Author Q&A: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?
There’s a lot of writing advice out there, and some of it is contradictory. You’ll hear some recommend to never use adverbs while other people think adverbs are our friends. Truth is, you can overdo and underdo almost anything. Good writing takes practice and you find your balance over time.
The best piece of advice that I’ve personally received is: Know your first draft isn’t great. Don’t edit as you go. Just get the words on paper and then go and edit when you’re finished.
I’ve had far too many stories end up going nowhere but the trash heap because I got bogged down in editing, didn’t make progress, and grew bored or rushed off to another idea. I still have a strong desire to edit as I go, there’s a perfectionist in me. However, I now force myself to hold off on editing until the end, unless it is a major plot point that needs changed, or an inconsistency that I notice.
This has allowed more stories to make their way to completion.
How about you? What is the best piece of writing advice that you’ve received? Also if you have any questions for a future Q&A, drop it in the comments below!
Michael (Mike) Bergman 
I too think that the best writing advice for me—in retrospect—is the cliche ‘just write’. In the end, the only thing that’s gotten me anywhere in writing is my choice to just write, despite my doubts and fears. Thanks for this post!
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I wrote to a popular British author about how much I liked his first book. He checked out my writing and advised I should write a book and self-publish like he did. Several years later I am about to publish my second book while my first one is still finding new readers in six countries. His push was critical.
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