Hey,

Today was supposed to be the final day of "On Writing Clearly".

But I've been out almost all day.

I've never written my daily mail this late (I schedule them the day before fyi).

So I'm pretty tired and not in the mood to round up the essay.

Fortunately, I wrote an atomic essay a few days ago that I haven't shared yet.

So here you go:

There are two types of writing advice: contradictory and mainstream.

When you start writing online, you'll run into both of them. You'll find advice from experts, from peers and even from people who haven't a clue about writing and still think "write drunk, edit sober" is a thing.

It's overwhelming, but these lessons will help.

How to deal with contradictory advice?

Believe it or not, dealing with this kind of advice isn't that hard.

Contradictory writing advice is when different experts have different opinions. Some say you should write first thing in the morning, others suggest you follow your energy.

What should you do?

Try both and stick to what works best for you. Simple.

How to deal with mainstream advice?

Mainstream advice refers to the type of writing tips most experts agree on. Most will agree, for example, that you should write "bullshit" first and edit later.

Editing while writing is a big no-no.

So if you, like me, often edit while you write, you'll start feeling bad about yourself. "Everyone tells me to do A but I do B, I must be wrong."

You aren't wrong. You're different. Embrace that and it will all be easier.

One piece of writing advice you should always follow

You can learn a lot from listening to the experts but always take their advice with a pinch of salt.

Every writing experience is personal. What works for them might not work for you.

Try different strategies. Test what works and what doesn't. Embrace your style and stop feeling bad about being different.

How you write doesn't matter. What you write does.

I wrote this after I shared a video on Twitter of myself while walking :

Kjell Vdv ✍🏻 @Kjellvdv Should you always follow writing advice. Something I was musing about during our morning walk. pic.twitter.com/KabrarKUVs October 15th 2021 0 Retweets 4 Likes

PS: Two types of content have been key for me in the past months:

1. Curated threads to gain followers
2. Atomic essays to gain clients.

I've stopped doing creating both types of content. Stupid, right?

So I'm planning at least 30 more atomic essays for November and December.