Newbie writers should protect fledgling ideas.
by Anne R. Allen
You’ve got a fantastic idea for a novel. It’s been hanging around for quite a while, knocking inside your noggin. The idea keeps saying, “Let me out! Release me! Put me in a book!”
Maybe there’s a scene in your head that plays like a video, with every detail of the setting right there, as if it’s on a screen. You know those characters. They’re like real people to you.
But you’ve never had the time to write it all down.
Now you do.
So here you are, finally banging out that scene. And another. And pretty soon you’ve written 10,000, maybe 15,000 words of brilliant, deathless prose. It almost wrote itself. Wow. That was almost too easy.
It IS brilliant, isn’t it?
Well, maybe not. Maybe what’s on the page isn’t quite as good it seemed when you were in the zone.
In fact, it could be terrible. What if you have no talent for writing at all? Maybe you should be in the living room doing that kitten jigsaw puzzle with Grandma instead. How do you know if you’re any good?
You’ll have to ask somebody knowledgeable. Like a published author.
And this — this is when you fall down the rabbit hole.
Newbie Writer Mistakes, #1—Asking for Critiques from the Wrong People
At least once a month I hear from a desperate newbie writer asking me to critique their fledgling efforts. Often they’re extremely persistent and even stalk me on social media.
- “I need to know if it’s worth going on with this!”
- “Tell me if I’m on the right track!”
- “I need to know if I have talent!”
- “There’s 10,000 whole words here. Tell me if I should go on!”
- “I know you said no, but it’s the weekend, so I’m sending my chapters anyway.”
This is the wrong thing to do on so many levels.
- Professional writers don’t read newbie work for legal reasons. Some day that newbie may claim we “stole their ideas.”
- Professional writers aren’t necessarily good editors or writing coaches. You don’t stalk Michael Phelps and demand he teach you to swim. You need an experienced swimming teacher.
- Teachers, editors and writing coaches (as well as professional writers) need to be paid. We have bills just like you. It’s rude to ask us to work for free.
- Fledgling writers don’t need a critique or an edit. They need encouragement and praise. Strangers are unlikely to provide that.
- We don’t have to read these newbie efforts to evaluate them. They’re going to be terrible. Newbie first drafts are. Nobody can wave a magic wand and make you a professional writer any more than they can wave a magic wand and make you an Olympic swimmer. Everybody needs to take classes, study, practice, practice, and practice some more.
Newbie Writer Mistakes, #2—Asking for a Critique too Soon
Even if a newbie is savvy enough to know they need a professional editor, paying someone to fix half-written work is a recipe for disaster—and an empty bank account.
An editor’s job is to polish a book AFTER you’ve written it and scrubbed it up it to the best of your abilities. And if you’re at 10K or 15K words, you’ve barely started.
You also need to be wary of critique groups when you’re in the earliest stages of writing a novel. I highly recommend new writers join critique groups. They’re a great way to learn to write. But a critique group helps more when you’ve got a rough draft already on the page. For some help in learning to benefit from critiques, check out the Critique MD’s post on discovering your “critique mantra.” It will definitely help.
Unfortunately I know lots of writers who stopped writing—sometimes for years—after a rough, unsympathetic critique of a fledgling effort.
And I’ve seen new writers with wonderful ideas get savaged in critique groups who criticized the story because the writing was amateurish. The writer gives up on the project and doesn’t realize there was gold buried under all those adverbs and Tom Swifties.
And it’s not just newbies. I made the mistake of pitching a new book idea to my editor before it was fleshed out and he demolished it. It took me months before I could pick up that idea again.
So get that idea down on the page before you let anybody criticize it. Barrel through no matter how much you crave validation. Some of what you write will just be notes or an outline. But you owe it to your idea to protect it while it’s still gestating, or it may never be fully born.
Newbie Writer Mistakes, #3—Rewriting too Soon
This is probably the most common of newbie writer mistakes. You thought your first chapter was pretty good, and it passed muster with your critique group. So you sent it to a couple of beta readers, a writer friend, and your Aunt Maureen, who’s a retired English teacher.
Every one of them sent back suggestions for how to make it better.
Then you read a blogpost about 10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do, and yours only does four.
So you rewrite that chapter. And rewrite it again. Then you read some more articles on first chapters and yours still doesn’t tick all the boxes. So you rewrite it again. And again.
And you never get to chapter two.
In fact, you’ve spent so much time on chapter one, you could have written the whole first draft.
And you hate your book.
This is a mistake at least half of beginning writers make. I sure did. We start to rewrite before we’ve really written.
Here’s something you should put on a post-it on your computer, or cross-stitch it and hang it on your wall:
WRITE YOUR FIRST CHAPTER LAST.
Yes, you read that right
WRITE YOUR FIRST CHAPTER LAST.
Write that draft first chapter as a placeholder. Then write the whole story. When it’s done, go back and see what needs to be in that first chapter and what doesn’t. Editors say that at least half the newbie books they edit don’t start until Chapter three, so that first chapter is probably going to get lopped off anyway.
Stop obsessing and get on with the book.
Newbie Writer Mistakes, #4—Forgetting the First Draft is for YOU
This first draft you’re working on is for you, the writer, not the reader, or your critique group, or Aunt Maureen. It’s not for an agent or a publisher or that snarky Tinder date who said you’d never be a published author.
It’s just for YOU. When you’re composing the first draft is the time when your muse is telling the story to you. You’re simply transcribing it onto the page. Do not second guess your muse. Just write! Say your third chapter goes off into a long flashback about the protagonist’s childhood obsession with Posh Spice. Or the terrible experience the villain had when his meth-cooking mom blew up the house, killing all 67 of his pet gerbils.
Do these things belong in the book? It doesn’t matter. That’s what editing is for. They do belong in your head. You’re getting to know your characters — discovering their quirks and what makes them tick.
Even if you have to take out those scenes, they’ll be useful later on. You might turn some into a short story or two. Or put them on your blog. And outtake chapters can make important entries in your style sheet (what’s called a “story bible” in screenwriting.) If you end up writing a series about these characters, you will be grateful to your earlier self for getting all this stuff down on the page.
But if you start getting criticism too early, you’ll start pulling out those flashbacks and sidetracks and maybe even fall out of love with your characters.
Keep your writer hat on and don’t don the editor chapeau until you’ve written that “sh**y first draft.”
I’m Not Telling You to Write in a Vacuum
I don’t mean to tell you to spend a year in isolation pounding out a whole novel and not sharing it with a soul.
I’d say as a general rule, it’s best to be at least 1/4 into the work and have the rest mapped out before you let anybody judge it. The urge to go back and edit is usually too strong to fight. And if you go back, you can easily derail your momentum and even worse, your confidence.
Choose your first readers carefully. The most helpful critiques usually come from experienced writing teachers who are used to dealing with fragile newbie egos.
That’s why a class is often the best way to get your writing going. Creative writing classes are usually offered through community adult education programs at reasonable prices. You can also take online classes. Writers Digest’s are usually solid and helpful. A number of big name writing bloggers offer them too. But ask around first and make sure the teacher is kind and knowledgeable.
If you don’t have the money for a class, a critique group can help a lot. Joining a group can also keep your momentum going after you take a class. It’s best if you find a group that allows you to sit in for a few sessions before you present your own stuff. You can see how well the members critique and also see who may have a personal agenda so you know what to ignore. For more on critique groups here’s my post on Critique Groups: Six Ways they May Hurt Your Writing and Six Ways they They Can Help.
Online critique groups can be helpful too. CritiqueCircle.com has a great reputation, and I believe it’s still free.
Enjoy First Draft Time. Brutal Reality Will Come Soon Enough
The time when you’re writing your first draft can be joyous. You’ll have a strong urge to share that joy with friends and family. That’s not always a bad thing.
You may luck out and have a personal cheerleader who’s not judgy. If your BFF or significant other can read your work and encourage you without getting out the red pencil, then by all means bask in their encouragement. That’s the perfect nanny for your fledgling story.
But realize that even though your wonderful nanny may tell you the work is perfect and you should never change a thing, you don’t want to get lulled into a sense of complacency. Editing will happen. And will probably feel brutal. But a good editor will always improve your work.
Later.
So what can you do to improve your craft as you write that first draft?
Read! Read books and blogs on writing craft and educate yourself about the business as you write. And you especially want to read contemporary books in your genre. Don’t be afraid of copying their styles. It will only make you better. Picasso got his education copying the masters.
But don’t rewrite yet: just make notes.
Give your new baby a chance to develop in a healthy way before you allow others to judge it. This is important for your own mental health and the health of your fantastic book idea.
You both will be subjected to the brutal realities of editing and publishing soon enough.
***
by Anne R. Allen @annerallen May 3rd, 2020
What about you, scriveners? Did you make any of these newbie writer mistakes? Did you seek validation and praise from strangers when you were starting out? Do you think you solicited critiques too soon? Did a bad critique derail your book for a while? Forever? What do you say to a newbie writer who wants you to read their manuscript?
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Haha! Spot-on about the mistakes, and then in comes the clear answer afterwards (get a quarter-way through, have the rest mapped out). That’s a test anyone can meet, because nobody else can judge those things for you.
I remember your links to the posts about critique groups and they are solid gold, laugh-cry-laugh good.
I spend more time narrating than writing these days, and it’s truly marvelous how different tales can be; yet each is great in its own fashion. Having a couple of rules like these is the way to get there without abandoning a promising story before its time. Thanks!
Will–As a narrator, you’re seeing fiction writing from a whole new perspective. It must be fascinating. And yes, there are a lot of very different ways to present a story. And none of them are “wrong.” I’m glad you enjoyed my critiques of critique groups. Some of them are great fodder for comedy.
Great post, Anne. These are not necessarily only rookie mistakes. I ended up in mistake #2 not as a newbie due to putting myself in a workshop and submitting a piece that was way to early in the process for that kind of exposure. The negative impact that experience had on the story’s forward momentum was startling. Learned that lesson the hard, hard way.
As they say, live and learn OR read Anne’s blog!!! 🙂
Christine–Thanks! Loved your piece on the “critique mantra.” And you’re right that even pros need to keep their babies protected until they’re able to stand up to criticism. As I said, I presented a baby idea to my editor just this year and it nearly got derailed because it wasn’t ready for its close up. I’ve also taken new work to workshops and had it savaged. I hope you could salvage your story after that negative experience.
Thanks, Anne. I totally missed the part where you talked about sending a piece too early to your editor. I think my brain stopped processing fully once it read your description of Mistake #2 and for the rest of the way through the post kept shouting at me, “You did that!!! And you weren’t a newbie.” lol. Clearly there’s still some charge about that experience for me. 🙂
And as to be expected while that story is still in my idea hopper, at the moment I’m working something else. Which will still stay way, way under wraps until the timing is right for feedback. Onward. 🙂
Brutal reality does come soon enough!
I can’t imagine passing along a first draft chapter for anyone to read. I edit the heck of my work before my test readers see it then a heck of a lot more before my critique partners see it. (And you guessed it – a heck of a lot more before I send it to my publisher.)
Great advice, Anne!
Alex–Some people have a natural instinct to protect work until it’s ready, and it sounds as if you do. It’s the way to have a good solid career like yours.
Anne—Solid perspective and advice. Thanks.
One thing newbie writers can do to help themselves make sense of that first draft is to divide it into chapters that have a clear beginning and end. That way, they will be able to see for themselves how their story does—or doesn’t—take shape. Fairly simple to do, but breaks down the draft into small, more manageable bits. Will be immediately instructive without having to take on the risks of ego-demolishing premature critiques.
I’m basing this advice on my experience in the slush pile. Newbie writers so often had no idea about how to make their book readable.
Ruth–With your experience as an editor, you must have seen tons “baby” manuscripts that weren’t ready for their close up. Some of us naturally write in scenes, but others don’t. I remember that Kerouac wrote On the Road not only as one long chapter, but also on one scroll of paper. I would not like to have been the editor who had to clean that up.
Great advice, especially the last point. Even experienced writers need to recall that the first draft is for us, to be massaged and shaped into something worth sharing.
My mother keeps asking if my husband reads my books to help edit. I always say no, he’s not an editor or even a mystery reader! Family members may make cheap editors but that doesn’t mean they have the expertise.
Carmen–That’s such a common misconception–that a spouse can automatically become your editor. Cheap–yes. Qualified–no. Some can be cheerleaders, but only if they happen to like your genre. And it can cause a lot of marital discord if you ask them to read and they don’t enjoy it.
I do believe I made all of those mistakes! 🙂
My 1st draft was a ridiculous 189k long and full of backstory and irrelevant loveliness. It will remain in a memory file!
Jemi–“Irrelevant loveliness” –love that phrase. First drafts are always full of it. Sometimes that loveliness can be useful later, though, so no writing is wasted.
Good Sunday morning, Anne and Ruth. Thanks for the reality checks. I guess I’ll always consider myself a newbie writer because there’s so much continual learning and improvement to do in this biz. I realize more and more how important it is to finish that $*%%! first draft and then self-isolate it for a darn good quarantine before anyone else has a peek.
I finished roughing a draft a month ago and let it sit on the hard drive. Yesterday, I pulled it up for a first edit, read the opening and went, “Oh my $*%%! God… I wrote that??” So I went for a walk this morning, came back and redid the first page. It’s a lot better… but I know it has a ways to go yet 🙂
Garry–Good for you to let your draft sit for a month. We should all do that. It’s amazing how different the manuscript looks when you come back with your editor hat on. Best of luck with it!
Did I make mistakes as a newbie author? Oh and how. Did I ask for validation from strangers? Yup. Did I take it personally when I received an honest critique? Yup. I don’t think a run-by critique from a stranger is very helpful for a newbie author. What was extremely helpful for me at this stage was joining a writing group.
Leanne–I was desperate for validation, too. I was always shoving my manuscript in the faces of my friends. It’s amazing I have any left. And like you, I found that getting into the right critique group made all the difference in my career.
Oh, I for sure made mistakes in the beginning! Man, do I even want to remember? Ha! I heard about hiring an editor and did that pretty soon after I wrote my first book and she taught me how to write by critiquing and editing my book. Wow – it was worth every penny. Since then I discovered “developmental” editors and that helped me immensely. Granted, many people can’t afford this type of thing, but I found their help invaluable and can’t praise them enough – if you find a good editor, that is. And I found immense help by taking online classes as well. You are so right about reading, reading, reading books in the genre you’re writing and also it’s invaluable to know that after you write “the end”, it’s just the beginning of the journey toward getting that book ready to read by anyone other than yourself!
Thank you for this, and particularly for that first point, Anne! All the reasons why I have to say no to a budding writer, at least once a week, it seems. I can’t imagine why aspiring writers feel they can ask experts for free services – and it’s to experts that they usually go, for free critiques. Most often, I find these people aren’t really after the critique at all. What they want is for me to say, this is brilliant! I’m sending it right on to my agent this minute!
As a good friend of mine once put it: this stranger wanted me to tell them everything I’ve learned about the business in 20 years, for free, right now. In fact, what they wanted was my reputation, for free.
Enlightening and encouraging post. One more thing I know from experience is to pick and choose the writing advice that’s everywhere now. There’s so much contradiction it’s enough to make a newbie’s head spin. A lot is opinion, and we all know about opinions. Writing is not a one size fits all endeavor. Sure there are specific rules, but how to follow those rules is often a personal choice. Beware the “You must always” or “You must never” advice.
Brenda–I agree with you 100%. In fact I’m writing a book about Stupid Writing Rules. Here’s a blogpost on the subject. https://annerallen.com/2018/11/stupid-writing-rules/
Great article. I completely agree. I have become extremely picky about who I let into my writing world. I belong to two novel critique groups and we work through a chapter at a time. We all trust each completely to point out the holes and never put down or destroy anyone.
That was not always the case. I had been part of another group. One member was very “sensitive” to tough topics. I presented a short story on a gruesome and dark topic. He basically told me I must be really sick person inside to write something like that. I haven’t returned or worked with him since.
As for reading newbie’s writing…I used to do it for anyone. However, after an encounter with someone who got nasty with me, I closed that door. My time is more valuable than that and you’re right that we should be paid for our time. Now, I’m a professional editor who specializes in newbies. I provide a three chapter sample so we can determine if we are a good fit. I recently turned down a memoir client because her vision for the work didn’t match the reality of the market and I didn’t want her to spend her money until she was able to rewrite with a narrative arc so there would be some chance of it being marketable. I know she took my comments to heart and I’ve seen the re-written opening. It is worlds better.
Jeanne–That’s my #1 reason for not reading newbie’s work: the inevitable temper tantrums. Even if you simply fail to praise the correct passages, you can still get clobbered.
I worked as an editor for a while and that was my number one reason for quitting–those memoir writers who thought that a day-by-day report on their mundane lives was going to sell millions. I felt I was ripping them off just to take on their work. I’m glad your memoirist got the message and is making her work more marketable.
I always know I’ll find encouragement to Keep Calm and Keep Writing here. I did manage nearly 100,000 words before I started my revision. But what a mess. #4 is my biggest hangup – thanks for repeating it! I doubt I’ll be ready for a critique reader or group until I’m two or three revisions in. And I’m okay with that. Really, I am. 🙂
Lee–Yeah, we have to write that first draft for ourselves. I never know what’s really happening in a book until I’m in a scene, listening to the characters talk. Often they talk way too much. And that’s what I prune out later. Your best first critic is yourself–after you’ve let the manuscript sit for a bit. Garry Rodgers talks about that in his comment.
Spot on! Speaking from my own experiences and those of others, I wish I could’ve read this years ago when I was first starting out. So I’m sharing your blog to Twitter and the writing community there. Thanks for the wonderful advice, Anne!
Indy–I wish I’d heard it too. I’d have saved myself a world of grief. Thanks much for sharing!
Ugh. Critique groups may be great for some, but I hate the very idea, and for the reasons you mentioned. Every time I’ve asked for feedback on something, I get a boatload of their agenda and some other flotsam and jetsam in their brain.
I started a new website recently and a FBook friend wanted to see it. So, I sent her over there to look. I had three posts on it and it was still in the process of being built. She reamed the pictures I chose (which were mine, and which I love because they truly are good, unlike most of my efforts), the fact that there were empty spots, etc. Did the same thing when I posted interesting properties for sale that were great prices–like former motels. Suddenly, I have to spend 10k per unit to get the place in shape and ready to rent. Haha! I’m not even going to buy it!
Whether it’s an idea for a business, or a book, or whether they like the shirt you’re wearing, just don’t ask. Do what you like, wear what you like, and then hire someone you don’t know for other stuff. You just don’t need to hear it. If you believe in it, go with that.
And after all these years on earth, I can’t believe people demand you help them because “it’s the weekend.” Or some such.
Gigi–Oh, I loved it when that guy sent his manuscript–attached to a FB message! On a Saturday night just as I was settling in to watch Saturday Night Live. Writers don’t have lives, do they? Sigh.
Your critical FB friend is a typical bad critiquer. They want to sound knowledgeable, but instead they just sound like clueless mean girls. Good, seasoned critiquers are the opposite of that, and they do exist. But we do need to shop around. If you’ve got an editor who takes care of all that feedback for you, then you don’t need one.
My biggest newbie mistake was writing a book before signing the contract. It cost me 5,000 words I needn’t have written, but if that was my only lesson, I was lucky. These days I mentor the winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s Valerie Parv Award and count some very successful authors among my minions, as they call themselves. I’ve told every one of them to use what they can of my suggestions and discard the rest, as there’s no “one” way to write a book, only what works for the author.
Valerie–I’m envious now. You have minions. I have no minions. 🙂 But I suppose if I sold 37 million books I might. I can see how your status might make students think your word is etched on stone tablets, so it’s great you can get them to understand it’s really up to them. There are no rules. Just guidelines.
Very insightful post, as always! I’m handwriting my crappy first draft right now, so I can’t send it off for critiques even if I wanted to… it’s a very helpful way to remove such temptations!
I will say, and maybe I just got lucky, that sharing a second draft with two friends for my first book proved very helpful. They were nerdy friends who read a lot, though don’t write themselves, and were interested in my book. (My first rule of thumb: never foist my writing on anyone who doesn’t want it.) So I sent them the draft. They came back with a lot of helpful bigger picture stuff. “This part was great! Loved it!” “This entire chapter… why is it here?” “Well… you start every third sentence with ‘well,’ didja know?”
That’s what let me get to a somewhat respectable third draft that I could send to editors to fix it up. But I found that enthusiastic friends could make for helpful first critiquers!
Irvin–Handwriting that first draft is one trick I hadn’t thought of. That works! Second drafts are when you definitely want a critique, so it’s great you’ve got some good beta readers!
Hah-ha! Even after twelve books, most of the time I have to dump chapter 1 and maybe 2 and more when writing a new book. Including the latest – but I did that before it got to the beta readers this time!
Good list – I’ll share it on Wednesday’s post 🙂
Jemima–We do tend to pack a lot of backstory into chapter one, don’t we? And most of it doesn’t have to be there. Thanks for sharing!
I run a writing group and I’ve instilled a set of values into the way we do things, so that we’ll provide encouragement to newbies, but also give them direction so they have more of an idea where to go next with a piece, or how to work with what they’ve got. I’ve heard horror stories of writing groups that are savage to new work, so I was determined that wouldn’t happen with mine! My writers get feedback (rather than critique, if that makes sense) but I’d rather they got it from us, in a safe space, before they start hiring editors or trying to find beta readers. They get to have their wobbles among sympathetic people!
Icy–I’m a big believer in critique groups and I’ve belonged to one for nearly 30 years. But even a great critique group is better at helping a rough draft that’s complete rather than a first chapter of something that hasn’t been written yet. My point in this post is to warn brand new writers not to share their work too soon, or they’ll get bogged down in chapter one and never move on.
In my experience, getting positive feedback from a reader has fired up the newbie writer with more enthusiasm and confidence to continue writing the rest of it. But like I say, that’s just my experience. And I was just trying to help.
Icy–And you were helpful. Sorry if I sounded cranky. It’s the stupid blog that won’t let me comment half the time. 🙁 I think knowing how to critique is one of the most important skills for a writer to learn. I’ll be doing a piece on critiquing later this year, and I’d love to get your input!
I’d be happy to help with any pieces on critiquing!
Icy–Thanks much!! I’ll be in touch. Getting some real life critique group experiences will help a lot. And it’s great to learn what makes a good one work.
My first draft is never a first draft. Because I still work 40-50 hours a week and have plenty of home duties, I often go three-four days between writing. When I do get back to it I need to start by rereading the last several hundred words to get the flow. During that time I’ll usually spot typos, unnecessary adverbs, and assorted things needing change, which I’ll do right then. So by the time I finish my first draft it’s really a second or even a third draft. I didn’t plan it that way, but that’s how it’s developed.
Fred–This post is aimed at newbies who’ve never written a novel before. I think a lot of pros work the way you do. I certainly do. That doesn’t mean the whole draft doesn’t need work. Pacing and story arc need a big-picture edit.
Equally horrible is the so-called professional coach who charges $300 to blow smoke up your newbie writer a$$. Been there, done that. Though it was nice to hear at the time, it didn’t help me any. In fact, the glowing review gave me a false sense of confidence to submit to agents before I was ready. Just the thought of those early pages make me cringe now. How could I ever submit them? *facepalm* Live and learn. 🙂
Sue–I’ve always been skeptical of book coaches, because there’s no training or even solid definition of what they do. And they’re very expensive. I thought a good book coach could probably teach somebody to write faster than taking a series of classes. But it’s interesting to hear from somebody who’s hired one. It sounds as if they didn’t help at all. Thanks for the warning!
Hi Anne,
Your posts are worth gold in the pen.