Really Bad Writing Tips | Terrible Writing Advice Part 2

Transcripts
1

The transcript discusses common misconceptions and bad advice given to writers. Here’s a summary of the key points:

  1. Writing Frequency: It’s important to strive to write every day, but it’s also okay if some days don’t go as planned. Rather than beating oneself up over missed days, writers should consider their schedules and make adjustments to incorporate writing more consistently.

  2. Writing for Trends: Many writers feel pressured to write what is currently popular. While understanding trends can be useful, it’s essential to pursue topics and genres that resonate personally, as passion often translates into better writing.

  3. Length of Work: There’s a myth that novels must be lengthy; however, the quality of a story isn’t defined by its length. Writers should focus on how to end a narrative effectively rather than meet arbitrary word counts.

  4. Spelling and Grammar: Not every writer needs to be perfect at grammar or spelling. Tools are available to aid in these areas. The essence of writing comes from creativity and ideas, rather than flawless mechanical execution.

  5. Quality and Time: The belief that longer writing processes yield better work is debunked—great stories can be completed in short periods. Authors like Dickens wrote impactful works in relatively brief timescales.

  6. Personal Style: Leveraging one’s personal writing style is encouraged over following rigid advice that dictates rules like “always” or “never” do something. Writers should find what works best for their own writing journey and habits.

Overall, the speaker encourages aspiring writers to find their voice, manage their time effectively, and stay true to their passions rather than conforming to external pressures and unfounded advice.

Hey warriors! Allison here, author, yoga instructor, and creative warrior. Not that long ago, we talked about some of the advice that writers get as soon as they reveal they are writers—advice that sometimes makes them make this face.

Today we’re back with even more terrible writing advice because apparently there’s a lot out there. If you haven’t watched part one, you can grab it from the description below. And if, after both videos, you have some terrible writing advice that you’ve received that we didn’t cover, please let us know in the comments.

But for now, let’s jump in.

Longer is Better.

I don’t mean it like that! Get your head out of the gutter! Have you ever heard the quote—or some version of the quote—that says, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”? This quote is attributed to a lot of different writers, but this one specifically was said by Mark Twain.

Even the greats understand the challenge and the beauty of writing shorter works. We tend to equate length to greatness when it comes to writing, but the length of a good book really depends on its intent, its audience, and its quality. If you’re trying to publish and trying to follow industry standards, yes, there are some word length guidelines you’re going to have to abide by. You’ll need to stay within your genre expectations, but in a way that doesn’t sacrifice quality.

I typically write flash fiction—super short fiction in less than a thousand words. So when I sat down to write a novel, it came in at just over 50,000 words. And 50,000 words is the minimum to be considered a novel, so I knew I had to hit that. But when I hit that, I didn’t push myself to keep adding words or stories just to make it longer—especially when I knew the story was done. The story was told.

So consider industry standards, but don’t force yourself to write a long, lengthy novel just because of some bad advice.

Up Next: Write What People Want to Read.

Good Luck! Have you met people? Just kidding—kind of. This is a tough one because writers who want to sell their work are reliant on people wanting to buy their work, which means you need to be writing what is popular. Right? Kinda?

Think about it: say vampire books are popular. A book like Twilight has just come out. Regardless of your feelings on Twilight, people love it! So you’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna write a vampire book.” But you’ve never really written a vampire book, and it’s not really a genre that you know much about.

So it’s going to take some time to do some research to learn about the genre and the audience, and you know, write the thing. Then get it edited, polished draft after draft, get it shopped, and published. That’s a really short list of what it actually takes to get a book published and out there.

By the time you have it done and ready to put out into the world, are vampire books still popular? Who knows?

Be aware of trends—yes, preferably upcoming trends—but rather than only writing what’s popular, write what you want to write. Write what you want to read; write what your peers want to read; write what you’re passionate about. Chances are there will be people out there who also want to read it, whether it’s popular at the time or not. Do this, and who knows? Maybe you’ll set the next trend!

Next Up: You Have to Be Great at Spelling and Grammar to Be a Writer.

If you’ve ever watched any of my videos or seen any of the early drafts of any of my stories or my work, you’ll know this isn’t true. Just kidding! I rarely say “ain’t.” Almost any writer will tell you that while they know the fundamental rules of grammar and spelling, they will always tell you they have a weakness when it comes to commas, run-on sentences, overuse of semicolons, and overuse of ellipses.

Most writers will probably tell you they’re pretty useless without their spell check.

There are so many tools out there today that can help you with spelling and grammar, so please don’t let this be a blocker if you want to become a writer. That’s what editors are for!

But wait, editors!

Got an asterisk here: you do have to have a general knowledge of spelling and grammar and sentence structure and other tools of writing. If you hand an editor something so full of mistakes and typos that they can’t even understand it, they’re going to hand it back. So if you want to be a writer and you know this is a weakness of yours, do some studying! Teach yourself!

But don’t let perfecting commas or understanding the em dash stop you from becoming a writer.

Next: If It Didn’t Take a Long Time, It Won’t Be Good!

Did you know that A Christmas Carol was written in six weeks, On the Road by Jack Kerouac was written in three, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was written in two and a half days?

Obviously, these aren’t the norm, and there is no pressure to write your book or story in this amount of time. But the point is, great books can be written in a short amount of time.

I include this because writers are always comparing themselves to other writers—even though you shouldn’t do that—and they’re not so great at understanding that their work and their ideas will take as long as it takes to get out there. It may take you years to complete your big idea; it may take you weeks. It doesn’t mean that one is better than the other. Great work takes as long as it takes.

So if you finish something in a really short amount of time, don’t let doubts start to creep in and tell you that just because you finished it so quickly, it’s probably not good. That’s how I felt about my book The Lost Girl. I finished it in just a few months and then felt self-conscious that it had come out so quickly. But the idea had been stewing for a while, and by the time I sat down to actually write it, it was ready to get out into the world.

You can get updates about when it will be out in the world by signing up for my newsletter in the description below.

Don’t let how long it took for you to finish something make you doubt its quality.

Always Blank, Never Blank.

I don’t care what comes after the word “never” or what comes after the word “always.” If someone is saying you should always do this or never do this, it’s probably going to be bad advice. They might mean well, and sometimes it might actually be advice you should listen to, but most of the time, saying something is always this or never that is dangerous.

Your writing style, habits, schedule, and traits all depend on you, your writing life, and the life outside of your writing life.

“Always write every day” is great advice if you’re in the middle of a project, up against a deadline, or if you have time to do that. You should definitely try to make time to write every day; it’s really important to do.

But there might be days where it just doesn’t happen, and instead of beating yourself up about it because you should always write every day, move on! Give yourself a break and make a point to try to write again the next day. Maybe you need to take a look at your schedule and see if it needs some tweaks so that you can work in writing more often and your outside life doesn’t interfere.

Just be wary of advice that says “always do this” or “never do this.”

And if you need some help figuring out how to get your creativity flowing in a way that works for you, your life, and your schedule, check out the link to my free training and then set up a call to chat with me about your writing challenges.

In the meantime, take a moment to clear out all the terrible writing advice you may have received in the past with a creativity meditation, and then go fight for your creativity!

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