Why I Never Follow My Own Writing Tips When I Write for Myself
Hello, dear readers,
If there's one article I hope my followers read, it's probably this one.
And before you come after me with torches and pitchforks, let me explain. Every writing tip I share online is something I've learned over years of writing professionally. They aren't random opinions or rules I invented overnight. They're tools that have helped me write stronger stories, avoid common mistakes, and solve problems that almost every writer encounters at some point.
But here's the truth. There isn't only one way to tell a story. There is no single "correct" way to write a novel. Writing advice isn't a law. It's a compass.
It's there to guide you when you're lost, to help you understand why something isn't working, or to give you a place to start when you're staring at a blank page.
Like people often say...
Every rule has its exceptions.
I believe it's incredibly important to learn the fundamentals of writing. Not because you should follow every rule forever. But because understanding the rules helps you recognize the moments when breaking them actually makes your story better.
When I work with ghostwriting clients, I have deadlines. I have a responsibility to deliver a polished manuscript that is structured, professional, and ready for the next stage of the publishing process. Every decision I make has to serve the story as efficiently as possible.
When I write for myself...
I do almost the exact opposite. I don't worry about deadlines. I don't care if the first draft is messy. I write scenes out of order. I leave notes to myself that say things like "Fix this later," or "This dialogue is terrible, rewrite it."
Sometimes I ignore my outline completely. Sometimes I spend three days writing a scene that eventually gets deleted. And sometimes I discover the story only because I gave myself permission to stop writing "correctly."
Which, admittedly, means my future self usually hates me when it's time to edit.
This article is really for a younger version of myself. The girl who started writing years ago and felt overwhelmed by the endless amount of advice on the internet. She believed every rule was absolute. She thought that if she wasn't writing exactly the way someone else recommended, she must be doing it wrong.
I wish I could go back and tell her that writing is far more personal than that.
No article, not even this one, can tell you exactly how your creative process should work.
The more you write, the more you'll discover what works for you. You'll start recognizing which advice helps your stories grow and which advice simply doesn't fit the kind of writer you are.
So if there's one thing I hope you take away from this article, it's this:
Don't be afraid to write the "wrong" way while you're discovering your story.
You can always rewrite a messy page. You can improve weak dialogue. You can restructure chapters. But you can't edit a page that was never written.
Learn the craft. Understand the rules. And then, when your story asks something different of you…
Don't be afraid to trust it.
If you’d like to follow the journey of the book I am writing and see how it’s coming together, you can find more here:
But if you want to, you can see more about my work as a ghostwriter here:
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