Writer Tips: 5 Dumb Things

This is year four for me as a professional author. Naturally, I find new and amazing ways to make mistakes, but my “rate of dumb” is slowing.

Eventually, it might even stabilize or stop. #ThoughtsAndPrayersYall

With that in mind, here are five dumb things that new writers shouldn’t do, because I’ve done them for you already. You’re welcome.

1. Slow down. Look, I know your friend is a romance writer who coughs out a book every five weeks, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Any skill can be honed over time– maybe they can write quality books at a shocking rate. Maybe they’ve been at it for ten years, too, meaning that it’s more important for you to get your book correct out of the gate, rather than simply in the race. You can speed up your process as you learn and grow.
2. Don’t Waste Time. Obvious, right? Look, I love shiplap as much as Joanna Gaines, but seven hours on Pinterest looking at her houses isn’t helping you write your novel. Schedule your social media in a ratio of 8 to 2– eighty percent is planned, twenty percent spontaneous. Use apps like Crowdfire or Hootsuite to plan your social media. As a writer, you need to connect with your friends and readers. As a human, you need to have a plan. Apps can help you share yourself without getting lost in the tides of the internet. Having some discipline about your social media results in the most wonderful things of all– more books, and FAR better connections with your friends online. You learn to value the interactions, and they have more punch.
3. Get A Plan. Your writing is a business. Businesses need a model. Write. It. Down. Mine was a three year plan borrowed from someone far more successful (thanks, Denise!). It makes all the difference to have, in writing, a model with goals that explain where you want to be as a writer. It can be simple or complex. Mine was one page– six goals– and gradually expanded as I became more savvy. I’m an author coach, and I’ve yet to find a young writer with a written business plan. Start it today, and you can have it done in the time it takes to brew another pot of coffee.
4. Protect Your Work. Look, we’re all thirsty when we start, but that’s no reason to give your work away– and expose yourself to loss– in an endless stream of contests, awards, and vanity publishers. Here’s a simple test: if someone asks you for money to read your work, tell them to go to hell. If they want your work for a contest that costs money to enter, tell them to go to hell. See the trend? Professional agents don’t charge a reading fee. Ever. Real publishers (including YOU, if you’re an Indie) pay for work. Your stories are yours. Protect them with a dose of pragmatism, and you’ll thank yourself down the road.
5. Exposure Is A Lie. If you can’t eat it or spend it, it ain’t worth your time. Period. Exposure is a seductive lie and nothing more. “Bring your books to give away at our event; it’ll be great exposure.” No thanks. That’s predatory, and not worth my time. One of my passions is giving books to people. I know, I just got done stating the opposite (in a sense), but there’s a key difference: I give people books on my own terms, and because I love books. I also like people. Books are meant to be shared, but artists are meant to be paid. Use your books as gifts for people who believe in you, not people who see you as something to be exploited.*Note: I also give away books written by other authors I admire, simply because I think they’re amazing and their work needs to be shared. Who doesn’t love getting a new book by an unknown voice?

That’s my top five dumb things– hits I’ve taken that I would spare my fellow writers. If you have any questions, fire away. I’ve got a lot of dumb to share.

Cheers,

Terry