by Christina Miller, @CLMillerbooks

How often do you follow writing advice?

If you’re like me, you started your writing career by seeking and following all the advice you could get from agents, editors, and seasoned authors. And by “following advice,” I mean doing everything the publishing professionals suggested. Especially if several people gave me the same advice.

Most of that advice was great, a little was terrible, and some was good for others but bad for me. So today I’ll share some good, bad, and not-good-for-me advice well-meaning professionals have given me about writing.

Good Advice

1. “Stay prepared for big changes in the business.” I got this advice from my current agent. My first agent passed away, leaving me without representation just weeks before my debut book released. I got a new agent, and he had just signed a deal memo for my second book when the publisher closed the line. A couple months ago, my editor moved to a different imprint within the company. I was assigned a new editor, and weeks later, my editor changed again. Expect the unexpected.
2. “Stop rambling.” This advice came in a private meeting with agent/teacher Donald Maass after he’d read the first fifty pages of my manuscript. I went home and learned to cut unnecessary words, lines, paragraphs, and scenes. In time, I got contract offers and began helping editing clients cut the fat and tighten their sentences. 
3. “Take advantage of every writing opportunity.” The fabulous Laura Hilton, my friend and critique partner, gave me this advice when my current publisher announced a writing contest. I took this advice and scored my first book sale.

Terrible Advice

1. “Follow your heart.” I got this advice when I asked an industry professional, who knew my writing history and had read my proposals, what era/genre I should write. Although she meant well, I spent several years collecting rejection letters for novels set in unpopular eras. While a few authors have written breakout books in unpopular times, settings, and genres, most of us should consider the market.
2. “If the book doesn’t sell, self-publish it.” Many self-publishing authors enjoy wild success. But they’ve paid their dues by writing a great book, hiring a great editor, working a great marketing plan, etc. They took the time and worked hard to make the self-published book amazing. If the book doesn’t sell, first find out why, then consider self-publishing.

Good Advice for Others But Not for Me

1. “Turn off your internal editor as you write.” This advice must work for most people, because almost every writer I know uses it. However, it doesn’t work for me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a pantser or what, but I edit as I write. If I don’t polish every word in every sentence as I write it, the story doesn’t seem real to me, so my story doesn’t either. I write only two drafts of my books (three if you count starting my writing day by rereading the previous day’s work) plus a proofreading pass. It works for me. Likewise, if 99 percent of authors tell you to write a certain way, but it doesn’t work for you, don’t do it. It’s bad advice—for you. Instead, we all should write and edit in the way that produces our best writing.
2. “Write every day, even if you have only ten minutes.” Again, this must be good advice for most people, if NaNoWriMo successes are any indication. But I need large blocks of writing time, so I adjust my planner to include them several days per week. Give yourself permission to customize your writing schedule.
3. “Don’t write for mass market, because your book will be on the shelf for only one month.” Mass market isn’t for everybody. (And I admit to having an almost-finished trade proposal hidden away on my laptop.) But I love starting a new story—and finding my new book at my local Walmart—two or three times a year. I’m grateful the Lord showed me that, although mass market might not be everybody’s first choice, it was right for me.

How about you? What’s the best publishing advice you’ve received? What’s the worst? What was right for you but seemingly wrong for most authors, or wrong for you and right for others? Please feel free to share them in the comments.

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Embracing His Past

Stunned to learn he has an adult son, widower Harrison Mitchell’s eager to track him down and build a relationship. But when he uproots his life and moves to Natchez, Mississippi, he’s hit with another surprise: his new boss, Anise Armstrong, is his son’s adoptive mother. Now he must win her trust to prove he deserves to be a father and grandfather…and possibly a husband.

Author Christina Miller’s idea of a perfect day involves a southern beach, a stack of books, and a glass of sweet tea. Years ago, she left her job as an RN to work in the church her husband pastors. She also became a writer—and sometimes she gets to write on the beach. Christina is a Love Inspired author, Bethany Global University (Bloomington, Minnesota) graduate with degrees in theology and missiology, church secretary, worship leader, and children’s ministry teacher. When she doesn’t have her nose in a book or her toes in the sand, you might catch her visiting an antebellum mansion, opening her early-American home for Dinner Church, or teaching at a women’s conference. Christina lives on her family farm with her husband of thirty-four years.