Four Dangerous Pieces of Advice for Writers (And What to Do Instead)

We often hear the same advice over and over again and some of it is a bit of really good wisdom like “show don’t tell”. Then there is the rest of the stuff.

Four Dangerous Pieces of Advice for Writers (And What to Do Instead)

 

Any writing-related advice that says you should always or never do something can generally be taken with a very large pinch of salt!

I’m sure you’ve heard lots of poor writing advice over the months, years or even decades that you’ve been writing. Here are some that I come across quite frequently – from often well-intentioned people.

Several of these might work for some people in some circumstances. Some are best ignored altogether!

Today, I want to look at some advice that almost all writers will hear at some point, whether it’s from an interested friend, a fellow writing group member, or a self-styled guru…

Bad Advice #1: “Write, Write, Write! It’s All That Matters”

Read the full post on Aliventures!

Quick Link: Book Marketing: How to Get Your Self-published Books into Bookstores

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Indie publishers in brick and mortar stores? Yep, the post from the Self-Publishing Advice Center is more a cautionary tale of what not to do BUT if you join the Alliance of Independent Authors you also get a free (!) download of their book on how to get your title into stores!

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Book Marketing: How to Get Your Self-published Books into Bookstores

The latest guidebook for indie authors in ALLi’s Successful Self-publishing Series has been written to answer one of the most frequent questions posed by self-published writers: “How do I get my book stocked in a bookstore?” – and the frequent supplementary query: “Is it even worth trying?”

Although most indie authors make most of their sales online, many writers would love to see their books stocked in bricks-and-mortar stores – the kind where we bought books when we were kids, before Amazon was even a glint in Jeff Bezos’s eye. But many of them fear it can’t be done.

At ALLi, we believe it is possible for indies to work effectively with bookstores, and many of our author members are doing so. We also believe it is the indie’s prerogative to choose whether or not to take that route, and no author should feel a failure if they don’t.

But to make the decision that’s right for you, you owe it to yourself to acquaint yourself with the facts, rather than be deterred by rumours or misinformation.

Read the full post on Self-Publishing Advice Center

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Quick Link: Stupid Advice I Have Taken about Writing

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

That’s the danger of reading advice on the web, you have to be careful about the quality. Even really good writers can give conflicting suggestions. But there are some words of wisdom that you would have been better off never reading. At Writer UnBoxed, author Louie Cronin shares some of rules he wishes he never followed.

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Stupid Advice I Have Taken about Writing

by Louie Cronin

When I was 31, I retired from a “good” job as an audio engineer at ABC in San Francisco to write a novel. (“Good” for an engineer, hell for a writer.) I was the first engineer across the US to take ABC’s seemingly generous offer: one year’s salary to get lost. How could any writer turn that down? How could it take longer than a year to write a novel?

Right after I retired, I got on a plane to Boston. (The novel could wait; first I had to visit my parents.) The shaggy-haired, famous-looking, cigarillo-smoking man seated next to me asked what I did for a living. (Funny how men were so interested in my career back then.)

“I just quit my job to write a novel,” I said, beaming.

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Turns out he had connections in the writing world. Lucky me! I was so excited I forgot to press him for details.

“Have you written anything before?” he asked.

“In high school,” I said. “And a little in college.”

“Ever published?”

“Uh, no.”

“Do you write every day?”

Read the full post on Writer UnBoxed

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