The Worst Piece of Writing Advice I Ever Heard and The Best Piece of Writing Advice I ever Heard

I've heard lots of different pieces of writing advice in my life. Some of them are great, and I implement them into my writing. Other times, they aren't for me, and I ignore that I ever heard them. That's how it always went. A bad piece of writing advice just got filtered out and pushed away because I didn't need it.

Until it didn't.

I once heard a piece of writing advice that completely crippled my ability to write for days. Every time I picked up a pen and touched it to paper, I couldn't write. It was like the creative side of my brain was completely paralyzed. It brought me to tears. I couldn't express myself like I wanted to. The words just would. Not. Come.

Want to know what it was?

"Every author has to plot their book, or it turns out a failure."

"A failure?" I whispered to myself. "Is that what my story it? Is that what I am?"

I love discovery writing. A lot of my stories are written by the seat of my pants. I don't have extensive outlines. The extent of my outlining will sometimes be a few sentences for each chapter. And that's how I liked it. Having a set of guidelines helped me stay on track, but also allowed for me to be able to follow a wonder and exciting rabbit trail when I happened to stumble upon it.

And . . . that piece of advice totally ruined that.

I was trying to write a short story to submit for an anthology. I had a vague idea of where I wanted it to go, but no extensive plot. And . . . I felt like I had to have one. Literally every time I started to write, I was hit with this doubt niggling the back of my skull, whispering, "It won't turn out." And as stupid as it sounds . . . I believed it.

And I wept over it.

Because I felt like it was a sign from God. I had recently been praying a lot about whether writing was going to be my future, and this feeling of doubting my writing (and me) hit me like a slap in the face. "Is this because I'm not going to be a writer? Is this god telling me not to pursue my silly dreams?" I couldn't hold back my tears. I let them flow. Because even if it meant following His will for my life . . . I didn't want to give up on dreams.

But I did.

I shoved away my writing. I stopped thinking about it. I even was tempted to not listen to any more writing lessons.

Then something I desperately needed happened.

My mom.

She talked me through it. She helped me realize that my writing was and is a gift from God. And I shouldn't stop because of a bad piece of writing advice. Far from it. She helped me realize something. Almost every single one of my favorite authors are pantsers, discovery writers. And they are multi-award-winning writers.

So then next day, I picked up my pen.

I took a deep breath.

I squared my shoulders.

And wrote.

And now let's talk about the best piece of writing advice I've ever heard.

Which actually ties in really beautifully with the worst piece of writing advice I heard.

You ready?

"You are not defined by your first drafts."

Just because your first drafts are messy and falling apart, that does not mean that you are a bad writer. First drafts are messy. They are falling apart. There are cheesy metaphors and cringe-worthy descriptions and choppy dialogue. But that's okay. Because even though your writing is terrible, that does not mean you are.

I used to think that when I wrote a bad draft, it reflected off of me as a writer yes, but also as a person.

But hearing this one beautiful sentence changed that all. I wish I could remember where I first heard it.

I think this ties in really well as more proof that you don't need a first draft in order to ensure your story isn't a failure. Because a draft without a written-out plot is messy. A draft with a plot is messy. But that does not mean you are a bad writer, or a bad person. It just means that you are in the refining stage of that story.

I once heard someone say that people are like books: There are good chapters, bad chapters, and different tropes and plotlines. But the one thing we all have in common is that we are all in the refining stage, the first draft. Take that truth and apply it to your story. No book is ever perfect. And that is okay. Thank goodness. If we were all perfect, the world would be a very boring place.

I hope this post encouraged you today. I'm sorry if it sounded a bit ramble and didn't really sound that intelligible. 😂 But just the same, I hope you gleaned something from it.

What is the best piece of writing advice you ever hear? The worst? Has there ever been a time when bad advice hindered your writing? Let me know.

Cheers!