Quote Originally Posted by dehro View Post
my tip? accept tips only from published authors, because they can prove that what they say has at least worked once.... but even then don't take their words for gold..what works for them may not work for you and vice versa...
no ammount of accademic degrees guarantees that the tip you're getting will be sufficient in it's own right to solve your creative conundrum...and there are scores of authors who don't have a degree at all, and scores of people with a degree who are failed authors..in other words, the recipe for "becoming the best writer ever" doesn't exist.
also, on the internet, it's full of people who will give you advice just because they like to be seen as knowledgeable..any advice..on any subject, whether they know about it or not...to the point of faking formal education about the topic at hand.

then again...I'm not a published author, and I'm just a guy on the internet.. so maybe you shouldn't listen to me
The only advice a published author can give you that a non-published one can't (probably) is how to successfully grease the wheels at a publishing company to get the thing in print. And even then, they might not know, while a non-published author might. It's not a reasonable credential.

My degree doesn't make me more or less qualified to offer advice, either. Earning it certainly helped me to become a better writer, because it put me in contact with some very wise individuals and gave me lots of dedicated time to practice and get better. But what does that matter? I've learned a lot from talking to people on the internet about it, as well. There are some marvelous people on these very boards who can give you a major push on your way to being a better writer (or a writer in general). What do you want to say to these people? "Oh, you're just trying to sound intelligent. I'm not listening to you unless you're published."?

Of course, writing is a personal thing. Particularly in the arena of "how do I write, period?", what works for others might not work for you. And there will be a lot of differing opinions on how to go about such and such, or how to make this character or this passage more effective, or if this or that plot point needs to exist. And as a writer, you should be aware that you have the final say about what happens and how it all gets done when it comes to you writing. And as part of that, you have the right to not listen to some advice, or to pay more attention to one person than another. But the best policy, particularly when starting out, is to listen to anyone who will talk to you on the subject, and see from as many points of view as possible, so that you can more effectively find the one that is the best fit for you.

I think that any advice on a systematic way to reject advice is bad advice. And although you may not realize it, it's hurtful as well. There is no final authority on what it means to write and write well, and offhandedly referring to the advice of well meaning individuals as worthless is, to put it plainly, not ok.