writing advice that actually made my writing worse
okay but can we talk about writing advice that actually made my writing worse for a second
like not in a “this is bad advice for everyone” way
in a “this absolutely sabotaged me personally” way
because ??? some of this set me BACK
1. “show don’t tell” (taken too literally)
this one almost ruined my prose
i got so scared of “telling” anything that every sentence turned into… over-explained action
her fingers tapped against the table, her leg bouncing, her breath uneven, her gaze flickering toward the door--
like yes, showing is important
but at some point you’re not “immersive” you’re just exhausting
2. “cut all adverbs”
this made my writing feel so stiff it hurt
i started replacing simple phrasing with weird, clunky sentences just to avoid using one single “-ly” word
like…
why am i doing gymnastics to avoid “quietly”
no one is giving out medals for adverb avoidance 😭
3. “write every day no matter what”
this one burned me OUT
because instead of listening to my brain when it was fried, i forced myself to produce words i knew weren’t going anywhere
and then i’d reread it later and hate everything i wrote
which made me want to avoid writing even more
consistency matters, yes
but forcing it when you’re running on fumes just trains you to associate writing with dread
4. “plan everything before you start”
this killed my excitement SO fast
i’d spend weeks outlining every detail
and by the time i actually started writing…
the story already felt “done” in my head
no curiosity left. no momentum.
now i leave gaps on purpose so i actually want to keep going
5. “make your writing sound pretty”
this is the one that made my writing feel the most fake
i was so focused on making sentences sound “good” that i stopped focusing on what was actually happening
everything turned vague. floaty. kind of… nothing
like yeah it sounded nice
but nothing hit
now i care way more about clarity and impact than sounding impressive
6. “your first draft should be terrible”
okay this one is half true but also messed with my head
because i took it as:
“don’t even TRY”
so i’d write things i knew weren’t working and just leave them
instead of… fixing them a little? making them better?
your draft doesn’t have to be perfect
but it also doesn’t have to be painful to read 😭
idk i think the biggest thing i’ve learned is:
what helps one writer can absolutely wreck another
so if something is making your writing worse, harder, or more miserable
you are allowed to drop it. immediately.
no guilt. no “but everyone says this works”
like okay… it doesn’t work for ME.
tangentwithtanner
