The biggest writing mistake I’ve made that has blocked my success for years is not what you might expect.
I’ve made heaps of writing and publishing mistakes in my decade plus of writing and independent publishing.
I’ve published books and articles with typos.
I’ve published covers that still had watermarked images from the original mockups.
I’ve spent money on services I don’t need.
I’ve posted dumb stuff on social media without thinking.
I’ve gotten involved in collaborations with people I knew were the wrong fit, but ignored my intuition.
I’ve written entire books and then decided they weren’t the right thing for me to write.
This list could go on.
All writers, like all other types of humans, make mistakes.
But there is one enormous writing mistake I’ve made and kept on making for years.
It’s been the one factor that has held me back from the success I have been aiming for since I started writing.
All too many writers make this mistake without even realizing it.
I’ve always believed in writing the kinds of books and stories that are most true to your creative authenticity. I’ve always done this.
Even when I’ve written in pen names in genres I was trying out (like my brief foray as a romance novelist, and the multiple nonfiction books I’ve written under other names), I’ve written books that appeal to my creative senses, and usually tried to find that overlap where they will also fit in with a market.
This sweet spot is the essence of “writing to market”. But writing to market wasn’t my big writing mistake.
In my years in this career, I’ve learned that there are two aspects to being a published writer:
⭐️ WHAT you write and
⭐️ HOW you write and publish it.
The WHAT part wasn’t a problem for me. The HOW was where I was making the same mistake over and over for years. And self-sabotaging my success every day.
While I have been writing what I liked, I have been following, or trying to follow, too much advice about writing and publishing that didn’t suit me.
My biggest mistake, and a mistake many of us make, was trying to follow my own creative spirit along a path set by someone else.
Here’s what that looked like for me…
Big Writing Mistake 1 – Try To Maintain A Consistent Publishing Schedule
Listen in on the writing world (even more applicable to the indie publishing world) and you’ll hear a repeated piece of advice that just about everyone agrees is best practice.
Whether you’re a book a month or a book a year type of writer, the advice is to publish consistently.
Release your books, posts, episodes, whatever, consistently. Once a week, once a month, once a year, whatever, just make sure it’s on the same day or month, and that the next book/article/newsletter/post, comes along in the same schedule.
Sometimes I write fast. I’ve drafted novels in ten days, and had books released every month. And then sometimes I write slow and draft and publish a single novel in a year. I went through a phase of posting a new blog article every day, and then didn’t write a thing for months. I used to at least try to email my readers once a month, but sometimes could manage that commitment, sometimes I couldn’t.
Sorry. It’s just not me.
The only consistent thing about my writing and publishing is INCONSISTENCY.
I’ve railed against this irksome feature of my process for years. Why can’t I get this together?! I’ve tried all the planners and boards and methods. I’ve tried to make up my own methods to sustain some measure of consistent work. I’ve tried. I kept on failing.
The discovery that I am neurodivergent has led me to see this clearly as not something I can push through and change. My writing and publishing are inconsistent, because my energy is inconsistent, my interests and focus are variable.
I’m officially over beating myself up for my inconsistence. I no longer force myself to operate in a way that doesn’t come naturally to me.
I didn’t fail. The system failed.
For me, inconsistency is sustainable, while forced consistency is a proven recipe for anxiety laden burnout. I’ll take consistent inconsistency.
Big Writing Mistake 2 – Doing All the Things
Podcasts, audiobooks, videos, courses, workbooks, seminars, writing retreats, workshops, social media… These are just a few of the things I’ve been holding as “I have to do these things because that’s how writers who write what I write get known and make a solid income.”
Five-ish years ago, I heard a writer I didn’t know say something on a podcast I’ve since forgotten that stuck with me like a thorn in my brain. It went something like “writers who aren’t running workshops or writing retreats are leaving money on the table.”
Ergo, I’ve spent the last five years planning workshops and retreats and feeling like a failure because I never follow through, not listening to that voice of intuition inside that has been quietly screaming, “I don’t want to!”
Similarly, I’ve been holding plans to make podcasts, courses, webinars, videos, and so, so many other things that so many successful writers do, and again, never following through and berating myself because of it.
That holding takes energy. The berating takes energy.
If I truly wanted to do those things, I would have done them by now.
But I’m letting it go because it’s not me. The money can stay on the table.
Leaving money on the table means leaving energy in the bank.
Energy that can be spent on creating in an authentic, invigorating, and sustainable way.
I like writing books. I like writing articles. I take care of the publishing and marketing bits and pieces with as much ease and as few demands as possible. That’s enough for now, so I commit myself wholly to doing these things in the best ways possible for me, not to the “best practices” as defined by someone else.
That might expand in the future, I might change and take on other endeavours. I might not.
ARE YOU MAKING THESE SAME WRITING MISTAKES?
What are you trying to force yourself to do that doesn’t suit your nature?
Where are you burning up your energy trying to follow a path set by someone else?
Get really quiet.
Pay attention to your inside voice, feelings, images, or however your core Self talks to you.
What are you trying to tell yourself?
What do you want to stop doing? Or stop thinking you should do? What writing mistakes do you know you’re making?
What are your “best practices” that are entirely suited to the unique human that you are?
