Top 10 Things Writers Overrate - Scott Writes Stuff

Sometimes we writers think we’re doing cool things in our story, when in actuality we’re killing our story instead.

There are a lot of ideas that might work in some stories, but not all of them. It’s important to know when to use them, and when to not.

So let’s go ahead and talk about the top 10 things that writers overrate!

During the last stream, the viewers voted that we go over the Top 10 Things Writers Overrate.

Keep in mind that this is my personal list based on my own experience in my own writing, running workshops, and doing freeshare on the stream for over a year. Your own lists will vary!

Scroll down to read the list,
or watch a video of it here with bonus info.

#10. Overrated: The EXPLOSIVE hook

Lots of writers feel like they need to hook the reader right away with something intense, action-packed, or exciting
But the truth is that the best way to hook a reader is by setting the scene/tone vividly, specifically, and uniquely
Starting with action can feel like a gimmick. The reader is not often invested in what is going on, and the excitement can wear off fast

(Example) The Hunger Games: “When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.”

(Example) The Name of the Wind: “It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.”

Instead, concentrate on: Giving vivid opening that sets the scene/tone

#9. Overrated: Mysterious/unreliable narrators

Lots of writers feel like the best way to get a reader invested in their narrator/main character is by making them mysterious/unreliable, since that will make readers want to know more about them
But the truth is that readers simply don’t care about characters they don’t know about
It’s fine to have a little mystery in other characters, but we need to know who the main character is from the get-go. And it’s fine to have an unreliable narrator, but we still need to be able to see/feel them clearly.

(Example) A ton of people’s favorite characters. Everyone from Harry Potter to Sherlock Holmes to Katniss to James Bond to Harriet the Spy. We love them because we can see them, feel them, not because we want to know more about them/can’t trust them.

Instead, concentrate on: Giving the reader a vivid picture of who the main character is so we can cheer for them (or against them) from the get go.

More info: Relying on Unrealiable Narrators

#8. Overrated: Explaining things to the reader

Lots of writers feel like they have to explain unfamiliar things to readers, or else they’ll feel lost. Anything from magical items to new words to the history of a character/place.
But the truth is that readers don’t care. Usually they just go with the flow, and as long as something feels like it fits, you’re fine
It’s not your job as the writer to explain everything to the reader, it’s your job to write your story in a way that makes the new things feel natural

(Example) The Name of the Wind: “The men at the bar seemed almost surprised to see Kote standing there. They’d been coming to the Waystone every Felling night for months, and Kote had never interjected anything of his own before. Not that you could expect anything else, really. He’d only been in town for a year or so. He was still a stranger. The smith’s pretince had lived here since he was eleven, and he was still referred to as “that Rannish boy,” as if Rannish were some foreign country and not a town less than thirty miles away.”

Instead, concentrate on: Weaving the unfamiliar things organically into the story itself.

#7. Overrated: Multiple POVs

Lots of writers feel like the best way to tell a story is by telling it from multiple points of view, either changing POV each chapter, or some other method of switching around
But the truth is that multiple POVs doesn’t work for every story, and can quite often take away from the impact/enjoyment of a story
For multiple POVs, the reader needs to know right away why they’re being used to tell this story, and each voice needs to be very distinct from each other

(Example) “Game of Thrones” uses multiple POVs to show off the different regions of a giant kingdom, to show the different personalities that can exist even with the same family, and to keep the story going even when main characters die.

“Unwind” uses multiple POVs to show three different kids in a world where teenagers’ lives can be aborted: a rebellious kids whose parents unwind him as punishment, an orphan girl who’s unwound for budget reasons, and a religious kid who’s unwound as part of a ceremony.

Hunger Games could have been told from multiple POVs. So could have Harry Potter, The Fault in Our Stars, The Princess Bride, A Wrinkle in Time, but would that have made those stories better?

Instead, concentrate on: Telling your story from one strong POV, only using multiples if absolutely necessary

#6. Overrated: Logical systems

Lots of writers feel like they need to make sure their story is perfectly logical, and that everything makes sense not only in the plot, but in the details as well (ie: magic/technology systems).
But the truth is that as long as the story is good, readers don’t care if something is perfectly logical or not. Your story should make sense as much as possible, but trying to smooth over every detail will either bore the reader with too much info, or create even more issues.
If you get a single date wrong, then congratulations, no one will care unless you’re a bestseller, and then that’s a good problem to have!
The only time that readers will get frustrated by illogic is when: (1) It’s extremely blatant, (2) it happens multiple times, or (3) the story is boring. Avoid those and you’re good.

(Example) Quidditch makes no sense, everything in The Hunger Games is ridiculous from the premise to the soul-dogs, humans being used as batteries in The Matrix is absurd, the “twist” ending to Ender’s Game is a huge stretch. And yet, all of these stories are super popular!

Instead, concentrate on: Writing as good a story as possible, so that when readers watch your “puppet show” they concentrate on the puppets rather than the strings

#5. Overrated: Gray morality/anti-hero

Lots of writers feel like the only way they can make a villain is by having everything the villain does be just as justifiable as the protagonist (or the other way around, the only way they can make a protagonist interesting if by having everything they do be bad but justifiable)
But the truth is that readers love good characters… and they love to hate bad villains!
All characters should have flaws, but don’t worry about making the flaws the character’s only defining trait

(Example) Ursula, Cruella DeVille, Scar, Voldemort, Gaston, Cinderella’s stepmother, the list goes on. These are not morally gray characters. They may think their actions are justified, but they’re clearly not, and we still love them for it.

Instead, concentrate on: Making your villain/protagonist an exciting character, not one whose beliefs can be perfectly justified

More info: Gray Morality in Characters

#4. Overrated: Multiverses

Lots of writers feel like an important part of their story isn’t the story itself, but the story outside the story, a multiverse that connects several of their stories together
But the truth is that the majority of readers don’t care. You’re lucky just to get any readers, those who are interested in any sort of multiverse outside of your stories are the 1% icing on the cake
Plus, the only reason readers would care about a story’s multiverse is if they care about the story first

(Example) The video game Ittle Dew is a fun little Zelda-like game where you solve puzzles and beat up enemies. I really liked it and looked forward to the sequel, but the sequel was so different, with crappy puzzles and exhausting combat. I was so put off by it that I didn’t care about all the incredible Easter Eggs and mysteries that the developers put into the game.

Also, think of your five favorite books. Now imagine that they were all somehow connected into the same multiverse. That’d be kind of cool, but would it make you like them more? Probably not.

Now do the same for five books you hate. Does all of them being connected make you like them more? Probably not.

Instead, concentrate on: Writing a good story, not fan theory fodder

#3. Overrated: Show don’t tell

Lots of writers early on learn the mantra: “show don’t tell” and then take that as an absolute rule.
But the truth is that in order to tell a good story you have to both show AND tell. We just learn “show don’t tell” early on because it’s easier to teach, like how you learn early on that you can’t subtract a larger number from a smaller number (even though you can!)
While you want to usually show as much as possible, don’t be afraid to outright tell the reader things that they need to know

(Example, “telling” parts bolded) Harry Potter: “Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.”

The Hunger Games: “The rules for the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.”

Gone Girl: “It’s a rented house right along the Mississippi River, a house that screams Suburban Nouveau Riche, the kind of place I aspired to as a kid from my split-level, shag-carpet side of town. The kind of house that is immediately familiar: a generically grand, unchallenging, new, new, new house that my wife would—and did—detest.“

Instead, concentrate on: Writing the story as you need to, and when you do tell the reader things, make sure it’s relevant and interesting

More info: Showing vs. Telling vs. Reality

#2. Overrated: Inspiration

Lots of writers think that they need the perfect idea before they can write a story
But the truth is that stories can be born from ANYTHING, even terrible ideas
The idea for a story doesn’t really matter, the execution of that idea is what matters

(Example) Think of the most stupid idea you can. (Go ahead!)

Now imagine turning that into a story. (Go ahead!)

I bet it got some gears turning, didn’t it? For all you know, that idea could blossom into an amazing book. Many writers sit around waiting for inspiration to hit them, not realizing that it’s constantly yelling at pounding at the doors of their minds.

Instead, concentrate on: Writing whenever you can, even if you think it’s a stupid idea. Worst comes to worst, you learn something from it. Best comes to best, it makes a great story.

More info: How to Get Motivation to Write

#1. Overrated: Originality

Lots of writers think that their story needs to be original. If they write about magic, orphans, teenage death matches, vampires, etc. that their story is unoriginal and stupid.
But the truth is that ALL stories are derivatives of each other in some way
If you set out to write a truly original story, at best you’ll write something that’s just going to confuse people, and at worst you’ll drive yourself crazy

(Example) Harry Potter has a school for magical/supernatural kids… but so does X-Men (first published in 1960s), and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin (published 1968). Other books have come out since like The Name of the Wind, The Magicians, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Hunger Games is about government-supported kids-killing-kids… but so is Battle Royale by Koshun Takami (published 1999), and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (published 1948). Other books have come out since like The Maze Runner, Divergent, and Three Dark Crowns.

Instead, concentrate on: Putting your own, fresh twist on an idea that’s already been done

More info: How to Write a Story That’s Been Done Before

– Again, in the end, I’m not saying that the items on this list are bad or unimportant
– A lot of them can definitely be great when used well!
– But be careful when you use them, and remember that at the end of the day, what matters is having a good story, not cramming gimmicks together.
– Don’t take your “ice cream” story and cover it in ketchup, and don’t take your “hamburger story” and cover it in chocolate syrup. Use the right tools for the story you want to tell!

Be sure to watch the video above for more info and examples that we went over!

After that, chat voted that we write a story starting with this sentence: “I’m chain-sawing the Ferrari in half.”

Here’s what we came up with:

I’m chain-sawing the Ferrari in half. Pure anger drives my gloved hands as they shake to hold its churning blade steady. I’m squatting on the roof, bringing the whirring death steadily from the bumper through the engine and right through the windshield, crashing it into a million glassy shards. Splats of oil and metal shrapnel shoot up, clanging harmlessly off my sweaty goggles and puffy winter jacket while I bake underneath the summer Florida sun.

I can’t believe I have to do this. I was so excited last night when I’d heard that there was a hurricane coming through. Finally, it was my chance to have my car get blown away by some super-gale and land in a tree somewhere, so I could collect the insurance money and buy a nicer one. Ferraris were so pre-millennium. Now, it was all about the Teslas.

So imagine my disgust when I woke up and looked out the window expecting to see an empty driveway and an angry neighbor with a new car in their roof. My yard was torn to shreds, fallen trees lined the streets, but my car still stood there, completely unscathed. In fact, it looked nicer than ever: the hurricane had given it a nice wash.
I had to take matters into my own hands. My own whirring, bladed hands. I drove the car into the backyard, hidden under the shadows of crooked trees, and fired up Old Jigsaw. Sure, I could’ve just driven the car into a ditch or something, but someone might’ve seen me. Plus, this was a lot more cathartic.

Slowly driving the rotating teeth of destruction through the entire car front to back had taken a lot of lemonade breaks, but when I finally pulled it out the rear-end and the stupid vehicle collapsed in two, I collapsed on the ground too, smiling in victory.

I went to bed proud that night, snuggling up with dreams of filing insurance paperwork and arguing with agents over the phone.

So imagine my disgust when I woke up and looked out the window expecting to see an empty driveway, and instead my Ferrari was there, sparkling like new, with a strange man standing next to it. He was dressed in a faded purple bathrobe that looked like—if I’m being honest—it was stained with cat feces.

He turned to me when I was staring at him, then threw his arms up and smiled with his yellowed teeth. It was then that I noticed he was holding some sort of gnarled wood staff in one hand.

“Congratulations, ma’am!” he said. “I’m Harry the Homeless Wizard, and I chose you to be my recipient of my one good random magical deed for today. I fixed your car! Isn’t that great?”

Every organ in my body crumpled inside of me as I slouched down in disappointment. Narrowing my eyes at the stupid wizard, I closed the blinds and walked away.

“Hey!” came his voice from outside. “Can you at least spare some change, ma’am? Magic ain’t cheap these days!”

If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you. We stream on Twitch every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.

Hope to see you next time, friend!

Featured image: Pakutaso (Edited by me)