Hi YouTube author Stefanie Newell and this is The Life of a Writer channel.
Today's video "The biggest mistakes that writers make." So if you want to connect
with readers and sell more books make sure to subscribe and get new content to
your inbox every Tuesday. But in this video I'm going to be sharing the 5
biggest mistakes that I see new writers make, so let's get started. Mistake number
one, in no particular order, writing too much or writing too little - now they are
both challenging in their own ways for example writing too much it's difficult
to edit down. So if you've written let's say a hundred and forty thousand words
and you needed to have written eighty thousand words there are sixty thousand
words that you need to cut. You become attached to the story. If you're writing
fiction there are characters and scenes and plots and subplots that are
happening within those sixty thousand words that you need to cut down. So
having to edit down something that you've already written means in most
cases that you're also going to have to have a rewrite. Now for those people that
write too little you have already developed the story in your head so if
you've written twenty thousand words you feel like you told the story in every
way possible. You... you know you've developed the characters you've
developed your plot and you've done that within this short amount of words and
then I come to you and I tell you no you should have written eighty thousand
words for that particular genre that's sixty thousand words that you now need
to write. So for a lot of people that feels very frightening because they have
already creatively shut down and stopped writing. So my recommendation is that you
do research prior to you starting your manuscript to figure out what the word
count is for the genre that you write in that way you're not writing too much or
too little. Mistake number two not being sure of your genre. Sometimes I
have people come to me and they have an idea what their story is and they just
dropped it into a genre and they don't read that genre, so they're not sure that
the particular story that they've come up with is really a part of that genre.
The problem or the flaw in that is if you've written a book where you're not
sure of the genre and you place it in the wrong genre the expectations
of that target audience may be completely different. So you really want
to be clear on what your genre is for your manuscript so that you can meet the
expectations of your target audience. Mistake number three not knowing your
characters or plot if you write fiction or your theme of your book if you write
nonfiction. Now this one is pretty self-explanatory but the reason why it's
really important to know these details before starting your manuscript is
because it gives your book direction. Mistake number four - not reading your
manuscript aloud. Now this is especially useful tip for those of you who write
fiction you have dialogue because you can read your dialogue aloud to see if it
sounds realistic if it's too wordy. And for those of you who write nonfiction
same thing read it aloud see if the words are flowing if it sounds good if
something jumps out at you it probably is going to jump out at your reader as
well, So this is your step one, beginning to edit down your manuscript.
Mistake number five - self-sabotage. Now this is one of those mistakes that I've
seen play out in a couple of different ways. For some authors they may be
seeking perfection so they're constantly working on their book for many years and
then they ultimately don't end up publishing. And then there's other
authors who don't make their book a priority. So in other words no matter
what comes up if it takes precedence over their book they allow that to
happen and keep putting their book on the back burner. So if this is something
that you struggle with the best recommendation that I can give you is to
set small achievable goals and to have a plan of action in the event that
something happens that throws your schedule off. How are you going to write
your book despite whatever has come up? If you want to connect with readers and
sell more books make sure to subscribe and also check out my previous video
where I share some additional mistakes that new writers make. As always all of
my social media links will be in the description box below if you're looking
to hire me as your writing coach you will
find that information there as well and I look forward to talking with you in my
next video!