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Bad Writing Advice from Famous Authors

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” – Ernest Hemingway

By Jamie JacksonPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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Bad Writing Advice from Famous Authors
Photo by Chris Spiegl on Unsplash

I’m a nobody blogger but best selling author Malcolm Gladwell said something I don’t like about writing, so here I am explaining why his years of proven success and experience can’t compete with my baseless opinion.

I guess what I’m trying to say is take this article with a pinch of salt.

If Gladwell or any other superstar writer is dishing out advice, you best listen to it. Still, no advice can be applied universally. Gladwell’s opinion is not the word of God, he isn’t you and he doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do (even if you don’t know right now either).

We have to listen to our truth and be guided by our intuition, so the purpose of this article is to add some perspective on the words of these writing deities.

Ok, with this mealy-mouthed disclaimer now disclaimed, let’s get into it.

Here’s what Malcolm Gladwell said

In a recent interview, Gladwell said don’t write about yourself.

“When you write about yourself, you’re doing it as a self-indulgent act.” — Malcolm Gladwell

I couldn’t disagree more. Writing about yourself, at least, writing about what you know, is authentic.

James Altucher does nothing but write about himself, every article and book is his view, his perspective, his neurosis. He’s a best selling author with a hit blog to boot.

If we’re going to be generous, Gladwell may have been trying to say keep the reader in mind. Everyone reads with the question “What’s in it for me?” If you rattle off a load of self-indulgent nonsense, it ain’t going to wash.

Still, writing about yourself is to be encouraged, if that’s your thing. Don’t let one guy with a different take writing in a different genre tell you any different.

Seth Godin’s bad advice was this

Baldy McGlasses-Face Seth Godin said when writing, one shouldn’t reveal too much about themselves. He proclaimed:

“Don’t be a stripper” – Seth Godin

I’ve thought about this advice a lot. Seth sure has skin in the game as a writer himself, but I also don’t agree with his sentiment. Shove that in your pipe and smoke it, Godders.

I don’t know about you but I have to be personal, otherwise what’s the point? I write about my screw-ups and lessons learned as it’s all I know. It’s all I’ve got.

I say first and foremost write authentically.

I spent 30-years fighting and struggling with my mind until therapy and self-help saved me. Do you think I’m not going to write about that in case it’s too revealing?

When I have an epiphany, I’m telling the world, I want to tell the 20-year-old version of me, out there, somewhere, struggling. If that means metaphorically stripping, excuse me whilst I undo this zipper.

Henry Miller’s number one rule

Miller had a list of 11 Writing Commandments. They’re pretty greatto be honest, but the very first one I simply don’t agree with. He said:

“Work on one thing at a time until finished.” – Henry Miller

Miller clearly didn’t have an ADHD mind. Some of my very best writing has been done in a melee of other work and distractions. I swap tasks consistently, I write two or three articles concurrently, I push everything towards competition at a similar rate.

Focus is important, flow states are important, but there’s no point flogging a dead horse when you can simply return to a piece of writing afresh later on.

Some of the biggest writing hurdles are solved simply by revisiting them after an adequate break. Miller might frown but everyone has their own jam, baby.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s bad advice

The author of The Great Gatsby shared some advice when he declared one should write sober (I know, right). He said:

“It has become increasingly plain to me that the very excellent organisation of a long book or the finest perceptions and judgment in time of revision do not go well with liquor. A short story can be written on the bottle, but for a novel you need the mental speed that enables you to keep the whole pattern inside your head and ruthlessly sacrifice the sideshows … I would give anything if I hadn’t written Part III of Tender Is the Night entirely on stimulant.”

This sounds like personal regret masquerading as advice.

Tell Charles Bukowski or Jack Kerouac not to write on stimulants. Stephen King (who has some brilliant writing advice of this own) spent most of the 1980s writing on booze and cocaine. Then there’s the works of Capote, Graham Greene, Hunter S Thompson and Robert Louis Stephenson.

Need we go on?

Writing when off your box works, for some. You can’t prescribe sobriety without discounting a large slice of human art. Substance abuse and creativity go hand in hand.

Write as high as you like. Perhaps just edit sober.

Conclusions and all that

There’s no one path to success, no one way to skin a cat. Stop listening to people when they say to start with the head, cut down the body and unroll the skin down the legs. They don’t know what they’re on about.

As Michael Moorcock says:

“Ignore all proffered rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.” — Michael Moorcock

Good advice chimes like a bell and bad advice clunks like stones thrown into an old copper pot. You know deep down what is good advice for you. You know it immediately upon hearing it.

Find your groove, pay attention to your flow. We all get results differently. If you want to write a deeply personal piece whilst hammered on vodka, then do it, goddamit.

Writing is a craft, but how you craft is up to you. Remember, there is no wrong way to write, but your audience will sure give you their opinion too. And perhaps that’s the only one that matters.

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About the Creator

Jamie Jackson

Between two skies and towards the night.

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