Write Wrong

Finding articles about the “right way to write” is remarkably easy. I think of those as diet adds – “The secret to a flat belly!” OMG! This. This is the secret. Doing this will solve all of my problems.

Sorry. It’s not that simple.

The right way to write changes based on what you want to do and why. Are you writing to be rich and famous? As a career? To fulfill some inner need? All those reasons may require different approaches. If you’re trying to be rich and famous, good luck. Maybe, you’re good at analyzing current trends and successful books so that you can duplicate their success. I can’t. Imitate a writing style? Sure. Figure out what people are going to like next? Not so much.

What if you decide to write to get published, and the article is “The Secret to Getting Published”? Ok, great. They can tell you the format and the ins and outs of the process, but even that depends on variables. Are you writing for kids or adults? Getting a children’s book published is different from publishing your memoir or a science fiction novel for adults. If you’re not interested in a specific genre or style, are you going to write in it anyway if they tell you that that’s the easiest way to get published?

The best advice I can give to any aspiring writer is to try. Try writing in different genres. Try writing in different forms (poetry, scripts, short stories, articles, etc). Try writing different moods. Try writing with different tones. Try writing from different points of view.

All you might waste is a little time, energy, and paper (or computer memory). But that wasted time can be far more valuable than the writings that come out of it. It’s practice. It’s honing your writing skills. It’s learning what kinds of writing are right for you. Even if you decide to write what you think will sell, you’ll write it better for the experience.