This post by Alexander M. Soltai originally appeared on Notes From An Alien on 8/11/14.
Dare I say it—there’s too much crappy advice for writers on the Web.
Far too much of it aims to teach the rules of genre-writing rather than the ways to write clearly.
If a writer is trapped in someone else’s mold, their true creativity will be strangled.
My all-time favorite fiction writer (after my Best Friend) is C. J. Cherryh; and, I’m going to share some of her writing advice.
She’s written more than 60 books since the mid-1970s and won multiple awards.
One of the most interesting things about her is that even her most adoring fans say she’s challenging to read…
Yet, it’s not because she’s lost in florid prose or chained to a genre-muse.
She does write in certain “genres” but she creatively bends them to her writing-will—never a tortured trope, never a borrowed plot, never a bunch of hackneyed characters…
Click here to read the full article on Notes From An Alien.