This week, editor and former agent Nathan Bransford published a blogpost that I wanted to send to all the beginning writers I know. The title is: If You Think Writing is Easy you’re Probably Not Very Good At It.

It’s a little harsher than what we usually hear from good-natured Nathan. (I’ve met him IRL and he’s a sweetheart.) But I understand why he wrote it. He’s been reading unpublished manuscripts for over 20 years and he keeps seeing the same mistakes. He says he can always tell a manuscript is going to be awful if he sees one of two things in the query —

The writer brags about his own abilities.
The writer claims all the books being published today are awful.

I have an editor friend who’s dealing with two beginning writers who vastly overestimate their own writing skills. Because they’re both volatile and self-absorbed, she has had to tread lightly with them. She sometimes calls me to vent, and she loved Nathan’s piece, too.

After talking to her, I realized there are some misconceptions an awful lot of beginning writers have stuck in their heads. Those misconceptions keep them from understanding what it takes to learn professional-level writing skills.

I believed a lot of this stuff myself when I was starting out, and I hate to think of all the cringey things I said and did before I finally got it.