# Common Traps for Aspiring Writers



## PrinzeCharming (Sep 10, 2016)

*Good evening, 
*
Writing is a freedom of speech that everyone should exercise. As an aspiring writer, I am curious about the common traps aspiring writers face as they pursue their writing endeavors. I personally believe the best one is facing reality. You can't please everyone. Do you think that's a trap on its own? What are some common traps aspiring writers might face as they follow their aspirations? Give us some examples to explain your reasoning! This will help clarify anything said. Thanks! 

As a friendly reminder, no debates. Discuss!


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## aj47 (Sep 10, 2016)

I think there are two big traps that come in a pair, like the Scylla and Charybdis--either you think everything you write is golden or you think everything you write is fecal.  The truth is in the middle, but it's too easy to steer too close to one side or the other in believing the best/worst about your work.

Your loved ones will tend to overpraise you because they like you and they tend not to want to hurt your feelings.  So if you only show your work to these folks, you might get a false sense that it's better than it actually is.  Beware that trap.  

OTOH, the first time you show it to someone who finds anything at all wrong with it, you might come away with the impression that it's total rubbish.  Beware that trap as well.


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## Annoying kid (Sep 10, 2016)

I found "loved ones" are more likely to say you're wasting your time on nothing than to bother to even read the work. 

None of them remotely care about reading it. And it's a friggin comic, not some heavy prose.

Internet friends I made were FAR better in every conceivable way.


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## PiP (Sep 10, 2016)

I no longer show my family my work because false praise will not make me a better writer.


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## PrinzeCharming (Sep 10, 2016)

astroannie said:


> I think there are two big traps that come in a pair, like the Scylla and Charybdis--either you think everything you write is golden or you think everything you write is fecal.  The truth is in the middle, but it's too easy to steer too close to one side or the other in believing the best/worst about your work.



Yes, exactly! This is very common for aspiring writers, especially if they have never allowed anyone to read their work. Straight from their own self-worth, this trap is often the first one to experience. If they believe they write fecal matter, they'll either keep it to themselves or stop writing to invest time somewhere else. 

*"The first draft of everything is shit." *
- Ernest Hemingway


​


astroannie said:


> Your loved ones will tend to overpraise you because they like you and they tend not to want to hurt your feelings.  So if you only show your work to these folks, you might get a false sense that it's better than it actually is.  Beware that trap.



Yes, another common first trap! Great! 



astroannie said:


> OTOH, the first time you show it to someone who finds anything at all wrong with it, you might come away with the impression that it's total rubbish.  Beware that trap as well.



These people might be envious of an idea they wish they had! 


*"Don’t take anyone’s writing advice too seriously." 
*– Lev Grossman

​


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## aj47 (Sep 10, 2016)

Annoying kid said:


> I found "loved ones" are more likely to say you're wasting your time on nothing than to bother to even read the work.
> 
> None of them remotely care about reading it. And it's a friggin comic, not some heavy prose.
> 
> Internet friends I made were FAR better in every conceivable way.



I think it depends on your relationship.  My "loved ones" are a spouse and children.  Siblings and parents tend to be a different dynamic. Also, I'm thinking close friends, so internet peeps would count if they're close to you.  I used to get a lot of suckupage from internet friends who weren't writers and who were in awe that I could churn out coherent paragraphs.  This is how I know it's a trap--I stepped in it.


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## Phil Istine (Sep 10, 2016)

The family trap isn't one that I have fallen into as the only one who lives anywhere near me, I haven't seen for a few years.  However, a writing group that I sometimes attend can fill that role because it's very informal and I know some of them outside the group; there does seem to be an issue about offering meaningful critique face-to face.  So, I just accept it for what it is and give and receive critique on the internet instead. The RL group has more social life value to me than writing, but it does help me with writing on the fly - i.e. rough first draft exercises.


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## PrinzeCharming (Sep 10, 2016)

astroannie said:


> I think it depends on your relationship.  My "loved ones" are a spouse and children.  Siblings and parents tend to be a different dynamic. Also, I'm thinking close friends, so internet peeps would count if they're close to you.  I used to get a lot of suckupage from internet friends who weren't writers and who were in awe that I could churn out coherent paragraphs.  This is how I know it's a trap--I stepped in it.



I completely agree with you on relationships. The relationship always varies. Not all parents offer constructive criticism. Not all family members can offer anything constructive _but _criticism. I could never go to my sister to read my work. In fact, she found my work online once and told me, "I really liked your story." I was flattered she bothered reading it. I have never heard anything but positive commentary. My mom calls my writing, "mommy porn." My father is only interested because he knows a character is modeled after him (the narcissistic step-father in my story). I have a lot of supportive Internet peeps. However, I could never benefit from their advice other than knowing what worked really well to what stimulated their sensual sides the most. Reminder - I write soft erotica. 



Phil Istine said:


> ...there does seem to be an issue about offering meaningful critique face-to face.



I wonder if it's the fear of hurting someone's feelings by being honest.


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## Bard_Daniel (Sep 10, 2016)

One common trap I can think of is thinking that something is ready for submission, wherever that may be, when it is not. I think it is best to sit on a piece for a duration of time before going back to tinker and polish. If it's too fresh you might not see things that you otherwise would.


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## PrinzeCharming (Sep 10, 2016)

danielstj said:


> One common trap I can think of is thinking that something is ready for submission, wherever that may be, when it is not. I think it is best to sit on a piece for a duration of time before going back to tinker and polish. If it's too fresh you might not see things that you otherwise would.



Self-assurance is often a natural feeling inside. These individuals might ignore reassurance from their peers because they feel their work is finalized. This is a very popular trap for many NaNoWriMo participants. They finish their word counts and submit the final pieces thinking they're worth something. Sure, the stories are worth something when they're polished. Some aren't worth anything even after polishing. How often do we need to polish? That's all in the discretion of the writer. You are absolutely right. Although I miss my WIP, I think it's best to leave it alone until I am ready to read it over with a fresh mind.


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## escorial (Sep 10, 2016)

[video=youtube_share;F_1EiVAb_O8]https://youtu.be/F_1EiVAb_O8[/video]


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## J Anfinson (Sep 10, 2016)

A common trap I got stuck in for a long time was the editing trap. It's where you never make forward progress because you're constantly going back to change things, and in doing so it wrecks the story completely so that you feel the need to start over. The best advice I can give to beat it is to force yourself to quit caring about writing the "right" story and just write "a" story. Lose the preconceived expectations and just write. Either you'll beat it into shape when it's done, or at least you'll learn a lot from finishing it and move on to number two.


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## Jay Greenstein (Sep 10, 2016)

The single most common trap I've found is that we all leave school thinking we learned how to write. We all know we can't become a journalist, a playwright, or a screenwriter without additional training. But universally, we believe that all we need to write fiction is a good story idea, a knack for words, and a bit of experience and luck. So we charge off using the skills we honed by writing endless numbers of essays and reports (non fiction, in other words) to write fiction, without checking into what _publishers_ view as writing.

The second trap is believing that by reading fiction we're learning the tricks of writing it. What's funny is that the man who started that rumor back in the mid 19th century was a trained and successful writer who gave that advice so people wouldn't take the steps necessary to learn how to write fiction, and thus be competition. And it's still around. Reading matters, of course, for many reasons. But, we don't learn to create the product by consuming it. To create we need the process. Will eating Cajun food tell us what's in "the trinity," and how it's prepared. No more than reading a great novel will teach you what and why the writer trimmed or kept lines of prose. 

But who's to tell us to avoid those traps? Everyone we know went through the same school system and knows no more than we do. And that includes our teachers, who learned to write in the same classrooms. I certainly didn't know when I began, and wrote a lot of crap before I accidentally learned that I know damn little about how to write.

This subject is, as many of you know, a hot-button issue for me, because well over 90% of the manuscripts that were submitted to me for critique suffered those problems, and read either like a transcription of the author telling the story aloud, or a chronicle of events.

That's why I'm so adamant that the hopeful writer invest some time and a few pennies on acquiring the skills that the pros take for granted. It won't make a writer of you, but like chicken soup for a cold, it sure won't hurt.


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## kilroy214 (Sep 11, 2016)

When I was younger, I tended to write stories that would have been filed under the 'Men's Adventure' genres. I cringe going back over the stories, for I was snared in the ole "Write everything as Technical as Possible".
Scenes would read something like..."Colonel Masterson reached for the Colt Delta Elite that slept snug in his holster. But it slept no more, each trigger pull unleashed a mighty 10mm chunk of lead at the would-be assassins. The 180 grain full metal jacket did not pierce the hitman's body armor, but the impacts were powerful enough to turn his ribs to jagged shards, like a baseball bat to a window pane."

That's actually better than the stuff I wrote fifteen years ago, so imagine it worse than that.


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## Phil Istine (Sep 11, 2016)

PrinzeCharming said:


> Self-assurance is often a natural feeling inside. These individuals might ignore reassurance from their peers because they feel their work is finalized. This is a very popular trap for many NaNoWriMo participants. They finish their word counts and submit the final pieces thinking they're worth something. Sure, the stories are worth something when they're polished. Some aren't worth anything even after polishing. How often do we need to polish? That's all in the discretion of the writer. You are absolutely right. Although I miss my WIP, I think it's best to leave it alone until I am ready to read it over with a fresh mind.



I'm surprised to hear that many NaNoWriMo participants see their works as complete.  If I were to write 50,000 words in a month, it would need a lot of editing. Indeed, the editing would probably take longer than the original writing.


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## Sam (Sep 11, 2016)

The biggest pitfall I've seen aspiring writers fall into is the notion that they can create something amazing and nonpareil with their first attempt or when they've just started writing. This, I believe, comes back to what Jay mentioned above (and what I talked about in my column for the newsletter this month) about people leaving school and believing they have the ability to write. Learning to write creatively -- and skilfully -- is a process that can take years. Some people are naturally gifted at it, others have to put in overtime, but no one comes into writing with the ability to create masterpieces from the get-go.


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## Bishop (Sep 12, 2016)

PiP said:


> I no longer show my family my work because false praise will not make me a better writer.



I've decided to cut my wife off from reading my stuff for the exact opposite reason. For some reason, she never gets my work--or maybe just has really high standards?



Sam said:


> The biggest pitfall I've seen aspiring writers fall into is the notion that they can create something amazing and nonpareil with their first attempt or when they've just started writing.



Agreed--and to add onto this, I'd also say that there's a trap of new writers who think they should work on their first novel until it's perfect, but it never will be. No one's first completed work is good, I hate to say. Move onto the next one, it'll be even better, then the next will be better than that one, and so forth. Trying to polish the poop eventually just gets you slightly shiny poop. Move on and make some mud, and then some clay, and before long you're building something actually good.


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## Book Cook (Sep 12, 2016)

astroannie said:


> I think there are two big traps that come in a pair, like the Scylla and Charybdis--either you think everything you write is golden or you think everything you write is fecal.  The truth is in the middle,



And what if you are constantly vacillating between golden, fecal and the middle concerning the same work?


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## thepancreas11 (Sep 12, 2016)

Book Cook said:


> And what if you are constantly vacillating between golden, fecal and the middle concerning the same work?


Writing is like a spouse. At times, you think there could never be anything better. At times, you think that you've made a huge mistake. At times, you think you may have just settled but that might not be all that bad in the long run. The point is, as you live, so you grow. You're opinions and your tastes change and even your brain alters chemically. What you're into one day won't be what you like the next. The point of having a partner (whether it's living and breathing or your imagination) is that you learn and grow with them. Writing is something you use to make yourself a better person, really. Whether you're improving your world or an idea or wildly allowing yourself to dig into the nethers of your brain, you're growing every time you put two letters together.

A common pitfall I see is that when you make something that other people don't like, or possibly something you don't like, or you have trouble making anything at all, people start to think that they're out of the game, that maybe they should just hang up the only laptop and ride off into the world of Corporate Insurance Underwriting, or something. I've been at this for nearly a decade now (young by most standards), and I've never published a novel. Now, to the naked eye, I look as though I've done absolutely nothing over those ten years, but that's simply not true. Recognizing that, understanding how far I've come, I start to think it's all possible.

I also think that people have this inherent ability to ignore advice because they think they're right. If you were right, someone would have published you by now. If it hasn't happened, absorb ye sponges!


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## Jay Greenstein (Sep 12, 2016)

PiP said:


> I no longer show my family my work because false praise will not make me a better writer.


Ben Bova once told my son that if you have family and friends critique it's useless, because they can hear your voice as they read, which will give the work emotion that other readers won't see. "Show it to someone who doesn't like you," he said. "If you can make them tell you they like it you may have something."


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## Smith (Sep 13, 2016)

Just wanted to say thank-you for sharing that Hemingway quote, Prince.

The full quote: "Don't get discouraged because there's a lot of mechanical work to writing. There is, and you can't get out of it. I rewrote the first part of A Farewell to Arms at least fifty times. You've got to work it over. The first draft of anything is shit. When you start to write you get all the kick and the reader gets none, but after you learn to work it's your object to convey everything to the reader so that he remembers it not as a story he had read but something that happened to himself."

I can't wait to buy a version of A Farewell to Arms that actually contains all of the "other endings", the ones that he scrapped, as well as the real / final one. It's on Amazon for $10.

So that being said, I disagree with the notion that if you sit up all night trying to write, but simply don't like what's coming out of you, that you aren't a writer. Or that if you rewrite over and over, you aren't a writer.

I think that that, in itself, is a trap one can fall into. Thinking that it should come easy to you.

Personally, I can't think of a writer who was a savant. Not saying there never was one; I'm sure there were, and are people who are extraordinarily naturally gifted at writing, or storytelling. But don't compare yourself to them. Be the best writer that you can be. That leads to another trap I can think of, which is: worrying too much about how to be "better" than another writer, when perhaps it is more important to wonder how you can be better than _you_ currently are. You're here to hone your craft, not sell more cars than the other salesmen.


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## Tettsuo (Sep 13, 2016)

I think one of the most common traps is writers believing they shouldn't enjoy their own work.  The writer should LOVE their work!  It's your creation.  Write what you want to read.  If you're writing stuff you don't enjoy, stop.  Stop it now.  I love reading both of my novels and neither are perfect.  What they are, are the kinds of stories I really enjoy and love to read.

The 2nd was fully covered by Jay.  You don't become a good writer by reading.  You become a good writer by writing and editing (or having your work edited by a pro) your work.  I've been super luck with both of my novels.  My wife was a editor for a magazine, so she worked on my first novel. A normal editor would have totally given up or it would have cost me a fortune to work on the first book.  I learned SOOOO much on the first book, it's insane.  Then, I lucked out and found a book editor that fits me very well for my second (and not too expensive).  I liked her so much, I submitted my first novel to her and now that's a much better written story.

None of this learning would have happened if I didn't write the story and had the balls to have someone edit it.  Reading books on how to write or reading other writers work to learn what they're doing... no.  The best way to learn is to do it.  You don't learn how to play basketball by reading about it and watching it.  All that gives you is an idea of what's possible.


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## Newman (Sep 13, 2016)

PrinzeCharming said:


> As an aspiring writer, I am curious about the common traps aspiring writers face as they pursue their writing endeavors.



Poor story analysis


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## PrinzeCharming (Sep 15, 2016)

*Quick Reply:


J *- great advice! I know every writer has faced this trap several times while pursuing their writing endeavors. It's a natural instinct for constant change. We need to find a way to tell ourselves, "Stop! Breathe. Move on!" You're absolutely right. Don't ever worry about what's right or wrong. Worry about the time you spend worrying about the words you've already written. In the end, you'll realize you need to start worrying about the limited time you have to finish the story you've always wanted to write. 

*Jay* - I couldn't agree with you more. There's a big difference between academic writing and fictional writing. I must have written interesting research papers during my undergraduate years, but these wouldn't intrigue YA readers. That also ties with the trap of using words to impress the reader but in the end they become confusing. Always pay attention to your audience. Ask yourself, "Would - this age group - read and understand this?" I know a lot of young scholars use words to sound smarter but the context doesn't match up to them as individuals. 

That's great advice for a different POV. Often I read things from friends, and I can hear them say these things. My friends have also said this about myself as well. They can hear my voice for several keywords. 


*kilroy* - Way to make us cringe! I could relate. I think we've all experienced a technical phase. 

*Phil* - You would be surprised! Many publishers have that feeling of, "Oh shit, it's near!" It's that similar feeling most retail stores have prior to Black Friday. "The Nanos are coming! The Nanos are coming!" Paul would laugh. 

*Sam* - You're absolutely right. I believe these people are also consuming familial praise. They haven't been exposed to any other support groups but family and close friends to understand their mistakes. 
*
Bishop* - Beautiful anal-ogy! I couldn't resist. You're absolutely right. Everyone has a first for everything. Some people often hold their firsts closer than others. The first story might feel like a newborn to them. The newborn is, in fact, the first story they officially publish. Whatever happens during the fetal stages, that's a matter of time to grow and develop their stories. 

*Book Cook* - You have to prioritize your poop! Separate the corn, organize by color or size. In the end, you'll realize to change your diet, consume quality and produce quality. Quantity is never a good measure for ideas. 

*thepancreas11* - Beautifully said! In addition, you have addressed important traps that everyone may face. 

*Smith *- No problem! Thanks for sharing the rest of it! You brought up a great trap. Anyone can sit down and try to write. Never force writing. Let it flow naturally. You offer great advice. Writing is a learning process. We grow as we write, and we write as we grow. 

*Tettsuo *- I can't imagine writing something I don't enjoy reading. 


Thanks everyone for your thoughts!


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## stevew84 (Sep 22, 2016)

The biggest and most common trap that I've seen, and even fell victim to is the urge to overwrite things, and to overuse analogies. Word salad is a phrase I've heard thrown around when people tend to do those things. The story takes a back seat to the author's writing.


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## bdcharles (Sep 22, 2016)

In my experience, a very common trap for writers who do know their craft to some reasonable degree, is to adopt a sort of generic voice; one that tends to depict a rough around the edges character, or some light crime or violence, or where the narrator has this cynical, world-weary view. I'm sure we've all done it though, or have it in our futures  And it doesn't seem to be a barrier to publication.


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## bdcharles (Sep 22, 2016)

Phil Istine said:


> The family trap isn't one that I have fallen into as the only one who lives anywhere near me, I haven't seen for a few years.  However, a writing group that I sometimes attend can fill that role because it's very informal and I know some of them outside the group; there does seem to be an issue about offering meaningful critique face-to face.  So, I just accept it for what it is and give and receive critique on the internet instead. The RL group has more social life value to me than writing, but it does help me with writing on the fly - i.e. rough first draft exercises.



So true. The more I get to know people, online and off, the less comfortable I feel about critiquing their work.


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## Infel (Sep 22, 2016)

http://academicmuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/henry-millers-11-rules.png

This is currently my desktop background. It's not traps necessarily, but it is a little bit of advice on how to avoid falling into traps. Its nice to be able to read it on the screen every once in a while.


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## Mythos (Sep 29, 2016)

I tend to fall for the trap of thinking too much around the story. I recently spent a couple of weeks trying to solve a geometrical problem and trying to classify a number of possible results. Turns out there were 100 million possible results and I had to find another way around the problem.

Working on the background of the story, while entertaining and possibly useful to the writer, can easily lead to procrastination from writing the story itself.


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## Ultraroel (Sep 29, 2016)

Yes!
This is a very common one, especially in fantasy.

To keep building a world and want to INCORPORATE every aspect of this world into your story, to make sure your reader fully understands how cool and awesome your world is.
TO keep building building building and correcting and making it more awesome, without actually writing something.


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## Smith (Sep 29, 2016)

Ultraroel said:


> Yes!
> This is a very common one, especially in fantasy.
> 
> To keep building a world and want to INCORPORATE every aspect of this world into your story, to make sure your reader fully understands how cool and awesome your world is.
> TO keep building building building and correcting and making it more awesome, without actually writing something.



Yep, it's really quite important to remember to just tell the story. Your readers only need to know the rules about magic in your fantasy world, as they pertain to understanding and believing in your story that takes place in it. The rest can be left to the conjecture and imagination of the reader, which is really a big part of the fun. Just make sure that as the creator, you don't "paint yourself into a corner".

I don't think there's anything wrong with continuing the world-building process behind the scenes. Just don't let it distract you from writing. Find a balance.


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## Olly Buckle (Sep 29, 2016)

Vanity publishers, they are a nasty trap, anyone who offers to publish for money is a wrong 'un, if it is any good they will pay you. I will  exempt people like Lulu who 'self publish'.

Showing people something and asking for an opinion, they may not have one, but they will be polite and think of something to say. Put on the spot that may come out as "Perhaps you could ..." and the person desperate for approval finds themseves facing what seems the opposite just because they wanted something to say about it. Let people read, but don't prompt a response.


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## Ptolemy (Sep 30, 2016)

The thing I fell into a bit when writing my WIP novel is overkill on imagery. Sometimes I feel like the reader wants to know how EVERYTHING looks, down the numbers of buttons on the remote. If your writing fiction this can drastically increase the development of the plot, which readers are more likely to put down a book if the plot doesn't flow within the first 3 chapters. You can always have a sub plot to circumvent this, but in my experience most readers want a concise plot that doesn't require 10k words to start up.


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## Patrick (Oct 1, 2016)

Bishop said:


> I've decided to cut my wife off from reading my stuff for the exact opposite reason. For some reason, she never gets my work--or maybe just has really high standards?
> 
> Agreed--and to add onto this, I'd also say that there's a trap of new writers who think they should work on their first novel until it's perfect, but it never will be. No one's first completed work is good, I hate to say. Move onto the next one, it'll be even better, then the next will be better than that one, and so forth. Trying to polish the poop eventually just gets you slightly shiny poop. Move on and make some mud, and then some clay, and before long you're building something actually good.



Yes and yes. When I let my father read my work, he always says the same thing: "It's good writing, but why don't you keep it simple? Just tell the story." The irony there is that he makes all kinds of exceptions for the authors he reads, but he's always been very critical of my own work, to the point it's actually ridiculous to listen to his critique at times. He was trained as a journalist, and I learnt to write poetry before anything else. We have conflicting ideals, and though he can sometimes make good suggestions, asking him to read my work often doesn't do our relationship any good. The criticism you get from those closest to you can be the most damaging, because objectivity is always impossible for them. They try too hard to be critical, more often than not, because they can't achieve the neutral distance they would when reading something by somebody they don't know. This is very much a case of a prophet not being without honour except in his home town. To draw on another Biblical picture for aspiring writers, it's often best to go into your own writing space and close the door. You need to protect and incubate your ideas. Writing is hard enough without those close to you tearing you down while thinking they're doing you a favour.

I wish I could explain to people that there is no such thing as "just telling the story" short of craftsmanship. The idea that there is is one of the major pitfalls for aspiring writers. To be worth anything as a writer, you have to go into the trenches and refine your story-telling and prose for many years. If you just try to tell the story, your work will lack quality and imagination. You have to push yourself. It's not about writing for hours on end every day; it's about approaching your work intelligently. It takes time.


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## JustRob (Oct 1, 2016)

I'm not experienced enough to know what traps there are for aspiring writers but I do enjoy creating traps for aspiring critics who just get knee-jerk reactions to things without properly committing to understanding the work. I am pleased to say that I haven't caught out many people on WF like that, but then there isn't the professional pressure on assessors here.

One novice writer's trap that I do suspect exists from my own early experience is only writing the story. For a story to be complete there has to be a lot more in the writer's mind than appears in the story and the best way to get that straight is to write it down as well. I have written far more about the characters in my novel than is mentioned in the work itself because that ensures that I know them better than any reader and can make their every action plausible. I have written scenes that aren't in the story although they could have been at the time of writing. I just wrote them to better understand the characters and left thinking about whether they would get into the story until later. This reflects what has already been said about world building, that there is a temptation to include details that the reader doesn't need to know. This doesn't mean that the writer doesn't need to know them though. Even though I don't describe the layout of a building at all precisely in my story I know it in detail in my mind, so every action in the story takes a plausible length of time, such as someone going from one place to another while something else is happening. With the central building in the story I even drew pictures of it and calculated its dimensions, but these are never mentioned in my writing, only the consequences of them. Therefore I would suggest that a common trap would be assuming that everything that one writes should be published and that anything written but not included in the finished work was a waste of time. It was writing in this way that made me realise that the story in my novel actually had enough links embedded in it to enable me to continue writing a whole trilogy that would be entirely integrated. That is the benefit of building a world behind the scenes. I suspect that successful writers do a lot of groundwork of this kind which the reader never sees.


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## dale (Oct 2, 2016)

PrinzeCharming said:


> *Good evening,
> *
> Writing is a freedom of speech that everyone should exercise. As an aspiring writer, I am curious about the common traps aspiring writers face as they pursue their writing endeavors. I personally believe the best one is facing reality. You can't please everyone. Do you think that's a trap on its own? What are some common traps aspiring writers might face as they follow their aspirations? Give us some examples to explain your reasoning! This will help clarify anything said. Thanks!
> 
> As a friendly reminder, no debates. Discuss!



vanity is one trap. lack of confidence is the other. just find  your voice and scream it from the pages.
if  you  can do  that? the  rest  is all ambition and drive or the lack thereof.


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## Annoying kid (Oct 2, 2016)

Listening to critique from activists instead of storytellers would be a big one. Most are not storytellers. Most are not artists and don't know the first thing about making a story or design compelling. Yet they expect you to magically do it while following their critique.


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## voltigeur (Oct 2, 2016)

I think the biggest trap is advice period, no matter how well meaning. When I see new aspiring writers come out looking for advice what they get is unbelievable. 

They are either told to "just write" as if porse worthy of Hemingway and Mark Twain are going to fall out their ass without effort. 

Or! 

Writing is extremely hard and there all these abstract rules you had better follow if you even want to be considered for publications. Oh and the ones like this that can't seem to get published themselves; swear up and down they spend hours on their art "just for themselves." 

The third category are the "rules breakers". If it wasn't for how they miss-guide new writers; they would be amusing. They don't even know what the rules are, let alone why they are breaking them. 

The problem is there is no one is giving advise in a contextual way. If you do, then every one is there acting like you slapped the Pope. 

When I give advise to a new writer, I remember that it is not about me. I try to help that writer find what works for them! It means trial and error and just because something didn't work for one writer doesn't mean it won't work for another. I tend to be very left brained, when I try to help a writer that is obviously more right brained than I am I try to suggest things that don't work for me but may be what works for them. 

Hope this helps!


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## NicK29 (Oct 3, 2016)

Hmmm, I would think one trap would be being too hard on yourself and your story ideas. We all have a unique point of view - don't discount how interesting it is to others!


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## Olly Buckle (Oct 4, 2016)

Seeing your 'serious' writing as a separate thing and writing any old how in other contexts. If you take all your writing as serious, check over your posts in the procrastination section for example, you will develop good habits that serve you well, if you don't your bad habits will spill over into places you don't want them.


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## Theglasshouse (Oct 4, 2016)

We all write or "speak" outside of context, but good intentions can be judged. Labeling can create confusion in that we all fit under one category. The attitude of calling someone who doesn't write is doing a minor contribution that I don't think is intelligent, because generalizing is unhelpful as is this way or habit. Those who do their research on how to write can cut time. But that falls under advice and is a statement many could very well agree with. Just dont label these writers as it could be a disservice and we don't know whom we are referring to we all do this for fun and for having a passion.


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## Tettsuo (Oct 4, 2016)

Action does not mean violence or chase scenes only.


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## Annoying kid (Oct 5, 2016)

Don't be too minimalistic and functional with writing. There's a thinking in writing communities that one should ruthlessly trim the fat with editing. Well without fat we die. And so do stories. Don't take the path of least resistance and just have characters sit and voice the essential information or do the minimum to get to the end or make the scene work. Scenes can work on multiple levels.  Attention must be paid to the experience of reading it. Do something creative with the characters, use the environment, and be unconventional so the audience can't predict it and don't be on the nose with delivery. When scripting act 3 of my story I intentionally didn't use the line "I love you" once. It's generic and it's too easy. Have lines that are personalized to the story and the characters.


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## Terry D (Oct 5, 2016)

One trap many aspiring writers fall into is believing people who say, "There are no rules." No, the S.W.A.T (Special Writing Attack Team) is not going to show up at your door and confiscate your word processor for using a couple of 'ly' adverbs, or for telling instead of showing, but, just because the 'rules' everyone loves to hate aren't actually laws doesn't mean there aren't penalties for breaking them. Rather than pound a metaphorical desk and scream that there are no rules, we should be telling young writers that there are no _absolutes_. In general those 'ly' adverbs do weaken the sentences in which they are used. In general, showing is better than telling. and the specific is better than the general. Learn the 'rules', and learn how they are meant to help your writing. Then, when you choose to violate them -- and you will -- it will be with purpose.


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## Bishop (Oct 5, 2016)

Terry D said:


> One trap many aspiring writers fall into is believing people who say, "There are no rules." No, the S.W.A.T (Special Writing Attack Team) is not going to show up at your door and confiscate your word processor for using a couple of 'ly' adverbs, or for telling instead of showing, but, just because the 'rules' everyone loves to hate aren't actually laws doesn't mean their aren't penalties for breaking them. Rather than pound a metaphorical desk and scream that there are no rules, we should be telling young writers that there are no _absolutes_. In general those 'ly' adverbs do weaken the sentences in which they are used. In general, showing is better than telling. and the specific is better than the general. Learn the 'rules', and learn how they are meant to help your writing. Then, when you choose to violate them -- and you will -- it will be with purpose.



Damn, Terry. You da real MVP, bro.


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## Annoying kid (Oct 5, 2016)

Unironically putting your characters through Mary sue tests. Don't do it. It's a waste of time at best. At worst the character loses traits and is depowered too much. This isn't an RPG and characters don't have to be equal. I don't care if the test says "orignal fiction", it's not for you unless it's as a joke.


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## msjhord (Oct 5, 2016)

Mary Sue tests?  Enlighten me, AK.

As someone whose recently (within the past year) returned to her first love of writing, I can say that I haven't shared anything from my current WIP with family or non-WF friends yet.  Primarily because I don't want any familial or friendly bias to cloud their judgment.  Plus, I want them to see it when it's ALL done.  Like just before it goes to a publisher or something.  Maybe that's a little odd, but it's just how I roll.  I used to share, back in my high school and college writing days, with anyone who would sit still long enough.  Not now.

I have the tendency to be a little hard on myself (as Bishop can attest -- dude, I still have your words of wisdom pinned up next to my computer screen).  And each time I feel that ogre rise up inside me, I try to keep Hemingway's words quoted above in mind and trudge onward.  Still, there are times that those words fall on blind eyes.  Like right now -- had a seizure a last Thursday and my creativity is in the gutter right now.  It will probably be that way for another week, as it usually takes me a full two weeks to "reset."  My desire to write is there, but the cognitive cohesion, if you will, ain't.  So, in the meantime, I'm reading like a fiend and keeping a pocket notebook handy for the random thought that crosses my path.


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## Annoying kid (Oct 5, 2016)

Stuff like this: http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm

and

http://wiccananime.com/amslt/amsltindex.html

Quote: 
"On top of that, especially with the longer tests, it really doesn't take much to get a high score. On this test 50+ is the top score you can get and, even though each question has a different value, one only needs to check the first 17 boxes to be at 52. That might sound like a lot, but when you realize that the first section -which everyone must do and then at least one of the other parts- has 93 questions as well as some which have multiple sub-questions, that is not very much at all. In the first section there are 30 check boxes by the end of question 10 alone. I went through and just randomly selected several of the ones most people might answer yes to and was already up to 26 before I even got past the middle of the first section; only a few more and I am at 30+ score: Fanfiction authors beware - Mary's on the loose)."


 50+
Kill it dead.  Or make sure you read the instructions properly (some  people don't do this, which causes freakishly high scores) and take the  test again.25 or more boxes must be checked for this.


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## msjhord (Oct 5, 2016)

Got it!  Thanks!


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