The Most Common Entry-Level Mistake in the Writing Game | Jane Friedman

Overwriting will get your work rejected faster than a ridiculous deus ex machina in the final act.

That's not to say stylistic writing, a voice full of attitude and personality, is a bad thing. Hell, I'm doing precisely that right here. But it's how I write, and it's seasoned with several decades worth of professional experience (including the scars to prove it) in fine-tuning. Shooting for a level of personality in your narrative is always a risk.

To mitigate that risk, carve this into your forehead: Less is more. Just don't minimize your writing voice to the point where it sounds like copy from a metropolitan telephone directory. Somewhere between a love letter scripted by a drunken, suicidal poet and the world's driest technical copy awaits a level of style that suits you. And, just as important, it will suit your story or manuscript.