Quick Writing Advice, Part 3: Advice on craft is not law.
Short enough to read over your morning coffee, consider this series the advice I'd give myself when I was just getting started.
In the early days of my writing journey, I would lean heavily on the advice of published authors. I would seek out articles, Reddit AMA’s, craft books from famous authors, archived blogs on their websites, and search for the perfect formula for writing a book.
I would think, “If X author does Y and they are a full time writer, then I should be doing that.”
Well, I am here to give you advice on not taking advice.
Or rather, take it with a grain of salt, try it out yourself, and if it doesn’t work for you, congratulations. You have realized that you are not that author and will never be that author. You are your own self with your own writing habits, processes, and preferred methods. You have a different work and life schedule. You are a whole different person!
I do think it is beneficial to “shop around” for tips and advice. It’s just important to remember that you have to try it out yourself and determine if it works for you and if it doesn’t, you simply move on. Don’t be harsh on yourself for not adapting to a process that an author who has been writing for ten years (or a writer that wrote forty years ago) has perfected.
The above is my craft and reference book shelf. I very rarely even refer back to a craft book. It’s usually Save The Cat that I pull out the most for some inspiration if I’m stuck on a plot point. I also keep non-fiction reference books here. You should see how beat up The Darkening Age is from me using it all the time.