What’s the Most Life-Changing Writing Advice That You’ve Heard?
What’s another thing I love besides writing? The answer: Writers.
Writer personas, whether real-life or fictional, always tug at my heartstrings. I could go on and on about the many writers I fangirl over. For instance, when I watch movies or read books that have characters who are writers or have an affiliation for writing, those characters would resonate with me the most.
I’m genuinely fascinated by people who have a fascination for the act of writing; people who are self-aware of their relationship with words and how they consciously choose it as their primary tool to craft or tell a story. As a visual artist, you’d mostly find me sketching stuff on pieces of paper or slapping canvases with a paintbrush in hand, but the call of the written art form is also strong in this one.
That said, let me fangirl over one of my favorite writers and a piece of advice I’ve heard from one of her many insightful interviews — advice that changed my perception of writing, for the better.
With pleasure, I introduce to you, professional fangirl-er and fellow Swiftie, Tavi Gevinson. In case you‘re not familiar with her, she is the founder and editor of the now-defunct Rookie Mag, an online magazine for teenagers. I discovered her and Rookie during my sophomore days in high school and grew up following her journey closely up to this day.
You see…
When I was finding myself as a writer, her unapologetically feminine and sassy toned essays gave me life. And so in a not-creepy-stalker way, I scoured YouTube to watch her interviews hoping for some kind of epiphany. Alas, soul-searching on the internet proved to be fruitful. In one of the videos, a similar sentiment came out of her mouth and I was stunned (in a good way) for a bit:
I love writers who write as they speak.
Mindblown. That’s what I was.
Write as you speak. What a revolutionary thing to hear for someone who was agonizing over her writing skill (or lack thereof). It made things a lot easier or at least I became more comfortable with my own voice as a writer — at times sassy as well, sometimes sentimental, and sometimes a little bit of both.
Hearing those words made me less scared of the ‘blank page.’ Picking up the pen and putting stuff on paper became less intimidating. A heavy burden was lifted off my insecure shoulders as I felt like I didn’t need to write a specific way or copy other great writers. It certainly lessened the time which was usually spent for self-doubt or crippling comparison. For once, I was okay with the idea of not being good at writing everything. I might not be a super eloquent novelist or a sagacious essayist, but maybe, I can be good at composing words in a way that hits close to home.
Also,
I think part of it is also because of who Tavi was as a person. She started getting recognized for her skills when she was a teenager, at 14 years old if I remember correctly, and got exposed to these HUGE adult-dominated industries where she would get mocked or hated for her young age.
One time when asked about why she started Rookie, she shares how as a teenager, she couldn’t relate to most of the existing publications. There were no publications that were representative of the younger generation so she started Rookie initially to have a platform that she and her cohorts can relate to, which ultimately became a highly successful magazine that voiced out genuine portraits and narratives of what teenagers were actually like during her time. She clearly expressed how she didn’t want it to be “The NY Times for Teenagers.” It was a teenage magazine conceived by actual teenagers who do actual teenager things. It’s powerful stuff I tell you.
So on days when I feel like my writing sucks, I chant “Write as you speak. Write as you speak.” to myself a bajillion times like a symbolic mantra to tap into my own brand of uniqueness. Revel in the worlds of writers you admire and topics that mean a lot to you.
Everything will fall into place. Or at least I hope so.
What about you? Name one writing advice you’ve gotten that helped you see writing in a new light. Share through the comment section or better yet, write about it and tag me! I’d love to know!
