: Re: Why do expert fiction writers often give conflicting and contradictory advice to novice writers? Lots of writers give writing advice -- but why do they so often contradict each other? For example,

@Phylliss352

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Edit: this question was initially about a lack of consensus on writing advice, and has more recently focused on the pros and cons of rewriting. I'm adding this paragraph at the top to address that issue, but keeping the rest of the answer as is for now. I looked up what Dean Wesley Smith actually said, and it confirmed my suspicions. On the one hand, every novel that was ever published probably got heavily edited beforehand; on the other hand, your first novel won't be publishable no matter what you do to it, so Smith recommends getting several under your belt until you're at a worth-rewriting point. In other words, what you should really re-jig at first is your style, not one particular manuscript. I definitely know from my experience that both "hands" in this comparison contain a certain amount of truth. Actually, this gets to a general point that fits the previous answer draft in the paragraphs below: you often get conflicting advice that's aimed at different people, e.g. are you brand new to writing or "almost there"?

When you get a writer's advice, they mix two things: what they in turn have learned from others, and what they themselves do. For example, maybe there's a specific way they get enough words done in a day, or a way they plan their plot or characters before they start drafting, or a way they timetable their revisions. They don't really know how much those things would help you; they just know what works for them.

As for advice from others, bear in mind it almost never traces all the way back to the original source. Arguably it shouldn't, because we may be better informed by now, partly due to new ideas, partly due to modern readers feeling different. But there are times when repeatedly copying ideas causes just enough nuance to be lost that people debate certain versions and have views on them and suggest something else. You'll see this in action whenever writers discuss adverbs, showing, dialogue tags, darling-killing etc. So while it might help to skim a few guides to inculcate "write this way, not that one" rules into your style, there's no substitute for reading whatever kind of writing you're being guided on. For example, Ben Blatt found that it's -ly adverbs, not adverbs per se, that are underused in successful and acclaimed writers, including Stephen "I advised people to use fewer adverbs, without Blatt's nuance" King.

Finally, you should want different kinds of advice from different writers to an extent. For example, if you want to write fantasy, those who've done it before will help you through the world-building challenge it brings, which, say, real-world romance doesn't have to do. But it will mean a very different style. And if you're looking beyond your debut book to that 300,000-word epic you'll write later, even though it's still fantasy you need different advice again. And let's not even get started on MG vs YA vs NA etc. It's just that people often say "do X" instead of "do X if you want to write story type 14-B, which is what I did".

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