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Sadly, I invited everyone in when I first started writing. I was very insecure and wanted to make sure I was doing it “right”. So I gobbled up “how to” books until I couldn’t write anymore. I learned very quickly there is a DON’T for everything and then those DON’Ts are contradicted with DOs of the same kind.

I think the trick is to be very selective about who you let meddle with your writing process, and why.

Exactly. The mantra I try to go by is don’t put the rule before the story. That way when I finally take a step back I can see whether or not the rule is working against the story.

Most of the time the advice sounds great but it generally falls apart when I try to put it in action.

I’m nodding. I think that comes from knowing how you work and accepting it.

The only good thing about being a self-taught writer who had no contact with other writers until after signing the first contract was not having to listen to this. By the time all the “You have to . . . ” people converged on me I had finished twenty-eight coloring books with exactly what I wanted, how I wanted, no lines except the ones I drew in myself.

I think the trick is to be very selective about who you let meddle with your writing process, and why. What advice out there resonates with an ongoing problem of mine? Who is offering it, and why? I’m always interested in a method a writer has come up with to address a specific problem versus all that global-sounding advice. Then even if it sounds interesting enough to try, it has to pass a practical application test while I test drive it and see if it works for me. Most of the time the advice sounds great but it generally falls apart when I try to put it in action.