What are some major misconceptions that amateurs have about writing?

I think it's important for every writer to know or remember that what you can write will always be better than what we have written. I think to do this professionally you don't stop and pause to see how you're doing. You keep working and failing horribly until you're not. Yes, we have to impress the gatekeepers and somehow make our way in, but people do make it out of slush piles. It took me so much work to me almost good enough to barely be make it. I still take classes on different forms of writing and literature. I read and I push myself. To do this, you have to be as good as known writers. They're competition but also our best teachers.

 

Interesting... See, I think it always does come down to the quality of writing, and I say this across all genres. That's always where I'm pushing myself to improve. Something not well written is very unlikely if not impossible to sell. There are always great stories, but there aren't always great writer. What we are selling is the writing, not the idea.

I guess your take on it would be another misconception from my point of view. I believe it's all in the execution, which all comes down to the actual writing. But your experience might be much different from mine.

 

I do think good writing is important and I do think exceptional writing gets rewarded, but it's also not necessary. There are plenty of mediocre authors making a living.

 

One of the biggest misconceptions about writing is that it's easy.

 

Dan Brown managed just fine.

 

This, I think, is the most frustrating thing I see on this forum. People asking "should I do this?" or "can I do that?" - either looking for other people to tell them what to write, or validation for their idea. A lot of people haven't figured out yet that it's not the idea, it's how you use it.

 

Weeeelllll....

I draw upon an analogy. I used to do musical theatre workshops run by a professional director. We had people of all abilities, from people who were doing it for fun to people hoping to becoming professionals. The director would give us all encouragement. What he would never do was compare us, or tell us we were crap.

Now, in an environment were everyone is striving for personal improvement, that's fine. But in a professional environment, or in a school for people who are seriously looking to become professional singers and actors? I'm not convinced that it's useful.

Then again, Fred Astaire's first audition (supposedly) resulted in the evaluation "Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.".

 

That they've already mastered the language they write in to perfection.) No matter how much you know, as a foreigner or as a native speaker - there's always a lot more to find out.

...Then coming back and reediting it for the hundredth time. Aaah!

I hate to agree with this, but let's embrace the reality. Ouch.

Some people do this because they're lost in all the recommendations (which leave them with nothing they are "allowed" to do) or afraid of doing something wrong (like offending someone etc.). It's understandable, and yet it can be frustrating, yes.

 

It's not just in writing though, which drives me crazy. It's people in ALL things who can't seem to make any decisions on their own. Should I read this book? Should I play this game? Should I buy this thing? It isn't people inquiring about the quality of the product or the usefulness of the features, it's people who just want to go along with the crowd and do what everyone else is doing.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

 

Yeah, but if you asked those authors, "How's it feel to be mediocre?" Chances are you're gonna get a funny look and told to get bent. Anyone who does something they care about, doesn't want to be mediocre, they want to excel. That's the whole point. It's just got a different definition depending on who you're asking.

Some see excellence as getting published and selling. Some see it as just having casual appreciation for what they've written. Some see it as being satisfied in themselves with what they've written, or any combination of these or ones I haven't mentioned. In my opinion, if you're satisfied with mediocrity in any aspect of your life you need to watch Rocky and listen to lose yourself by Eminem. I can't imagine not striving to be the best you can be.
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As far as misconceptions,

That one right there.

 

As someone who has done this I can say I was just using the board for some feedback. I was fully aware that it wouldn't mean anything until I wrote the stories. I was just interested what people thought. We are on a writer's forum you know.

You could say the same (pompous) thing about feedback. 'Well people just haven't figured it out, they need to be their own critics!' Yes, but it's also nice to get outside feedback.

 

Social media?

Well, there are people who are completely delusional about their skills. Add an enormous ego and lack of self-awareness, and there you have it. I might be in the delusional group myself, but I'll never forget what my ex-friend said once: "Everyone can make crap and be happy about it. And I don't understand why my stuff (self-designed jewelery) doesn't get sold!" If she only cared to check if she wants to improve her craft.

Edit: OK, I thought that might sound like arrogant whining, so I'd like to make things clear a bit. The girl had dropped jewelery making hobby months after that talk and had become a graphic designer. She is doing a much better job and seems to be more satisfied with her current occupation too. Nevertheless I feel bad about the years she wasted, stuck with this idea, pushing away any kind of help offered, not willing to make progress and, what's worse, being fine with it.

 

I'm sorry, I don't see a good justification behind it.

We all know that any story can be good, it depends on the execution. Many, particularly beginner writers, think that having a good idea will result in a good story, and end up NOT writing a story that could be brilliant because people have been down on their idea.

Or worse, they try to shoehorn their idea to fit the "rules" they've learned. Hence, "should/can I do this". Other people can't write your story for you.

As for feedback, well, it's difficult for most people to come up with several points of view. Yes, you need to be your own critic, but you need different opinions.

 

I was thinking the same. I was a keen oil painter throughout my teenage years so when I thought about how I would get published, I thought it strange that I'd even bother with a publisher, in the same way I wouldn't finish a painting then try and find a company to sell my art. I'd rather do it myself.

 

That going from being a writer to an author is easy and you can do it after writing just one book. I see fourteen year old's on another forum talking about how they are editing their work to send off to a publish in a month. Not saying it can't happen but...
That you don't need to understand how to edit or the business before attempting to enter it (lots of teens know nothing about it and don't bother to learn).
That once your published that's it. You'll get a living from it and attention. That's probably my biggest one. I know quite a few published authors, some have published several books by traditional methods. But you wont heard of any of them. They all have day jobs and IF they sell anything in a month it's just a bonus on their normal wage.

 

Good point but to write a book to the market is almost impossible or so I've been told because the market is constantly changing. And how to you even know what's the "trend" in the market quick enough to think up an idea, write it, edit it and find an agent? If anyone knows the answers to these questions please share with me because it seems like an impossible task unless you can see the future.

 

That third one is hilarious!

 

For me, I am hoping to sell one. If someone sees it, picks it up, and buys it and reads it, that'll do me, I will be a success then, anything else is a bonus

 

Yeah right, remember: "The guitars all right John, but you will never make a living at it"

 

Probably to look to the past. What has always been popular? Crime, thriller, romance.

 

Writing to market doesn't mean writing a trend. It means knowing and understanding what readers want in your subgenre and niche and giving them that. I'm writing an age gap romance. The popular stories all have similar qualities. Imbalance of power, the younger female main character has some issue that the older male can help with, there are well defined stated consequences to them being together from the start of the book, first person shifting POV, etc.

 

This could have been a good thread but it looks like people just want to vent about other writers and other people that are different. Half the responses are fair points about writing but the others are just an excuse for a whinge fest. I don't know, maybe people are getting lockdown fever? Try taking a step back and being constructive. If you have forgotten how to behave on a writing forum the mods could remind people?

 

A lot of this comes down to the Dunning/Kruger effect. Here's a graph:



You can't see what makes an artist really good at what they do until you're approaching being that good yourself. Immense confidence and arrogance tends to go hand in hand with ignorance about a subject. Absolute beginners can't see how good the professionals are, or how bad they are. They're incapable of seeing the mistakes in their work and think they're on a par with or even better than the greats. It's not until they start getting a good education in it that they begin to move from arrogance toward humbleness. Some of us went through this stage very early, almost when we were kids, and so ignorance and arrogance were just par for the course, but when somebody comes to it later in life it really shows. And of course today's self-entitlement attitude can make many people resist learning or taking a more realistic look at themselves and their skill level.

 

That you don't need to be a reader to be successful. There are a lot of people that become interested in writing because they were inspired by tv, manga, video games, or whatever. Which is fine, of course (we've all been inspired by those things), but some of them are not readers and are unwilling to become readers and they don't think it's obvious in their writing but it is.

 

What lead to that conclusion? Fantasy is one of the most popular genres and makes over 590 million in books each year while article writing is well known to pay slave wages.