All These Contradictions Hurt My Head

I was reading Nathan Bransford's post about contradictory query advice, and got to thinking about all the writing advice I've seen over the years that contradicted another piece of advice. There's a lot of it out there. I've read blogs that say, "Write something you feel comfortable with" and I've read blogs that say, "Write something that puts you on the edge of your seat."

I imagine that makes a lot of new writers curl up in the corner and cry, "What do I dooooooo?!" (That wasn't just me, right?)

So, I'm sure the big question on everyone's mind is:

With so many conflicting opinions floating around, who do I listen to?

Well, lovelies, let me start off by saying, writers, agents, and all the like have these "advice blogs" to help our fellow writers.

We're not saying (I'm not anyway, I can't speak for everyone) that what we say is the only way--it's just the way we do it. With writing, there are some gray areas where it's all about personal preference. For instance, a lot of writers say in their blogs not to read over what you've already written. Just keep writing and save all that for editing.

Well, I can't do that. If I did that I'd be writing the same jokes over and over again, forgetting that I'd already used them. (Bad short-term memory for the lose.) I have to read over what I wrote the night before to refresh my memory. But lots of writers don't have to.

If you find a piece of contradictory advice, don't freak out.

First, consider the source. Is this advice recent or was it typed up five years ago?

Okay, it's recent, now see if it's true.

I'm not saying people handing out this advice are flat-out lying, but they could be mistaken. Once, I saw a "format" for queries that involved a three paragraph system. First paragraph: About how you found the agent/publisher. Second paragraph: About your book. Third paragraph: About yourself. No, no, no! NO! Take a look at Query Shark if you're in doubt.

Finally, after making sure the advice is recent and real, ask yourself "Will this work for me?"

There are some rules out there that you have to follow, but you can bend most of them a little. Getting too caught up in following rules can suck the life out of your writing.

Just relax and write.

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!