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    50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make: Mistakes Writers Make, #2
    50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make: Mistakes Writers Make, #2
    50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make: Mistakes Writers Make, #2
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make: Mistakes Writers Make, #2

    By Alex Gazzola

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    About this ebook

    The follow-up to "50 Mistakes Beginner Writers Make" takes the aspiring writer of articles and other non-fiction forward to the next level.

    Book 1 in the Mistakes Writers Make series gave the reader a good grounding in the theory of writing for magazines and newspapers, and introduced the basics - generating ideas, approaching editors, researching markets, crafting articles, revising work and much more.

    This second book in the series elaborates on these concepts, looking at article ideas in far greater depth, as well as the business of writing (contracts, copyright, money ...), dealing professionally with editors, improving all-important editing techniques, and equipping the reader with the key skills required to make a living from the written word.

    Other subjects include readers letters, interviewing and research skills, dealing with rejection ... and dealing with acceptance!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlex Gazzola
    Release dateDec 30, 2019
    ISBN9781393925514
    50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make: Mistakes Writers Make, #2

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      Book preview

      50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make - Alex Gazzola

      50 More Mistakes Beginner Writers Make

      by Alex Gazzola

      Text copyright © 2017 Alex Gazzola

      All Rights Reserved

      Acknowledgement

      Thanks to Simon Whaley for advice and support

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Mistake #1: Staying solo

      Mistake #2: Missive attack

      Mistake #3: Wow, your magazine is great!

      Mistake #4: This is great, that is great, and so is that ...

      Mistake #5: Writing the written

      Mistake #6: Popular market choices

      Mistake #7: Darn. It says ‘unsolicited articles not accepted’...

      Mistake #8: The world is your readership

      Mistake #9: Newspapers are too depressing!

      Mistake #10: Reading ruins style

      Mistake #11: Shunning the generation game

      Mistake #12: No idea about the no-idea idea

      Mistake #13: Ideas too broad, ideas too niche ...

      Mistake #14: Ideas too hard, ideas too easy ...

      Mistake #15: The renegade idea

      Mistake #16: Subject without a theme

      Mistake #17: Right idea, wrong time ...

      Mistake #18: Dear Editorial Director ...

      Mistake #19: Hello, my hobbies are ...

      Mistake #20: Overpoliteness

      Mistake #21: My letter was published in the Daily Bugle ...

      Mistake #22: The unpitchy pitch

      Mistake #23: Idea acceptance = panic stations

      Mistake #24: Terms unclear

      Mistake #25: Terms unwritten

      Mistake #26: So long, copyright

      Mistake #27: Writing for free, indefinitely

      Mistake #28: Shy about money

      Mistake #29: Dithering over a vomit draft

      Mistake #30: Working without scissors

      Mistake #31: Saying it twice

      Mistake #32: Spelling!

      Mistake #33: You’re loving your work

      Mistake #34: What do you think of this?

      Mistake #35: Hesitance to submit

      Mistake #36: Did you get it? Was it OK? Can I tweak it?

      Mistake #37: Waiting for inspiration

      Mistake #38: Mishandling acceptance

      Mistake #39: Mishandling rejection

      Mistake #40: Going scattergun

      Mistake #41: Me, me, me

      Mistake #42: Me and my mad life

      Mistake #43: You first; reader second

      Mistake #44: Mentioning the article in the article ...

      Mistake #45: ... And mentioning the research

      Mistake #46: Who knows!?

      Mistake #47: Absent voices

      Mistake #48: Reader second; interviewee first

      Mistake #49: Perfect publication

      Mistake #50: Bragging vs modesty

      Introduction

      In the introduction to this ebook’s predecessor, 50 Mistakes Beginner Writers Make , I wrote that before we writers can learn from the mistakes we make, those mistakes must first become apparent to us.

      Trouble is, when you think you’re doing the right thing, it feels as if you’re doing the right thing – irrespective of whether you happen to be doing the right thing or the wrong thing. How are you to differentiate writing rights from writing wrongs when feedback or response is absent?

      Although I’m of the view that mistakes are good (not least, as I said in the first book’s first mistake, because they show you are doing, not just thinking about doing), they’re not so good if you keep making them and never see them for what they are. You think you’re doing what you should be doing to get to where you want to be, but you’re not making progress towards your destination. You can’t see why. And it’s frustrating.

      Progress for those who make progress is never fast, smooth and unhindered – not even among those of us who’ve been in the business for years – but it strikes me that we writers tend to be particularly hard on ourselves when things aren’t working out, much more so than any other hobbyists or professionals in their chosen fields. We take it to heart when plans aren’t realised. We question our talent and ability. We become deeply disillusioned. We toy with packing it all in and taking up knitting or accountancy. Resentment and bitterness can kick in, then set in.  

      The writer Samuel Smiles said that ‘he who never made a mistake never made a discovery’, and you’ll often hear it from writers, typically novelists, that writing is a voyage of discovery. If both are true, then writing must also be a voyage of mistakes. The errors are there, without question, even if you can’t see them. I make them, you make them, he makes them, she makes them. Will I have made them in writing this book? No doubt. But they haven’t stopped me doing so. The mistakes which aren’t impeding us aren’t especially important; it’s the ones which are taking us on a long detour or blocking the freeway that are the problems.

      To overcome them, you may need to have these troublesome unseen obstacles pointed out to you, and only then will you be able to take action against being thwarted by them again. If not, you’re leaving matters to chance. Partners and friends may mean well, but be unequipped to help you. Editors and colleagues will be better equipped, but will be too busy to step in.

      This is where I hope the Mistakes Writers Make series can be both your third eye and a guiding hand. The books – the previous one, this one, the ones to follow – aim to help you to learn via the prism of error. Other writing manuals tell you only what to do – and this approach works for some, but not for others. The MWMs reveal what you might be doing wrong, and point you towards doing it right – and this approach might work for you, especially if the other one doesn’t.

      I have an additional beef with certain writing manuals. Some focus too much on how to make money, quite often on how to get rich, no less, which I think puts pressure on aspiring writers, and can promise unrealistic expectations. It’s not that the MWM guides aren’t aimed at those who want to make a living out of this game – being paid is an important aspect of writing life – but they’re also written for part-timers, hobbyists, dabblers and absolute beginners for whom financial rewards may or may not be a major or minor motivation. While your standards can’t be lower than the average in order to succeed, it’s absolutely fine if your ambitions are.

      In a mistake from the previous book, I explained that to move forward in this business, you should just keep doing, and keep going, even if you don’t know all the answers you think you need, even if you end up making mistakes. Don’t necessarily hold back because you lack knowledge, in other words. When you’re fearless about messing up, you’re fearless about moving forward. Be unashamed of your errors, both past and future. Forgive yourself for them. Be proud to have improved because of the them.

      And remember: most of what you do will be right. It may even be brilliant. But you don’t need help with that. Having bought

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