tricks.
Mike–Thanks for noticing that line! I had fun writing that. Yeah, we old dogs can still learn those new tricks. When we want to. I may get a smart phone at some point, but I still like my flip phone that actually makes phone calls!!
Thanks for this post Anne and good advice as always. As a newbie, I admit to being guilty to a couple of these. I’m one of those “closeted writers”, although I know I will have to face the fear of letting other people read my work if I want to get published (which is one of the real advantages of blogging). Thanks also for the information regarding short stories and novellas. I’m comfortable with writing the short form and I’m currently writing my first novella. I feel I really have to stretch to reach the minimum number of words required for a novel. It doesn’t mean that I don’t plan on writing novels (never say never), it’s just that for me at least, the novel is something I have yet to master.
I would also add the suggestion to try your hand at screenwriting. The biggest misconception about screenwriting is that it’s nothing more complicated than writing dialogue. Au Contraire! In some ways, screenwriting is harder than novel writing as one has to describe how each scene is supposed to look and how the potential performers are supposed to act. Often times, it’s necessary to go into so much detail about a specific scene, it’s almost like drawing a picture.
It’s also a potentially heartbreaking genre as no matter how much of an Oscar caliber work one has produced, if your screenplay does get picked up, the director and the actors are all, invariably butcher your script to the point where it’s unrecognizable. That said, it’s a (very) challenging genre requiring different skills than we’re typically used to. I argue that it’s worth it in order to be a completely “Well Rounded” writer.
Jeffrey–Take a look at Paul Fahey’s post on writing novellas. He uses his screenwriting background to show how screenwriting structure helps in writing a novella.
Anybody who thinks writing a screenplay (or a stage play) is easy hasn’t tried it! Everything has to be packed into a few words. It’s the difference between writing a short story and writing a poem. Each word has to carry a lot of weight.
And screenwriting does teach you humility. I attended a panel discussion by five prominent screenwriters at a California writers’ conference last year. The amount of criticism they get–from everybody from the director and actors to the gaffer–is so intense, the average rejection from an agent sounds like a Valentine.
You’re right that taking a screenwriting class can be a good education for any writer, even though selling a screenplay is a whole lot harder than getting a trad-pub contract for a novel.
Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for the information regarding screen writing. It’s something I have thought about but never really looked into it. Screen writing sounds more complex than I would have thought, so I might look into doing a course as Anne suggests. Thanks again.
Debbie–Congrats on your novella! More and more experts are saying the novella is the “sweet spot” for readers these days. They want something they can read at one or two sittings. James Patterson is starting a series of novellas, and as the bestselling author in the world, he knows what people want. There’s nothing magic about the longer form. You may find great success as a novella writer!
Thanks Anne. I had always been under the impression that in order to be successful, one had to write novels. As you stated in your post, writing anything else was considered to be for amateurs, so it’s good to know that these days people are taking a lot more interest in the shorter form.
You’ve touched on so many topics which can hinder a writer’s confidence and also give them a false sense of accomplishment. This was a great detailed post which I’ll be reblogging soon.
Oh, and I know how generous you’ve been with sharing writing competition links at the bottom of your posts, and I will miss them. This post is shared and also bookmarked. 🙂
Debby–Thanks for sharing the post!
Beginning writers have to walk a fine line between fantasy and reality. We need that fantasy of the brilliant finished work to keep us going, but we need to keep in mind that it’s not real…yet.
I have to figure out how to carve some time to write my fiction. I’ll post opportunity alerts if people bring them to my attention, but I won’t be able to devote so much time to seeking them out and vetting them. I’m glad you’ve found them useful!
All very sound advice! I definitely stifled my career by trying to master too much of the craft before trying to crack markets, and before trying to have anything sellable at all. Escaping an echo chamber does wonders for a critical writer.
John–There are definitely two directions new writers can derail themselves: 1) stay in the writing cave too long and live in that “echo chamber” and 2) throw their very first scribblings into the marketplace and expect to be lauded as geniuses. I think about that a lot when I’m giving advice here. I worry the first type will pay too much attention to the “learn your craft” posts and the second will only pay attention to the “be brave” posts. And of course in the end, we all have to make our own mistakes.
But for the literary writer working forever on craft, i think the solution is write and publish more short fiction and poetry. You can keep refining that magnum opus, but get those credits piling up and you’ll also get the confidence to leave the echo chamber. Sounds as if you did just that.
More great advice! ‘My’ best advice to newbies? Don’t be so desperate to do everything right that you’ll believe anything anyone who seems to know what they’re talking about will tell you. There are many self-proclaimed experts who would love to part you from your money, or just use you as a stepping stone. And trust me, like a used car salesman, they can see you coming.
Kristy–You are SO right. There are more people making money FROM writers these days than people making money FOR writers. Research and read widely!
Please don’t phase out your opportunity alerts! That section is so useful for early writers! I am only aware of many of these through your blog. Often there are opportunities I wouldn’t have even thought to search for but then your alert section triggers a story within me. Literally, I wasn’t even aware what I was missing until I found your opportunity section!
Sarah–I didn’t know how many people do actually look at my opportunity alerts, but I’m hearing from them now. It does take me time to vet them and search for them, and I’m trying to carve out a little more time for my writing. Also, they are time-sensitive, so often the links go dead and I have to take the time to go delete them on old posts.
But maybe I’ll try to keep putting in a few each week. Thanks for letting me know they’re important to you!
Excellent advice. I made many of these mistakes as a newbie. We live and learn. Great blog here 🙂
D. Wallace–I think most of us did–especially those of us who started out before there were blogs and forums to teach us what not to do. 🙂 Thanks!
Loved all of the tips you have given here.. and saw myself in some of them 🙂
Sue–I think we’ve all been there! Thanks for stopping by.
You’re brilliant. Thank you so much for this post.
Finley–Thanks for all the Retweets!
Here’s a cyber hug of thanks – my day job is in the newspaper business for a small, family-owned company, but I’m working on my fiction writing. I’ve often wondered should I have a website (you advised me not to worry about it for now – another thanks), should I build a marketing plan, should I, should I, should I — until I realized I was beginning to spin in place and wasn’t accomplishing anything. For now, my total focus is on completing my WIP, then polishing it, then polishing it, then polishing it some more. I know how necessary the editing process is – I’m an editor. But I’m fallible and highly self-critical – I’ll need others to help me get beyond my weaknesses once I complete the novel and short stories I’m writing. And though writing in some form has been my life since I was six years old, I still, on purpose, continue to educate myself on the craft – and take time to read blogs (but not too many). Thanks for sharing your experiences and expertise. Your blog is extremely helpful.
Rhonee–I’m glad it helps. I didn’t mean to tell you to spend your life rewriting the same novel.. Start on another one. Then send out some of those short stories. Enter some contests. Give yourself some “wins” before you go for the the big prize of publishing novels.