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pro-tip: absolutist writing advice is always wrong
i'm actually not sure if I intended this to be ironic or serious
the serious version of this is: absolutist writing advice is usually wrong, at least the kind that takes the form of "thou shalt not ______" (use adverbs, tell instead of showing, etc.)
the serious version of this is: absolutist writing advice is usually wrong, at least the kind that takes the form of "thou shalt not ______" (use adverbs, tell instead of showing, etc.)
the best kind of general writing advice teaches you how to do certain things (eg. build tension, set up certain kinds of scenes), not advice that focuses on what you're doing "wrong"
that's not because we have to protect burgeoning writer's tender feelings or whatever, it's because critique of that nature really depends on your individual writing habits
it would be appropriate (in the right context) to tell someone who overuses adverbs to use fewer adverbs and pick more evocative verbs instead, but not everyone has that problem and it's perfectly fine to use adverbs in moderation.
people start with all kinds of different writing habits, strengths, and weaknesses, and a piece of advice that is helpful for one person can entirely miss the mark for another.
one of my bad habits is over-writing characters' thoughts, so it might be appropriate to tell me "hey, cut down on the internal monologue" but it would be ridiculous to tell everyone that.
taking "thou shalt not advice" too seriously often engenders a kind of unproductive anxiety about your writing, and a lot of that advice is either just crap or a massive overstatement of a reasonable point, but one which may or may not be applicable to you
so learn how to do things, not what not to do
anyway that's my totally unqualified two cents
anyway that's my totally unqualified two cents
