By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Every writer wants to be viewed as professional, intelligent, and bestselling. These goals are honorable, worthy, and attainable. But when a writer consistently makes mistakes that label him/her unprofessional, credibility takes a nose dive as well.
Examine the following mistakes. If you are a writer, changes may be on your horizon.
1. Practicing poor grammar and punctuation
Work smart! Invest in a grammar guide or take a college-level English course. Most publishers use the Chicago Manual of Style. An online help is www.grammarly.com.
2. Failure to invest time to learn and apply social media
Work smart! Today’s readers are online and active in social media. How can we reach them when we fail to learn how they are spending time and their interests?
3. Condescending remarks posted online about those in the publishing world
Work smart! Not only are critical remarks about others inappropriate and unprofessional, every word written online can be retrieved.
4. Lack of demonstrating sincere concern for readers
Work smart! Take time to discover and meet reader needs. Life is about relationships, and when we are genuinely interested in our followers, they become our friends.
5. Refusal to understand genre and the guidelines
Work smart! Be an expert in your writing niche(s). Know the distinguishing characteristics of your subject matter. A professional writer knows where she fits and strives to meet those criteria.
6. Practicing pride that comes before a fall
Work smart! Rejections and a request to edit make us better writers. Grow a tough skin and understand it’s not about us but about the writing project. Humility molds us into better people.
7. Neglecting to learn the writing craft
Work smart! A writer may have the gift of communicating through the written word, but unless they commit to learning how to write and practice the techniques, they may never sell. Learning is ongoing, a means of always being at the top of our game. Wrap your writing in emotion—the reader’s, the characters, and your own.
If any of the above 7 items have slipped into your work habits, now is the time to make changes. Your career, relationships, and reputation are on the line.
We all need to be professional. What is a mistake that you’ve seen a writer make?
DiAnn’s Library Corner
Library Tip: Summer is the perfect time to encourage reading clubs of all ages to meet at your library.
Middle-Grade Fantasy Just Released! – – Available Wherever Books Are Sold
Comments 10
Hi DiAnn,
Thank you for these great reminders. When I attended my first writers’ conference years ago, an author that I respected critiqued my work. She couldn’t have been more negative and truly brushed me off. Looking back, I was green…many shades. I was inexperienced and naive. But the sting of her sour attitude, being bothered by an unworthy wannabe, will never be forgotten. I praise God for the wonderful authors, agents, and editors that I have since met. DiAnn, I appreciate your attitude, experience, and friendship so very much! I’ll always appreciate you teaching our Pens of Praise Writer Group in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Thanks, Rebecca, we all have so much to learn!
Thanks DiAnn
This is a reminder is a necessity. I agree. In other professions, we make sure we are up to date, and practicing the skills. It is no less so for writers. It is like a much needed refresher course for me.
Hi Frances, you are so right. If we were doctors, accountants, or teachers, we’d be expected to maintain our professionalism.
Dare I say I’ve tackled all of them at some point!
My biggest mistake is listening to the voice that says:
“Go ahead, curl up with a book, that blank page will be there tomorrow.”
“You need a break, go to lunch with your friend.”
“You haven’t mopped the floors in who knows when.”
None of those is bad – except the mopping floors thing – but they can become excuses to leave writing undone.
Hi Sherry, but mopping the floor does free up our minds to think!
I continue to learn from other writers. Each day brings new knowledge that helps me with my writing. I appreciate the wisdom of other writers.
Thanks, Melissa, I too value the wisdom of other writers. That’s how we learn.
This is so true. I see these mistakes in my writers’ group all the time.
Gerald, we all make mistakes – it’s finding and correcting them that makes a writer a professional. Thanks!