That's too easy—Obstacles worthy of your characters

There are a lot of things that make a story. A lot of elements that need to come together to make a full novel.

You need characters and setting and obstacles and more.

You also need a challenge.

Or, at least, your protagonist does.

If everything comes easy to your protagonist, keeping your readers interested will become hard. Without any internal struggle, doubts, or stumbles, there is no intrigue. And if all the obstacles that come their way are solved with a little thought or outside intervention, there will be no growth.

Your protagonist doesn't have to go through hell to keep readers interested, but they do need to have some challenge. Otherwise, they are likely to be extremely boring or unlikeable.

The path not chosen can just be delayed

You make a lot of decisions when writing a novel.

Do those two characters start dating? Does your protagonist accept that job? Does the bomb go off as plan?

You have to make a million little decisions that are right for your novel when writing.

That doesn't mean that you have to let go of the other choice that seemed compelling to you.

If you really liked where the other option might have been going, you can save it for something else. Maybe it's a short story or a sequel or an entirely different novel driven by other characters.

There are a lot of decisions that you have to make when writing a novel. If there's one that you feel particularly sad you didn't get to explore, don't mourn. Recycle it for something even better.

Contest stand out

Writing contests can receive hundreds of submissions. Thousands sometimes.

A lot of people write and a lot of people want to be seen or validated. Contests can be the easiest way to make that happen.

If you're submitting your writing to a contest, don't forget that you are one among many.

Of course, you have to make sure that you meet all the writing requirements. Word count. Formatting. Theme. Etc.

Above all that, however, remember that you have to stand out. The best way to do that is to be yourself in your writing. Show them who you are and who no one else is. Write what you are and what you know.

Stand out by being yourself. The right contest will come along and give you center stage when it's the right time for you.

Hi, My Name Is…

There are a lot of advantages to writing in the first person.

There are challenges too.

One of the biggest challenges is introducing your narrator to your readers.

It doesn't make sense for someone to introduce themselves to themselves. Unless you narrator is breaking the fourth wall, they also don’t know that they are introducing themselves to anyone, so it makes no sense for them to think about their name. It can be confusing to have your protagonist introduce themselves to another character just for the sake of having a reason to say their name.

But you don't want to hold. You don't want to wait too long before introducing your protagonist to your audience. You want them to feel an affinity to your narrator as soon as possible.

So, while it might take some time to find the right way to do it based on what's happening in your story, make sure to introduce your protagonist/narrator early enough. Otherwise, you'll leave your audience apathetic or confused.

Permission to hate it

Writing is a passion. It is a pastime. It is a love.

It is whatever you want it to be.

It's okay to admit that sometimes, it is annoying as hell too.

Sometimes the words don't want to come out. Sometimes you keep finding errors in what you wrote. Sometimes you are stuck in a plot point that refuses to have a logical solution.

Sometimes writing sucks and it's okay to admit that. Always loving writing isn't what makes you a writer. Working through the parts that you don't like makes you a writer. So keep at it, hate or shine.

Feedback timing

Writing "the end" is great.

Sometimes, you're so happy about what you've written that you just want to get it to the next step as soon as possible. You want to share it so someone else can read it and know how amazing your writing is.

You want to get some feedback from someone who wasn't in your mind the entire time you were writing.

But take a second.

Your story is great in your mind as you've written it, but rereading it might reveal a number of flaws. You might realize that there are huge plot holes. You might realize that you didn't write it all in the same tense. You might realize that a huge plot point doesn't actually make sense.

You might be proud of writing "the end," but take a pause and read your words again before you move the forward to asking for feedback. Keep your readers for when you need them the most. Don't lose them in a first draft that's still a little messy.

Simplify your promises

There are so many articles that promise you a list of things.

Five ways to make more money. Six ways to develop your character. Ten examples of the three-act structure.

Then you read the article and it's impossible to find the list of things you're looking for among all the bla bla.

Sure, I'll give you three examples, but first read all about my writing career. Let me define seventeen terms and hide my examples in there. Let me hide my five examples in two paragraphs without any bolding or other help.

If you promise someone a number of tips, help them find them. Give headings. Separate paragraphs logically. Use bullet list.

People want to learn, but they don't have all the time in the world to analyze your writing to find your lessons. If you promise a number of elements, make them clear. It will help make sure your readers come back for future tips that they can find as easily.