I started thinking about this the other day. The best advice I received was from a friend who used to work in a small European publishing house. It was, “Write three books.” The worst advice I received was, “Try to write like a mid-range author.”
So, what has been the most valuable advice you’ve received and/or the worst?
Best advice I ever heard too was keep writing and learn how to write on a time crunch. Worst advice I ever heard was ‘stick around and survive around here.’ My writing is not about me surviving and knocking people down. I don’t live in the hunger game world, and honestly I believe in giving back. It’s better to give from the heart without being passive aggressive to knock someone else down. This might be just me.
Hi Victoria. Thanks for coming by. Keep writing is one of the best pieces of advice. I don’t even get the bad advice you were given.
The best advice I’ve been given is “You can fix crap, you can’t fix nothing.” Can’t really think of any bad advice I’ve been given. 🙂
Jenna,
Your absolutely right. Thank you.
Best advice: Write what you love
Worst advice: Write what publishers want
I agree. Thanks.
I’ve received a lot of good advice. Here are some of my favorites. Write what you want to read. Keep writing. Leave XXX in places where you need to go back to insert facts you’ll need to research.
The worst advice I’ve received usually had the word “Never” in the sentence. Example: Never use the word “was”. LOL
LOL. It was reading an interview with an author I liked where she said, write what you read, got me started. Thanks for coming by.
There is no right or wrong; there is only WRITE–even if it’s wrong.
I can’t think of the worst advice – I tend to have a selective memory.
LOL. I agree, if you don’t write, the rest of it doesn’t matter.
I look to Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and her other books for advice.
Susanna, I haven’t heard of her, but I’ll check her out. Thanks/
I haven’t really come across any bad advice yet. However, certain things work for certain people. While some people can outline, others can write on the fly. Some say just to get some words down, while others can only continue writing when their chapters are neatly edited (I do this one). Some people say to write what you love, then others tell you to check out the industry for what’s popular. I don’t think any of it is bad. I think it’s all about finding what suits the individual as a writer the best.
Melinda,
Thanks for commenting. Sometimes advice can be both helpful or not.
Best advice: Read “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder and plot using the 3-act structure. Worst advice: “Was” is passive and should be avoided at all costs. While it’s certainly better to use stronger verbs when possible, “was” is not passive, and trying to completely eliminate it from your ms (especially when writing in the past tense) is ridiculous. I’ve read many mss for my proofreading business that were a mess and had no discernable timeline because the writer was told not to use to use “was.”
Thanks Ally. I have Save the Cat, but haven’t read it all yet. I agree about “was.” Hard to write in third person and avoid it.
Great post. Every bit of advice I’ve been given has it’s pros and cons.
Brenda, thanks for coming by.
Best Advice – Just write. You can’t edit a blank page.
Worst Advice – Publishers only want to see the POV of two characters.
Sheri, I agree with you on both. Thanks for commenting.
The best advice given to me as a novice writer 5 years ago, was to join RWA. Had I not joined, I would have never grown to love writing. I would have never learned and continue to learn my craft. I would have never understood the power I can create. I would never have made the lifelong friends I have today. And I’m certain I would not be receiving fan mail. 🙂
That said, there is always room to grow and garner more great advice!
Worst advice…well I don’t remember. Any crap handed to me gets tossed and not worth revisiting. Ha!
Jenn!
That was great advice. I wish someone had given it to me. I would have joined sooner. Thanks for commenting.
I really can’t top any of these. You all have got it covered.
We really have a mix today. Thanks for comming by.
Best advice: Put butt in a chair and write! You can’t call yourself a writer, if you don’t write.
–Kirsten
Kirsten, how very true. Thanks.
Best advice. Read alot. Write alot.
Karen,
Great advice.
Best advise- write what you know.
Worst- give up
BTW I never gave up and have 3 contracts in the past 6 months with a total of five books out or soon to be released.
Lindsay, Congratulations!! It’s interesting, the advice to write what you know never worked for me. It wasn’t until I heard, write what you love to read that I started writing.
Thanks for commenting.
What a great post! Enjoyed reading the comments.
Can’t think of an answer other than what everyone has already said. 🙂
Hi Mart, Thanks for coming by.I agree, we’ve got some wonderful comments.
hi there. this is an interesting post. the worst advice i’ve rcvd is to focus on what’s needed to bring in the money, not what inpires me. the best advice i’ve rcvd is to take the time to proofread my work better than the best i can then go over it again.
I don’t get the writing for editors advice. I absolutely with the best advice you received. Thank you.
i have been wanting to get back to this thread. i lost track of where it was. i was told that it’s more important to concentrate on what sells even if it means not going with what i’m inspired to write. kinda literary prostitution or something.
Fortunately, I’ve never been given that piece of advice, but I agree with you.
The best advice I’ve ever had, the advice that changed everything really, was from my cousin’s wife who is a Hollywood screenwriter. I kept telling her that I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to be a writer. She looked at me and said, “No. If you’re a writer then call yourself a writer and write.” And I did! =D
I think maybe the worst advice I was ever given was don’t let other writers read your work to critique it because they will be biased in their critique and try to rewrite it in their own style.
Merry, Both are great. I love the first one. It’s true, to be a writer one must write. I think too many people are given the second and wonder why their books don’t get better.
Best: All first drafts are crap. Writing is rewriting.
Worst:Read 100 books in your genre and outline/analyze them before you start writing. This delayed me for a whole year because it just seemed so daunting, until another aspiring writer told me to take that off my to-do list.
The all first drafts are crap was in a close tie with the best advice I posted, and advice I’ve given to some of my CPs. I’d never heard your worst, and I’m glad I didn’t. Thanks for coming by.
Best advice=Writers’ write. Worst advice=”Are you sure you want to be a writer?”
Writers know what they are internally and eternally.
Take all of the negative voices of doom and stuff them in a jar. Seal tightly. Set on desk beside your computer. If their squirming bothers you, cover it with a cloth. Still feeling annoyed? Take jar (immediately) to the nearest river. Throw it in. If you have thoughts they may come back, someday, somehow…grab a stone (Big one-maybe two) and pitch hard (even vengefully) Shatter jar. Watch carefully as they sink to the depths and drown. Problem solved. Go home. Write…
Steven, That’s great. Thanks for coming by.
Be a bricklayer by science fiction author and screenwriter of Trouble With Tribbles on Star Trek David Gerrold, when I was 18 years old and asked him about pursuing writing. Years later, at a convention we both were author guests, he admitted to being a jerk back then, mostly due to early success with Trouble With Tribbles.
Oh, no. What a horrible thing to say. I’m glad he said he was sorry.