What was the worst writing advice you ever received? Is there any such animal as “bad writing advice”? Not according to novelist and screenwriter Chuck Wendig. "There's only advice that works for you and advice that doesn't."
Is that true? Sometimes it seems, as writers, we can get so caught up in “the rules” that we forget the story and how to tell it. We become frustrated, and it can be downright maddening to try to remember every piece of advice from every writing source we’ve ever come across and tried to use properly.
Translating our ideas into language is one way of looking at our writing process, but how do we start? I have to admit, I am truly a ‘pantser’, not a ‘plotter’—which is really out of character for me in every other aspect of my life. But somehow, orchestrating everything to an outline and strictly adhering to that brings out the rebel in me. I just can’t do it—and I’ve tried. Here’s an example of the differences from Richard Nordquist’s “About.com” publication on writing:
In his essay "Getting Started," John Irving writes, "Here is a useful rule for beginning: Know the story--as much of the story as you can possibly know, if not the whole story--before you commit yourself to the first paragraph." Irving has written far more novels than I. Clearly he knows what works for himself in a way that I don't always for myself, but this seems to me terrible advice. I'm more inclined to E.L. Doctorow's wisdom. He once wrote that writing . . . is like driving at night: You don't need to see the whole road, just the bit of illuminated blacktop before you.
(Debra Spark, "The Trigger: What Gives Rise to the Story?" Creating Fiction, edited by Julie Checkoway. Writer's Digest Books, 1999)
Yes. That’s what I do. I don’t always see the entire big picture, and I don’t need to from the very beginning. But I do see more than “just the bit of illuminated blacktop”—in other words, the immediate “coming up next” section of the story. So I guess I’m in category #3—Swiss cheese author—I know the basics of what’s going to happen, but even so, there are a LOT of little (and big!) surprise along the way.
Nope. Neither is this one...
Aside from being on one side of the “plotter/pantser” fence and being told you’re wrong by the other side, what is the worst writing advice you’ve ever had? You don’t have to say who gave it to you—but I’m curious…what was it? And do you agree with the idea that there is no bad writing advice, just “advice that works for you and advice that doesn’t”? Bring on the comments and opinions! The worst writing advice I ever received? “Try to write an Amish romance. That’s what’s “hot” now…” (from an agent). What’s yours?
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It's always bad advice to be told to write according to what's selling "now," (especially if it's outside your wheelhouse). My former agent once asked me what I wanted most to write, which at the time was westerns and horror. He said, "The only thing that sells worse than westerns is horror." I've actually known more writers who got filthy rich writing horror than westerns, but that might just be the circles I run around in (or the poor advances typical for western fiction unless your last name rhymes with McBurtry). But I know plenty of folks who've made a living in both fields, without being forced outside the genres they love.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff, I agree with you. When we write, we have to love it or our words lose the passion and fire because if we're writing something we aren't crazy about, a reader can feel that. Writing is hard, and doing it without the zeal for it would be excruciating. It would be great to be rich, but most of us would be writing whether we made money from it or not, right? LOL (And of course, we might be eating peanut butter and jelly while we were doing it, but at least we'd love what we were working on.) LOL Glad you stopped by!
DeleteI think the worst advice I was given was from someone who said he was surprised who the killer was in a book. There was no sense of menace or danger from that person throughout the book. But I pointed out that it wouldn't be a mystery if I made it obvious who the killer was. The surprise was the point!
ReplyDeleteOh...dear... What did you say back? What kind of a rejoinder is there for a comment like that? Good grief! Well, Christine, that's why YOU are the mystery writer and HE is not. You'd think the surprise would be something he'd compliment you on rather than be disappointed he didn't already know who the killer was before it was revealed! I have loved every single one of your books!
DeleteI love the helpful plotters who insist that you must outline your book before starting that rough draft ... or yeah, write what's "hot" now. By the time you get your book done & published, the trend will have shifted! But Amish romances are still a thing ...
ReplyDeleteHi JES! Yes, I'm sure Amish romances will be a thing for a very long time to come, but I tried to tell her it wasn't "MY" thing. LOL And I never did write it. I knew it wouldn't be a good fit for me. And you are so right--by the time you get it written and out there, the market has moved on with out your book. I'm so glad you stopped by today! (I'm definitely not a plotter, either!) LOL
DeleteI really like the image of the Swiss cheese author, even though I think I'd describe myself as the mouse whose working his way through the cheese (hoping to avoid the cat--and the trap). Many, many thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteHi John! Yes, I liked the Swiss cheese author image as well. You made me laugh about trying to eat your way through the cheese and hoping for the best! LOL Glad you enjoyed the post!
DeleteSwiss cheese, that's a priceless image for the way I write. I guess I'm lucky, I just don't pay attention to advice unless I asked, and even then if it doesn't fit I don't use it. (Talk about being stubborn. LOL) Doris
ReplyDeleteI'm usually pretty stubborn too, Doris, but in the beginning I was just trying to learn the ins and outs and what was expected and how to do it, and...oh my gosh. This was my moment of awakening. I knew this was something I could not do, but I wanted to write, so I just had to make the decision to drop that agent and move on. That was hard. LOL
DeleteI think the advice of "write what you know" is incomplete. It should be to write what you can learn to know.
ReplyDeleteYES, I agree, Charles. Who really "knows" what it's like to be a killer if they've not ever killed someone? Who really knows what it's like to go to another planet if they've never been to one? We have to have imagination to write, and we certainly cannot "know" everything! That is a very good point.
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