Our theory of writing advice is that the only good advice is the advice that works for you. Everyone has their own idea of what makes a good story and what you “must” include or “should never” do, and of course, exactly how you should do it. Our recommendation is to expose yourself to as many books and articles on writing as you can, and develop your ear to discern what works for the kind of writer you are and the stories you want to tell.
In a recent post, Anne R. Allen writes about the dangers of listening to too much advice and, worse, trying to please all the advice givers. “One of the most damaging things a new writer can do is try to please everybody who beta-reads or critiques their WIP,” Allen writes. “I’ve seen a novel turned into a kind of jackalope of unrelated parts.”
Allen experienced this personally, when she included details in a romcom mystery that satisfied a beta reader, but left her reader-readers cold. She learned a few lessons from that experience, including:
- Never let one person’s opinion change your WIP.
- Never make revisions based on advice from someone who doesn’t know your genre.
- Beware the Dunning Kruger effect – the most confident people are almost always the most ignorant.
Critique groups are great, but they sometimes draw some peculiar characters. Members with axes to grind, those who enjoy making others feel or look bad, and other time wasters. Most critique group members genuinely want to be helpful, but you should also be wary of the well-meaning.
For example, Allen notes that many writers will focus on realism to the detriment of character, genre, or narrative drive, while others want to know as much about the scenery as you can write. Of course, there are the grammar police and the enforcers of the writing rules. (If you’ve been reading, you know what we think about those…) You might meet readers who think your protagonist is you or who try to psychoanalyze your characters based current fads. There are also the morality judges, who will gasp if any of your characters divorce or have pre-martial sex. Add to that, anyone who says the words “should” or “have to.”
