When I started my novel, 'The Lost Princess' I was seventeen. I had little experience writing, and being a junior in High School didn't help my anxiety to find time to write. So, I made a pact with myself: "If you take 15 minutes from the 25 minute study period to write, you won't regret it." Yes, that also meant that I had only 10 minutes to study, but I managed. Before I even started to write, I had doubts, and as I asked questions to my then English teacher, and even people in the writers group I was in, I noticed that there were some things about being a writer that were merely subjective. So if these people tell you that you HAVE to do these things to be successful, they're wrong.
1. A writer must choose between being a Pantser and Plotter.
A pantser is when someone writes their novel without plotting it in any way yet. They're just writing what comes to your mind. A Plotter is the direct opposite. Plotters...well, plot. They make character charts, diagrams, plot out not only the plot of the novel or series, but the characters, their lineage, characteristics, the world and so on that pertains to what their writing. A writer doesn't have to choose between. They can be one or the other, or both. J.K. Rowling plotted the hell out of her phenomenal magnum opus series, 'Harry Potter'. George RR Martin is a serious pantser (which could explain the backlash of the last season of Game of Thrones, but we're not getting into that today.) Both series are undoubtedly successful and both series were made differently.
2. A writers first draft must be as great as your final draft.
No it doesn't. That's why its a "draft" and not the final product. That's why in middle school, high school and college, we students slaved over the first draft to make it even better for the final draft. I am a firm believer that human perfection isn't real, and I am even a firmer believer that every first draft is garbage. It's okay, just take a break once the draft is finished, and go back to it ready to edit it until its glistening in publication readiness.
3. Tropes and Cliches are a no-no.
This obviously isn't true or mass media mediums wouldn't be doing as well as they are. Hell, the hallmark channel would be bankrupt by now if it wasn't for tropes and cliches. True, tropes and cliches are tired and boring if used generically. However, the writer should try to use tropes and cliches in a new way to make their novel or series unpredictable and give it a new spin. In my book, 'The Lost Princess', I use tropes like: Chosen one, dead parents, prophecy, and have two bad-ass princess characters, and in the sequel I have the most despised trope: Love Triangle. I use these tropes because not only have I thought of a way to regenerate what was good about these tropes, I used most of it in a non-traditional way. So, tropes and cliches aren't bad, they just need a bit more love around its rough edges and need to be treated a different way.
4. If an author traditionally publishes they don't have to worry about marketing.
Now, before I jump on the traditional publishing hate bandwagon, let me make one thing clear, I am self-publishing. I wanted to traditional publishing, but figured out it wasn't what I wanted for my duology. Traditional and Self Publishing have one consensus: Marketing is a MUST on the AUTHOR's part. Have a social media platform, a website, blog, make videos on YouTube/BookTube. Marketing is a must to be successful. The best people I found to find out more about the marketing process are: Jenna Moreci and Kim Chance. They are amazing authortubers, writers and just absolutely funny fantastic women. I totally suggest to learn from them about marketing strategies. They make the intimidation of it all easy to understand. There are other authortubers who talk about marketing.
Jenna Moreci: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_fcv9kBpDN4WWrfcbCrgw
5. Traditional Publishing also means paying out of pocket.
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! and did I say, NO! A traditional publishing company does not make the author pay for them to publish the author's work. I repeat: Do not pay for your work to be published. In fact, it is the opposite, they pay the author to publish their work. A publishing company that makes the author pay money is a SCAM! Vanity Publishing Companies will drain the author's bank account. I ran into this the first time I wanted to be published, and me knowing absolutely nothing about the marketing and publishing world, almost went with them, but thankfully I grew up a little and noticed the book I wanted to publish was absolute shit, and also I looked up the publishing company I almost published with, and it broke my heart when I found out that there were false. Scamming publishing companies that some people fall for, and most of them do not even come to fruition. As for self-publishing, there are scam independent publishing websites to look out for. Mainly they are like traditional publishing companies.
So all in all, these things are just some of what authors learn at first in their journey, but it isn't the last. In fact I believe I just dipped my toes into a little of it. I didn't even hit home run yet. Keep these things in mind when writing, editing and publishing. It helped me and I'm sure it will help you.
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