Three Pieces of Advice That Left a Crater in my Writing

Today, I want to share with you three pieces of advice that impacted my writing. And by impact, I mean they blazed like a meteor out of the sky and left a giant crater in my writing.  And there's nothing to do after a crater but rebuild. And I'm so glad that this advice helped rebuild my writing.

Some are things I wish I knew when I began writing. Some are things I've learned the hard way. Some are things other writers passed on to me. And now I want to pass them on to you. I hope they help and encourage you!

I was excellent at making goals. But I rarely met those goals. Why? Because I had no plan to get myself there. When I took the time to sit down and figure out how many words I needed to write to finish the novel by the end of the month, I felt freer and more able to meet them. I knew that no matter how bad a writing day I was having, all I had to do was edit this many words. It suddenly made bad writing days look very good, because I knew I could still reach my goals.

Onto a more technical note. I always thought adverbs--those little "ly" words like slowly, beautifully, or snarkily (not sure that last one is a word)--were so bright and sparkly. But the truth is, if I had to use a "ly" word to describe how my character said or did something, then I had a weak sentence on my hands. I hadn't made the best use of my action words. Eliminating adverbs from my edited drafts has led to so many brilliant sentences I never would have had with those "ly" words. As a result, my novels are so much stronger.

When I was working on Author of Peace, I remember someone told me they believed I would find a niche market, and that would just kind of be my thing. I was like, "Niche market, great!" I really didn’t mind the idea. But the idea that I couldn’t do any more than a niche market? I wasn’t so crazy about that. But then someone told me to write what God had given me to write. So many writers talk about having to write for the market. But the bottom line is if God has given you this book, then He will take it wherever it needs to go. So just be you and write the story that He has given you. Don’t doubt what He can do through the book you’ve written, no matter what that book is.

*What advice has impacted (or left a crater in) your writing? Share your adventures in the comments below!*