Writing a Book for the First Time? Here Are 5 Mistakes to Avoid
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As a professional book editor, I frequently collaborate with aspiring authors who are writing a book for the first time. I love working with debut authors because that first book project is always full of excitement, thrill, and optimism.
That said, over the years I've compiled a list of five newbie writer mistakes I often see in manuscripts from first-time authors. Whether you’re still in the middle of your very first book project or you've completed a draft already, hopefully you find these tips helpful as you turn a critical eye on your manuscript.
Also, it's worth mentioning that I primarily work on novels, so that's the perspective I'm coming from. However, the mistakes can be applicable to other genres of books as well.
Let's start!
1. One-Dimensional Characters
The first mistake I see newbie writers make is having one dimensional characters where their characterization lacks depth and often fits into some kind of stereotype or trope. No one intends for their characters to be one dimensional, but it can happen without you realizing it. The easiest way to tell if your character is one dimensional is to take an audit of their actions. If they are always saving the day and doing good deeds, or if they're always causing trouble and doing bad deeds, these are indications that the character is one dimensional.
I often see these characterization patterns emerge with characters who are part of a romantic relationship. Perhaps you have a character who is head over heels in love, and they always bend over backwards to please their partner and do everything they can to support them 24/7. On the flip side, perhaps you have a character who's harsh toward their significant other, but you never explained what happened to them in the past to make them mistreat their loved one. These are both examples of characters who are lacking dimension.
An ideal, fleshed-out character should ultimately fall somewhere in the middle on the moral spectrum from good to bad, because that's how real people are. We are complex, multilayered, and flawed. So allow your characters to mirror this messy reality and your reader will feel much more connected to them.
I personally enjoy character-driven stories. If I don't connect with the characters, I'm likely not going to get deeply invested in the story. And it is much harder for me to connect with a character who's one dimensional than it is one who has multiple sides and nuanced traits that mirror traits I see in myself or in my loved ones.
Of course, you won’t have enough space to make every character multidimensional. For example, a side character that only shows up in one scene should be simply written. However, when a key character, whether they’re a protagonist or antagonist, is poorly written, it holds back the immersive power of your story overall.
2. Backstory Baggage
The second common mistake when writing a book for the first time is backstory baggage. This happens when you're trying to make your characters complex and multifaceted by giving them a traumatic past, but really you just end up overwhelming the reader with emotional baggage.
Oftentimes adding this type of backstory baggage ends up backfiring because it feels gratuitous or even melodramatic. Remember, making your characters multidimensional does not necessitate you giving them trauma. A character can be dynamic without having a tragic event in their past that changed their life trajectory, just like real people.
So, if you have a character with a deeply wounded past, ask yourself if that past has a direct impact on who they become and who they are over the course of the narrative. If the answer is no, then you might want to remove it from the narrative entirely.
If the answer is yes, and it is an important part of the plot, that’s completely valid. But be careful with how this information is presented. For instance, it probably isn't most effective for you to spend ten pages detailing a flashback of your protagonist suffering a terrible injury or learning that their parents died in a car accident, especially when it comes out of nowhere. Instead you could sprinkle in bits of the backstory where it makes sense and is relevant in the narrative.
Any character’s backstory should feel like an integral and interwoven piece of the main story, rather than something you slapped on in an attempt to give them more depth.
3. Unnecessary Details
The third newbie writer mistake I want to talk about is unnecessary details. Perhaps you have a really strong sense of what your protagonist's home looks like. As a result, you spend significant time on the page describing things like the color of the curtains or the books on their bookshelf. Well, that's great that you, as the writer, have such a clear picture of your character's world, the reader likely doesn't need or even want to know each and every one of those details.
Avoid going overboard with your descriptions. I was reading a manuscript where anytime a character entered a scene, the author described what they were wearing down to the color of each piece of clothing and any accompanying accessories. That resulted in at least two to three extraneous sentences describing the details of a character’s clothing.
These extra details can end up clogging the narrative and distracting the reader from the actual important parts of the scene. So, take a good look at your descriptive passages. If the details you include are critical to the plot, keep them. But if you're just including them for description’s sake, oftentimes you should let them go.
4. Irregular Word Counts
The fourth mistake is a crucial one, especially when writing a book for the first time. If you're interested in eventually getting your book published, take note: many times a writer's first book draft won't be anywhere near the right length. It'll either be way too short or way too long.
This is why it's so important to enlist a group of trusted beta readers or a professional editor to help you identify issues with your novel’s length and pacing, because the two go hand in hand. Often, if a novel is too short, the pace of the plot is too fast and you need to slow down to give the revelations more room to settle. And if a novel is too long, that typically means you have passages in there that don't propel the plot forward and should ultimately be cut so that you maintain a consistent and steady momentum.
The ideal length for books depends on the genre, but in my experience, most fiction novels should fall within 60,000 to 100,000 words. Anything less than 60,000 words is edging on novella territory. Novellas are tough to publish with the Big Five publishing companies, as they cost just as much to produce as a regular length novel but sell for less. That’s why publishers shy away from shorter novels. It might feel difficult to add onto scenes you already thought were perfect, but you might find that your story gets stronger after you do so.
On the other extreme, reaching the 100,000 word count is pushing the limit. You should have a really good reason and a really epic story to justify running any longer than that. Publishers and agents tend to find a hefty manuscript daunting because more times than not, there's no reason for it to be running that long. It’s also harder to sell a huge book to readers as well. It can be painful and difficult to kill your darlings, but it is essential to do if your book is too long.
5. Too Much Action or Reflection
The last mistake relates to how you handle the technical and emotional elements of your story. Ideally, you'll strike the perfect balance between action and reflection, where your plot steadily moves forward but the readers still understand how the characters are reckoning with those events.
But, unfortunately in many first draft manuscripts, the narrative leans too far one way or the other. If your story is too action heavy, you've likely invested a lot of time and energy in plot development, which often comes at the expense of character development. Remember, when your reader is interested in the events of your plot, they are also interested in your characters, who are the stars through which those events manifest. Taking time to let them reflect on events in the story, whether through first or third person, is so important to helping the reader understand what's at stake for your characters and what ramifications the plot has.
This rule goes the other way too. If your narrative relies too heavily on character reflection, it can be difficult for the reader to feel a sense of urgency or momentum. My least favorite books are the ones where I get to the last page and ask myself what even happened in the story. If you struggle to describe what happens in your book when you're explaining it to friends and family, that could be a warning sign that you haven't prioritized plot development.
Action and reflection should go hand in hand. Your narratives should ebb and flow between both to build an effective and engaging story arc.
These are the top five mistakes I see from new writers who are writing a book for the first time. Rest assured that these are all very common, and if you discover that you've made one of these mistakes, it definitely doesn't mean you should scrap everything.
Because these mistakes are evident in many first drafts, they are also all fixable as long as you maintain an open mind and positive attitude toward revision. Being able to identify and accept weaknesses in your work and then actively work to revise them is how you're going to grow and strengthen yourself as a professional author. Getting external feedback on your draft is also a key component of your writing journey, as it can be really challenging to see issues in your own words.
Thanks so much for reading and happy writing!
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