HARSH WRITING ADVICE

When you need a break with a little conflict to wake you up, Writing Twitter nearly always delivers. There’s gonna be a writing fight going on somewhere, sometime; this is just a given for our time.

HARSH WRITING ADVICE is the one trending this morning, and I’ve got to say, it’s a juicy topic!

All Writing is a Leap in the Dark (my headline). All (Marriage, crossed out in red) Is a Leap Into the Dark (text body) Marrying a Person You Never Have Seen Is No More Risky Than the Chances We All Take in Picking a Husband or Wife, Says Dorothy Dix; Golden Rule? There Is None. By DOROTHY DIX (picture: a middle-aged woman with a Gibson girl up-do, strand of beads, and modest yet rich-looking top) — *There’s so much advice out there — what was your favorite writing advice, best or worst? (Image via Wikimedia Commons, modified by E.M. Duskova)*

According to Tessa Dare’s screenshot, the inception tweet went like this:

“harsh writing advice” and “bad writing advice” are often confused.

Do you, on your own, publish enough books a year that your ideal reader will never need a book from anyone else? Unless the answer is yes, other authors—good ones—are essential to your career. pic.twitter.com/lOXWBaNxt9
— Tessa Dare (@TessaDare) January 29, 2021

“HARSH WRITING ADVICE: Your writer friends are also your competition. Sorry.”

This was one bad take (apparently deleted by the original writer https://twitter.com/RebeccaRennerFL/status/1355246427337859079?s=20) that provoked a lot of thought. The community came up with bad advice, good advice, a lot of humor, and several celebrations of why writing friends are so important.

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