The Top Eleven Ways Not to Write Your Book

The Most-Common Ways Writers Sabotage Themselves

Of every hundred people who tell me that they're going to write a book, ninety-eight never finish. What makes these people so spectacularly successful at not writing? Here are the most common reasons why authors never finish that first book.

11. Read every book and magazine article ever published on how to write. Buy every tape. Make notes. Cross-index. Memorize all the rules. If you break one, you're in big trouble.

The fact: Many how-to books are crammed with great ideas and information, but someone else's methods aren't a magic carpet to success. Try what the author suggests--and then keep what works for you and ignore the rest. The right way is whatever works for you, and you can judge that by looking at whether you're making progress toward your goal and enjoying your work.

Learning about writing is fine, and if your work loses its pep, reading a how-to book may give you a refresher and get you back on course. But the only way to learn to write is to write. This is a skill, like tennis. You can't learn to play tennis by reading Sports Illustrated. And you don't do it by trying once. The only way to get better is to practice.

Ask yourself if your time might be better spent in learning about the subject you're writing about, or simply in putting your words on the paper.

10. Look for a trend. What's hot right now? Editors have a secret list of things they're looking for, and if your idea isn't on it you'll never sell.

The fact: By the time a trend appears in the bookstores, it's usually overripe at publishing offices. A book hitting the shelves today was written at least a year ago, more often two. Only a rare trend lasts that long.

Beware of writing a book to fit a series, or a trend, or a market listing, if it's not something you want to write. It's tempting to try fitting into a line which obviously has some openings right now. But no matter how good the writer, not everybody can write everything - nor should they try.

Especially for your first sale, concentrate on the good solid non-trendy story which will be just as saleable in five years. We hope it won't take that long, but the fact is it might.