Tips and tricks for new authors

Things to avoid

As a reader who also writes, I'd like to talk about some things that can and probably should be avoided.

Dumbing down your MC for easy plot

If there is anything I cannot STAND when reading it is when the author ruins a character because it'll give them easy plot devices. This could also fall under cliche. So, you're reading a book and you are starting to like the MC, they can be a bit predictable, so what? That is until they come to a point when they need to make a decision. Now they are obviously going to choose wrong because that is the easiest way to introduce conflict and drama. BUT this is okay sometimes. However, most of the time it is over done and done incorrectly that all it makes you want to do is shut the book or turn off the tv.

Yes, people are dumb. I know. But people are not usually THAT dumb. Yes, people make mistakes but there is a thin line between realistic stupidity, or simply making a mistake and an author throwing it in for plot. Guys you can make conflict in your book without having to make your MC do something completely out of character. I know it is easy to write your MC asking his/her girlfriend/boyfriend/lover to reveal/do something that they know is going to be most likely dark or shocking and then have your MC run away and be mean to them even though they ASKED to know/see it. 

Please stop doing that. You are literally abusing your other character because you could not think of anything better to write that will add drama. There is nothing wrong with characters being understanding. You can instead do that, have the MC understand, they don't have to accept it fully right away, and not leave or be overly mean to the person they are supposed to LOVE. THEN introduce something else like say another character was trying to split them up the whole time and was feeding into the MC's fears about their lover but when the MC accepts them, the other person causes drama. OR just simply do something else.

ALSO the "I was only a bet to you?!?!?" plot point is dead. Stop beating it, stop using it. It is God awful and over done. I am sure most of you read those parts and go "Honestly, it really isn't that bad. Yes it started off as a bet but they have genuinely shown and proven that they love the MC so the MC should trust them over petty people bringing it up months later because they are jealous." Because for ONCE I want the MC to go "So what? If it was just a bet they would have broken my heart MONTHS ago."

Normalize trust, understanding and SMART characters.

Buzz words and pop culture

Okay, this is going to upset some people, but here we go. Stop putting cuss words in literally EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE. You destroy the impact those words bring. Once you say it, it instantly fizzles out and the oof moment is gone. Yes we all cuss all the time, well some of us like me, but there is a time and a place for words like that in literature. Use them strategically to convey powerful emotions, or maybe just occasionally for dialogue IF it is modern day, and/or if the character is a very vulgar person/ are known for cussing all the time.

Stop referencing name brands and movie/book titles or literally anything that will age your work. It literally time stamps your book so when someone in the next thirty years reads it, they will be like, "what is a Fortnite?" You don't need those things, they are jarring and most of the time break the readers concentration. Most people read to escape reality, to get away from every day things and to live through another person's eyes. I know you want to add brands because it seems cool, but it really ends up being tacky. (that's my personal opinion please don't get mad at me.)

Romanticizing abuse(verbal, emotional or physical) and mental illness

Look, this is not cute, it is not edgy, and it is not okay. Yes, it is done a lot. But that does not make it right, nor does it mean you should. People who read your stories can be of all ages, and well children and teenagers don't need to grow up thinking a lover abusing them means they love them. There is nothing wrong with having a "bad" character who isn't that nice to the MC inevitably fall in love with them. What is wrong is having the MC choose the character that has gaslit them, made them feel inadequate, isolated them, physically hurt them "accidentally" or not, and or ruined their lives. People can be cold, people can be unfeeling at first and maybe even harsh, but if they GROW and apologize for how they treated the person BEFORE they got in a relationship with them then that's okay.

Show abuse for what it really is. Show the character who is being abused seeing the red flags and decides they deserve better and LEAVE. The drama of that can be the abuser won't let them go and continues to bother them and/or their new non-abusive lover. I know, from experience, that it can take the person abused a long time to get away, or may never get away from their abuser, but that is partly because society, sometimes, shows abusive relationships as romantic and normal. Break the stigma, show those people who are scared to leave that they can, that they don't deserve it and they have a choice. Show the teens healthy relationships and condemn the abusive/toxic ones. And remember, women can be abusers too.

Stop using mental illness as a prop in your stories. Coming from someone who has been diagnosed with progressively worsening depression since I hit puberty at the age of 10, I can promise you it pisses me off when I see people romanticize my illness. Representation, when done correctly, is amazing for people with mental illness. It breaks my heart when I read books where the MC feels/ struggles exactly the same as me but it also helps me relate to them. It gives them depth, and makes them feel real. But when done wrong it only causes harm.

Showing people with mental illness abusing their lovers and using their illness as an excuse instead of apologizing and showing visible discomfort and disappointment in them self is sick. When I am having a bad day I have issues controlling my anger, and sometimes I snap. BUT I apologize instantly and feel terrible for while. Normalize accountability.

Stop using mental illness as an excuse for wanting to write terrible characters who project their feelings and anger onto others and never own up to their own problems. Stop promoting that behavior. Show people trying so hard to cope, doing their best to feel better even though they will never truly get better. Most of us actively battle with ourselves daily, we do not need to pick up a book and see our illness used to excuse abusers or toxic behavior.   

Over explaining

Show, don't tell. We have heard this a billion times, but what does it mean and why is it so important? Well, we all do it, even though we genuinely don't mean to. Most of the time this can be remedied by editing and rewriting. But for new people, it may be hard to see what exactly is so wrong.

So the over exposition happens when you start to sum things up instead of just outright describing them happen. Yes we all have parts we want to go by quickly and sometimes that's okay, but most of the time it is just far too fast paced and kinda boring. If you think something needs to go by so fast in a short summary, most of the time it should be fleshed out just enough so it doesn't feel like the reader is being told but rather shown. I'll give some examples.

Before:

We were outside, then moved inside the house when it started raining. We had gotten soaked and just stood there without any plan.

After:

We had been outside for hours, talking about nothing as the breeze occasionally blew across us, unaware of our surroundings or how much time had actually passed. We were so focused on each other that we completely ignored the rain clouds creeping up from our left.

"Do you hear that?" I asked scrunching my eyebrows, trying to listen.

"Hear what?" He looked at me funny.

The sound of small rain drops softly hitting the ground was growing closer and, before we knew it, the sky broke apart releasing everything it had on us. We were soaked, laughing as we ran inside for cover even though it was too late. We stood in the entrance of his his house dripping water all over the floor, looking at each other smiling not knowing what to do.

Now, some of you might not like the after. But sometimes just a little bit more information really paints the picture and builds the tension (if that is what you were trying to do). But when you summarize too much, you leave out a lot. And, in the after, I even included a bit of dialogue to break up the descriptions. Now we left out everything they had been talking about previously because it did not matter, but them getting to the next place did.

Everything in your book should be important, it should need to be there. Nobody likes filler, nobody likes meaningless chapters that were best left out all because you wanted to make it longer. Transitions from place to place can be short, but not too short. Take the time to describe whats around your character as they walk/ride to their next location. Maybe use the time to have them comment on some things that happened in the scene before. Use that space to help immerse your reader.

Or simply just put something like this ( . . . / ~~~ ) between different scenes to signify you are skipping ahead. But don't do that too much either, or your story will be choppy.