The Biggest Mistakes Writers Make (Penny Rader)

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This month we’re talking about the biggest mistakes we’ve made in our writing.  

I've made tons of writing goofs, especially with point of view.  I knew nothing about POV when I began writing.  A judge (or five) kindly, uh, suggested I get out of Max's point of view.  Max is the Newfoundland dog in my historical romance Sapphire and Gold.  And he's not a shapeshifter.  

Overall though my two biggest writing mistakes continue to be:

• trying to please everyone 
• not writing, sometimes for months at a time.  

I poked around the Internet for some of the most common writing mistakes.  Here are a few bits and bytes of what I found: 

5 Mistakes of New Fiction Writers (Joanna Penn)

1. Show, Don't Tell
2. Consistent Point of View
3. Deliver on the promise you make the reader
4. Overuse of first names in dialogue
5. Overuse of exclamation points

http://bit.ly/NXq0HP

  

The 10 Biggest Mistakes Fiction Writers Make (Karen Newcomb)

1. Not knowing who their readers are.
2. Not fully understanding the genre.
3. Not developing a believable or likable character.
4. Not understanding viewpoint (point of view).
5. Not understanding the need for emotional tension.
6. Plotting.
7. Not understanding scenes and sequels to the scenes.
8. Not understanding the need for the character to change.
9. Not understanding conflict.
10. Rewriting as they go along. 

The 14 Biggest Mistakes Even Best-Selling Writers Make (courtesy of Joseph Finder) (Lara Wells)   

1. The passive hero.
2. The stick-figure hero.
3. Overwriting.
4. Messing up POV.
5. Prologue overuse.
6. The long wind-up.
7. Weak second act or the “saggy middle.”
8. All plot, no people.
9. Too much action.
10. Predictability.
11. Backstory dump.
12. The lousy ending.
13. Research show-off.
14. Overly explicit dialogue.

  

The Biggest Mistake New Writers Make (Bethany Kent)

http://bit.ly/La34ir

The biggest mistake new writers make is setting a condition on what they will and will not change.

New writers should be willing to make whatever changes necessary to the execution of their story telling to make the story really shine, to draw in readers, and to accomplish what they really want.  New writers have a story to tell and sell.  … It's rarely the story-idea that needs fixing.  It's the presentation element.  It's how the writer is presenting their story, the writing execution, that needs fixing.

Common Mistakes First-Time Writers Make

• The slow start.
• The sagging midsection.
• Uneven pacing.
• The “too nice” protagonist.
• The loathsome antagonist.
• Stilted dialogue.
• All characters speak alike.
• Too much detail.
• Too much research.
• Too many viewpoints.

Dodging the Mistakes Writers Make and Staying "Alive" to Write More (Susie Henderson)

• What’s that you say?
• Where are we?
• When are we?
• The battered manuscript syndrome
• Shhh! I’m plotting!
• Ex-cu-use me!
• Coincidence? I don’t think so!

http://bit.ly/KoQsnO

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Care to share your biggest writing mistakes?  Have you overcome them?