Screw The Writing Advice
Guidance for writers who don’t want to follow the rules
If you are anything like me, your passion for writing almost burns your soul from the inside out. You have probably written stories since you were a little child, in one way or the other. If you do not write for a while, you feel incomplete and moody. Every time you do write, you lose yourself in its magic. It seems impossible to not write because it is a fundamental part of who you are. Shaping words into stories comes as natural to you as breathing.
And, if you are truly like me, your opinion on „writing advice“ is quite a negative one. Why follow rules when you can follow your heart? Why study writing when it is your natural talent? Why be like everyone else, when your ideas are bigger than life?
This is certainly how I felt my entire life. From when I barely knew the alphabet and teachers were trying to grade my imagination, all the way until adulthood when I had already released two books and was trying to get a grasp of the world of publishing.
But here is the ugly truth: Talent only gets you so far.
Born with a talent — buried with a dream
Trust me when I say, that I never wanted to hear this. Ever. I feel you when you roll your eyes at advice and all those smart quotes that tell you to study your craft. I understand the impatience, the rebellious part in you, and also the hidden fear. I was you.
But I had to realize that I mostly rejected writing advice because I was afraid. Because if I looked into the rules for writing and listened to advice I had to admit, that I was, in fact, not as great of a writer as I thought I was. That there was room for improval. That I was imperfect.
Our society raises us this way. Talent is praised since early childhood and being anything less than perfect is a failure. You need to succeed, never make a single mistake, and preferably make it look effortless. We do not talk about the hard labor that went into creating a masterpiece or letting a dream come to life, we only ever acknowledge the shiny end result.
So, naturally, we all want the big beautiful image of someone who made it, but we do not actually want to do anything for it. We do not want to admit that to get to the place we want to be, we actually have to move and get uncomfortable. We have to be honest with ourselves and make a choice: Do we want this enough to do the work? Do we want this enough to let it humble us? Do we crave the summit of accomplishment enough to invest time and energy on the rocky path of learning?
I realized that I do not want to be born with a talent and buried with a dream. I want to live my dream. Every single day. Even when it hurts. Even when that means that I have to face my fear and strip the fake confidence. Even if that means admitting that my talent alone is not enough to make my dream come true.
Breaking the rules
Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like rules. If someone tells me “You need to do it THIS way”, I almost certainly will do it in any way BUT this. Which is great. The best stories come from people who simply said “so what” and did what others deemed impossible. Look at J.R.R. Tolkien and Mary Shelley and Stephen King. Despite all the obstacles and rejection they faced, they followed their truths and became some of the biggest and most innovative writers of our time.
You are allowed to dream big and to draw outside the lines and prove everyone wrong. But in order to break the rules, you need to know them. Otherwise, you just end up as an arrogant, stubborn, and childish person who will forever wonder why no one understands them and their work never reached its true potential. I have been this person and let me tell you: It is no fun and not worth it. It will not make you feel proud, it will make you feel lonely.
Let your art humble you. Take it seriously enough to teach you how to grow.
What you truly need
I am in no position to tell you what to do. But I can tell you that you need to face your fear. There is no way around it. Even if you have already written bestselling novels or award-winning poetry or viral articles, you will eventually have to face your fear of not being good enough. There is no escaping it. So stop running, turn around, and look it straight in the eye.
You are not any less by admitting you can improve. In fact, it makes you better. By allowing yourself to analyze your flaws and finding possibilities to fix them, you are growing as a person and as a creative. By checking out advice by experienced writers, you are not diminishing your own efforts and you are not putting yourself into a restraining box. It is entirely up to you what you do with the advice. You are making the decisions. You can keep the parts that resonate with you and toss all the rest. You can even toss everything, but at least you listened.
By listening you not only broaden your horizon in many ways, but you will also realize that other writers struggle in the exact same ways you do. You will see that even the most iconic and successful people have been right where you are. And that the fear of not being good enough is common and simply a lie that your mind tells you. You will feel connected and seen and will find inspiration and ideas on how to handle challenges, fears and failures.
You are good enough. But you will never be perfect. Because no one ever is. The best thing you can be is a humble student that recognizes that their potential is never fully reached and that this fact is not something depressing, but rather something exciting.
As writers, we always want to ask the big questions and explore the complexity of their answers. By allowing yourself to be imperfect and ever-learning, you are opening the door to endless exploration within your own craft. Do not be afraid to embark on that journey. It will take you so much further than you ever dreamed.
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Tasmin Hansmann is a full-time freelance writer and has published two books, The Anatomy of Waves and Welcome Home Dear Soul. A third book will be released this summer.
