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"Don't ever write about death"

Given to me by a writing professor in response to a short story. I honestly knew it wasn't my best or most original piece but I was a bit shocked that it was used as an example to the class about why writing about death is so bad. (She never really made it clear why writing about death but it sounded like it was mostly because it's overdone)

It wasn't even a statement uniquely intended for me because she thought I was incapable of it or something. It was to the whole class.

Something better might have been to "Tread carefully when writing about death. It's easy to tread into cliches or unrealistic fiction. Ask yourself what role the death plays and why is it important?"

I've found this one out there a lot and I understand the reasoning behind it. Starting with dialogue drops a reader right into something already in progress and this is not usually handled very well. It's typically much smoother to guide someone into the dialogue with narrative even if the dialogue is the first thing that actually happens. Doesn't need to be much, just a little bit of scene setting.




This one honest-to-God originated from a good place. 'Be' verbs are particularly common in passive voice which is generally less interesting to read than active voice writing. It's supposed to drive you to write more about what characters are doing and show what they are through their actions rather than have you take up valuable narrative saying what they are.

That said, sometimes the 'be' verb route is the smoothest, most efficient way to get something across.



I tend to preach that line, not because there's nothing of the sort but because it's much too commonly blamed instead of the real solvable problems that are holding up the writing process. Then people tend to ask "how can I fix Writer's Block" as if it's some single issue that can always be tackled the same way instead of addressing the underlying issues.

There's no mystical wall that appears in front of a writer and prevents him from doing what he wants to do.

I think the worst advice would be: Don't write.

Can't say I've ever received any bad writing advice. It's all a matter of opinion, so I try to consider what advice I'm given. Now, I may not have agreed with the advice, but the few I can think of weren't what I'd call bad.