This is great, and writers should get excited about what they are doing. The problem comes when the writer gets so excited that they forget to become their own critic.

Here are five mistakes that new writers often make.

Telling, Not Showing

This is arguably the most important advice any novelist will receive. You never want to simply tell a story. Telling is boring. An author often makes the mistake of “telling” because they understand their characters so well. They know the scenes and how the characters react in certain situations. The reader does not know this.

Showing comes from the characters themselves. The story is told through their eyes and ears. This is what truly makes a reader fall in love with your story. Don’t just tell them that your character is scared. Show them how the character is scared.

Not Reading

Every good writer is a good reader. It sounds odd, but it is true. Reading is much more important than one might think. It helps you know what is popular or trending for the market in which you are writing. It lets you know what stories are not being published, and gives you an idea of which stories will then take more effort to get publishers to consider. Best of all, reading helps you learn how to write. Pay attention to how other authors start their stories and end their stories. Look at the words they use and how they phrase things. These can be used as learning tools to help you discover your own way of creating words that matter.

Imitation

We all have one author that we admire. They are the person we hope to someday be. We look at their words and aspire to be able to create that same magic ourselves. As much as you admire that author, remember not to imitate them. Imitation might be considered flattery in some professions, but in the writing world imitation can be considered a form of plagiarism. Every author should have their own unique voice. Maybe you don’t know what yours is yet, and that’s fine. If you keep writing and experimenting, you will find it.

Submitting Too Soon

In the excitement of finishing a new novel, some writers send out their story way too soon. Step away for a while and let your piece rest. Go back later and take another look at it. Find a critique partner or a beta reader to give you some pointers. Never jump the gun and send your work out when it isn’t ready. If you do, the chances of rejection are higher. This isn’t because the piece is necessarily bad. Maybe it just needs more details and some reworking. Take the time to make your story the best it can be before you submit.

Giving Up!

Getting published is not an easy task. For some authors it can take years to get published. Don’t be surprised when you get a stack of rejections in the mail. It’s the nature of the business. Rejections are hard to handle, but look at them as a learning experience. Keep writing. Keep believing in your ability to tell a story people want to read. Most of all, don’t give up.

(This a guest post by Mary Ellen Quigley. Mary is a paranormal romance author from Indiana, who got the writing bug as a child in the fifth grade. She started writing her first novel “Nocturne” in 2006, which is yet to be released. In 2009, Mary began writing “The Wild Side”  which was released in the summer of 2011. You can read more of her posts on her blog.)

(Image courtesy: Avolore from sxc.hu)

But, if at some point you neglect  the baby, there is a good chance that it might not grow up to be “normal”. The same thing happens with a blog.

And when you know that you have neglected your baby, you feel guilty. That is how I feel right now, because I think I have been neglecting this blog for a very long time. Oft and again I have tried to get back on track with the blog, and oft and again I have failed.

But as they say, failure is no reason to give up. If anything, it is a reason to try harder.

So, once again, I am going to try and get the blog back on track. Hope this time it stays on track!

I had earlier written a post about “Why BlogRush failed and Entrecard Succeeded ?” and I still stand by most of what I had said in that post.

Initially, when BlogRush was launched, it did spread like wild fire, but I think that had more to do with the fact that John knew most of the probloggers and they helped him spread the word about BlogRush. I had read about BlogRush on Darren’s blog, and I checked the site out. At that time, I felt that the idea was good and had potential. So, I was quick to install the widget and I even wrote a post about this new service.

But, with time, it became evident that BlogRush was not going to be the next big thing, even though they launched the traffic jam site to complement BlogRush. In spite of the failure, I must say the BlogRush was a great idea and my best wishes are with the BlogRush team for their next project.

What are your thoughts about BlogRush shutting down?

Something tells me that I am not the only one who is in a position like this. I see many blogs on the Internet that start off very well, but begin to lose steam in a while, and are eventually given up. Why is it that many bloggers find it easy to keep blogging over a period of time, while others find it very difficult to continue beyond the first few months?

I am sure there are many answers to the question, and I would love to hear what you have to say on the subject.

But, based on my own experineces, I feel that one of the answers to the question is : Organization!

Being a good blogger, like many other things, is about being organized.  One has to organize both tangible things ( blogging space, table , PC or Notebook etc.) as well as non tangible things (thoughts, ideas, emotions etc.).

Many pro-bloggers have this habit of putting up pictures of their blogging space. One can’t help but be impressed by the neat and clutter-free environment they are operating from. When I compare this with my own working space, I find that my table is so full of papers, and books and stuff that I find it quite difficult to find a place to set my Notebook on.

On a similar note, I think a good blogger is one whose thoughts and ideas are very well organized in the head, as this organization usually gets reflected in the blog too. Contrast it with someone who has many great ideas, but they are so random and unorganized  that when he tries to pen them down, he can’t get hold of even a single idea.

So, my advice to someone who is in the middle of a blogging slump would be to clear the clutter and become organized…right away!