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There is a lot of writing advice out there. Some are free, some paid. And they all take time to study and implement.
For the sake of clarity, by writing, I mean both fiction and non-fiction. And the term writing advice includes both the craft and the business (marketing, administration, selling, etc.) side of things.
You can speed up the learning process by buying books and courses, but it still takes time to study and implement the advice from your purchases.
Luckily, this article will help you answer the questions:
“How can I decide which writing books and courses to buy?”
“Which writing courses should I take?”
To decide which writer’s advice (and educational products) can work best and most for you, you need to look at four things.
– The Writer’s Professional Experience
You probably wouldn’t benefit from a writer’s points on self-publishing if she never self-published.
Likewise, you can’t likely learn much from a writer about magazine writing if he never wrote for magazines.
But you don’t need the advice-giver to be a six-figure writer if your immediate (and viable) goal is to make your first sale.
You get the idea.
Before taking them up on their offers and tips, ask:
“Has this writer accomplished/tried/experienced what they are talking about?”
If they have, you might listen to them.
Why “might” and not “should?”
There are two other factors you need to consider before jumping in.
Sometimes, their experience is enough. Especially if the author is generously giving away this information for free.
But often, their success alone won’t tell you enough on whether their writing advice is applicable for you.
Let me explain this in the next section.
– The Writer’s Personal life
“But, Pinar, how the hell is a writer’s personal life relevant?” you might ask.
Take productivity tips.
A lot of successful writers talk about how they get up 2-3 hours before work (or everyone else in the house get up) and write.
This is a valid (and sometimes the only useful) strategy if you are married with kids, for instance. Also, it probably helps if you are a morning person.
Because waking up 2-3 earlier than anyone else usually amounts to waking up at 5 am or before.
John Grisham did this when he was writing his first book, A Time to Kill. He worked as a lawyer, so before work was the best (if not the only) time to work on his novel.
But I won’t take this advice despite Grisham being immensely successful and my favorite author. There are three reasons:
- I don’t have a full-time office job. Writing is my full-time job/career.
- I am not a morning person. (This is more about personality, but still.)
- I am single.
There is no sound reason for me to get up so early. In fact, doing so would negatively impact my productivity and the quality of my work.
Because I don’t have kids, I can find quiet whenever I want.
The only time I am up at 5 and doing something is when I have an early flight. And that early flight was booked because I didn’t have a choice. Early flights are usually cheaper, and you get more daytime when you don’t have a long vacation ahead.
I did it enough times now that I can function enough to get a cup of coffee before my flight and just get to my destination. That’s it.
Don’t expect me to write anything – not even a shitty first draft.
But if you can function in the morning, this is good advice.
If you have kids and this is the only time you can carve for your writing, this is invaluable wisdom.
You should be able to adjust the advice to make it work for you.
So yes, a writer’s personal life matters in this sense.
Another example is health issues. Yes, being single and without children helps my productivity. But you know what hinders it? Health problems.
I have many, and I wrote about it in detail in the post A Love Letter to All Freelancers with a Health Condition.
I read this excellent book on becoming a six-figure author by Tom Corson-Knowles, Secrets of the Six-Figure Author. But not all of his advice is applicable.
For instance, there’s a section he calls work-life balance a load of crap (to paraphrase), and I agree! He talks about how some days might be just work and some just family and how that’s fine.
But he also talks about this guy who achieved amazing success by working like 16-hour days for 5 years. And no matter how much I love my work, that isn’t a feasible thing to do for me.
I think that’s advice for ultra-healthy people who don’t suffer from sleep issues. If you are one of those rare souls who sleep for four hours and wake up totally refreshed, you could try pulling one of those days to see how it fits.
But I can’t fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I wake up during the night, and sometimes it takes a while to get back to my dreams. And even 8 hours isn’t enough for me, because my sleep is difficult and fractured.
I also have to eat and take some breaks during the day. I have never pulled, and I suspect I’ll never will pull, a 16-hour workday, and I’m fine with that. (I strongly doubt people can get a lot of quality output from such days, especially if done regularly.)
But I’m no Tim Ferriss, either. He is one of my favorite bloggers and non-fiction authors. I loved his The Four-Hour Work Week.
However, I read it to make my writing business more efficient. Not to actually only work for four hours a week! Because I love my work. If I can keep going, I will. It is fun!
(For perspective on the balance of things, I do take time off. And there are days I don’t really work, so don’t worry. 🙂
Another advice I can’t yet take from Corson-Knowles’ book is to “get an A-team for my book.”
Now, this is brilliant advice, and it’s backed by many other successful authors as well.
Since no one is skilled at everything, you can’t produce an amazing book and rock your marketing and manage your administration efficiently all on your own.
But hiring the right people to work with you on your publishing journey is expensive.
Formatting can cost money. You definitely need to hire a cover designer if you’re not a graphic design whiz yourself. You might need to hire an editor. You might need a proofreader. You might need a web designer. You might need a virtual assistant.
You get where I am going this.
If you don’t already have money saved up or have a constant influx of cash coming from your other work, this is not feasible for a writer/self-publisher who is just starting out.
It’s good to keep in mind for the near future.
But for now, if you can’t delegate, you’ll be wise to prioritize. I recommend hiring a cover designer. You might choose to hire someone to edit if editing isn’t your strong suit while you are good at design.
So details about your life and the details of the advice-giver’s life matters.
One final example:
When you don’t have an email list of thousands of subscribers, the first marketing advice you need to implement isn’t marketing to your list. It’s to try and grow that list.
On the flip side, if someone on a shoe-string budget and a small/no email list became a bestseller, you might want to listen to their strategies first when you are starting out without an excessive budget.
– The Writer’s Personality & Taste
a. Personality
I love reading about habits so I can improve my life. So far, my top 3 are: (I haven’t included the books’ subtitles for the sake of brevity.)
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin’s book’s my absolute favorite among the three, however.
Because when talking about how to change/improve/ditch your habits, she writes through the lens of 4 distinct personality types. These are Obliger, Upholder, Questioner, Rebel. (She calls them tendencies, and has written a book on them as well.)
According to the book Better than Before, a Questioner meets inner expectations, not outer ones.
A rebel resists both inner and outer expectations. They live for freedom, and they want to make their own choices.
I’m a Rebel with Questioner tendencies. This mean you need to tell me the why of things. I also tend to question rules and routines set by other people, and sometimes even myself.
So keeping my personality type in mind, consider the ubiquitous writing advice of “get an accountability partner.”
Remember, I resist outer expectations. And I tend to resist inner ones too.
What are the odds my productivity will hit the roof when I get an accountability buddy?
I don’t care that you see my progress or not. I don’t really care that I told you I would write 1000 words that day, but I couldn’t for some reason. I care that I didn’t write efficiently, not that I told you about it.
I work best (and I am at my happiness) when I keep my promises to myself.
On the other hand, let’s take Obliger and Upholder.
Upholder meets both inner and outer expectations. Obliger meets outer expectations but resists inner ones. If you are an Obliger, an accountability partner might work wonders in helping you achieve your writing goals!
And this is why you need to keep your personality in mind when you are thinking about which advice to follow and why.
This will also enlighten you about why certain tips didn’t work for you.
Your success depends on it.
b. Taste.
For a while, I didn’t think I could write a novel. My father’s library mostly consisted of literary authors in love with their own voice and narrative abilities. You know the kind with many awards and regarded as national treasures who describe a tree for 10 pages… just because?
Luckily, I later discovered genre fiction in middle school. I found that I am a plot person. Someone who loves to read/write stuff where authors don’t shove down irrelevant details down my throat.
Same goes with travel writing. I thought I could never write a travel piece because many of the travel pieces I stumbled upon read like pages from literary novels. Full of sensory details woven in a way I don’t like to read, because I don’t see/notice those things.
I will notice and comment on how gorgeous a flower is. I’m not going to write a love poem for it.
You get the idea.
This doesn’t mean that kind of writing is bad. It just means it’s not my style. It’s not who I am.
And just like your personality and taste play a big part in what kind of writing path you forge, it should also dictate who you should learn from.
I mean the relevant stuff, of course.
Just because I’m a glam metal fan doesn’t mean I can’t learn from a writer who is into classical music. 🙂 But it does mean I probably won’t be listening to classical music to get in the mood when I write.
Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit provides a great background on the science and research of habits in a fun way. It also features true stories of people who changed their habits for the better.
James Clear’s Atomic Habits is ground-breaking as it shows how tiny changes in behavior lead to significant results in the long run. He also has an inspiring blog and email newsletter.
But if you’ve always wanted to change, read book after book and still failed to see tips that work for you, I recommend starting with Gretchen Rubin’s.
And remember, if you learn how to improve yourself in one area based on who you are, you can do it in all areas.
Your future writer self will thank you for it.
-The Time(liness) of the Advice
Watch out for when the writer gave the advice.
Some tips are evergreen. It doesn’t matter if the writer said it today, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or all the way back in 1892.
For instance:
“To become a good writer, you need to read.”
This has been and will always be true.
or
“Keep something that you can save your ideas in/with at all times.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s a pen and paper or your smartphone. But you don’t want to lose precious ideas.
On the other hand, when we are talking about trends and what works now, it’s wise to check if the same tips are still working.
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There you go. Four areas to watch out for when you are taking writing advice and investing in educational material.
How do you decide on which writing advice to follow?
