: Re: What are potential pitfalls for a young writer? Though I'm by no means perfect, I generally consider myself a good writer. The issue is that most older writers I know look back on their writing

@Bryan361

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Not only will the potential pitfalls largely vary from person to person (not to mention what different people think they are), but they are innumerable, and in a variety of fields. When you are an experienced writer, you will look back at what you write now, and cringe regardless of what you do. Why?

Experience.

The more you write, the better you get. You can learn a lot about writing and how to write from books, but nothing will ever beat experience.

So how can you avoid pitfalls? Learn first. Six years ago, I didn't know a thing about writing. All I knew was that I found it mildly interesting, and decided to give it a shot. I thank Heaven above that I did not start with an actual book, and that all my attempts at doing so fell flat. I turned instead to a fan site for a game I was interested in, and started writing fan fiction.

As I got more into writing, I picked up a book: Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. It taught me the backbone for everything I now know about writing, and it helped me to avoid the pitfalls not only novice, but intermediate authors fall into (mind you, I had to read it over and over for about three years before I finally fully understood every aspect of it). Another book that helped me immensely was The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing from Writer's Digest.

Those two books, plus experience writing floods of fan fiction (and yes, some of it was horrible) have taught me all I know. Now, six or so years later, I am ready to publish.

The point I'm trying to make here is this: Learn and try. Read all you can about writing. Try methods out. See what works. Get experience writing. If you don't have access to somewhere you can write fan fiction, look into creating a local writing group. Write stories and then compare them. Find some kind of outlet for your writing, and get honest criticism on it. The more honest the reviewer is, the better (which is why online fan fiction is so great). Dishonest critique will only lead you in the wrong direction.

If you learn all you can, and see what works for yourself through trial and error, and are willing to wait until you are ready to publish, you will avoid countless pitfalls. That being said, here are some of the largest and most common that I see:

Lack of Message. Have something to say. This might not seem all that important at first, but I've learned it really needs to be the bedrock from which your story springs. Have something you really believe in, and you will never lose your fire for writing about it. That fire will fuel the greatness of your words.
Lack of Tension. A lot of novice writers don't know about the principle of hooking your reader. This is a fairly basic concept to grasp: you basically get your reader to ask himself questions, and then continue reading to find the answers. 'But why did he say that? What did he see? What does he mean? What is going on? Where are we? Who was that?' The potential one-liners for grabbing interest is infinite.
Lack of Stakes. I've heard of some published authors who make this mistake, so mastering it now will really help you. In short, you need two things: something that will be lost if the hero doesn't achieve his goal, and a reason that something matters intensely to the reader. The trick is to get the something (the stake) to matter to the character, and then make the character matter to the reader. This is where character development comes in. Since the reader cares about the character, he cares about what matters to him, meaning the stake. Therefore, the reader cares whether or not the hero succeeds. Master stakes, and your reader will become invested in your novel. Without stakes, the reader can put the book down any time.
Superman. This is another great pitfall that a lot of people fall into. Your character needs to have something about him, inherent to who he is, that makes the reader root for him (usually some sort of quality, anywhere from honesty to self-sacrifice). The reader needs to want the character to win (after all, the story is about the character). This 'strength' is great, but the hero also needs conflict inside of him, otherwise he won't seem real. We all have doubts and unresolved arguments within us. Giving these to your hero will bring him down to earth. Making these conflicts related to the goal, so that they pull the hero both towards and away from completing it at the same time, will make the inner conflict a central part of the story. (One side of the argument is for completing the goal, the other against it. Make sure there is no easy way to resolve this dilemma.) Just remember to keep the reader invested in your hero with strength, otherwise he has to no reason to read about him.

You'll find all these concepts and more, explained in detail in Donald Maass' book. I strongly encourage you to read it. Best of luck in your endeavors!

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