Literature What's the worst writing advice you've gotten?

[Melpomene]

"Stop using fancy words"

I mean, I understand it if I was just using words to sound smart or something of the like. But I had used the words "bosom" and "lacquered" and was told those were too fancy and I was a bad writer for using them.

For so long I watched by vocabulary because of it before I finally realized I was fine and could use whatever vocabulary I wanted.

 

[ZxGracexZ]

Write every day. (and burn out)

 

[JadeGreen17]

“Don’t describe how your female character’s body looks, it comes off sexual.”

Bull crap. Utter bull crap. Can I not describe their body type? Or do I need to be such a prude that I can only describe her face? And why does this not apply to men? I’m sorry 15 year old me, you should have never listened, you weren’t trying to be sexual.

Just an addendum on this and the discussion as a whole. There is nothing wrong with describing a characters body, even elements like the chest, abs or hips/booty. I think the point of contention is when the description is done. There's a rule in cinema, a psychological effect you can have on a viewer by opening up on a characters face vs their body. If you open on their face and focus more on that first people will read a character. If you show or talk about the body the viewer will view the character as an object. I apply the same rule in writing, since its basically cinema that the reader watches in their head.

When a character is first introduced one could focus on a basic description of the face. (Even better focus on what the character is doing or saying and how their actions define their personality) Later on in the story or rp, that same character could maybe caught in some more revealing attire, or catch the attention of a romantic interest who checks them out, which could warrant some tasteful description of the body. And this applies to both male and female characters. There is nothing wrong with showing that a character has an attractive body, its just important to assert that the foundation that they are a character and not there for fanservice. At least thats my $0.02 on the matter.

Anyways now that I've successfully necro'd a discussion from the first page let me share my own worst-writing-advice.

"Avoid cliches like the plague"

Cliches aren't actually bad to include in your writing. After all cliches exist for a reason; and that is they've become so common in writing because they're effective storytelling vehicles and shorthands for certain situations or events. The reason everyone thinks they're bad is because they get used without any variation or self awareness and can take a reader out of the story. It's okay to use cliches so long as you either are aware of what you're doing or twist the cliche in some way.

 

[PhoenixMire]

“Don’t give your characters weird traits like heterochromia/ odd hair colors/ wings/ horns/ anything else strange looking! That makes your character a Mary Sue.”

No.
As an artist, I hate this advice. It does nothing more than squash creativity. I remember when I was younger I always tried to make my characters look as normal as possible to avoid making them look like a Mary Sue. I got incredibly frustrated because I thought all my characters looked dull and had nothing unique about them. I wanted to give them unique traits; I wanted to draw something fun, like horns and wings. But I always felt that would automatically make my character a Mary Sue.

Guess what? It doesn’t.

I understand that these design elements can be used poorly and make a character stupid. But as long as the design meshes well (both from an aesthetic and storyline standpoint - of course it has to make sense in the context of your world for your character to have these fantastical traits), then go crazy. Design what you want and have fun with it. Your character isn’t a Mary Sue unless they’re talented at everything and loved by everyone. Appearance alone doesn’t always indicate a Mary Sue.

 

[Onmyoji]

Mary Sue witch hunt is what squashes creativity more often than not.
Not every original character is a Mary Sue.

 

[ManofManyRoles]

If the case of 'you're not normal and an exact copy of your neighbor, and his neighbor, and the neighbor before them' created mary sues, real life would be populated with mary sues. People dye their hair purple, some people are born with heterocrhomia, and some people are missing a digit or an entire limb. Being original doesn't mean you're a perfect snowflake. I think a hallmark of a good character is that they have something unique or strange like that.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Mary Sue witch hunt is what squashes creativity more often than not.
Not every original character is a Mary Sue.

Exactly! I hate that kind of mentality. I understand giving legitimate critique on a character if they’re a borderline Mary Sue, but people are way too quick to leap to the conclusion that a character is “too perfect”.

I’ve legitimately had people tell me, without knowing anything about my character’s personality and only having seen their appearance, “you can’t give them heterochromia! That’s a huge Mary Sue trait.”

Excuse me????

My good friend has been afraid to design her own OCs for years because of sucky advice like this. She never created her own OCs at all because she was so scared of making them Mary Sues. But she’s a good writer, and she knows how to give a character flaws and weaknesses, so her worry was unfounded, and it only existed because of the people that give crappy advice on how to avoid making a “Mary Sue OC”.
She’s finally making her own OC now and I’m very proud of her lol

 

[JadeGreen17]

The character I use in my PFP has hetrochromia (I'm pretty sure its why the hetrochromia discussion got started so I'm butting in). But other than that is pretty much a normal looking (if physically fit and well trained) human. He's got magic gear and a cool bow and is a super skilled fighter. The hetrochromia is just there to just give him flare and intrigue beyond. "Athletic ambiguously asian teenage boy with long hair" but is also obsessed with his own vanity, and is brutally honest which annoys a lot of other characters. The two characters he regularly pairs up with are a teenage girl who built a 10-story tall nuclear powered mecha out of scraps in a barn but is a lazy slob and the most powerful psionic in the whole world who fears building attachments because he might lose people.

 

[PhoenixMire]

The character I use in my PFP has hetrochromia (I'm pretty sure its why the hetrochromia discussion got started so I'm butting in). But other than that is pretty much a normal looking (if physically fit and well trained) human. He's got magic gear and a cool bow and is a super skilled fighter. The hetrochromia is just there to just give him flare and intrigue beyond. "Athletic ambiguously asian teenage boy with long hair" but is also obsessed with his own vanity, and is brutally honest which annoys a lot of other characters. The two characters he regularly pairs up with are a teenage girl who built a 10-story tall nuclear powered mecha out of scraps in a barn but is a lazy slob and the most powerful psionic in the whole world who fears building attachments because he might lose people.

I brought up heterochromia just because I like giving it to my characters and I've received stupid "advice" in the past that I should never give it to any of my OCs since it's a "Mary Sue trait".
Plus, I think it's totally fine to make your characters look extremely inhuman, as long as they're not perfect at everything. Your OC sounds interesting though

 

[Zenwarrior54]

"Avoid tropes at all cost."

 

[PhoenixMire]

"Avoid tropes at all cost."

Ugh yes, awful advice. I remember being afraid to write because I thought I could never use a trope of any kind. Really killed my creativity. There are certain tropes I love, especially if written well, so they shouldn't be avoided!