The Old Pros

I've been writing for as long as I can write. I've picked up what I can on my own, I've taken some classes on the subject, and I've read a few books on writing. The latter two resources tend to have advice that come from old pros in the field.

I have found that I disagreed with just about every piece of advice these writers have given. Wake up early and write while the sun rises. No thanks; I'm a night owl. Write crappy first drafts and revise after that. No way; I'll just revise while you are writing so you can make your first draft your best draft. Write at the same time every day. Yeah right; I'll write when I feel like writing (or when I need to write). Write down your ideas when you get them. Why bother; I'll remember them when I get around to it. Pick a genre. How about I pick all the genres?

The list goes on. And so did I. I ignored the advice and kept doing what I was doing. Eventually, I found that I didn't like what I was doing. Even when I revised as I wrote, my first draft was still a rough draft. When I only wrote "when I felt like it", I found myself not feeling like it for as long as years at a time. When I thought I would remember my ideas later, all I could remember was that I had an idea, not what it was. I wrote in every genre, but some fit me a whole lot better than others.

Over time, I have found myself at least partially agreeing with everything that the old pros suggested. Well, everything except for that early morning writing thing. But I bet that one day even that will change. I have found myself writing while the sun was still up from time to time, so that's a start. I thought it was such a strange thing to be changing all of my thoughts and habits despite my fevered protests.

I realized, though, that it is another one of those things that come with age. One day, super sweet candy tastes disgusting and salads will be rather pleasant. Still, no child will ever accept that it's true. It must be discovered on their own. Advice that old writers give is good advice and it should be known, but it can't take effect until a person is old enough and personally ready to take that next step.

Of course, the scary part is that if you accept that these people's advice is correct and will eventually be true, you are then ignoring the chance that they may be wrong about something, or even that they overlooked a possibility. I think that a good writer must question everything they are told. They must never accept something as truth, but discover it on their own. Certainly they can use the advice as subjects to learn about, but the only way they can be sure of what is true or not is to find out for themselves.