Unpopular Writing Opinions Summarized | Generated by AI
Question: What are some unpopular opinions about writing?
Answer:
- Most writing advice is recycled garbage that keeps mediocre writers mediocre. “Show, don’t tell,” “kill your darlings,” and “write every day” are treated like scripture when they’re situational at best and actively harmful at worst for many writers.
- Outlining is overrated. Plenty of great novels were written by discovery writers (“pantsers”) who had no idea where the story was going until page 300. Rigid outlines often produce predictable, lifeless books.
- Talent matters more than practice. The 10,000-hour rule is a myth when it comes to artistic excellence; some people will never write publishable prose no matter how much they grind, while others are producing bangers in their teens.
- Writing fast is usually better than writing slow. The obsession with “perfect first drafts” and endless polishing often results in over-edited, soulless manuscripts. First-draft energy is real and valuable.
- Creative-writing degrees (MFAs) are largely a scam. You’re paying six figures to be in a room with 12 other people who want to write the next Great American Literary Novel about divorce and childhood trauma. Most graduates never publish anything significant.
- Reading widely doesn’t automatically make you a better writer. Some of the most derivative writers read 200 books a year; some of the most original barely read at all and just live interesting lives.
- Adverbs aren’t the devil. Elmore Leonard and Stephen King’s hatred of them became a cargo-cult rule. Sometimes “said quietly” is fine and “whispered” feels pretentious.
- World-building is often a procrastination technique. Fantasy writers especially will spend years mapping imaginary economies and conlangs instead of writing actual scenes with emotional stakes.
- “Write what you know” is terrible advice if taken literally—yet “write whatever you want regardless of identity” ignores the fact that lived experience often produces more authentic work than research ever can.
- Most people who say they “want to write a novel someday” will never finish one, and that’s fine. The fantasy of being a writer is more rewarding for them than the reality of doing the work.
- Self-publishing isn’t inherently inferior to traditional publishing anymore. A huge percentage of trad-pub books are mediocre slush that got lucky with an agent; many of the best, most innovative books right now are self-pub or small-press.
- Editing yourself is impossible. You will always miss your own clichés, pacing issues, and logic holes. Anyone who says “I’m my own best editor” is coping.
These opinions tend to trigger people who’ve built their identity around the conventional writing-culture wisdom, which is exactly why they’re unpopular.