 The best advice is often not what you expected. This week on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop, Leslie Hachtel asks… Who gave you the best advice ever? What was it and how did it help you? The best life advice I ever received came in fifth grade from my dad. I had been placed in a class with the “scary” teacher – the one all the kids told horror stories about. I’m pretty sure I came home from school in tears. My dad told me to give it one month. If the teacher was a bad as everyone said he was during that month, my parents would ask to have me transferred to another class. While that teacher never became my favourite, by the end of the month I realized I could handle it. He was still terrifyingly strict and had very high standards, but I learned how to work with his expectations. Since then, I’ve used the “just give it a month” mantra when I moved away to go to post-secondary education, when I had troubles with a new boss, when my first child was born, and in many other situations. It really does work for me. In regards writing advice, this might not have been the “best” advice, but it made a huge impact on me. So much so, I share it all the time with other writers. It is: Never start a sentence with “there was.” Now, like all rules, there are exceptions. But the thought behind this advice is best shown by example. There was a house on the corner of the street that stood tall and grim and always scared me. The grim, tall house on the corner always scared me. See how the second sentence is so much more engaging? How about you? What is the best advice you ever received? Let me know below, then hop over to Leslie Hachtel for more free advice!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
