Behind the Curtain - Writing Advice
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Writing is a little like re-creating a large mural in a dark room when we're only armed with a small flashlight.
There is an incredible breadth of beauty there, but most of us are only able to see a little slice at any one time. When you start getting feedback from other people, especially novice authors you generally find that some of them are focused on the little slice they've been studying to the exclusion of being able to appreciate the elements you've managed to capture.
These are the guys that take their particular gospel of writing so far that sometimes it almost turns their book into a circus. Sometimes following their advice would pull your story over to something they find beautiful, but causes you to lose the beauty you've successfully managed to create.
Being an author requires a curious blend of humility and arrogance. You have to be thick skinned and hard headed enough to continue on in a vocation that nearly everyone will tell you is hopeless. You have to believe in your skills, in your writing when there are plenty of people who've never published anything that are ready and willing to tear your stuff up and tell you it's worthless.
On the flip side of the coin you need to understand that there is always something more you could learn, another tool you could learn to bring to bear against a given project.
The important thing I've come to understand is that there are a tremendous number of writing elements. Setting, pace, plotting, characterization, dialog, teasing the audience, etc. Some of them overlap and intermix, some of them are more important in a given market than others, but I don't know that any one person has them all mastered. Most authors seem to be strong in one, two or even three of the elements, and just manage not to stink so bad at the others that they ruin the story they're trying to tell.
Just because someone else thinks one particular aspect of writing needs to be included in your story to a greater degree doesn't mean they're always right. Sometimes the effort to follow their advice can result in your work turning into a kind of Frankenstein monster. However, if a relatively large number of qualified people are all telling you a certain element needs beefed up, that's probably something you should listen to.