My Top 5 Most Annoying Writing "Words of Wisdom"

If you write fiction, everyone has an opinion about how you're doing it. There are certain things, however, that I've heard over and over from various sources, be they other blogs or even publishers. Some still make me groan. Some might have gotten my hackles raised once, but I get why they're a thing now and can take what I need from them without getting so annoyed.

Number One: Write What You Know

As someone who enjoys reading and writing speculative fiction, this word of advice always pissed me off. It also annoyed me when I was a teenager and working on a novel. It felt like someone telling me I was too young or too inexperienced to write anything worthwhile. It's a piece of advice that has gotten so twisted and out of wack that it still makes me cringe.

Writing what you know doesn't mean you can only write about the small town you grew up in or about being a nerdy teenager. Instead the saying should be, "Use what you know to aid your writing."

What I wish I heard instead as a new writer was something like Neil Gaiman's take on the "write what you know" maxim. Or better, his advice to write the stories only you can write. Also, you may know a lot about a lot more than you realize. Yeah, I knew what being a nerdy teenager was when I started writing, but I also knew fairy tales and mythology because I had obsessively read them as a kid (I'm still amazed I read so much Greek mythology and missed most of the sex stuff). I knew stories and characters and what I liked as a reader. I might not have had "real world" experiences, but I had read a LOT, and when you read a lot, you'll find you end up knowing about many things you might not have "experienced" first-hand.

Number Two: Show Don't Tell

These three words can be the bane of a writer's existence, particularly new writers. What's showing and what's telling? Well...that's a topic for another post because having examples really helps with that one. It's actually one of those I really like explaining. While hearing said advice makes me groan to this day, I have to grudgingly admit, it's the one actual good piece of advice on here.

That said, there's a place for "showing" and a place for "telling" in every story. It's a delicate mix, honestly, but usually more showing and less telling makes for a more engaging story. Still, there are times when telling is the better choice than showing. How do you figure that out? Reading, write, repeat. Or stick around and you may see a post on it here in the near future.

Number Three: Never Write in <Insert the POV You Hate Here>

So, I used to be a large proponent of this rule, because no one wants to read an entire book written like, "You inch open the door. Despite your attempts to stifle the creaking, the door moans." Ugh, 2nd person is the worst! I could never enjoy a book written in...well, thank you Harrow the Ninth for making that argument moot. (In my opinion Tamsyn Muir's book is a fantastic take on writing in 2nd person, and if you have not read her Locked Tomb series–starting with Gideon the Ninth–you are seriously missing out on some amazing writing. I could honestly write a research paper on it, but I digress.)

The right Point of View (POV) for a story is the one that works best for that particular story. Shocking, I know. That means 2nd person can work and so can future tense, provided the story calls for it.

The thing I wish more people would focus on is knowing which POV is being used and why. It took a conversation with an editor was I was a naive 20-something for me to get that even in third person, jumping heads every paragraph doesn't work and will give your reader whiplash. Hell, I didn't even realize I had done that until it was pointed out to me!

So stop hating on whatever POV you don't like using. We all have personal preferences (I know people who loathe 1st person with a fiery passion), but that doesn't make one POV inherently superior and another lesser. In fact, I'd encourage people to try out different POVs before deciding on one. It can be illuminating what works and doesn't when you change from 1st to 3rd or 3rd to 1st, or even from past and present tense. Again, more on that later.

Number Four: Never Use "said"/Only use "said"

So which one is it? Always or never? Well, there's not a hard and fast rule. Honestly, you don't even need to use dialogue tags necessarily, but that's a whole other post. Personally, if I'm trying to keep it clear who is talking and that's it, I use "said." If there's a reason how someone is speaking needs to be noted, then I use something else like, "yelled" or "whispered."

Everyone has their own take on this one. I think a happy medium is key. I'm always leery, however, of anything that is an "always" or a "never" when it comes to advice. There's usually an exception to the "rule" anyway. It's also frustrating as a new writer to be told "just figure it out," but that's basically my advice here. Look at other books and how they use dialogue tags if you want some guidance.

Number Five: Keep the Market in Mind

Okay, so this last one is more of something that came up not when I was starting to write, but when I decided I wanted to pursue traditional publication. While it is useful to know what genre your novel would fall in (and also useful for using and subverting genre tropes), there's a fine, fine line between being aware of the market and writing to a trend.

Traditional publishing is slow. If you decide what to write about is based on what the latest and greatest trend is at present, by the time your novel reaches anyone's eyes beyond a beta-reader, it will be no longer en vogue and agents and publishers will probably be sick of reading anything similar to that trend.

But what, you may ask, if I like genuinely like the trend and have a story to tell? Then write it, not because of a trend, but because it's the story you want to tell and must tell. Be aware of the trend, though, because it might make it harder to go the traditional publishing route...at least until the fad has run its course and some time has passed. But the market should NOT be what influences what you write or do not write. YOU get to make those choices. Focus on telling a good story and writing your best and figure out the genre/market afterward.

To Sum Up

Absolutes are frustrating and rarely do anyone any good, which is what most of the above "words of wisdom" are, or at least, they're presented as such. They do each highlight areas of concern for writers, but can easily be taken to extremes and do more harm than good. Nuance is key, I think, and it can be difficult when you first start writing because you just want there to be an easy answer when, well, truth is that there isn't one. If someone tells you there is, in the words of Wesley from The Princess Bride, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Just replace "Life" with "Writing."

Do you have any words of writing "wisdom" that frustrate you? Feel free to share in the comments!