Thread by @GailSimone

Here is my thing for aspiring writers.

It’s important to get feedback, especially when starting. But pick a few readers you trust. The more people you ask, the more the advice will drift towards the center, the inoffensive, the safest route.

1/

You will run into a LOT of people whose sole input will be good make YOUR thing more like all the things that came before. And they are not being malicious, they’re trying to help.

But the effect compiles in an insidious way, like sanding off the teeth on a house key. 2/

Your work becomes more predictable and banal, but you never really unlock a meaningful reaction in the reader.

There’s already a Die Hard. There’s already a Harry Potter.

And they each have a million bland, bastard children. 3/

It’s better to take the shot.

You will miss. A lot.

You will throw your story into the bleachers accidentally and give the head cheerleader a nosebleed.

But take the shot. 4/

Too much ‘helpful’ advice is like eight people holding you down at the free throw line.

Some time, at some point,you need to stand alone and throw the ball.

And when it goes in, all that advice disappears, isn’t that interesting? 5/

Write your thing, leave some teeth in your pastry.

Craft improves, boldness you have to carry with you like a suitcase and defend against the many who say it’s a liability.

Yes, I am mixing metaphors. Bite me.

6/

Most people don’t choose to be a writer because it’s safe, it’s not safe, it has less job security than the career of a crocodile orthodontist.

Write what leaves the best scorch mark and understand that some people who love you might tell you to turn it down a notch.

They mean well.

But they are asking you to paint using yesterday’s colors.

Writing is fun, it’s not some huge mystery. Work on your craft, protect your vision, hone your voice.

That’s the formula.

Good luck!
‘End/