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 βthis is bad advice for everyoneβ way in a βthis absolutely sabotaged me personallyβ way
because ??? some of this set me BACK
1. βshow donβt tellβ (taken too literally) this one almost ruined my prose
i got so scared of βtellingβ anything that every sentence turned intoβ¦ over-explained action
instead of writing:
she was nervous
iβd write:
her fingers tapped against the table, her leg bouncing, her breath uneven, her gaze flickering toward the door--
and it just KEPT GOING
like yes, showing is important but at some point youβre not βimmersiveβ youβre just exhausting
2. βcut all adverbsβ this made my writing feel so stiff it hurt
i started replacing simple phrasing with weird, clunky sentences just to avoid using one single β-lyβ word
likeβ¦ why am i doing gymnastics to avoid βquietlyβ
no one is giving out medals for adverb avoidance π
3. βwrite every day no matter whatβ this one burned me OUT
because instead of listening to my brain when it was fried, i forced myself to produce words i knew werenβt going anywhere
and then iβd reread it later and hate everything i wrote
which made me want to avoid writing even more
consistency matters, yes but forcing it when youβre running on fumes just trains you to associate writing with dread
4. βplan everything before you startβ this killed my excitement SO fast
iβd spend weeks outlining every detail and by the time i actually started writingβ¦
the story already felt βdoneβ in my head
no curiosity left. no momentum.
now i leave gaps on purpose so i actually want to keep going
5. βmake your writing sound prettyβ this is the one that made my writing feel the most fake
i was so focused on making sentences sound βgoodβ 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. βyour first draft should be terribleβ okay this one is half true but also messed with my head
because i took it as: βdonβt even TRYβ
so iβd write things i knew werenβt working and just leave them
instead of⦠fixing them a little? making them better?
your draft doesnβt have to be perfect but it also doesnβt have to be painful to read π
idk i think the biggest thing iβve learned is:
advice isnβt universal
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 βbut everyone says this worksβ
like okayβ¦ it doesnβt work for ME.
and thatβs enough.
