Let's Admit It: Everyone Secretly Hates Writing Advice

I am a full-time writer, author, and writing coach. It's what I love to do and it's what I have that I feel like I need to share with the world.

I mean I didn't spend thousands of dollars on a degree in Creative Writing nor would I be looking at pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing if I didn't absolutely love it. 

With all of my experience, I feel that I am qualified to be giving advice on writing. but it doesn't mean I shouldn't be accepting advice when it comes from unlikely sources. 

At first, when someone would give me writing advice I would eat it up as greedily as I could until I swallowed every last morsel of advice I had been given. My teachers were annoyed sometimes with how often I would show up during their office hours to go over topics that had been discussed in class or weren't fully explained enough. 

Then something changed and anytime someone would give me advice I would begin to brush it off. I began to think that these people who only meant to give me helpful advice were really giving me orders on what to do and how to do it.

"Always write first thing in the morning."

"You should be writing every single day. Even holidays."

"Keep your desk away from the window. It's too distracting."

None of these come across as being helpful bits of advice to an aspiring writer, they come off as demands that the writer must follow or they'll be doing something wrong in the eyes of the person giving the advice.

I collect books on writing. At the moment I believe I have well over one hundred books by different authors who all tell writers how to be the perfect writer.

And none of them give the same advice.

Some will tell you that you have to sit down as soon as you wake up, not stopping to grad coffee, use the bathroom, or feed the dog. Just move your feet directly from the bed to your desk and sit down and write.

Others will tell you to make sure you follow a routine to get yourself into the mindset that you are going to work. Grab a coffee, get dressed for the day as if you were going to an office job, and then sit down and write.

Both of these pieces of advice are wonderful for the aspiring author, but which should they listen to? 

The one that works for them.

Some days I can get up out of bed and sit down to write without stopping for anything in between. (It's not so hard since my desk is in my bedroom.) On other days I have to go downstairs to the kitchen, make coffee, and do about ten other tasks before I feel like I'm ready to write.

If a piece of advice doesn't work for you. Don't listen to it.

If a piece of advice might solve a current problem you have. Try it.

It might just be the piece of advice that changes your life. 

No matter what, keep writing.

With love, 

B.K. xo

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