I asked you all a week or so ago for the best writing advice you have received and was very happy with the response I got. Thank you so much. As promised, here is a compilation of your comments along with who left the comment. If you have any other advice simply leave a comment or use the “Contact Me” form and I will append your advice to this post. Thanks again.
hellojed – The best advice I’ve heard is that the best way to become a good writer is to write everyday. The more you write, the better you get!
SurfaceEarth – I also find writing with music drowns out the inner critic!
seanachi – Best writing advice I ever received was from my 8th grade English teacher…she said “Write like you talk.” Which sounds like really simple advice but it’s amazing how so many people find writing difficult and think it’s entirely different from the way that they speak. They think it’s supposed to be all stilted and formal, and it’s not (unless you’re writing an academic paper I suppose).
paperback writer – The best advice that was ever given to me is similar to your’s…just in a different form: “A bricklayer bricks…a writer writes…” There are several other analogies to this, but you get where it’s going.
caveblogem – Some good advice above. I agree with those who believe in killing the inner critic. Sometimes you have to do it with extreme prejudice, though. Sometimes I tell myself that I will set a draft aside for a long, long, long, specific, period of time. This allows me to feel more comfortable writing something that I realize I’ll be critical of during the editing process. To take some risks. When I do go back to it (or if) I can almost feel like I am editing the work of a younger, more naive person.
The only drawback is the motivation of being able to sell a piece or share it with others is diminished, because you hide the piece for a while. But sometimes it’s worth it, because practice is so valuable.
Helen – I find different advice to be applicable at different times but one I keep coming back to is not writing advice but the slogan from the Nike (?) commercial: “Just do it”. I find that knocks away a whole raft of barriers to writing – no time, noisy inner critic, worries etc etc. I am having to say this one a lot to myself at the moment.
Lee – By far the best writing advise I have seen anywhere is;
I regularly have to go back and read it though to make sure I don’t forget to stick to the rules. I seem to struggle the most with rule 3 and 5, but I’m working on it.
Kaitlyn – The best advice was from Chris Offutt, in his interview on my blog. Awesome, and so achievable.
Karen Lee Field – Don’t doubt yourself by listening to the inner critic.
If I get into “why am I bothering” mode, it’s usually because I listened to my head spinning off junk. I’m trying to learn to ignore it or push it aside and write anyway. I’m always glad I didn’t listen later
The Struggling Writer 