36: Five Things Authors Should Quit Doing

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Time is our most precious commodity. But we spend

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too much effort and thought too much time on stuff that actually

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holds us back. We also avoid a couple of things that make all

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the difference. Today I'm going to name five things authors

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should quit doing in writing pursuits, Episode 36. Let's get

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to it. Welcome to the writing pursuits podcast where authors

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like you discuss writing craft, author, life and book marketing

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strategies. I'm your host Kathrese. McKee. I own writing

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pursuits and write and produce the weekly newsletter writing

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pursuits, tips for authors. In addition, I am a speculative

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fiction author, writing procedures for authors who drink

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too much coffee, endure judgemental looks from their

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furry writing, convenience and struggle for words. If you are a

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writer seeking encouragement, information and inspiration,

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this podcast is for you. Let's get to it. Hey, writing precedes

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authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are

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new, I want to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese.

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McKee and I help authors write great stories. Please leave a

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comment a star rating and follow the show to help others find

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writing pursuits. This year. 2022 is racing by as I record

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this Flag Day is coming up as well as Father's Day in the US.

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This Sunday with a special shout out to Juneteenth, which for

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those of you outside the US is June the 19th. Y'all, time is

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our most precious commodity. We can't slow it down or get it

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back. The only thing we can do is be mindful of how we use it.

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So do I mean you need to be busy and working and hustling?

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24/7 365? No, not not at all. rest and rejuvenation are

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essential ways to use our time. However, there are ways authors

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can safeguard writing time and make the most of it. Some of

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these might surprise you. I'm especially concerned for new

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authors. Because I have personally made every one of

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these mistakes much to my regret. Here are five things

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authors should quit doing.

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Number one, quit comparing yourself to experienced best

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selling authors I mean it stop comparing your beginning to

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someone else's middle or ending. Does that make sense?

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Experienced best selling authors have been at this business for a

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while their sales tactics and writing strategies won't

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necessarily work for newer authors, and author with a

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backlist of seven to 10 books is going to have a different, more

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refined set of skills than an author with 02 or even four

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books. New writers need to be focused on spinning the hours

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and writing the words to achieve mastery on getting to the end on

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seeking critique on revising their work and on publishing,

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rinse and repeat. Also, tactics change over time, and the things

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your idols did when they were getting started. Don't

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necessarily work anymore. For example, a few weeks ago, I

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talked about whether or not authors should spend time

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blogging. That was episode 33. The answer isn't black and

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white, of course, but don't blindly follow in someone's

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footsteps trying to imitate everything they did back then,

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including blogging. We all start at page zero. We all begin with

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no published work. Learn from more experienced authors. But

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stop comparing your results to theirs and blindly copying what

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they do or did. That's a terrible waste of time. Number

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two quit abandoning projects. Oh, yeah, this one kind of

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bites. If we had $100. For every project we abandoned after the

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first five chapters, we could go on a really nice vacation,

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right? This is your coach speaking it's okay to stop

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writing a project you just can't figure out I know, it seems so

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promising you loved the main character. The world building

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was thrilling, but something just wasn't right. You lost

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confidence in the idea and you decided to put it away. Here's

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the problem you need to practice finishing manuscripts. So I'm

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going to give you a strategy to use from now on, you're going to

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say I'm crazy. But hear me out. This will make the time you

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quote unquote wasted on a project. count for something

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ready, skip the middle and write an ending. Maybe it won't be the

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ending. Maybe it won't be a great ending. It doesn't have to

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be super long. Just kind of brainstorm a conclusion to the

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story based on what you've written so far. Write a pie in

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the sky happily ever after.

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Adding or destroy the universe, write an ending to the story. As

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you know it, the content of the ending doesn't matter as much as

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getting to the end. And who says you can't write two or more

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endings. Now put the project aside. If you want carefully

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store it in an archive of potential ideas you never know,

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when something will click about an old story idea, getting to

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the end.

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No matter how frustrating that is, is a valuable use of time.

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It's a valuable experience. So stop abandoning projects and

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tossing them in file 13. Practice getting to the end and

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kind of hoard those ideas in a certain spot store them away.

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Number three, quit creating your own covers. If you are a trained

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designer, then knock yourself out. Obviously this tip doesn't

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apply to you. Yes, I have created a book cover on my own.

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And it even turned out okay, but I spent days learning Photoshop

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to turn out an okay cover when I should have hired a cover

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designer to create a fantastic cover. Do I remember what I

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learned in Photoshop? Not a bit, I can hear you saying Canva is

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easier. But Canva is not Illustrator or Photoshop. Just

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stop it stop. Your book cover is the first thing a buyer sees and

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its importance cannot be exaggerated. readers see

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hundreds of covers in a single buying session. And you don't

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want your cover to stand out for the wrong reasons. Your cover

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has a fraction of a second on Amazon, or on a bookshelf to be

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evaluated. Save your nickels, dimes and dollars, stop going to

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Starbucks, do whatever you have to do to hire a good cover

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designer, and save your time for writing the next book. If you

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just really really cannot afford to hire a cover designer, get a

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premade cover, it's probably going to be better than you can

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produce yourself. And it's certainly a better use of time.

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Number four, quit avoiding critique. Um, that's another one

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that applies to me. But every time every time I sought

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critique my work improved by miles, and swiftly to So how's

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that going to save me time you ask? It takes time to garner

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critiques. Often you need to take the time to critique

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someone else's work while you wait for them to critique.

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Here's how does that save time two ways you learn from someone

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else's mistakes, and you get help spotting your weaknesses.

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So you become a better writer sooner. The trick is to be

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choosy about your critique partners to find that person you

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can trust to tell you the truth in a way you can respect. Most

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often this is not your mother or your sister or brother. But a

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good critique partner will save you time. Buckets of time in the

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long run. Your writing can improve much sooner if you seek

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out critique. Your work will be ready for primetime much sooner.

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If you stop avoiding thoughtful criticism. Get out there and

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beat the bushes to find a partner or small group of

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authors willing to swap critiques. grow a thick skin and

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bite the bullet. This is a good way to use your time to save

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time. In the end. What is the fifth thing to quit doing? The

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answer in a moment? First, a word from our sponsor. Writing

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pursuits is run by Kathrese. McKee who has been trusted by

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fiction authors since 2014. To take their writing to a new

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level of excellence. Guthrie's is a three story methods

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certified editor who specializes in story diagnostics, coaching,

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and line editing to help you prepare your story for the

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journey ahead. For more information, go to writing

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pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. And now back to the

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podcast. So far, we have covered four things you should quit

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doing. Comparing yourself to experienced best selling

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authors. Your beginning is not the same as their middle or end.

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Abandoning projects before you write an ending, creating your

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own covers and avoiding critique. Number five, quit

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waiting to create an email list. You knew I was going to say that

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I've been telling my authors to create an email list since long

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before writing pursuit started. Neglecting to build an email

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list is the biggest mistake I made as a new author and it

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continues to be something I regret make building a list your

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priority and it's easy write a short story in format it on

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drafted digital, put it on book funnel and create a landing

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page. Share your landing page link and continue to share it

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when you have one subscriber

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To start sending out a newsletter every month, if you

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don't know how to communicate with your subscribers, or even

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if you think you do retangular bricks newsletter NINJA book,

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building a reader community is supposed to be fun. Don't

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overcomplicate having an email list, sign up for free mailer

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light or ConvertKit account and get started building your list.

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Spending time on your list is never time wasted. And when your

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book launches, at least someone who has downloaded your short

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story and stayed on your email list will know who you are and

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buy your book. Every mailing lists starts at zero, you must

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earn your readers. That's the truth. So stop waiting to create

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your mailing list. As I said before, I have made all of these

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mistakes, all of them, and I want to help you avoid making

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the same mistakes. What are some things you need to quit doing to

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succeed as an author? I'd be interested to know your thoughts

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on this this topic. That's the question of the week. What are

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some things you need to quit doing to succeed as an author?

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Leave your answer at writing pursuits.com forward slash

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podcast forward slash 36. That's all I have for today. Until next

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time, keep writing. Thank you for joining us today. If you

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enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and follow the

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podcast. If you're new around here. I hope you will sign up

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for the weekly newsletter writing pursuits. Tips for

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authors that link and all the links mentioned in today's

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episode are in the shownotes at writing pursuits.com Please join

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us on Wednesdays for new episodes and keep writing my