Welcome to the first article from my blog. This is going to be a short one today. If you enjoy my content I'd definitely love for you to join me by google following me here so you can be updated when I post new content and so you can join in on the conversation when I post articles. Join me on my fiction writing journey. You won't be disappointed.
I was watching a youtube video of elite author and fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson and youtuber/author Tim Hickson called, “The Worst Writing Advice I've Ever Heard.” Here is the video if you desire to see it, The Worst Writing Advice I've Ever Heard w/ Brandon Sanderson & Tim Hickson (@Hello Future Me ) .
The list of the worst writing advice they ever heard was show don't tell and write what you know, said is dead, you don't need discipline, characters have to be likable, everything must be plot relevant, never revise, ruin your characters lives, be more attractive, and you must do the hero's journey. Now, I'm not going to break down the content of the video because you can watch the video yourself which I recommend, but I will dive into the one reason these writing “rules” so to speak are not necessarily bad advice, but they are at the same time. Bare with me.
This takes me back to when I was an avid reader of the Holy Bible. Don't worry I'm not preaching to anyone, I am no longer a Christian anyways, but I do believe much wisdom can be found in the Bible. Bare with me.
There was a story in the Bible where Jesus or Yeshua healed a man on sabbath day. The pharisees accused him of breaking the law. The law was not to work on sabbath day. Jesus replied that the law was made for man, man was not made for the law. This is a very important life lesson that I needed to learn as well as other writers or editors that critique other people's work. You see, laws or rules are put in place for writers as guidelines that help give their work maximum appeal to readers so that their work becomes as enjoyable as possible to anyone picking up their story.
But, things are rarely black and white. The rules are put their for a reason. The advice that Brandon Sanderson was criticizing was not bad advice. There is truth to most of it. It's only bad advice if you see it as a concrete rule that cannot be broken and must always be abided by. Like you must always wear clothes when going out in public. Lol. That's a rule you'd most often follow no matter what, but I digress.
The Pharisees saw every law, every rule, every piece of advice as written in stone. This is rarely the case in writing or in life in general. The rules, the laws, the advice in writing is put there for a reason. Knowing the reason behind the rules of writing are almost as important as knowing the rules themselves. When you know the reason behind a rule, you know when and when not to apply it. You get a deeper more clear understanding of writing and all it's intricacies, as it helps you craft not just a story that follows some robotic guidelines or magic ingredients to a story, but it helps you craft a story readers enjoy. Google Follow me for more content and to join in on the conversation.
Right now I am working on a fantasy short story that I will be posting on Wattpad in the future and I'd love to receive advice and criticisms on my writing. Thank you for joining me on my journey as an aspiring writer and good luck to all the writers out there. Remember, we all have to start somewhere and we all have much to learn. Especially me. Lol. By the way, if the link to the video doesn't work then try this one. https://youtu.be/x88ccsc0f2M?si=yR3W68KBLlFKl_kj
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