I recently came across several discussion threads on Reddit where participants shared the worst and best writing advice they’ve received. 

In most cases, they felt the advice didn’t quite fit their skill level or genre. Others felt the advice was unrealistic. “How am I supposed to write every day when I have a full-time job, a family and other obligations?” was a common concern.  In a few instances the advice was deemed inappropriate and downright wrong, like the former college professor who advised students to include more violence in dark fantasies because “that’s what readers expect.” 

One thing to keep in mind: advice is just that–advice. Not rules which can feel more permanent and harder to shake (yet in the discussion threads the two terms were used interchangeably.) Advice is meant to be helpful; they’re recommendations or guidelines for improving our craft. We don’t have to accept any writing advice if it doesn’t work for us. 

All the same, some words of advice can be confusing. So for the purpose of this post, I’ll try to clarify a few of the most common ones.  

Advice #1: Write every day. It’s understandable that writing every day is unrealistic due to work schedules, school, family obligations, etc. This advice is usually given to new writers to encourage them to establish a consistent routine of writing every day. Even 15 minutes can make a difference. When you make time to write every day, you create momentum, you establish a consistent practice, and your craft improves exponentially. While many writers wish they had more time in their schedules for writing, the reality is, “more hours to write doesn’t guarantee they’ll be productive ones,” writes author Polly Campbell in the current issue of Writer’s Digest. “Writers who finish books and publish regularly aren’t the ones with more time to write–they’re the ones with a system that helps them write during the time they have.” 

So sit down with your schedule, find pockets of time, even if it’s only 15 minutes. Then develop a system for writing every day.

Advice #2: Write what you know. Writing requires two types of knowledge: personal experience and external supplemental knowledge. The “write what you know” part refers to personal experience, events that you’ve lived through that you can tap into while writing your story.

External knowledge represents the things you don’t know or perhaps isn’t commonly known. If you’re writing a crime novel, for example, you might need to understand how a police detective solves a crime. If your character works in a library or hair salon and you don’t know anything about either profession, it’s helpful to your story to find out about those professions.

So, yes, it’s important to write what you know, but there will be times when you need to find out what you don’t know.

Advice #3: Join a critique group. Some writers swear by getting involved in critique groups and have successfully honed their craft from their feedback. Others have gotten so bogged down by feedback that they never seem to progress toward the end of their piece. Critique groups can slow a writer down because the writer feels compelled to implement every piece of advice – whether that advice is suitable or not. Only you know if a critique group is right for you. If the group option doesn’t appeal to you, try working with a single critique partner or two. The important element is trust. No matter if you join a group or work with a single partner, you benefit from having your work seen by people you know and trust. 

Advice #4: You need a detailed outline before you start writing. The thought of using a detailed outline fills pantsers like myself with dread. A detailed outline is not for everyone and, in fact, can be limiting to the creative process. On the other hand, working with no outline can be problematic too because you may end up producing extraneous material that needs to be cut later. Most writers, I believe, fall somewhere in between. They might do a rough outline up front that is flexible enough to allow for new characters and plot points to show up during the initial draft. Or they will draft first, then create their outline afterwards before revising. Either way, it’s important to have some semblance of outlining to understand the structure of your story.

Advice 5: Don’t include a prologue. In my opinion, most novels don’t require a prologue. They tend to be dumping grounds for backstory and setting that’s not necessarily important or interesting. However, there are some situations and genres in which prologues can be helpful, or even expected. Many thrillers, mysteries and science fiction stories, for example, include prologues, usually written from a different character’s perspective or focused on an earlier time period. For most other fiction, prologues aren’t necessary and may only drag the story down. 

Advice #6: Write only when you’re inspired. Any writer will tell you that waiting for inspiration to strike before writing is a terrible waste of time because you’ll likely be waiting a long time. You have to prime the pump, so to speak. The best writers start writing even when they don’t feel like it or have anything meaningful to write about. There have been plenty of times when I didn’t feel inspired to write or my heart wasn’t in it. When I forced myself to sit and write, the words might come out wrong – at first – but eventually, the faucet turned on and the words started flowing. You almost have to show the universe that you are serious about writing before the creative muses show up for you. So even if you don’t feel inspired, start writing anyway.

Advice #7: Leave all editing until the end of the first draft. I’m inclined to agree with this advice. I prefer to finish the first draft before editing, and usually only after I’ve let the manuscript cool off for a few months. Then when I’m ready to review it, I’m able to see it with fresh eyes. Like everything else, there are exceptions. Some writers can’t progress through their first draft until they’ve edited the sections they wrote the previous day. One writer I know drafts the first five chapters, then goes back and edits them before continuing with the drafting process. As with anything else, you need to experiment to see which process works best for you.

Hope these insights help clear up any confusion about writing advice. As writers, we’re all trying to figure out this writing craft together. Take whatever advice you hear with a grain of salt, then find what works best for you.

This weeks writing prompt:
Imagine yourself hiking in the woods, either by yourself or with a friend or two. It’s getting dark out and it’s beginning to snow/rain. You realize you are lost. How do you find your way out of the woods?