Writing Advice That Works (For Me)

In my last post, I talked about writing advice I haven't found useful. Today, I want to celebrate the advice that has helped me improve fiction writing. Once again, this is all garbage: What works for one writer will not work for all! So, maybe this list will be full of trash for you, or maybe it'll resonate.

Happy writer is happy.

1. As Stephen King said, writing is literally just going "one word at a time." While this isn't really "advice," it's an excellent motto. Writing, especially full manuscripts, can seem daunting, but we all go at the same general pace - one word at a time. Half the magic of writing is literally writing the thing.

2. Track your word count, y'all. A blog I read ages ago recommended this (I have no idea which one, unfortunately) and it worked for me. Really, this advice goes hand in hand with what King said: Just write you words and they will add up. When writing my first manuscript, I found myself moving much faster when I recorded how many words I'd hit each day. This really helped me visualize how much progress I was really making. Nowadays, I don't use this strategy because I don't need it: I know I can write a book. I've done it before, so I can do it again.

3. Make time to write. It seems like a no-brainer, but it always amazes me how often people claim they don't have time for their passions. Make time. I wrote one manuscript primarily between four thirty and six in the morning because I kept getting headaches after work in the summer. And I am not a morning person. I totally understand having "too many" hobbies, where it becomes difficult to make much progress in one area or another. Personally, I had to cut back on many of them to make time for writing. It's sad in some ways, but ever since I did this, I've completed several manuscripts. Writing mattered most to me, so that's what I decided to focus on and pursue. (Also... this GIF is nightmarish.)

4. I know some people don't like this, but... Show, don't tell. I realize that this is incredibly cliche craft advice at this point, but this concept has definitely helped me improve my descriptions. Sometimes it can be more effective to describe what someone or something looks like rather than to simply tell how the character or we are supposed to feel. When we do this right, the audience will draw the conclusions we want them to draw. Even though this is more of a craft piece of advice than a process piece of advice, I find it works well in the context of both books, short stories, and poetry alike.

5. Why so serious? HAVE FUN! In a recent interview with GQ, author R.L. Stine shared some wisdom directed towards young writers:

I never give advice to young writers. They don’t need someone to tell them to write something every day. The one thing I will say is: have fun with it. Don’t listen to all these authors who tell you that writing is such hard work, that you have to lock your kids in the garage in order to start writing. If you go into it thinking that, it’s going to be a chore for you. If you instead go “hey! Look at me writing. I’m creating something! I’m having a good time” that’s the way to go. Writing is a lot easier when you have that attitude.

I agreed with this so much. I find it annoying that so many people are pushing this narrative that writing is the hardest thing in the universe and is therefore impossible to completely love without hating it a little. Like Stine said, writing will go much better with a positive attitude.