When you start reading about writing, and watching videos about writing… you’re going to get tons of contradictory advice. It seems like every book I read tells me something different as absolute advice.
I get it, it confused me too, at first. It’s to the point where I often hesitate to say, “Write like this.” Or “Write like me.” Instead, I’ll say… this is how I write, and it won’t work for everyone.
Everyone functions differently. You and I think completely different at the very foundation of logic. So, for me to say 100% that you should write like me, is to totally ignore that our minds are wired in entirely different ways.
Some people will tell you, “You must always plot.” Some will tell you, “Plotting is the devil, avoid at all costs.” You’ll hear, “Use fear to motivate yourself.” But from me you’ll hear, “Don’t pour all that negativity into your writing process.” But I get that it works for some people, and that’s great… it’s just not something you’ll hear me advising.
When it comes to plot, I have been writing for many years and have wired my mind to organically plot without secondary paper, word documents, or notebooks. While it may seem haphazard to someone looking from the outside, it’s actually quite well thought out.
I want to clear up the confusion for you, since few people will be honest with you like this. The process of reading about writing and watching videos is about you. It’s not about absorbing and using everything in the book you picked up. You may even come across things from me that make you raise an eyebrow and feel disgusted, that’s normal. Not everything I say, nor everything another person says, is going to work for everyone.
How do you sift through the fog of contradictions? As so many people are saying these days, ‘you do you… and I’ll do me.’ Plot is something that works for planners. Organic writing is something that works for pantsers (people who fly by the seat of their pants).
It’s okay to read a book about writing and go, “This book is helping me, despite the fact that I disagree with every point it makes.” Sometimes the mere act of hearing bad advice will help you to discover something good. A lot of the points in this blog were born out of bad (backwards) advice that I decided was the opposite of what I needed to tell you.
Don’t let the great fog of writerly advice scare or confuse you. You don’t have to accept everything, and you don’t have to avoid books on writing because of this confusion. As a matter of fact, this great variety may help you to find yourself. That's great, you need to have a style uniquely your own, as a novelist. As I said, this is about you… not you, being me. I hope you enjoyed the blog and got something useful out of it. #novel #novels #writing #writingtips #writingadvice #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
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