Four Pieces of Writing Advice You Should Totally Ignore

Here is some of the advice I’ve gotten about writing that I’ve learned it’s best to ignore.

Content writers are always looking for suggestions that will help them make it in the business. This is because writing is one of the hardest professions to be successful in. Since writers know this, advice is one of the most frequent topics you will see them discuss. Often there are suggestions that become the advice of the moment and these are rewritten again and again since they are popular. When others saw the advice in multiple places, they assume you must follow it if you want to do well as a writer. But over time I’ve learned that some advice that seems reasonable on the surface doesn’t work very well. Here are some of my top picks for writing advice you should just ignore.

(1) Don’t worry about writing every day. Just write “regularly”.

This advice started as a backlash to the frequently given recommendation advising new writers that in order to be successful you had to publish every day. In some cases, people recommended twice a day was even better.

A dialogue began with many writers, new as well as more advanced saying that they had tried this but the pressure and stress had caused them to want to quite writing entirely. So, at that point, the advice flipped with many writers now stating that you don’t have to write or publish every day to be successful, you just have to write “regularly.”

The problem with this was that nothing was said about the need to determine what “regularly” meant for you. I had been publishing once or twice a day for a while by the time I heard the flipped version of the advice. I was definitely getting burnt out by then and I welcomed this recommendation with a sense of relief.

I soon found out that the advice was a disaster for me. Without the instruction to set goals for my writing, I let myself off the hook. I fell back on the idea I’d when I’d started writing that I could wait to feel inspired or motivated and if I didn’t, it was fine to not get something out that day. As the weeks passed, I found myself writing less and less.

It’s true that the recommendation that writers publish every day may not be the best advice for everyone. In order to stay on track, however, we need to set a schedule that we stick to.

If seven articles a week seems excessive to you and four seems more doable, then trying to force seven can lead to you shutting down. However, if you are going to decide to write four a week, stick to the number and schedule the days you will write and publish. Don’t just say, “Four a week,” or you may find yourself putting your writing off and at the end of the week have nothing to show. If you need two days for an article, then schedule them and stick to writing those days and publishing on the second one.

It’s still important to make sure you are publishing on a regular schedule and one that is frequent enough to remain visible to your audience. It takes a much shorter time to lose followers than to build your audience back up again.

Also remember that different people have different definitions of what it is to be successful and that it’s important for you to define what success means for you. We are all different and we need to determine what is right and best for our own writing lives.

(2) Comment on blogs in as many areas as possible.

Many people say if you want to make your writing more visible, comment on as many blogs as possible. The idea here is to increase your visibility but to also get yourself in front of the audiences of other well know writers.

Advocates of this advice say that there is the added bonus, suggesting that if you comment on some of the big influencers posts you are likely to get them to comment back on yours, leading their followers to your work. While that may have been the case a few years ago, it isn’t anymore.

Today, blog and website commentators and influencers have gotten busier. Few have the time to go to your website after reading your comments. Most of the time, big name influencers don’t even read many if any of their comments nor respond even on their own blogs. They rarely comment on other people’s work and even if they do it’s likely they’ll drop a comment and disengage

Nobody says you shouldn’t leave comments. They are a very important part of your growth strategy. To make this work to your advantage however, respond to those blogs that are the most relevant your work and which are receiving the most traffic.

To get the most from your comments sign your comment with your name and the name of your blog or website. That will let people know your who you are and which site you are associated with.

(3) Write the opposite side of the most popular and controversial perspectives being published.

This is just bad ‘advice in general. It’s saying to use “shock value” to gain endless views and likes. This advice is often promoted for those who want to make a large impression quickly. The rational for this one is that everyone writes the same old material, so advocates of this advice say to be different, take an opposite view, and don’t be afraid to offend people.

But instead of convincing readers of your point of view, since you are only taking the position to create controversy and it’s not your real opinion your writing just forces them to take sides.

You don’t have to avoid controversial topics that you feel strongly about. Just make sure you have thought through your viewpoint and that it is your own, not a traffic ploy. This will let you enter a real debate since you will be certain you can fully defend your position.

(4) To maintain your interest level and motivation to write, present what is different from what you truly believe, to create a different perspective.

This is supposed to help you grow by thinking outside your head. Again, this is not the best advice since if you follow it your writing won’t be authentic. If you want to try this as a self-growth or writing exercise that’s fine. But I don’t recommend you make it part of the body of work that you publish.

Readers instinctively know when your writing is genuine and when you’re presenting a viewpoint that isn’t your own. It’s one thing to write articles that aren’t necessarily personal. But if you present a viewpoint as part of a personal post when it isn’t really yours, your readers will fail to connect with your writing, and subsequently with you, and fail to engage or return to read more of your work.

Take Away

There is a lot of writing advice out there and some of it sounds like just what you need to be successful. But no one piece of advice fits everyone. So even if other writers have rocketed to fame and fortune using a particular writing strategy doesn’t mean the strategy will necessarily work for you. Try out different things. Keep the advice that works for you and discard what doesn’t. Each of us is an individual and we need to find the best path forward for ourselves as we pursue our writing life.

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