5 Mistakes I Made When I Started Writing

I’ve been writing for over 20 years now, and I did some reflecting recently.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and I can see now where I made some important mistakes early on.

I’m sharing those mistakes with you here, in the hopes of saving you from making the same ones.

1. Waiting to Establish an Author Platform

I didn’t know anything about author platforms when I first started writing. Granted, this was back in the late 1990s, and the whole “you have to market yourself” trend hadn’t taken hold yet. In the early 2000s, authors began to realize that if they wanted their books to sell, they’d have to do most of the work themselves.

As the years passed, I failed to take action. I focused on writing alone, believing that if I could become a “good enough” writer, I could get a traditional publishing contract. I’d worry about the “platform” stuff then.

And so it came to pass. I got my publishing contract, and after I signed it, I started getting serious about blogging and establishing a presence on social media. Unfortunately, that meant one thing—my first book was pretty much ignored.

Looking back, I see why—no one knew who I was, so why buy my book? I had no platform on which to advertise it, and no one “following” me that might be interested in checking it out.

Don’t make the mistake I did: No matter where you are in your writing career, it’s never too early to start working on establishing an author platform. What does that mean? Find a way to get people to pay attention. You can do that in three steps:

1. Find a niche that fits you and your work.
2. Ask yourself, “How can I use this niche to help others?”
3. Make sure your website, social media accounts, and other online activities reflect that niche.

Note: For more help on creating an author platform that works for you, check out the multiple award-winning book, Writer Get Noticed!

2. Failing to Submit Often Enough

Early on in my writing career, I would submit a work “maybe” five times. If it didn’t receive an acceptance, I would assume something was wrong with it and tuck it into the drawer never to be seen again.

It wasn’t until I got a little ticked at my lack of progress that I began to submit more. That change in my approach is the reason why I got my first publishing contract. I simply spent more time and effort finding and submitting to publishers.

Don’t make the mistake I did: When your story is ready to submit, make “submissions” a regular part of your writing day. Spend considerable time researching editors, agents, or publishers (whichever you’re targeting), checking their guidelines, and writing unique cover letters to each.

It takes time, but it’s the only way to get your work out there. All it takes is a change of mindset. Instead of just writing, add “submitting” to your daily job description.

3. Focusing Too Much on My Weaknesses Instead of My Strengths

If you had asked me what I did well as a writer early on, I couldn’t have told you. It would have been easy, though, to reel off everything I didn’t do so well.

I’ve since discovered that most writers are the same. They can tell you their weaknesses all day long, but ask them what their strengths are, and they’ll stammer and stutter.

We’re taught early on that we should write our stories, then get those stories critiqued so we know how to make them better. Though some critiques may mention a few good things, on the whole, critiques are heavily weighted toward what needs to be “fixed.”

As we work to become better writers, we become adept at finding what’s “wrong” with our stories and working to fix them. The problem is when you focus mostly on your weaknesses, the best you can hope for is to become mediocre. If you start from the point of your strengths, though, you start at a higher point—and with improvement, you have a chance to become extraordinary.

Don’t make the mistake I did: There’s nothing wrong with working on your weaknesses, but while you’re doing that, make sure you discover what your strengths are too. If your editors or beta reader or writing group isn’t giving you enough feedback about that, ask questions. Find out what people like about your writing, and keep track of it.

As you start to learn more about your creativity and writing style, you can work on those areas you’re already good at—and thereby become even better. That’s your ticket to writing career success.

4. Hesitating to Invest in Myself and My Work

Early on, it’s so hard to invest in this dream of writing. I hesitated every time I wanted to attend a writing conference or hire a book editor. Such things cost money, and I didn’t have a lot of it.

Still, looking back, I can say without exception that every single investment I made in my career was worth it. That means investments in paid editors, writing equipment, writing conferences, writing workshops, etc.

Even if you don’t go on to make boatloads of money from your books, investing in yourself as a writer helps you grow—not only as a writer but a creative person. In truth, it’s the same thing as investing in your education and betterment. You can’t go wrong doing it, no matter what the outcome.

Don’t make the mistake I did: Don’t hesitate to invest in yourself. Attend at least one writer’s conference a year, and when you get to where you’re not sure how to improve, hire a professional editor to help you.

Take classes and workshops, and stay open to being a perpetual student. As a writer, you will never reach a point where you don’t have more to learn. That’s one of the greatest things about it!

5. Failing to Focus on Finishing My Projects

As writers, we have a lot to learn, and many of us start from ground zero. Sure, we may have had a good English teacher or two along the way, but most don’t focus much on storytelling.

So off we go, writing away, teaching ourselves about characterization and dialogue and setting and plot, but often we neglect one very important lesson—writing a story from beginning to end.

For years I made this mistake. I started novels and didn’t finish them. I’d get confused and stuck in the middle, but rather than power through, I’d start over.

My mistake was in thinking that these stories were unsalvageable. I’ve since learned that pro writers can salvage most any story—because they’ve learned how. To become pro writers ourselves, we have to practice finishing each story while learning about things like story structure, character motivation and desire, and all the other things it takes to make a story complete.

Don’t make the mistake I did: Study story structure early on, and commit to finishing your projects, even the ones that get difficult. It may be even more important to finish the difficult ones as they may have more to teach you.

As mentioned in #4, don’t hesitate to invest in a paid editor or book doctor if you need one. You’ll learn from that person, which will prepare you to do better on your next story.

What mistakes have you made as a writer?

_{Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.}