There was, of course, the usual stuff about writing. And I was reluctant to give a lot of advice--aside from the 'don't give up' speech. Because I've been given such a ton of bad advice. Writing 'rules' someone came up with (sometimes a famous author, but more often not), rules I followed but that ultimately cramped my style.
Like that you shouldn't write in first person. And that you shouldn't address the reader (I do all those things).
Or that you should write every day. Tom Angleberger (he writes middle-grade, in case you're unfamiliar) wrote an awesome post about that rule today, and I couldn't agree more. Some days, you're better off thinking about your story before writing. Fold some laundry. Take a walk.
How about you, fellow writer friends? What writing rule do you like to break? Any bad advice you wish you hadn't taken?
