Too Much Writing Advice

Why You Need to Just Write the Damn Thing

I just love reading about and hearing about the craft of writing. That said, these are my greatest downfalls in my writing process.

There is a lot of good advice out there, and I consume as much of it as I can fit in. I take some of that advice to heart, and other advice I decide is not for me.

One piece of advice that comes to mind is that you should not edit while writing the first draft. This may be good advice for most people, but it does not work for me. I cannot ignore the spellcheck and Grammarly suggestions, and just plow on. For me, it does not impede my already slow writing flow. I correct spelling and grammar errors as I go, and I like it that way, but that’s just me. I often rewrite a sentence for better flow before I proceed. Sometimes, when I lack inspiration, I’ll go back and edit from the beginning. This serves the dual purpose of cleaning up the manuscript and finding my place in the story when I lose direction.

Another piece of advice that I have seen several times and I am incorporating is not to concentrate on marketing on your first couple of works. I have two self-published novels, in e-book, print, and audiobook formats, and spent a lot of my time and money on creating reels for Instagram and Facebook, boosting them in Meta Ads, posting Amazon and Google ads, all at the expense of my time actually writing the next installment of the series. Since ingesting this advice, I have spent much more time writing.

My point here is to look at all the advice out there, some of it conflicting, and find what works for you.

Now, on to the main topic. With all the great advice out there, the plethora of articles and videos to be had, I often find myself spending all my designated writing time reading or watching about writing, rather than writing. I open my Medium email, open all the useful-looking links, and some of the not-so-useful-looking ones that pique my morbid curiosity. Then, I Google some of the topics and find YouTube videos about them. Finally, it’s past noon, and I need to get to the house and yard work I’ve been putting off. I am most productive when I close all my browser tabs and concentrate on the document in front of me, spot-editing all the way.

So, read the advice, watch the instructional videos, but set aside time to just write, without your web browser.

I hope you enjoyed this short piece.

Originally published on Medium.