by Tonya R. Moore
Are you afraid of messing around with tropes? What about your plot? Is it too dark? Too light? Is your main character too perfect? Too flawed? Are you afraid to bore, perturb, or even disgust?
Tell me the truth: how many articles did you read this week that made you look back at your own work and cringe?
There’s no limit to the number of voices out there that are only too happy to tell us what or how not to write. I’m not here to fit you with rose-colored glasses. A lot of what these people say is true. Some things work for stories. Some things don’t.
As a creative, no matter what you do, there’s always the risk that your work won’t be well received. There’s also the chance that it will.
Readers aren’t stupid. They aren’t looking to be pandered to. Most readers are intelligent enough to realize that a story is simply an invitation to take a peek inside a writer’s inner world. They don’t have to like or even appreciate what they find there, but maybe they will. It’s all about entertaining the possibilities.
Don’t be afraid to take a silly idea and run with it. Revel in every second of writing it because once you’re done writing a story and you let it loose upon the world, you lose the ability to enjoy the “creating” part of the process. Now, you’re just another hapless author waiting to see how your work will be received. You may have an inkling. It might get accepted somewhere and your editor or publisher might be able to predict a story’s success with some degree of accuracy, but no one ever really knows for sure.
So why sit there staring at a blank page and worrying about stuff you can’t predict?
The best part of being a writer is the writing. Experiment. Carouse. Mess up. That’s your freedom. That’s where the fun stuff happens. Tie yourself up in knots worrying about what comes later… later!
Don’t let worrying about what not to write ruin writing for you.
Guest post contributed by Tonya R. Moore. Tonya is a Jamaican born, science fiction, horror, and urban fantasy writer from Bradenton, Florida.
Good point! That’s always a temptation!
I always remember when feeling concerned for perfection/opinions an old art teacher’s saying (when making us discard our neat little pencils and erasers for a large pot of black ink and a pen.)
He said, ” If your work is perfect you learnt nothing. It’s when you make a mess you progress!” Applies great to life also lol!
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Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Reblogged this on apboustead.
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Thank you.
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This, this, thousands times this!! Such an important message!! Thank you for this!
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Yes! This.
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Reblogged this on Books and More.
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This is really true.
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I follow this website, and I usually find the articles posted here very helpful. But I couldn’t disagree more with this one!
Taking steps to avoid poor writing is something that every aspiring writer should do. It can save one from a lot of grief down the road. Readers don’t want to just peek inside a writer’s head; they do look for good writing. As a reader myself, I’ve put down many a book because it was hideously written.
If fears over writng badly are keep you from writing, it’s probably time to take a deep breath and relax, but you should never stop trying to avoid bad writng.
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Argh! The last sentence should be, ‘If fears over writing badly are keeping you from writing, it’s probably time to take a deep breath and relax, but you should never stop trying to avoid bad writing.’
I must’ve been half asleep!
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I agree to a certain extent, certainly wrt typos, grammar, spelling etc, but it’s no good if you become obsessive about it when it comes to stylistic points. In fact, I think it can sometimes lead to loss the spontaneity.
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Reblogged this on The Owl Lady.
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Excellent advise!
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Reblogged this on My Writing Blog and commented:
Food for thought
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W O W. ❤ THANK YOU FOR THIS.
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Once you write something then you can decide if you want others to read it or not. Sometimes I just need to get things out of my head. Then I don’t always publish unless I think others would like it or benefit. Now I have stopped worrying about what to write. I just write when I want to. It is good to have a reminder not to worry. Thanks for your post.
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Reblogged this on WILDsound Festival.
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