Stop Listening to Writing Gurus
Writing gurus abound out there on the Internet, but most of them are full of it!
Writing for a living is a funny thing. Everyone is an expert, but relatively few people can make a living at it. I’m fortunate in that I do make a living as a writer, but it didn’t happen overnight and I had 20 years of experience as a newspaper journalist to back me up before I went out on my own.
However, I am not here to help you become a better writer. I am not here to help you with sales of your e-books, nor to tell you how to get more views for your online articles.
What I am doing here is telling you to stop paying attention to all the writing “gurus” out there. Many of them are only trying to sell you something, quite often a book or e-book or CD or something. If they were really making it as a writer, they wouldn’t have to be pushing their product on you, and they wouldn’t be giving away their “secrets” because they would be too busy making money.
Even those who have a proven track record, professional novelists and the like, are only spouting their opinions. Yes, those opinions might be based upon experience, but it was only their experience. If you ask any writer who has “made it,” you will find out each of them has their own unique story. No one “makes it” the exact same way as someone else.
Why am I telling you all this? Because, if you are one of those who wants to write for a living, you need to do your own thing. You need to figure out your own goals and your own ways to reach them, instead of paying attention to anyone else, and that includes me.
Yes, it is nice to pick up a helpful tip here and there, but you need to experiment on your own. Nothing boils my blood more than seeing one of these “gurus” telling his or her fans to think for themselves, but then turns around and starts calling people idiots for doing or not doing a certain … SOMETHING … ANYTHING.
It’s nonsense. The truth is, no one can chart your route to success for you. You have to do this on your own.
The most important thing you can do is to try and persevere. If what you are writing is not helping your career path, try writing something else. If non-fiction is failing you, try your hand at fiction. If your horror short stories aren’t selling, try writing a romance novel or something. If your political articles don’t grab readers, try writing about one of your favorite hobbies.
Just keep trying!
And stop paying so much attention to everyone else.
Last words: Write your damn book, send it out to publishers, editors or agents, or publish it yourself. Then write the next one. You’ll either find an audience or you won’t. If you don’t, try writing something different. It’s really that simple. All the opinions and guidance in the world won’t help nearly as much as perseverance.
Liked it
Click the icon to the left to subscribe to Writinghood with your favorite RSS reader.
February 20th, 2012 at 12:17 am
Ty for your info I did find some helpful stuff here
February 20th, 2012 at 12:37 am
good advice… thanks for sharing!
February 20th, 2012 at 12:54 am
A lot of honesty in this article. Thanks!
February 20th, 2012 at 2:13 am
Sounds simple when you put it like that. Hard work and paying attention can bring rewards where following the latest guru, then the next one, then the next, that will only drive you mad. And it won’t help you!
February 20th, 2012 at 2:20 am
I agree. It’s good to have links to know where to send your stuff (and how much the various places pay) but at the end of the day you either make it or you don’t. (And most of what decides that is how much you are willing to give whatever it happens to be) And it’s the same with everything. Not just writing.
February 20th, 2012 at 6:01 am
Very true. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another.
February 20th, 2012 at 11:28 am
I think this is the best writing advice I have read on Triond for a long time. Just go and write the damn book! Love it!
February 20th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Great advice and I hear you loud and clear. I’ve picked up a few good tips here and there that seem to work for me, at least at the moment but I’ve found more useless stuff written by people who can’t write. You’re right. Each writer must pave his or her own highway and do what works for them. Thanks from another writer who isn’t getting rich writing but at least I have now reached a point where I can pay the rent. More to come.
February 20th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Yes, I think this is the ONLY article about writing that’s worth reading. The rest are very limited and only designed to catch a few clicks from writing wannabees
February 21st, 2012 at 3:29 am
I agree with your sentiments. You shouldn’t cheat yourself out of the experience by taking other’s opinions to heart.
February 21st, 2012 at 5:27 am
Thats me out of a job then. LOOOOL
February 21st, 2012 at 8:21 am
That´s really great advice! Thanks.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Now that is telling us!
February 21st, 2012 at 10:42 pm
You’ve smashed it again.
February 22nd, 2012 at 12:34 am
lol, short and to the point. love it
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:47 am
I could not agree more.
February 22nd, 2012 at 10:11 am
Thanks for expressing a good and honest opinion in this matter.
February 22nd, 2012 at 11:58 am
I couldn’t agree more. You need to figure out what works for you and then see that it gets done.
February 22nd, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Best advice I’ve seen. Wasn’t it Einstein who said that ‘genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’?
February 22nd, 2012 at 4:53 pm
It’s so true, there is no magic bullet and no money making shortcuts. It is all about finding an audience and lots of hard work at perfecting your own writing skills.
February 22nd, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Thanks everyone. Glad to hear there are writers paying attention.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:14 pm
this is so inpirational and I am really glad someone decided to tell the truth about writing