This is a copy of a tumblr post I made long ago in response to a writing advice meme.
Pet Peeves
I have often found other people’s posts about their writing pet peeves useful. You know, the ones that start “omg I hate it when people do X,” where X is overuse of epithets, or excessive physical description of characters or improper comma usage or saying taught when it should be taut. Because then I end up thinking “oh shit am I doing X??”
And I think that’s more useful than just having an editor/teacher/beta reader correct you, because sometimes the answer is “yes I am doing X and there’s nothing wrong with that.” I once read someone’s very long rant on the use of the word “lapping” and how she’d like it to be banned from the English language, which is…not a position I agree with, but it’s certainly made me more conscious of how I use that word. And that’s my point really – not to necessarily avoid all the things on these lists (and if you google “writing pet peeves” you will find a million of them), but to use them to think about your writing and improve it.
Read Stuff
Read books consciously, with attention to how other people put words and stories together. Maybe try writing fanfic for it, even if writing fanfic is not your primary goal. If you try to write fanfic for, let’s say, As I Lay Dying, you’re gonna learn a lot about how Faulkner did what he did.
Advice about Advice
Don’t take anyone’s writing advice too seriously, even if it comes from super famous published authors whom you admire. What works for them works for them. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you, and there’s nothing wrong with that.