Writing isn’t easy, and many quit before ever getting the chance to create anything meaningful due to feeling overwhelmed or having a fear of rejection. Writing is an innate ability, but it's an art that has to be developed through consistent training, perseverance, patience, and persistence. This is why we're here to offer suggestions for you to avoid these six common mistakes that we've seen novice writers make.

Treating Writing Advice Like it’s Set in Stone

Some writers take writing tips to the extreme and are prone to overcorrecting. At the other end of the spectrum, some writers get angry when certain writing advice does not work for them. The idea of thinking that all the writing tips are wrong is the same as giving a one-star rating to a dry cleaner that you've never been to since you prefer to wash the clothes yourself.

The most experienced writers realise that the "rules" of writing are, in fact, instructions that can be modified according to the writer's goals. They also know that just because a certain piece of writing tips doesn't apply to their specific situation doesn't mean that it can't be helpful to anyone else. The writing process is always more complex than what seems at first glance.

The Fix: Don't go overboard with every writing tip that sounds good to hear. Make sure that you know your comfort zone and experiment and stick to the ones that befit your writing style.

Weak Introduction

This is one of the most common mistakes in creative writing. New writers often fail to grab the readers’ attention in the beginning. To make a good first impression on your reader, the introductory lines need to be catchy, gripping and interesting. Otherwise, they may not read more than a couple of pages or may not even bother to purchase the book at all.
The Fix: Focus more on writing a strong introduction. You can choose different styles to start your writing based on your story or genre, such as thriller, mystery or half-told secrets. Set the mood right from the beginning.

Lack of Proper Editing and Proofreading

Many new writers believe they can skip through the stages of editing and proofreading. But the question is, if not for editing and proofreading, then how are you able to find mistakes in your writing?
When you go through the first draft of your written piece, you would realise how many writing mistakes you have made. But it is also a common occurrence to oversee your own writing mistake because when you read them, your brain reads the correct version, making it difficult for you to catch spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, plot holes etc.

The more time you spend listening to critique, the more experience you'll have on how to distinguish between feedback that improves your story's vision and criticism that hinders it.
The Fix: Professional editors can be incredible teachers. Besides you can also find help from critique partners and beta readers. The more time you spend listening to critique, the more experience you'll have on how to distinguish between feedback that improves your story's vision and criticism that hinders it.

Get yourself a professional editor/proofreader so your work can be checked according to the standards of professional writing. You can also avail the help of your friends and family to check your writing for mistakes and errors. The more your work gets checked, the better the final draft would be.

Lack of Research on Genre

One of the common mistakes in writing is when the authors don’t know much about the genre they are writing in. Before you start writing your first draft, it is advisable you research the genre your writing falls in. It will also help you know your readers and understand them better.
The Fix: Read books in the genre you are writing so you can mould your writing accordingly. By reading, you can learn more about the styles of other authors in that particular genre and also keep an eye on new trends.

Lack of Research on Agents and Book Publishers

Another one of the biggest mistakes new authors make is rushing the process of selecting agents and book publishers. It is a common misconception that to get successful, you need to send your manuscript to as many agents as you want to. But that’s not how it works. You need to do your homework and find out the exact genre your work falls in and then find the agent who publishes in the same genre.

The Fix: Do your thorough research. A publisher may have a pre-specified wish list of manuscripts that their company is looking for. So, you just need to explore a little and find a publisher that deals in your genre of writing.

Not Hiring Professionals

Understandably, new authors have a tight budget and they want to spend less on things like editing services or designing etc. But, this can make a huge difference in the marketing of a new book. New authors try to save money and don’t hire professionals who can work on the technicalities of publishing their book. This is one of the common mistakes in writing by new authors.

The Fix: Allocate separate money from your budget to hire professional services so your work can stand out among many others in the world of book publishing.

All the first-time writers who have published their books have self-doubts and make mistakes along their journey, and that's totally fine. We hope our suggested tips will give all the budding writers insights into avoiding these common mistakes. 

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