Elliot Kessler

So, if you’ve read much of my blog or have seen my Instagram page, you’ll know that I give writing advice from time to time, but I feel weird doing it. Who am I to tell you how to write? I’m still a beginner, and everyone writes differently. It feels very strange.

There’s no right or wrong way to write a short story, a novel, or a blog post. Everyone goes about it differently. So, listening to someone tell you exactly how to write and work on your projects is typically not very helpful. Telling someone that they’re writing their novel wrong isn’t good advice. Some people are plotters, others are pantsers. Some people add lots of poetic comparisons to their prose, while others prefer to write straightforward descriptions. Some writers write long, lengthy novels with tons of subplots and different moving pieces, others write smaller, more focused works of fiction. You can’t tell any author that one way is better than another. I love the short, focused works of H. G. Wells and Philip K. Dick. I also love the long, lengthy works of Frank Herbert and J. R. R. Tolkien. I love the thematic, meaningful stories of Orson Scott Card and Ted Chiang, and I also love the fun stories with less thematic meaning by Douglas Adams and Jules Verne. There are so many different writing styles, and none are right or wrong.

I’m an inexperienced author, having only penned a few short stories and one novel, and I feel almost guilty giving other authors writing advice. I might have studied and read writing books and watched classes on writing books, but that doesn’t make me an expert. Those books and classes were created by seasoned writers who have done this as a career for decades. I’m nothing compared to them. Besides, there are plenty of authors on YouTube who are already giving advice to others. Why should I try telling you what to do when it’s already been said over and over by everyone else? It’s aggravating. I have things I want to say and advice I want to give that I learned when writing my novel, but it’s all been said before, and it doesn’t look like I’m bringing anything new to the table. I’ve written one novel, and it can barely be counted a novel at that, being only a little shy of 60,000 words. That’s like two-thirds of “The Hobbit,” and it’s supposed to be a big space epic spanning half a galaxy. Doesn’t seem that big, huh? I’m still very young, and I have no right to tell you guys how you’re supposed to write your novel.

I am, naturally, a pretty lazy person. I don’t work hard to get the things I want, and I expect them to fall into my hands. I’m entitled, frustrated that I haven’t grown to tens of thousands of followers on Instagram by now, even though it’s only been a couple of weeks. My room is an absolute mess. I want it to be clean, hoping to film some videos for YouTube here, but that’s not going to happen if I don’t do something about it, yet I know that and still don’t do anything about it. I always wait until the last minute to get my schoolwork done. I have Spanish due soon that I’ve been putting off forever, and it will take me all day to get done, which means it will eat into my writing time. Heck, I’ve already missed quite a few assignments. That’s all on me because I waited like this. So, why do I share motivational posts on Instagram if I’m so lazy? Why do I keep telling you guys to keep at it and work hard if I’m not working hard myself? It’s hypocritical. It’s lazy. It’s stupid. “Do the hard work I don’t do, and you’ll be as successful as I am.” Great advice from someone with no awards, no bestsellers, and nothing else to show for his “hard work.” I’ve been writing for years and only finished one novel this year. It’s barely been read. I’ve submitted the same few short stories to magazines and contests over and over, and I still haven’t benefited from any rewards. Who am I to tell you not to be lazy if I am?

I’m writing this article, trying to figure out the answer myself. Do I quit my blog? Do I simply stop giving writing advice? Do I stop sharing motivational posts on Instagram? Or do I work harder? Do I sleep less? Do I take my own advice, sleep six hours a day or less, and spend all night and all day working to achieve the goals that I have set for myself? Do I stop putting off cleaning and school until tomorrow and simply get it done today? Do I finally decide to flip my life around, stop being lazy, and get things done, earning the experience I act like I have? I think that might be the answer. That’s how I need to give writing advice. Not by sitting behind a computer screen saying, “You can do it, and here’s how,” while scrolling through Instagram and looking for funny memes to send to friends. I do it by practicing what I preach. I do it by waking up early and going to bed late, getting everything done, writing my heart out, and giving you the best content I can. I don’t want to write basic posts with no heart or passion or meaning behind them. I want to write posts that I believe in. I want to write posts that actually help and make a difference. It’ll be hard to write posts like that every day, and I’m sure there will be some bad eggs mixed in there, but it’ll all be worth it for the posts that mean something. I’m done sitting here, looking at my wreck of a desk, thinking about cleaning it. I’m done looking at the number of followers I have on Instagram, wishing I had more. I’m done barely putting in the effort to write these blog posts just to write blog posts. It ends now.

I attended a writer’s conference over Zoom last year hosted by Houston Baptist University. They had a bestselling Christian author talk about his writing experience and how we might become better writers. He also talked about how Christianity can be incorporated into writing. If I learned anything at that conference, I learned this: Writing is servitude. That’s why I started in the first place. If I forget that, then it doesn’t matter how successful I become. Any number of followers, any number of readers, any number of subscribers, any amount of money I make is absolutely meaningless. It doesn’t matter at all; it gets tossed into the sea by the time my life ends or by the time I become irrelevant. I won’t have helped anyone. Writing is servitude. From now on, I will live by that.

Thank you for reading. Have a fantastic day.