What's Your Favorite Piece of Writing Advice?

Vimtuous · Post by **Vimtuous** » 15 Jul 2014, 09:53

I have a bunch but one of my favorites is

"Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write"

- Neil GAiman

SidnayC · Post by **SidnayC** » 15 Jul 2014, 12:49

The best way to cure writer's block is to read... read a lot. Anything you want. Just read! Then when you come back to your desk and start to write, hopefully the words will just flow.

untiltomorrow_28 · Post by **untiltomorrow_28** » 16 Jul 2014, 03:11

"Put it all on paper, get it out and in the open. Wait a day or two, go back and read it, then begin to change what you want"

Sciadoe · Post by **Sciadoe** » 21 Jul 2014, 00:05

I was actually looking around online for motivational pieces on writing and I found simply "Write every day." It's simple, but if you think about it it's also powerful. If I don't write every single day once I sit down and try to write I feel like I've lost some of my spark. You don't have to write something deep and meaningful every single day, but write something every day.
Something else I read was "Write what you want to write." This was helpful to me because I often want to write a certain genre or event but I don't because I'm not sure how it will be received. I write for me. Lesson learned: if I'm writing for me then I should write what I enjoy.

9bit · Post by **9bit** » 21 Jul 2014, 04:24

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." -- Stephen King

I've read a lot of stuff by him and his son Joe Hill on the subject of writing; I think they both have really great stuff to say about it. They seem to honestly care about helping people understanding the craft.

bookxlover24 · Post by **bookxlover24** » 21 Jul 2014, 07:27

For Me I Like To Write Randomly...To Start Then If I Have Writers Block Then I Forget About Writing For A Bit Let My Mind Wonder To Something Else...Then When You Feel Like Writing Again You Will Have Thought About A Subconscious Inspiration...

aca · Post by **aca** » 22 Jul 2014, 04:47

The best advice I ever got was to take the time to learn how *I* write, to learn my own particular process ie: am I a plotter or a pantser (or what percentage of either am I)?

To do that I had to try a lot of methods and approaches, but I work a lot more effectively now.

novemberdays14 · Post by **novemberdays14** » 24 Jul 2014, 13:39

I'd have to say that my favorite piece of writing advice is "just keep writing." It's simple enough to do and it gets you where you want to be. If you constantly just keep telling yourself to "just keep writing" then you will be surprised at what you are capable of.

Carrie R · Post by **Carrie R** » 24 Jul 2014, 19:42

This one's simple, and it's one of my favorite quotes: “The only secret to writing is AC: Ass on Chair.”—Wayson Choy

Reignsublime · Post by **Reignsublime** » 25 Jul 2014, 18:00

The advice I've found to be the most useful is "just get it out." I used to do all my editing before moving on to the next section and it took me forever to progress. Now, I purge, just letting my mind rant, getting everything down on paper, not worrying about any editing. Once that's done, THEN go back and clean it up.
So, yeah, just get the story OUT first, THEN revise it.
Writing every day is important too I think.

H0LD0Nthere · Post by **H0LD0Nthere** » 25 Jul 2014, 21:30

There is so much good writing advice out there. I have entire book that's my favorite, Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott. Every writer should own it, IMO.

Craig Meggy · Post by **Craig Meggy** » 30 Aug 2014, 06:20

I think Hemingway said "The first draft of anything is sh*t" so don't settle, edit!

suzy1124 · Post by **suzy1124** » 30 Aug 2014, 06:55

Edit, edit, edit! and then when you think you're finished EDIT AGAIN!...

" Brevity is the soul of wit "............Shakespeare

RussetDivinity · Post by **RussetDivinity** » 30 Aug 2014, 19:07

I don't recall who said it, but I've found that the best advice is to let the story do what it wants. Sometimes I have a plan for a story, but then while writing it, something changes to make it even better. Let stories be organic, and don't mind that they sometimes change your plans on you.