I wanted to
talk about writing advice a bit. The
good stuff and the bad stuff. I just did
a few months ago, yeah, but this is a little different.
This time,
I want to talk with you about taking those words to heart... or not.
Here’s an
ugly truth about writing advice.
I’d guess a
good 40% of it is just people telling you what worked for them. Here’s how I do characters, here’s how I do
dialogue, here’s how I plot, here’s how I write fifty pages a week. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this advice—it clearly worked for that particular professional.
It’s just a presentation problem.
It assumes every writer and project is like every other writer and
project.
Still,
that’s better than the 50% of people who are bellowing advice that hasn’t
worked for them. The only thing
sketchier than someone with a lot of
credits insisting “this is how it’s done” is somebody with no credits
insisting “this is how it’s done.” Or
somebody who had a credit twenty-five years ago.
What? A
twenty-five year old credit should still count?
I mean, on one level I agree with you—it’s a credit. But it’s a credit from another era. Seriously.
Johannes Guttenberg may be the father of printing, but he’s not going to
be much help if my Brother 5-in-1 gets a paper jam.
Let me put
it in these terms. Let’s say we were
talking about computers. Let’s say I knew someone who’d been a kinda-known name
in computers twenty-five years ago. And hadn’t really done anything since. How seriously would you take their advice
about computer engineering? Or
programming? Or breaking into the
industry?
Actually, I
take it back. There’s one thing worse than somebody with no credits insisting
“this is how it’s done.” It’s when
somebody with no credits wants money to tell you “this is how it’s done.”
Anyway,
that leaves us with, what... 10%, roughly?
Math isn’t my thing. What’s that
last ten percent of advice?
You’ve
probably seen it. It’s the folks saying “try this.” Or maybe they’re a couple of provisos before or after their statements.
I’ve mentioned the idea of this here a few times. It’s called the Golden Rule.
No, not
that Golden Rule. I made this one up.
The Golden Rule is one of the core things I try to put out with all the
writing advice I offer here. It goes
something like this.
What works for me
probably won't work for you.
And it definitely
won't work for that guy.
You see,
writing is a very personal thing. In the
same way I can’t say “urban fantasy is the best genre,” I also can’t say “writing
500 words before lunch every day and another 500 words after is the key to
success.” Because it’s not.
Oh, it
might be for some people, sure, but it isn’t for everybody. There are people who write in the
afternoon. There are people who only write
in the morning. Some like massive outlines, some like very minimal ones.
If you ask a dozen different writers how to do something—anything—you’re
going to get a dozen different answers.
Because we’ve all found what works for us. That's the golden rule.
There’s a
joke I’ve used a couple times to
explain this. If the only time you can
write is Sunday afternoons, and the only way you can write is standing on your
head, wearing that “enhancing” corset you bought at the Ren Faire last summer,
using voice-recognition software, but doing this lets you write 15,000 words...
Well,
that’s fantastic. Seriously. I know professional, full-time writers who don’t
always get 15,000 words down a week. I
can maybe hit those numbers once a month.
If that’s what it takes for you to do it, and you can do it consistently—power to you!
See, at the
end of the day, how I write my book doesn’t matter. Perhaps I write first thing in the morning or
maybe late into the night. I could work
exclusively on a laptop, on my phone, on a typewriter, or on yellow legal pads
with a #2 pencil. Maybe I reward myself
after every thousand words with half an hour of reading, a video game, twenty minutes of exercise, booze,
sex, whatever. Do I do one
long, constantly reworked draft or two dozen drafts each with a few minute, specific
changes?
However I
do it, that part of writing doesn’t matter.
As long as I’m working, I’m doing fine.
People can insist whatever they want, but at the end of the day it
always comes down to the golden rule.
What works for me
probably won't work for you.
And it definitely
won't work for that guy.
And none of
us write like you. We don’t have your habits, your preferences, your thoughts,
your goals. We’re not telling your story your way.
Which is
why you shouldn’t worry about writing like us. Sift through all the hints and
tips. Learn which ones do and don’t work
for you. Don't worry if four of the six people above do X, find out if X works for you. Find your way to write.
And if your
way happens to involve a corset... hey, who am I to judge?
Next
time... I want to talk about babies. I
hate those guys.
Until
then... go write.
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