Writer's Digest

Bad Advice Boogie

Writers, by and large, aren’t people who play it safe. In fact, considering the grim prospects for making a living (the Author’s Guild reported recently that the median income for American writers in 2017 was $6,0801 ), you could argue that deciding to pursue a writing career requires a certain devil-may-care attitude toward regular meals and personal safety2.

It’s very easy to lose faith in yourself. Part of this is because of the natural insecurity creatives carry around with them , but part of it is the confusing and sometimes downright conflicting writing advice you get. A piece of writing advice might be good and useful in some scenarios, but destructive and limiting in others. One of the hardest skills for a writer to develop is being able to decide when it’s time to break those rules in order to save your work-in-progress. Here’s a rundown of why

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Writer's Digest

Writer's Digest5 min read
“I Give Me All My Yeses.”
Bea Northwick wrote her first novel around 2015. Her children were getting older, and she had more time on her hands, so she returned to an early love—books. With that first novel, Northwick, who has her master’s degree in library science, participat
Writer's Digest5 min read
Parents as Publishers
The world of children’s publishing is tough. Publishing houses are consolidating, print sales are struggling, and profit margins are narrow. Because of this economic reality, many publishers lean heavily into “sure things”—like celebrity books, seque
Writer's Digest6 min read
Septet as Memoir
An old poet friend commemorated his 60th birthday by publishing a chapbook of sestets. I liked the idea, so in 2018, when I started my 70th year on this planet, I decided to write a collection of septets. I took my friend’s idea a couple steps furthe

Related Books & Audiobooks