Common Writing Advice That Doesn't Always Work (And What to Do Instead)
by The Book Pup on February 20, 2026
If you've ever looked up writing advice online, you've probably seen the same tips repeated everywhere: "Show, don't tell." "Write every day." "Kill your darlings." "Never use adverbs."
These rules are treated like gospel truth, as if following them guarantees good writing and breaking them guarantees failure.
But here's what they don't tell you: writing advice isn't one-size-fits-all.
Rules that work brilliantly for one writer might completely stifle another. Advice that helps one story might ruin a different one. And some "rules" are just... not as absolute as people claim.
Today, I'm breaking down common writing advice that's treated as law but actually has exceptions, nuances, and alternatives. This isn't about ignoring all advice, it's about understanding when and how to apply it (or not).
1. "Show, Don't Tell"
The advice: Never tell readers information directly. Always show it through action, dialogue, and description.
Why it's taught: Showing creates vivid, immersive scenes. It's more engaging than dry exposition.
- Telling: "Sarah was nervous."
- Showing: "Sarah's hands trembled as she twisted her ring, her eyes darting to the door every few seconds."
Why it doesn't always work:
Sometimes telling is more efficient. If something isn't central to the plot, showing it wastes time. "They'd been friends for years" is fine. You don't need a whole flashback sequence.
Telling can create rhythm. A mix of showing and telling creates better pacing than showing everything.
Some information works better told. Internal thoughts, backstory, time passages, these often work better with some telling mixed in.
What to do instead:
- Show the important, emotional moments
- Tell the necessary but less crucial information
- Use a mixed balance, neither extreme is always best
- Ask: "Does this moment need to be lived or just known?"
2. "Write Every Day"
The advice: Real writers write daily. If you're not writing every single day, you're not serious about writing.
Why it's taught: Consistency builds skill. Regular practice improves your craft. Daily writing creates momentum.
Life happens. School, work, family, mental health, emergencies, sometimes you can't write, and that doesn't make you less of a writer.
Burnout is real. Forcing daily writing when you're exhausted or uninspired can make you hate writing.
Quality over quantity. Writing 100 words of garbage daily isn't better than writing 2,000 good words once a week.
Creative work needs rest. Your brain needs time to process, recharge, and refill the creative well. Sometimes, you just need a break to get your mind to relax.
What to do instead:
- Find YOUR sustainable rhythm (daily, every other day, weekends only)
- Write regularly, not necessarily daily
- Count planning, outlining, and thinking as "writing work"
- Take breaks when you need them
- Focus on consistency over frequency
3. "Never Use Adverbs"
The advice: Adverbs (especially -ly words) are weak writing. Strong verbs don't need adverbs. Cut all adverbs.
Why it's taught: Adverbs can be lazy shortcuts. "Walked quickly" is weaker than "hurried" or "rushed."
Example:
- With adverb: "She spoke angrily."
- Without: "She snapped" or "She hissed."
Why it doesn't always work:
Some adverbs are perfectly fine. "Almost," "never," "always," "really" - these are adverbs too, and they're often necessary.
Adverbs can add nuance. "She smiled sadly" conveys something different than just "she smiled" or "she frowned." Sometimes you need that complexity.
Some genres use them differently. YA contemporary often uses more adverbs than literary fiction. Both are valid.
What to do instead:
- Cut unnecessary adverbs, not all adverbs
- If the adverb adds meaning, keep it
- Don't twist yourself into knots avoiding them
- Focus on whether the sentence works, not whether it has an -ly word
4. "Start With Action"
The advice: Your story must begin with an exciting, action-packed scene to hook readers immediately.
Why it's taught: First pages need to grab attention. Agents and editors decide quickly. Readers abandon books fast.
Why it doesn't always work:
Character establishment matters. If readers don't care about the character yet, they won't care about the action happening to them.
Some stories need setup. Fantasy world-building, relationship dynamics, normal-world-before-disruption, sometimes you need foundation first.
- Start with something interesting, not necessarily action
- Hook with voice, mystery, emotion, or questions
- Establish character quickly so readers care
- Make sure your opening promises what your story delivers
- Test different openings to find what works for YOUR story
5. "Write What You Know"
The advice: Only write about experiences you've personally had. Stick to what you're familiar with.
Why it's taught: Authentic details come from lived experience. Writing from knowledge creates believability.
Why it doesn't always work:
It limits creativity. You've never been to space or fought dragons or lived in 1800s England, should you never write those stories?
Research exists. You can learn about things you haven't experienced and write them authentically.
Imagination is valuable. Fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, these require imagination beyond personal experience.
What to do instead:
- Write what interests you
- Research what you don't know
- Focus on emotional authenticity over factual experience
6. "Kill Your Darlings"
The advice: If you love a scene, line, or character too much, cut it. Your favorites are probably self-indulgent and hurting the story.
Why it's taught: Writers can be too attached to things that don't serve the story. Sometimes we need to cut beautiful writing that doesn't fit.
Why it doesn't always work:
Sometimes your darlings are good. That scene you love might be the best thing in your book. Not everything you're attached to is self-indulgent.
Passion creates good writing. The parts you love writing often become the parts readers love reading.
This advice can make you second-guess everything. Cutting things just because you like them can strip your story of joy and energy.
"Kill your darlings" can mean different things. It's more about cutting things that don't serve the story, not automatically cutting your favorites.
What to do instead:
- Ask: "Does this serve the story?" not "Do I love this?"
- Keep darlings that are both loved AND functional
- Cut things that don't work, regardless of attachment
- Get feedback from beta readers about whether your darlings work
7. "Avoid Clichés at All Costs"
The advice: Never use common phrases, tropes, or plot elements. Everything must be 100% original.
Why it's taught: Clichés are boring and predictable. Original writing is more engaging.
Why it doesn't always work:
Tropes exist because they work. Enemies-to-lovers, chosen one, found family, these are popular because readers LOVE them.
Some clichés are just... language. "Time passed" might be cliché, but "temporal progression occurred" is worse.
Familiarity can be comforting. Readers often want some predictability mixed with novelty.
Trying too hard to avoid clichés makes writing awkward. Replacing every common phrase with something "unique" can sound forced.
What to do instead:
- Use tropes but add your unique twist
- Avoid clichés in prose where possible, but don't obsess
- Some clichés (in dialogue especially) sound natural
- Focus on fresh execution of familiar elements
8. "Don't Edit While You Write"
The advice: First drafts should be written straight through without stopping to revise. Editing comes later. Never go back and fix things mid-draft.
Why it's taught: Perfectionism kills momentum. Finishing a messy draft is better than getting stuck on chapter three forever.
Some writers need to edit as they go. Fixing problems immediately helps them move forward. Starting each session by revising yesterday's work builds momentum for some people.
Discovering major problems early saves time. If you realize chapter five that your plot doesn't work, fixing it now might be smarter than finishing a broken draft.
Different processes work for different people. Discovery writers might need more revision during drafting. Plotters might draft cleaner.
"No editing" can create overwhelm. Coming back to a complete mess of a draft can be more discouraging than fixing issues along the way.
What to do instead:
- Experiment to find what works for YOU
- Light editing (fixing typos, tweaking sentences) vs. heavy editing (restructuring, rewriting) are different
- If you get stuck, sometimes backing up and fixing helps
- Don't let editing stop all progress, but don't fight your natural process either
9. "Write What Sells"
The advice: Research market trends and write in currently popular genres/tropes to increase your chances of publication.
Why it's taught: Understanding the market is smart. Writing what's selling can help you get published.
Why it doesn't always work:
Trends change fast. By the time you finish a book (months or years), that trend might be over.
Passion shows in writing. Books written just to chase trends often feel hollow compared to books written with genuine love.
Forcing trendy elements feels inauthentic. Readers can tell when something's there because it's "supposed to be" rather than serving the story.
What to do instead:
- Write what you're passionate about
- Be aware of market trends but don't be enslaved by them
- If a trend aligns with what you love, great! If not, don't force it
- Unique, passionate stories stand out more than trend-chasing
- Focus on craft and story quality over trend-following
10. "Show Your Writing to Everyone for Feedback"
The advice: Share your work early and often. Get lots of feedback from lots of people.
Why it's taught: Feedback helps you improve. Other perspectives catch problems you miss.
Why it doesn't always work:
Too much feedback is confusing. Ten people might give you ten contradictory opinions. You can't please everyone.
Early sharing can kill confidence. Showing unpolished work before you're ready can be discouraging.
Not all feedback is useful. Someone who doesn't read your genre might give terrible advice for that market.
Some writers need privacy while drafting. Sharing too early can make some people self-conscious and unable to write freely.
What to do instead:
- Finish a draft before seeking extensive feedback
- Choose beta readers carefully (people who read your genre, who you trust)
- Limit feedback sources to avoid overwhelm
- Learn to filter feedback (take what helps, leave what doesn't)
- It's okay to write in private until you're ready
- Not all advice applies to your story, even from well-meaning people
11. "Never Use Prologues"
The advice: Prologues are always bad. Start with chapter one. Readers skip prologues anyway.
Why it's taught: Prologues are often misused - dumping backstory instead of starting the story. Many agents say they hate prologues.
Why it doesn't always work:
Some stories genuinely need prologues. Fantasy world-building, necessary backstory, or establishing stakes that happen before the main timeline.
Well-written prologues work. Many successful books have great prologues. The issue is bad prologues, not all prologues.
"Just call it chapter one" is silly. If it functions as a prologue (different time, POV, or purpose), calling it chapter one doesn't fix anything.
Genre matters. Fantasy and sci-fi commonly use prologues. Contemporary less so. Different conventions exist.
What to do instead:
- If your prologue is necessary and engaging, keep it
- Test it - does it hook readers or bore them?
- Make sure it's not just an info dump
- If you can incorporate the information elsewhere, maybe cut it
12. "Write the Whole Book Before Querying"
The advice: Never query agents or publishers until your manuscript is 100% complete, revised, and ready.
Why it's taught: Professionalism. Being able to deliver immediately if requested. Not wasting opportunities.
Why it doesn't always work:
Non-fiction works differently. Non-fiction is often queried with proposal + sample chapters, not finished manuscript.
Some writers query to test interest. Knowing if your concept is marketable before finishing can be strategic (though this is controversial).
Deadlines can be motivating. Some writers finish better with external accountability (though this is risky).
What to do instead:
- FOR FICTION: Finish and revise before querying (this rule is pretty solid for fiction)
- FOR NON-FICTION: Learn proposal-querying process
- FOR DEBUT AUTHORS: Definitely have a polished, complete manuscript
- Have a plan for quick revisions if an agent requests changes
- Don't query before you're truly ready just because you're excited
The Real Advice: Know the Rules to Break Them Wisely
Here's the thing about all writing advice: understand WHY a rule exists before you break it.
"Show, don't tell" teaches you to create vivid scenes, but once you understand that, you can choose when telling is more effective.
"Write every day" teaches consistency, but once you value consistency, you can find your own sustainable rhythm.
"Avoid adverbs" teaches you to choose strong verbs, but once you do that, you can use adverbs where they add value.
The pattern:
- Learn the rule and why it exists
- Practice applying it
- Understand when it helps and when it doesn't
- Break it intentionally when it serves your story
Finding What Works for YOU
The most important writing advice I can give you:
Experiment. Try different approaches. See what works for YOUR brain and YOUR stories.
Be flexible. What works for one project might not work for the next.
Trust yourself. You know your story better than any rule-spouting internet stranger.
Learn the craft. Understanding why rules exist helps you break them effectively.
Ignore advice that makes you miserable. Writing should be challenging but not torture.
Find your own process. Your writing journey won't look like anyone else's, and that's okay.
Happy writing, and remember: the best writing advice is the advice that helps YOU write better. ✍️
The Book Pup
P.S. If you're working on a story and struggling with "rules" that don't seem to fit, trust your instincts. Sometimes the rule is wrong for your story, and that's okay.
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