I have written books for over ten years now, and to help me grow I have started to read and advice newer writers and have noticed a couple of things come up a lot so I will point them out and give some advice on how to avoid them. Have in mind that these can vary depending on the writer as some don’t do all of these, but one of two. It can still be fun to check the boxes you do or have done and remind others of it.
Number 7: S.M.S Writing
This one is very common if you are young. Most people in the newer generations learn to write in texts send in chatting and S.M.S. Which means that you will learn a special kind of language that isn’t suited for anything outside chatting. Here are some examples that are very common in books on Wattpad and other platforms with younger writers, LOL, BTW, OMG, and me 2.
If you don’t want your book to sound like a long S.M.S thread then use the actual words, not just the letters.
Another piece of advice, that is connected to this, is to always try to write out numbers with letters. Such as “he is twenty years old” instead of “he is 20 years old”. It looks better overall, and you will in the future most likely be advised to do so by an editor. The exception is dates, year, and very long numbers such as one thousand three hundred forty-five. That is a bit too long and looks better than 1345.
Number 6: Fanfic names
This one isn’t obvious in most cases but if you read as much as I have then you will encounter this one. Finding names for your characters can be hard, especially when they have most likely been used over and over again, but taking names from your favorite show can really leave a bad taste in your reader’s mouth. Especially since many of your readers most likely will have read or watch that series if it is in the same genre as your book.
Examples I have encountered are authors using their favorite vampires’ names in their books for their vampires. The number of vampires in books named Damon, Stefan, Angel/Angelus, or Lestat is quite ridiculous. I have also encountered people trying to twist names, recently I encountered someone who thought Sherley Holmes for their female detective wasn’t too obvious. The risk if you do use these names, you book will be seen as a fanfic instead of an original work.
Of course, there might be characters that have the same name as your character, so I would suggest making a quick google search to find things out. For example, in one of my drafts for future novels I intend to write, I decided on a steampunk mystery novel which I in my draft named Inspector Rebus. A quick search though told me that there already was a series from the Scottish author, Ian Rankin, with that name so I should avoid it. Either by changing the name or adding the full name which would have been Inspector Klandestine Rebus, which might still be a bad idea since it still might feel a bit too close for comfort. I haven’t read his work but others might since the two books are in the same genre.
Number 5: Not finishing your story
This is the eternal wattpad curse. The number of writers who start their story, but not finishing it is staggering. Especially on wattpad when the new writers just get bored and start with a new one.
I often advise them to have one main story and one at the side you can write if you get stuck, but always return to the main one. If you don’t then there is a risk that you will never finish a story, but just jump from one project to the next and then wonder why you have no readers.
Number 4: Improvising
Now, most authors fall under one of two categories. Either the planner or the improviser. As a new writer, you will most likely always fall under the improviser and write chapters from day to day without really planning the plot ahead. You will simply write when “inspiration strikes”.
This will almost always leave you with a chaotic book that makes sense to no one except the author. The character changes from chapter to chapter, the plot twist and turns with no logic and the end (if it ever comes) is completely random.
Even if you are an improviser. At least plan out the basics of the story. What genre is it? What are the characters and what are their purpose? Maybe even some very basic plotlines or incidents such as deaths or dangerous encounters?
Don’t just change the story halfway and be surprised when the readers find it annoying that you can’t seem to make up your mind. Just because you were bored with the story, doesn’t mean that your reader was.
Number 3: Leaning too much on tropes
This one falls heavily under improvising and fanfic. You will encounter a wall sooner or later where you don’t know what to write because you haven’t planned the story ahead. If you are an improviser then you will encounter this problem and when that happens you will be tempted to use what you have seen from other shows or in other books. The problem with that is that your brilliant idea is most likely a trope. If you are going to use a trope then be very conscious about it so you can try and write it in a less obvious way.
A very common trope that always seems to come up in improvisers romance stories are the forced triangle romance. Out of nowhere comes a romantic rival that will mess everything up. They are never introduced before this but just magically show up out of nowhere. Or how about the trope where the normal guy/girl suddenly becomes the most special boy and girl in the book with a power that hasn’t been seen before and that happens just out of nowhere with no build up at all.
You don’t have to avoid tropes, because they became tropes for a reason, but be careful when using them especially if you use too many of them. The unshaven detective in a trench coat don’t necessarily have to also be an alcoholic, and hardass because of a sad past. Maybe he just loves that trench coat because it was his dad’s and he doesn’t shave because he is a workaholic. There are other stories to be told there. Don’t just take the one you have seen a thousand times, because you readers will have seen it just as many times.
Number 2: Trying to point out who is speaking too much
This one is not as obvious for new writers as it is something you learn when you get more experience, which is why when you point it out, new writers like to defend this a lot.
For example:
The child walked with his mother, dancing by her legs and pulling her arm. His mother looked down at him, smiling as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Be careful not to fall, dear,” she said.
Did you catch it? It might be harder than you think. In this dialog, she said by the end is unnecessary because it was made obvious who was about to speak in the sentence before it.
You could very easily have written:
The child walked with his mother, dancing by her legs and pulling her arm. His mother looked down at him, smiling as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Be careful not to fall, dear.”
And it would have been obvious. This was only one example. Another is the overusing of words like said, explained, shouted, and so on in dialog when it isn’t necessary. When two people are speaking then it is obvious that it is a back and forth conversation.
I have encounter dialog that looks like this:
“I won’t do it,” said Oscar angrily.
“You have no choice,” his mother replied.
“I hate them!” shouted Oscar.
“That won’t matter. They are your cousins and you have to greet them,” his mother said.
It could very easily have looked like this:
“I won’t do it,” said Oscar angrily.
“You have no choice,” his mother replied.
“I hate them!”
“That won’t matter. They are your cousins and you have to greet them.”
It speeds up the conversation and the dialog look cleaner. Here I will give the advice my teacher in creative writing gave me. “Give your readers some credit, they aren’t dumb.”
Number 1: Overexplaining
This one is not uncommon in older authors as well, older fantasy novels had a lot of info-dumping but it has become rather unacceptable in modern-day writing.
It isn’t just fantasy that falls in this trap. New writers love to write what the characters wear and how they look. Especially female writers. They write out what they wear, what color the clothes are and why they wear them, and if they put on a ponytail or not and they always write this out for each character and each time they change clothes. I shouldn’t have to say this is unnecessary, it is pretty obvious.
Many new writers, especially if they are planners, love to write out things like a character’s background, where they are from, and how the place looks. I have once encountered someone writing out the entire family tree of a character. The problem? Well, it never comes into play but the author really wanted to show that they had planned it all out. If improvisers’ weakness is that they often run out of ideas and lean on tropes, then planners’ weakness is that they really want to show all the things they have planned even if it isn’t necessary for the story. We don’t need to know that the main character in a romance novel had a grandfather who was the town’s baker if it doesn’t come into play and it rarely does, despite the new author always claiming that it will.
If you want to avoid this then simply ponder the story for a minute. Is this necessary for the plot to move forward? An author might need to know certain things so they can understand a character’s personality but the readers don’t so just consider the why for a second and you might realize that it isn’t necessary. Maybe in some cases, it is for the readers to get a feel for the world or adding lore but try to keep it short and spread out. Choose when to do it because you can’t do it too many times.
Some last words
So that was a few advice of things that newer writers (and sometimes older) do when writing a novel. I personally was an expert at info-dumping. I loved to write out entire worlds and was just too excited to talk about all I have created.
Now I am a planner, which means that I have a hard time advising improvisers and the advice I give might not be suited for them but maybe they might help you or a friend when they need it.
Have you done a few of these, or have you encountered some of them?
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
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