What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve received? (Or: what quote about writing left a lasting impression with you?)
What is the worst piece of writing advice you’ve received?
At the Substack Writer Get Together, writers used this thread to share memorable writing advice. If you were not able to join us, feel free to add to the thread!
Best advice from a friend: In a big way, writing is actually more about discipline than talent. It's all about "sitzfleisch"—so the best thing you can do is build a routine around it. During that regular time, sometimes the words will pour out of you. Sometimes you might be lucky to get a full sentence. But if you stick to the routine, eventually you'll have a body of work... and when you look back later you won't be able to tell the difference from the work on the "good" days and the "bad" days.
Worst writing advice: I internalized that I should write in high English from the books I read in school growing up - in a more formal or flowery way than I spoke or wrote naturally. I have had to shed those expectations.
Best advice (from John Swartzwelder's interview in the New Yorker): Write the first draft as fast as you can. Just get it out, even if you have to put in some filler dialog or made up facts. Writing is hard, but rewriting is easier and more fun. So just write up a quick crappy version, then when you come back the next day, your work is already done and you just have to clean it up.
Worst advice (from my own damn head): Make it perfect before you hit publish. I write a humor newsletter about time machines and salsa and farts but my brain still wants me to act like I'm crafting a new Constitution or something. That's dumb. It's an email - send it!
Fun advice: "No fun for the writer, no fun for the reader" -- by Donna Tartt
Work/more boring advice: take a notepad and brainstorm for an hour or so every day, just to come up with topics to write about, so you allow yourself to time to develop ideas when they're still just ideas. I'm trying to incorporate some of Jerry Seinfeld's approach to writing :)
"Write short sentences." That rule is for people who do not want to be writers. Boring people need short sentences. Say what you need to say and use as many words as you need, no matter how long the sentence! Of course, on proofreading, it is good to hammer the phrases and that usually means making the sentences shorter --but short is not better for being short.
1. Writer's block isn't some inevitable consequence of writing, it's useful subconscious feedback on what you're currently ready to write, and you can use it to improve both your writing and self-understanding.
2. The worst advice is anyone telling me what I should write about. If they want it written, they should write about it!
Many writers tend to use brackets to provide additional information (say if they want to make a finer point). Use commas instead. Words sitting between two commas, like so, provide smoother entry and exit points. More importantly perhaps, if you find yourself putting things in brackets often, maybe that information belongs outside the brackets.
Worst advice: Academic writing is good. No, it isn't. It's full of jargon, overuse of the passive voice and 3rd person, and unnecessarily long, pompous sentences.
Think about what the reader is getting out of reading your work. Remember how busy they are and how compelling their real lives are! And make time they spend with you with their while.
Set a time on the calendar. Write at that time. period. Nothing brings brilliance like a deadline.
a corollary: write in the same place every time if possible. set the time according to your internal productivity clock (morning people in the morning, night owls at night, etc).
the muse is too fickle to count on. Handel (I know it's music but it works) wrote the Messiah in need of cash and in a hurry --it's his best work.
Second best advice, and a distant second, but it matters: put it down when you are finished and give it a day or two. Then proofread, and do the hard work of hammering out better sentences and phrases. Then read it again
My best advice was from my professor at Medill Journalism school: "don't be afraid to kill your babies." Essentially, he's saying not to get too attached to any particular sentence or quote; pieces are subject to change and sometimes we need to let go (erase) parts to improve the story.
My worst piece of writing was "try to write as if you were me." I don't want to name who said that to me, but ultimately, it was someone who felt that they were better than everybody else and thought the only "good" writers were ones like them. Each writer has their own tone and style. Aspects that make writers unique and stand out. Don't ever tell someone to mute themselves, you don't know what sort of effect that could have on their confidence.
Best professional advice, (with some exceptions for first drafting): know where you're going and what your target is, right when you start. Same as planning a road trip -- you free yourself up to get the most out of it if you plan ahead, know where you're going... and have an end destination in mind.
I'm with David MacIver - worst advice is others telling you what you should write about. Best advice is from Anne Lamott - allow yourself to write shitty first drafts by quieting your inner critic while you are in the act of writing. Edit later.
The Best advice I ever received was to read and write every day. The worst was my own interpretation and belief that everything I read in books over the years was the gospel when it came to writing books. Writing fiction is a journey that takes many years. There really are no steadfast rules. It's taken a few years, but now I know it's all about the plot and characters and to just write the best stories I can. http://www.bryankoepke.com
I have been so bad at this myself, but when I do manage to do it, it works. Write every day--something, anything. If I can't deal with fiction at the moment, I write a poem or a blog post. Worst piece of advice? Write every da--, no, just kidding. Or not. Sometimes it's good to take a break entirely to recharge. You know what? Do what you do. If you find value in writing, you'll do it because you love it.
Best advice: Read what you plan to write. Learn what is expected in that genre. Worst: "Just write". That's like saying "just bake", unless you've memorized all the measurements and ingredients trial and error will be extremely wasteful/costly and nobody will like what you made.
Best advice: 1) stay in the room, meaning don't get up and refill your coffee right when you really need to push through and keep writing. 2) Learn the rules so that you know how to break them.
Worst advice: don't use adverbs. "Adverbs are for sissies" was written on one of my drafts by a guy in an old critique group - he was a high school English teacher who thought he was the arbiter of all things writing. I still need to get t-shirts made that say "I especially love adverbs."
The worst advice I've ever heard is to listen to no one. Everyone can learn and there are great writers out there who helped me make my writing better. Don't feel you are above the advice of someone who knows what they're talking about. That being said, don't ask for advice from friends because they will feel obligated to find problems where there are none.
A writer, Neil Geiman mentions: “what you’re doing is lying, but you're using the truth in order to make your lies convincing and true. You’re using them as seasoning. You’re using the truth as a condiment to make an otherwise unconvincing narrative absolutely credible.” He claims that truth in fiction is very important: “We’re using memorable lies. We are taking people who do not exist and things that did not happen to those people, in places that aren’t, and we are using those things to communicate true things.” I too believe that fiction can not be relatable if it is not “realistic” in some sense.
Best writing advice: Your first thoughts aren't your best thoughts. They're just first.
Worst writing advice: Never use passive voice. You absolutely should use passive voice--when it works for what you are trying to say. (Which brings me to the writing advice I often give):You can--and should-- break any writing "rules" that you've learned, but you should know why you are doing what you're doing.)
best writing advice be yourself be punctual be nice regardless of who ever that you know why because helping hand cant deny they don't know you when you are in need of them but a gold getter never learns they prefer not too work and we should expose this attitude worse is you talk too much to strict to honest over-caring temper lie hate bigotry fraud theft many more professionalisms means good business we all love success but don't step on people toes it is vanity how much of life do we live on earth few why don't you come up with a clean records don't Jeopardy your friendship with other people every day the see you if you hurt them they can never forgive and forget the wont see you ever again truth truth truth be color blind freedom of speech if people show you things don't doublecross them .
The best advice is what I learned and saw from other non-fiction writers. I am finding that it is best to write your own thoughts and not report what other people have said in the news media. I see that it is more acceptable that writers write the way they actually talk and think. Your character, personality, and passion needs to be revealed in what you write. If you are passionate about something, you need to write it that way.
Best advice from a friend: In a big way, writing is actually more about discipline than talent. It's all about "sitzfleisch"—so the best thing you can do is build a routine around it. During that regular time, sometimes the words will pour out of you. Sometimes you might be lucky to get a full sentence. But if you stick to the routine, eventually you'll have a body of work... and when you look back later you won't be able to tell the difference from the work on the "good" days and the "bad" days.
Worst writing advice: I internalized that I should write in high English from the books I read in school growing up - in a more formal or flowery way than I spoke or wrote naturally. I have had to shed those expectations.
Best advice (from John Swartzwelder's interview in the New Yorker): Write the first draft as fast as you can. Just get it out, even if you have to put in some filler dialog or made up facts. Writing is hard, but rewriting is easier and more fun. So just write up a quick crappy version, then when you come back the next day, your work is already done and you just have to clean it up.
Worst advice (from my own damn head): Make it perfect before you hit publish. I write a humor newsletter about time machines and salsa and farts but my brain still wants me to act like I'm crafting a new Constitution or something. That's dumb. It's an email - send it!
1. Best advice: don't quit your day job. 2) Worst advice: don't quit your day job.
Fun advice: "No fun for the writer, no fun for the reader" -- by Donna Tartt
Work/more boring advice: take a notepad and brainstorm for an hour or so every day, just to come up with topics to write about, so you allow yourself to time to develop ideas when they're still just ideas. I'm trying to incorporate some of Jerry Seinfeld's approach to writing :)
It's basic, but read my work out oud to myself. I catch so many awkward sentences and have an opportunity to make changes that are SO much better
1. Be weird. For god's sake, be weird.
2. Avoid the passive voice. When someone asked me "When were you born," I replied "my mother birthed me on June 2nd."
For quotes, I love this Kurt Vonnegut's advice: "Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about."
WORST ADVICE AND NOTHING ELSE IS CLOSE:
"Write short sentences." That rule is for people who do not want to be writers. Boring people need short sentences. Say what you need to say and use as many words as you need, no matter how long the sentence! Of course, on proofreading, it is good to hammer the phrases and that usually means making the sentences shorter --but short is not better for being short.
Thanks for putting this together! Best advice: write for your audience. Worst advice: don't use passive voice.
Block the internet when you're writing (I use Freedom app)
Best advice: Coffee
Best advice:
1. Writer's block isn't some inevitable consequence of writing, it's useful subconscious feedback on what you're currently ready to write, and you can use it to improve both your writing and self-understanding.
2. The worst advice is anyone telling me what I should write about. If they want it written, they should write about it!
Best advice: Avoid using brackets
Many writers tend to use brackets to provide additional information (say if they want to make a finer point). Use commas instead. Words sitting between two commas, like so, provide smoother entry and exit points. More importantly perhaps, if you find yourself putting things in brackets often, maybe that information belongs outside the brackets.
From my common writing mistakes post: https://personal.jatan.space/p/common-writing-mistakes-to-avoid
Worst advice: Academic writing is good. No, it isn't. It's full of jargon, overuse of the passive voice and 3rd person, and unnecessarily long, pompous sentences.
Best advice: just start!
Think about what the reader is getting out of reading your work. Remember how busy they are and how compelling their real lives are! And make time they spend with you with their while.
Best advice would be to "be consistent". Worst is add "as many keywords as possible"
"Writing is rewriting" and "Know your audience"
If no one hates your stuff, no one will like it.
BEST ADVICE AND NOTHING ELSE IS EVEN CLOSE:
Set a time on the calendar. Write at that time. period. Nothing brings brilliance like a deadline.
a corollary: write in the same place every time if possible. set the time according to your internal productivity clock (morning people in the morning, night owls at night, etc).
the muse is too fickle to count on. Handel (I know it's music but it works) wrote the Messiah in need of cash and in a hurry --it's his best work.
Second best advice, and a distant second, but it matters: put it down when you are finished and give it a day or two. Then proofread, and do the hard work of hammering out better sentences and phrases. Then read it again
Is this the new office hours thread? Or do we tag on from last week's?
Best: keep it simple
My best advice was from my professor at Medill Journalism school: "don't be afraid to kill your babies." Essentially, he's saying not to get too attached to any particular sentence or quote; pieces are subject to change and sometimes we need to let go (erase) parts to improve the story.
My worst piece of writing was "try to write as if you were me." I don't want to name who said that to me, but ultimately, it was someone who felt that they were better than everybody else and thought the only "good" writers were ones like them. Each writer has their own tone and style. Aspects that make writers unique and stand out. Don't ever tell someone to mute themselves, you don't know what sort of effect that could have on their confidence.
Best advice: “Don’t compare your favorite author’s last draft (a published book) with your first draft.”
Worst advice: Anything that nasty, little critic inside my head whispers in my ear while I’m trying to write.
Does it matter that you're brilliant from line n°5 and on while readers have dropped out before line n°4 ?
Best professional advice, (with some exceptions for first drafting): know where you're going and what your target is, right when you start. Same as planning a road trip -- you free yourself up to get the most out of it if you plan ahead, know where you're going... and have an end destination in mind.
I'm with David MacIver - worst advice is others telling you what you should write about. Best advice is from Anne Lamott - allow yourself to write shitty first drafts by quieting your inner critic while you are in the act of writing. Edit later.
The Best advice I ever received was to read and write every day. The worst was my own interpretation and belief that everything I read in books over the years was the gospel when it came to writing books. Writing fiction is a journey that takes many years. There really are no steadfast rules. It's taken a few years, but now I know it's all about the plot and characters and to just write the best stories I can. http://www.bryankoepke.com
Horace's advice to keep your poetry in a drawer for 9 years
A writing professor once told me the only advice you ever need as a writer is to do good work and be a good person. Very zen!
I have been so bad at this myself, but when I do manage to do it, it works. Write every day--something, anything. If I can't deal with fiction at the moment, I write a poem or a blog post. Worst piece of advice? Write every da--, no, just kidding. Or not. Sometimes it's good to take a break entirely to recharge. You know what? Do what you do. If you find value in writing, you'll do it because you love it.
Best advice: Read what you plan to write. Learn what is expected in that genre. Worst: "Just write". That's like saying "just bake", unless you've memorized all the measurements and ingredients trial and error will be extremely wasteful/costly and nobody will like what you made.
Write short sentences. The best example is (Kinemaster APK)(https://indigoapk.com/kinemaster-apk)
Best: Join a critique group.
Worst: Half of their comments every week.
Best advice :Write more about common diseases
Worst advice: eventhough not much worst.. Please be simple 😜
Best advice: 1) stay in the room, meaning don't get up and refill your coffee right when you really need to push through and keep writing. 2) Learn the rules so that you know how to break them.
Worst advice: don't use adverbs. "Adverbs are for sissies" was written on one of my drafts by a guy in an old critique group - he was a high school English teacher who thought he was the arbiter of all things writing. I still need to get t-shirts made that say "I especially love adverbs."
The worst advice I've ever heard is to listen to no one. Everyone can learn and there are great writers out there who helped me make my writing better. Don't feel you are above the advice of someone who knows what they're talking about. That being said, don't ask for advice from friends because they will feel obligated to find problems where there are none.
A writer, Neil Geiman mentions: “what you’re doing is lying, but you're using the truth in order to make your lies convincing and true. You’re using them as seasoning. You’re using the truth as a condiment to make an otherwise unconvincing narrative absolutely credible.” He claims that truth in fiction is very important: “We’re using memorable lies. We are taking people who do not exist and things that did not happen to those people, in places that aren’t, and we are using those things to communicate true things.” I too believe that fiction can not be relatable if it is not “realistic” in some sense.
Best advice: Write with 1 person in mind first to get started versus writing for an audience.
Best writing advice: Your first thoughts aren't your best thoughts. They're just first.
Worst writing advice: Never use passive voice. You absolutely should use passive voice--when it works for what you are trying to say. (Which brings me to the writing advice I often give):You can--and should-- break any writing "rules" that you've learned, but you should know why you are doing what you're doing.)
best writing advice be yourself be punctual be nice regardless of who ever that you know why because helping hand cant deny they don't know you when you are in need of them but a gold getter never learns they prefer not too work and we should expose this attitude worse is you talk too much to strict to honest over-caring temper lie hate bigotry fraud theft many more professionalisms means good business we all love success but don't step on people toes it is vanity how much of life do we live on earth few why don't you come up with a clean records don't Jeopardy your friendship with other people every day the see you if you hurt them they can never forgive and forget the wont see you ever again truth truth truth be color blind freedom of speech if people show you things don't doublecross them .
worse too open minded genuinely not avoiding
sorry miss the appointment class school peace
The best advice is what I learned and saw from other non-fiction writers. I am finding that it is best to write your own thoughts and not report what other people have said in the news media. I see that it is more acceptable that writers write the way they actually talk and think. Your character, personality, and passion needs to be revealed in what you write. If you are passionate about something, you need to write it that way.