Marketing Insights

10 Fiction Writing Mistakes & How To Avoid Them in 2024

Gnome Book Writing
Posted Under : Book Writing

Jul 06, 2023

Writing a book, especially based on a fictional story, is not child’s play. Fictional writing is like playing a movie but instead of pictures and video clips, it is just words written on a blank piece of paper. And that too, while coming up with something entirely unique or different so that the readers would be able to enjoy your story.

But worry not. Let’s hear from these specialist writers from Gnome Book Writing company on what they have to say about ten of the most common mistakes that fiction writers make.

Find out more about the Gnome Book Writing company and its award-winning book-writing products at the end of this article.

Being Too Basic

A common mistake in fiction writing is not having a unique conflict to keep the story interesting. Another mistake is creating characters that lack depth and complexity. To avoid this, give your characters distinct personalities, backstories, and newly driven motivations that shape their actions and decisions.

Say that you’re writing a story about a princess who is destined to save the world through her superpowers. But you don’t have to make it seem like you have ripped off the plot from “Frozen”, you can always give your characters new backstories and personality elements to avoid being too basic.

Stereotyping Everything

Writers nowadays seem to stereotype characters, places, and timelines. Of their stories. Doing this not only gives their stories an unoriginal and boring look but it kills the creativity of the author himself and the curiosity of the readers. You can always bring new types of characters and places with a different atmosphere revolving around them.

For example, you are writing a story about a specific family in the neighborhood that is facing racism. You don’t always have to make those people black. They can come from an entirely different ethnicity. And even the other houses in the neighborhood don’t have to be all white. Or heck, the story doesn’t even have to take place on Earth, or even in the present timeline!

Straight Forwarding the Story

While writing a fictional story, authors sometimes seem to spoon-feed each and every aspect of the story to the readers, leaving nothing to the imagination. To put it simply, sometimes the stories seem way too straightforward, missing out on several opportunities of character development or added elements to the story. To avoid this, make sure that your story and your characters have a coherent and mysterious vibe around them.

For example, there is a side character in your story who is a friend, and she is always a bit isolated and less talkative than the group. Make sure to capture the reader’s curiosity about getting to know her more and then at some point in the story, tell the readers more about her. In this way, your story would have more elements to discover.

Editing Simultaneously

Honestly, what is wrong with editing your work simultaneously as you’re writing it? I mean it is going to save time and trouble in the end, isn’t it? Well yes, but editing your writing simultaneously while you are composing the first draft is never a smart choice. Because editing does not only include grammatical and technical linguistic mistakes, but when you see your own writing in a new light a week later, or maybe several days later, then you might come up with something different that could be an addition or an improvement on the previously written work. To overcome this trouble, it is best to leave this to professionals. When you are done writing your work, you can always hire expert editing and improvement services and let your average work shine. Hence, you should always edit your work at least after a significant period of time has passed. Especially when you use some credible rephraser for corrections and to spice up the overall expression with varied tones and writing style.

Not Being Figurative

Authors who spoon-feed or straightforwardly tell their tales often fall victim to another big mistake, which is not being figurative or not being able to paint the pictures in the reader’s mind as they are reading the story. Being figurative simply means using such words, phrases, sentences, and storytelling tactics through which you are able to make the readers imagine and visualize the story as they go.

For example, there is an emotional scene in your story where there is a funeral. You don’t just have to skip through the whole thing by saying that the people were sad, they buried him, everyone gave their speeches and then they headed home. You can make it more imaginative and connective by sharing the details as graphically as possible. Like describing the emotions on the people’s faces and giving a little insight on what memories are flashing in the main character’s mind as they are looking at the dead person’s face.

Sticking to the Initial Plot

There is no doubt about the fact that before writing a story, you should always create a framework and a well-defined plot that is going to be followed throughout the whole story. But at the same time, it is not entirely necessary to follow the plot by hook or by crook. You will only be able to experience or analyze the story as you are writing it. Hence, if at any point you feel like a certain element or twist of the story can be improved or deleted, then you should go for it.

For example, your story includes a mad scientist who is making crazy inventions, battling with unearthly criminals, and whatsoever. But while you’re writing about it, you feel like there should be some personal elements of the scientist involved in the story as well. So, you can always add a back story or some family members that he has hidden from the world in order to protect them.

Being Cliché

Clichés are overused phrases and ideas that can make your writing sound unoriginal. To avoid this, try to come up with fresh, unique ways of describing characters, settings, and events.

For example, if you’re writing about a superhero squad who are using their individual abilities to take down the criminals, you don’t have to make them orphaned or mistreated in any way. Superheroes don’t have to have an unfortunate backstory.

Rushing or Dragging the Tale

Poor pacing can lead to a story that drags on or rushes through important events. To avoid this, vary the pace of your story by using dialogue, action, and description to create a natural flow. While it’s important to create vivid settings and images, the excessive description can slow down the story and bore readers. Don’t convey too much information at once, spread out the information throughout the story and reveal it slowly.

For example, if you are gonna tell each and every element of your protagonist’s personality and backstory in the first chapter of the book, the readers are going to be confused by absorbing too much information at once as well as uninterested in reading any more of it.

Skipping the Drama

Some authors, while writing a fictional story, feel like they should avoid any sort of dramatization because it’s a book and not a TV series or a movie that is being played on television. Although it’s completely wrong! Argumentatively, written stories are way more difficult to convey than the stories being shown to you through graphics or clips. Because writers have to make the readers visualize and imagine each and everything through words and only words. Hence, never be afraid to add a little bit of drama here and there and there, and describe every minute detail regarding the events that are taking place.

For example, if your main character’s parents died in a fire when she was little, then make sure that at some point in the story, you do recall the whole event in detail through the character’s flashbacks or perhaps a dream. This will allow the readers to form an emotional connection with the character and the story.

Being Afraid to Experiment

Authors, especially beginners, try to stick to the things that are already being done or the kind of stories that are already being told with a little bit of innovation. Now that might seem to get them started in their journeys, but nonetheless, you should never be afraid to experiment with a new type of genre or an entirely new fragment of your imagination.

Try to experiment with the characters’ appearances and personalities. Or maybe the timeline and setting where the story takes place. It might seem risky, but in this way, your writing would seem original as well as intriguing to the readers as they would get to experience something new.

Conclusion

Damn, that is a lot of work for something as basic as writing a book. Well, that’s because again writing a book is a very challenging task. Hence, beginning authors like you should always consult with expert and specialist professional book writers for hire through book writing companies.

One of the best of the bunch is the Gnome Book Writing company. Gnome Book Writing is desired for its comprehensive research, unmatched creativity, professional authors, affordable packages, unlimited revisions, multi-platform publishing, global marketing & distribution, and 24/7 omnichannel support. Their services include professional and expert book writing services, book editing, formatting, cover designing, publishing, ghostwriting, translating, and audiobook recording.