All About Novel Writing

Writing a novel can be very challenging. Every writer has different struggles, but there are very common mistakes many writers make. Knowing what these mistakes are can be half the battle. Here are some things that you can avoid them from the start. Ready? Let’s go!

1) Doing It All Alone

Novel writing is rewarding and can be amazing, but not if you push yourself too hard. Don’t cut everyone out of your life and chain yourself to your computer’s keyboard. Writing does not require a vow of silence!

Many newbie writers push themselves to the limit and eliminate everything and everyone from their lives. Yes, working quietly and finding your perfect writing spot is important. But, unless you take a break to rewind and refuel, you’ll just kill off your motivation.

What makes a good novel is a writer who’s passionate and motivated. This means you’ll also need help from editors, researchers, not to mention people you’ll interview. Don’t forget some fellow writers for moral support and accountability, too! Join Bang2writers for this, HERE.

2) Not Doing Proper Research

Don’t just sit down and spill your thoughts onto paper. When you write a novel, you need to be certain of what you want to say, even if it is something unreal and made up.

Plan and research before you write. Readers can see right through your words if you are unsure of something you are saying. The best novel writers in the world spend as much time planning for the novels as they do on actually writing them.

3) Not Reading Enough

Stephen King said that if writers don’t read, they ‘don’t have the tools to write’. Reading is the greatest inspiration and tool that builds a writer’s career. You can’t write a novel without reading.

Whether it is for pure interest and love for the books, or it is for research purposes – you must find time to read. Reading is what inspires your ideas, teaches you new things, and broadens your mind.

By reading novels, you’ll learn new writing styles, get new perspectives, and see how bestselling authors became who they are. Bad novels will teach you what not to do and good novels will teach you what to do. They are all worth reading. MORE: Stephen King’s Top 10 Writing Rules

4) Rushing To Publish

Hitting ‘publish’ ASAP is very tempting. But rushing to publish is one of the biggest writing mistakes novel writers make. No one wants to read novels that are not edited properly. While your ideas might be the perfect thing for the target audience, your way of presenting them may be plain wrong. Or, there might just be a better way to say things. In the very least, there will be missed opportunities in your plot and characterisation.

So don’t do it, people! Give yourself and your story time to breathe and edit it BEFORE you publish it.

5) Not Writing For A Target Audience

If you want to be a bestselling author, you can’t write for ‘everyone’. People have different perspectives preferences. If you don’t narrow your focus to a target readers’ audience, your novel won’t have any significance.

Everyone wants to appeal to as many people as possible, but being too general about your target reader is the worst you can do. Learn who your target audience is. Lots of writers believe thinking about target audience is about ‘selling out’, but this is not true. You are writing about the story *you* love, for other people who share the same interests as you. You need to find that emotional truth.

Final Thoughts

Are you ready to become the greatest novelist there ever was? If you want to succeed, you need practice, dedication, and amazing ideas. Mistakes will teach you a lot, but they don’t have to be your own mistakes. Learn from other writers’ mistakes too. This should boost your way toward success.

BIO: Joshua Robinson is a novelist who has published over a dozen novels in the past seven years since he started in the career. Now he shares his experience via his blog and helps beginner writers. As a modern novel writer, Joshua is the perfect person to share the struggles of new writers. In his useful blogs, you’ll learn a lot about those struggles and how to overcome them.