How do I get rid of this funny smell?

It will cling to you forever if you focus on it. Ignore it, press on, and it fades pretty quick...

Confession: I am a Quoran, and I love it.

I don’t write as much as I used to over there, but every once in a while, a question will pull me back in. Here’s the latest one, and my answer. (You can read it and upvote it here if you like Quora too)

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Q: I'm a beginner writer and I don't know how to not make my story give off that 'I'm new to the whole industry vibes'. How do I achieve that?

There are some good answers here already.

My two cents: Don’t worry about vibes. Just write your stories.

Okay, here’s three cents more…

Finish them.

Even though you’re pretty sure they give off “newbie vibes” (ah, that new author smell!). Stop fiddling with the story and call it done (at least for now).

Share them.

With friends who like that kind of story. With a critique group that you belong to and in which you actively participate. On a platform (someone mentioned HubPages, I’ve heard WattPad and NetNovel might be okay too; I prefer Substack and Ream and BetaBooks.co).

“Share them” includes submitting them to relevant contests that have zero or very affordable entry fees. (See SubClub for tons of ideas)

“Share them” includes submitting them to relevant publication outlets: magazines, audio podcasts (check out Escape Artists’ genre fiction podcasts), and yes, even agents, and publishers who accept un-represented (un-agented) submissions.

Learn from experience.

After you share, you listen, you watch, you digest the various feedback you receive (even silence is a kind of feedback), and you learn from it.

Your writing craft will improve with feedback, if you take it seriously without taking it personally.

Your publishing craft will improve with feedback too, so that you’ll be able to publish wisely, effectively, whatever that is for you: it will depend on your goals and desires. (Some folks want to be the next Kevin J. Anderson or the next Salman Rushdie; other folks just want their writing to delight their buddies on WattPad; others just want to pass along their thoughts, stories, and cherished memories to their kids and grandkids and don’t care whether anyone else ever reads them.)

But for now, don’t worry about the “newbie vibes” you’re giving off. They will dissipate with time.

Because, you know what? If you keep writing stories, finishing them, and sharing them with people¹, pretty soon you won’t be a newbie anymore.

I look forward to enjoying your writing, someday!

1. …not your spouse or your parents though, unless they absolutely insist! Trust me in this.