Comments on: Writers Worth: The Worst Advice You’ll Ever Receive

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:41:34 +0000

Sue, that's a great story. It shows that advice, no matter how well-intentioned, doesn't always fit.

By: Sue Chehrenegar

Sue Chehrenegar — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:12:36 +0000

My father also said, "You can't make money writing." That was when I was going to college, and had to pick a major. I did decide to major in biology, but I was writing all the time that I was in college. One year, my name appeared weekly in a byline in the campus paper.

When I was in graduate school,and when I had young children, I kept writing. I wrote monthly reports about my lab investigations, and gave them to my supervisor. I wrote newspaper articles and newsletters for Beha'i communities in Baltimore and Los Angeles County.

In 2003, I realized that I would have to retire from my career in biomedical research. For medical reasons, I could no longer keep using the tissue culture skills that I had mastered. The first day of my retirement I sat at the computer and looked for places where I could send some of my writing.

By 2004, I had begun to make money as a writer.

Sue Chehrenegar

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Wed, 11 May 2016 19:53:15 +0000

Worst advice — "You're the practical one, not the creative one." Changed the course of my career for awhile, but the writing always pulled the hardest. Now, I have far more published/produced credits to my name than the person who said it.

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Mon, 09 May 2016 17:08:44 +0000

Yep, every day. :)

By: Ashley Festa

Ashley Festa — Mon, 09 May 2016 15:50:23 +0000

Lori, when you said "every day" for Writers Worth Month, you really meant EVERY day! I didn't know I was missing great posts on the weekend! So I'm catching up ;-)

Anne - I don't think I'd have had the courage to keep going through the rejections without this great community of encouraging freelance writers. I'm glad you didn't give up!

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Mon, 09 May 2016 14:17:08 +0000

I can only imagine, Cathy. To me, that was probably a life-saving decision. No way I'd want the stress of corporate life again.

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Mon, 09 May 2016 13:28:34 +0000

You can imagine some of the comments I received when I walked away from a 6-figure corporate job. Best decision I ever made.

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Mon, 09 May 2016 11:36:59 +0000

I remember that same advice, Paula. And i had the same reaction -- who would want to read anything from that limited a vocabulary?

Anne, thank you. Wonderful advice.

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Sun, 08 May 2016 14:47:42 +0000

Paula, you were the first I ever heard who said something like 'write what you want to learn.' Totally sage advice...

Sharon, thanks for your comments.

By: Paula Hendrickson

Paula Hendrickson — Sat, 07 May 2016 20:30:40 +0000

Nice post, Anne! I'm glad you persevered!

The worst writing advice I probably ever got came from my well-meaning aunt, who was very creative but by no means a writer. When I was in high school and she heard I wanted to be a writer, her not-so-sage advice was the classic, "Write what you know."

Please. If people only wrote about things they knew, no one would ever want to read their work. Fiction writers need to use their imaginations, and non-fiction article writers (like me) have fun because we learn new things every time we take on a new assignment.

Sure. You can write about things you know, but look beyond that to things that actually interest you. Learn. Dream. Write.