Writing advice for non-absolute beginners

[inkdust]

Amend the click-bait style title to add "...if you already know what you're doing." I was pleasantly surprised by this list because it seems to articulate some of what we've said about writing advice (I know at least I've said it) - that so much is directed toward total beginners, stated as utter absolutes, and ends up running counter to our instincts as storytellers. This list is intended as an antidote.

"The Ten Worst Pieces of Writing Advice You Will Ever Hear" [if you already know what you're doing]

What do you all think?

Comments

[lunabee34]

Thanks for linking. That's a pretty good list. I agree with most of what the author is saying.

[ljwrites]

I bookmarked the essay, thanks! I read bits and pieces of this advice in other parts of the web, such as Really and Truly Hating the Adverb Hate, but there's stuff I haven't seen before and it's nice to see them collected under the heading of advice that might actually be harmful for those who no longer make the most blatant beginner's mistakes. Stein on Writing had a lot of these chestnuts (such as cutting adjectives and adverbs), and it took me a while to realize it was okay to use the occasional adverb. It goes to show there are no absolutes in the craft.

[rejectionchallenge]

I love it. Honestly, I'm skeptical of pretty much ALL writing advice that takes the form "Don't do [X]," because for just about every possible [X], there's an example somewhere of it working really well. There are probably exceptions, but I can't think of any at the moment. But anyone who reads at all can tell that these rules aren't being followed by their favorite writers.

Sometimes the standard response to pointing out that, say, Tolstoy loved him some adjective pileups and people seem to like Tolstoy anyway, is to say "OH HO HO HO; YOU'RE NO TOLSTOY THOUGH" and leave it at that.

Then it can feel to writers who are still finding their legs that there is one set of rules for non-famous plebs like them and another set of rules for Real Writers, and a cold sea of caution between Pleb Island and the Continent of Real Writerhood. It isolates.

[inkdust]

Hah, that's a great way of putting it. It reminds me of another bit I heard recently about writing, "Any advice is terrible advice at some point." Good things to remember.

[serria]

Thanks for posting this - it's an awesome reaction for those creative writing class commandments, thou shalt not use adverbs, etc. Writing is like any art. There are guidelines out there that can help you develop your skills and put a lot of critical thought into the craft, but in the end, most of it is just current popular opinion among critics on what constitutes good writing. Not that it's outrageous to advise that we think about showing, not telling, or making our sentences stronger by eliminating useless words. But I think worrying about them too much just stifles creativity and natural, authentic writing. That was my experience, anyway, after taking my first creative writing course.