5 Christian Writing Mistakes That Cost You Years
Five Christian writing mistakes that keep Kingdom Writers stuck for years, and the one thing you can do this week to break the loop you are in.
You have been carrying this book for years now. And if you are honest, somewhere along the way you started to wonder if the problem is you.
It is not.
The Kingdom Writers who stay stuck longest are almost never the ones doing nothing. They are working and serving and raising families the whole time. Showing up. Putting in the hours. And still standing in the same place they were standing five years ago.
The five most common Christian writing mistakes are rewriting the same section, waiting for a big block of time, believing you need to learn more first, writing without accountability, and waiting to feel qualified. Every one of them feels like progress while you are doing it. That is what makes them cost years instead of weeks.
These are not five things you did wrong. They are five loops, and we have been caught in most of them ourselves.
Mistake 1: You rewrite the same section instead of moving forward
Chapter one has been rewritten more times than the rest of the book has been written. How many times have you redone that opening?
It genuinely feels like progress. This is real work on the real book, and the page does get better every time. But you are polishing a section instead of finishing a draft, and you lose all perspective on whether that section even belongs there.
The writing brain and the editing brain are two different modes. Run both at once and the editor always wins, because the editor’s whole job is to find what is wrong.
The fix: highlight the rough spot, leave yourself a note, then keep going. Your first draft is not your final draft. Nobody has to see it, not even your editor. You cannot edit a page that does not exist.
If procrastination is the shape this takes for you, we wrote more about five reasons we procrastinate when writing a book.
Mistake 2: You wait for a big block of time
Waiting for a free afternoon costs years, because the seasons do not calm down. The belief underneath is that real writing needs a long uninterrupted stretch, so the manuscript waits until things settle.
CJ and I are in our fifties now, and I have lost count of how many times I said “once this is done” or “once that happens.” Life will always have something going on this side of heaven. Meanwhile nothing happens in the gaps, and the gaps turn out to be most of your life.
Anthony Trollope wrote 47 novels while working full time as a Post Office surveyor, measuring his writing in 15-minute units at 250 words each (James Clear).
The fix: write for 15 minutes a day. Not because 15 minutes is magic, but because it is the only version that survives your real calendar, including your bad days. Dictate into your phone, capture a few notes, write one paragraph. It counts.
I was stuck editing 21 Prayers for Writers and did not want to touch it. So I got a kitchen timer, flipped it to 15 minutes, and told myself that was all I owed it. What happens most of the time is that the timer ends and you are in the flow and you want to keep going.
I also kept what I called the finish the book jar. Five dollars went in after every session. When the book was done, I got to spend it.
Mistake 3: You think you need to learn more before you are ready
Another course, another workshop, another book about writing, and it genuinely feels like you are getting closer. Buying a training gives you a hit of progress that sitting down to write the next paragraph does not. Purchasing feels like a decision.
CJ puts it in terms of running. You can read every book and watch every video about becoming a better runner, but that is not the reality of it. You have to get outside and practice, whatever the weather is doing. Races do not train themselves.
Preparation is safe. A first draft is exposure.
Years ago we spent $3,000 on a course called Amazon Selling Machine. CJ even flew to a conference in Las Vegas for it. At the time that was an enormous investment for us, and we were genuinely excited, because it was going to grow a whole new part of the business. Then it sat there. Life moved on. We never did anything with it.
The fix: you already know enough to write the next paragraph. Pick the one thing you are going to apply, close everything else, and go.
If you are still working out whether this is your season at all, read what it actually means to become a Christian writer.
Mistake 4: You write alone without accountability or deadlines
Nobody is waiting for your next chapter, and that is why the book keeps losing. There is no date on the calendar. If this whole week passes without a word written, no one notices.
This one hides well. Writing is a solitary act, so being alone with it feels normal. It can even feel holy, because you are partnering with God in the work.
But a book with no deadline and nobody witnessing the progress will always lose to the thing that has both. Tyranny of the urgent. People want things from you, other deadlines are real, and the book slides to the back burner.
When we ask the writers we have worked with since 2010, more than a thousand of them now, what actually changed things, accountability and consistency come up more than anything else we offer.
The fix: one person, one standing time, one date on the calendar. Progress Pods inside Christian Book Academy are peer-led groups that meet weekly, and they have moved more books across the finish line than anything else we have added. You can build the smallest version this week with one friend, even if what they need accountability for is a budget or training for a race.
Here is how a writing accountability group works if you want to start one yourself.
Mistake 5: You are waiting to feel qualified
You are waiting for a publishing contract, a platform, a credential, or somebody official to tell you that you are allowed. This one feels like wisdom. It sounds like humility. It can even sound like waiting on God.
Here is the reframe. A publishing contract is a business decision made by a company. It is not God’s validation of your calling. Those are two different things.
CJ and I have self-published over 70 books in the last 17 years through Body and Soul Publishing. If we had waited for a contract, we might not have published a single one of them.
The fix: take the step that is actually in front of you. Permission is not coming in the mail. You are not disqualified, and you are not too late.
If that voice is loud right now, we wrote about working through self-doubt as a writer.
Which Christian writing mistake has had you?
Most Kingdom Writers recognize themselves in more than one of these, and for plenty of us the honest answer is all five in rotation.
| The loop | What it feels like | One thing this week |
|---|---|---|
| Rewriting the same section | Being thorough | Highlight it, note it, keep going |
| Waiting for a big block | Being responsible | Set a timer for 15 minutes |
| Needing to learn more | Being prepared | Apply one thing, close the rest |
| Writing alone | Being normal | Text one friend, pick a time |
| Waiting to feel qualified | Being humble | Take the step in front of you |
None of these means you failed. They mean you have been working without a way through.
Come write with us
If you recognized yourself more than once, that is not a character flaw. It is what happens when you carry a book alone for a long time.
That is what Christian Book Academy, our $49/month membership for Kingdom Writers, is built for: curriculum in order, coaching calls, and the Progress Pods where writers meet weekly and notice when you go quiet.
Start smaller if you would rather. Our free guide, 8 Surprisingly Simple Writing Tips, covers quieting the inner critic and getting the messy first draft down.
If you have already spotted your loop but still do not know where to start tomorrow morning, read how to know whether your book idea is from God.
Final Thoughts
Whatever you write this week, even if it is small, celebrate it. We say celebrate every word and we mean it. That is not a consolation prize. That is how the book actually gets written.
Progress, not perfection.
You have been faithful through a long season that did not leave much room for writing. God has not been tapping His foot waiting for you to hurry. The same God who gave you the book is patient with the pace.
Pick one loop. Break it this week. Fifteen minutes counts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christian Writing Mistakes