Misconceptions About Writing: Eight Common Beliefs

I feel like there are a lot of common misconceptions about writing. Most of them have an element of validity to them, as many misconceptions do! But they can get in the way of people who want to write. They can intimidate and put people off. And for that reason, I wanted to talk about eight misconceptions that I come across, and why I don’t think they’re legitimate!

Some people believe you have to be great with spelling and grammar to be a good writer

Spelling and grammar can really intimidate people. And this might be controversial to list as a misconception! But the thing I try to get writers to remember is this: The point of good spelling and grammar is to communicate your ideas effectively. That’s not to say that you don’t need any understanding of spelling and grammar to write.

It’s good to have a reasonable understanding of grammar rules as a writer. All the more so if you want to break them in interesting ways! But if you occasionally mess up your commas, if you mix up your ‘to’s and ‘too’s or your ‘your’s and ‘you’re’s? That doesn’t actually have to stop you from telling a great story.

You can always hire an editor to clean up the spelling and grammar in your story. And, in fact, even writers who are confident in their spelling and grammar should be working with a copy-editor and/or a proof reader before considering their manuscript fully finished! But mistakes in these areas don’t have to affect your storytelling ability.

Some are adamant you need a step-by-step plan to write

This obviously isn’t a misconception for everyone. Some people do need really detailed plans to write! I used to think I was one of them, in fact. But after spending literal months planning my story out in excrutiating detail, I soon realised when actually writing that I went dramatically off-piste.

It’s helpful to have an outline, I do stand by that! And we’ll get on to people who reject even the whiff of an outline in a moment. But don’t feel the need to plan any more than feels like a good fit for you

Some are certain of the opposite: you can’t write if you plan it out beforehand

Here we have the other side of the coin, the fanatical pantsers! There are people who say that planning will render you unable to unleash your true creativity. Now if you work best without any sort of plan, then that’s obviously fine. But for most people it’s good to have a rough road map. A few notes, a handful of bullet points, just something that sets out an idea of the path ahead.

You don’t have to hold yourself to any plan that you write, of course! But knowing where you intend to get to allows you to make educated choices about whether to divert from that or not. It can also make you less likely to write yourself into a corner.

A lot of people worry that you need a lot of spare time to be a writer

Okay, so this might be one of the biggest misconceptions about writing that I regularly encounter. It’s not true at all, and yet the number one concern a lot of new writers express in their first call with me is that they don’t know if they have time to write a book.

People often think they’ll only be able to make progress if they have a clear three hours to sit and really get into their book. This is a luxury that few can afford, and I’m not even convinced it’s the best way to go about it for the majority of people!

Instead, it’s better to focus on carving out shorter periods of time as often/regularly as you can. Twenty minutes every morning will get you more progress than you think. And, for most people, regular bursts of twenty to thirty minutes will actually be a lot more productive than sitting down for three hours and trying to fill that time with writing.

Another of the common misconceptions about writing is that your themes should emerge by accident

Some people think that deliberately thinking about your theme when writing is somehow a bad way to go about the process of creating a book. And I honestly have no idea why they think this.

Themes are good! They give your writing structure and focus, and they help your writing to speak to something bigger than just the story you’re telling.

Some themes may well come about without you considering them. In fact, even if you try to avoid theme you’ll have a hard time dodging it completely! But if you actually think ahead and plan how to express and explore your themes, it can have a really positive impact on the end product.

One of my most hated misconceptions about writing is the belief that fancier words = better writing

Honestly? I don’t know for sure whether this is a common misconception about writing. But it is a major pet peeve of mine. Sometimes writers throw in pointlessly complicated words, burying their meaning in layers of flowery nonsense. And I say this as somebody who likes interesting language!

I’m going to call back to the point about grammar for a moment here. Remember that, first and foremost, your writing is not there to show off your amazing vocabulary. It’s there to communicate something to readers.

I always recommend writers choose the simplest accurate words. If the best possible word for a moment happens to be an unusual one, obviously don’t stop yourself on principle! But if a more common word will do just as well, I’d argue it’s the better choice nine times out of ten. And it will make any linguistic flourishes stand out all the more.

Some people seem to believe that if you follow all the rules, you’ll get a great book

First and foremost, writing is not an exact science. There’s also a glaring issue in this misconception, which is that you’ll come across a wide range of obviously contradictory rules for writing out there! But I’m addressing this misconception from a different angle.

I do believe that writing, creating, takes a certain spark. I think everybody can access that spark, although not everybody feels comfortable expressing it in writing. You might feel more comfortable getting creative in the kitchen, or singing, or coming up with great holiday plans. But if you want to write, you’re going to want to access that creativity and give it some freedom. Worrying too much about rules does, to a certain extent, get in the way.

The place for rules, if you ask me (and you’re here, so you basically did!) is in revisions. It’s in redrafting and editing. But when you’re working out your book in broad strokes, you don’t want to get too bogged down in the ‘correct’ way to write.

Another pervasive misconception: writing is difficult

Okay, it can be. But it doesn’t have to be! Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be all the time.

Some parts of writing will always be a struggle. But there should be moments of joy in there too, and excitement, and real fun. And the easiest way to find that is often to take as much pressure off yourself as possible, and try not to think too much about how difficult writing is supposed to be.

Forget goals for a moment. Forget rules, and limitations, and even outlines! Find a quiet five minutes or so, put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and see what comes out.

What misconceptions about writing do you come across most often?

Do you disagree with anything that I’ve said here? Share your thoughts in the comments, and let’s get debunking!