Creativity can bring out a person’s greatest ideas, or their worst, and deciphering the former from the latter can be tricky. Many novels have failed throughout time because of a writer’s inability to expand on his or her original ideas, or producing content that is just not appealing. Below are a number of common mistakes novelists make that inadvertently dooms their works, with many of them not even knowing it.
Expecting inspiration to come to you
There are countless articles online when searching for writing tips that advocate the idea of inspiration being a free-flowing, natural concept that magically hits you when you least expect it. While this is typically rare, it can happen. However, in order to write a novel with purpose, consistency, and engaging content, relying on this strategy will almost ensure problems at some point in your writing process.
A flash of a great idea can come to you in an instant, that is true, but seeing that as the only thing to base your novel off of is foolish. This will usually give you a hefty 10-20 pages of great content, only to lead to a slump in your creative mind. When seeking inspiration, establish a writing quota. Give yourself a specific number of words that you think you can accomplish in a day’s work. You’ll typically find that, in order to delve into your story’s details, you will have to go well over the number you originally set.
Constant self-criticism
It’s healthy to be critical of your own work from time to time. This allows you to correct mistakes that you may have glanced over before, or rework sections of your piece to better suit the story as a whole. However, constantly worrying about how your novel might be perceived by others and doubting your abilities as a writer will only prove your negative thoughts true, and can even develop into a fear of finishing said novel.
A simple way to overcome this is to just write. Even if what you come up with on the spot isn’t what you had in mind, continue to expand on those ideas. This can kickstart your brain into a frenzy of creative flow. Devote 5 minutes of your time to non-stop writing. Within these 5 minutes, don’t even think about what you’re writing. Just write. A similar strategy would be the page-long sentence exercise. Choose any subject that you can think of and attempt to write the longest sentence you can. These practices can effectively silence your inner critic and get your words down on the page.
Not accepting criticism
Furthermore, writers that cannot accept criticism from others, and see that as an insult or an attack, will hinder their growth as a novelist. Don’t expect every story you come up with to be loved by all. All great writers have, at some point, written less than impressive pieces. When a reader or fellow writer suggests a different approach toward a certain aspect of your story, understand that they are doing so with good intention. Learn from every mistake you make when constructing a novel, and see total rejection as a motivation to write even better, though it may sting at first. Don’t let anything of the sort stop you from writing altogether. Quitting is far worse than finishing a work you aren’t completely happy with.