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By Lucy Adams

I bet you enjoy ratings that are so popular today. Well, another one here is just for you!

Not knowing the pitfalls, novice writers sometimes bring to the paper the first idea they stumble upon. Alas, such approach is too banal and hackneyed. I collected 10 crucial mistakes that kill any desire to read the book. This is only my opinion and my vision, so feel free to argue and blame me in comments if you find these techniques engaging and interesting.

#1 Too Much Melancholy

When I see too many pseudo-philosophical reflections on “how cruel the world is” or “no one understands me,” I have the only desire to close the book as soon as possible and never back to it again!

I absolutely do not understand why people publish such personal records. Maybe, to show how subtle they are or how rich is their inner world? I may sound cynical, but most readers do not care about these inner things.

These notes, torn from the diary soaked with tears, fortunately, are not and will never be of any literary value. As a rule, such personal thoughts are valuable only for the author, so I believe they do not have a place in public.

I urge you to respect yourself and do not turn out the soul to the amusement of the audience. Not everything that is written you can show to the crowd.

#2 Wild Exotics

It often happens that a novice author tries to put the action into a proud sovereign state of the far abroad. Well, there’s nothing wrong with it, but only until he knows the local realities, laws, customs, and norms of behavior.

In practice, novice authors consider this interesting and as an opportunity to become closer to the luminaries of the world of fiction. In general, it turns out too weak. Foreign names invented by the author, as well as the plot itself look as a big bubble ready to burst from the first slight blow.

#3 Too Ordinary

The USA as the location is the other extreme of the previous mistake, especially true for non-native writers. If in the above case, the author has managed to show a certain percentage of creativity, sending the characters, for example, to Japan or Italy, here everything is much sadder. The young writer decides not to bother and adopts the composition of the foreign books that he has read during the last week/month/year as a source of “fresh” ideas.

To avoid all this mess, please write only about what you know. And if you do not know, be sure to carefully explore the issue before describing it. Otherwise, lack of awareness will turn your work into a farce.

#4 Lack of Editing

Many novice authors post their works on the Internet, not even bothering to read them first. It leads to numerous grammar mistakes, misspellings, wordiness, and even situations when characters change their names directly in the course of the narrative.

You should now that the process of writing the text – from the first letter to the last – is only a small part of the work on the product. Without careful and time-consuming multistage finishing, all the previous efforts will be in vain.

Well, if you don’t want to edit by yourself, you can always have a peek at this website and order proofreading at the lowest price.

#5 Ignoring the Laws of Physics

Amazingly, some people seriously believe that they can write science fiction without technical literature and study the physical laws! They try to write a historical fiction, not examining the reality of life in that era. How is it possible?! Watching a couple of movies/reading several books on the topic will never be enough to write a really smooth narrative.

Not to embarrass readers, turn to the recommendation of the #3 paragraph: write about what you know, what is well-versed or finally, hire a consultant!

#6 Vampires vs. Elves

Huh, I’m really tired! Sophisticated eared elves, full of wisdom and unity with nature along with keepers of ancient magical secrets wander from the novel to the novel like gypsies. Why are people worse than elves? Why can’t they keep secrets?

I firmly believe that in most cases, any race in the fantasy saga can be easily replaced with the people and the sense of history won’t change! These ineradicable fantasy clichés are so b-o-o-o-ring that I prefer to close the book.

#7 Leaden Clouds and the Blue Sky

Descriptive speech clichés are a real scourge for an aspiring writer who often wants to beautifully describe the nature or the weather, but has not enough patience to give it enough time. As a result, poor readers every now and then stumble upon the same type of description.

#8 Morning Hangover

That’s the worst beginning I have ever read… and a Godless cliché! I don’t know why, but very and very often, novice writers experience the crisis of thought and take a morning wake-up as the beginning of the story. Next, it comes the description of the protagonist, and then, an unexpected call or the appearance of supporting roles. In the most severe cases, the morning awakening is accompanied by a harsh hangover.

#9 Suicide

Yes, the life is cruel and cold, buy why kill yourself? I wonder why young authors tend to vent depression and bad mood on heroes. My head is spinning on the number of drowned and hanged characters. I advise you not to get sentimental and avoid killing the protagonist without a serious need.

#10 Lost

Well, the 10 number of my parade is worth a few clichés, but I’ve chosen the most hated. I do not like stories in which our contemporary falls in the Middle Ages or in the fictional fairy land (at least because such stories are full of #2, #5, and #6 mistakes). But the young and inexperienced authors are so accustomed to this “trick!” I do not know the exact percentage of these novels comes to the final, but I guess not more than 5%.

I hope the mistakes above haven’t frightened you on your way to the first/second/tenth book. Yet the first stories are just the first steps, always full of mistakes and defects. Believe in yourself and the success won’t be long in coming!

Bio:

Lucy Adams is an outsourcer from edublogawards.org. She’s a generalist able to cover a wide range of topics, let alone education, writing, and blogging. Lucy is in touch 24/7, so feel free to share your ideas and get a well-though paper of the premium quality in return.

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