Not all the writing tips you hear or read about are good for your writing. Editor and writer Stephanie Hoogstad gives you some advice on which are good to Ignore. So many writers like to give advice about writing—myself included. After a while, all the advice seems to run together because a lot of it…

If you want to give your prose a bloody nose, kneecap it and keep it from grabbing your reader’s attention and goodwill, use adverbs.But if you want your readers to love and respect you, don’t use them! Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They can be used, but really, you shouldn’t.…

The best thing about really good advice is that you can get it—or give it—over and over again and it feels newly useful each time.  The very best advice should be welcomed:  you’ve heard it before but hearing it again is like an old friend whispering a secret in your ear that only they have…