This month’s question is about whether or not writing and marketing experts and gurus help writers or just get in the way:

“With so many claiming to have the secrets to either writing or marketing, is this just another layer keeping new writers from their goals?”

My short answer: It depends — not necessarily — but there are some things to look out for.

Here’s my longer answer.

When writers endlessly pursue study or looking for the “right” mentor with “right” secrets, we can absolutely keep ourselves away from the best and truest learning ground for writers — writing. Particularly if we’re seeking system after system to plot a novel or develop a script or learn to market our work without taking our writing projects all the way through to completion, we’re doing ourselves a disservice.

There IS a lot to learn

Many if not most of the folks out there teaching writing and the marketing of writing are doing it from a sincere desire to help writers (as well as making a living) and much of it can be valuable. There’s insight to be gleaned from various systems and experts, and as you study, you’ll develop your own methodology (and in an ironic twist, perhaps, might even someday end up with a process you want to share with other writers yourself). Sometimes one expert will nail one piece of the writing puzzle that fits just perfectly for you, and another expert will arrive with another one. The process of trying and testing other people’s methods gives you the chance to explore what works for you and what doesn’t, and assemble your own approach bit by bit.  [more…]