Elliot Kessler

I have read many articles, books, and blog posts about the craft of writing. I’ve learned a lot. These authors putting their knowledge out on the internet, sometimes even for free, have been incredibly helpful.

But there’s also a problem with so many authors putting their tips and instructions out into the wide world for beginning writers to read. They have tons of conflicting thoughts, opinions, and teachings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen writers saying the “Write what you know” rule is bogus while several other authors swear by it. Some writers talk about how important it is to describe the physical aspects of your characters while other authors say it isn’t important at all.

This can get confusing. Especially when you’re a young writer like me who has no idea what he’s doing and is still searching for the “right” way to write a book.

However, searching for the proper way to tell a story is part of the problem. There is no “right” way to tell a story. Sure, plenty of authors will tell you they have it figured out. They’ll offer courses and classes. They’ll say “This is how you write a book, and all other ways are wrong.”

At first, I believed it. Then I found another author claiming they knew how to write a book. Then another. And another. Soon, I found that there were an infinite amount of “right” ways to tell a story.

I didn’t know where to go. What do I do? Who do I listen to? How do I learn the truth?

It turns out there is no proper way to write a book. Back when novels first became popular, the authors didn’t have any guidlines or rules. They didn’t have anyone telling them how to write a book. Nothing stopped them from putting whatever they wanted down on paper. Anything went. The closest thing they had to a how-to book were the other novels written by other authors. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and so he wrote a book about a detective named Sherlock and his assistant names Watson. He didn’t Google “How to write a murder mystery.” He read the story he loved and wrote a story similar to it. He studied the story, not someone talking about it.

Does that mean reading “How to” books and articles is wrong? Of course not. I have learned a ton from those books and articles. If not for them, I wouldn’t know how to write in the first place. But don’t treat them like gospel. They don’t have all the answers. They’re a great place to learn about different experiences from different authors, but you shouldn’t go there looking for definitive answers.

But they shouldn’t only be treated as a jumping off point, either. Never stop reading those books. Read them, and reread them, and reread them again. Learn from other authors. Learn all the rules of writing and break every single one of them. As long as you write a killer story and have fun doing it, readers will find you and they’ll love the stories you have to tell.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.