Sawyer Lovett
FOUR WRITING TIPS IT’S SAFE TO IGNORE
Write every day.
Who has the time in late stage capitalism? There are a myriad of reasons this might not be possible for everyone, especially for marginalized people, parents, and people with full-time jobs. It IS important to write often, in my opinion. There’s something to that rule about spending ten thousand hours to become an expert, but it’s not always feasible for them to be consistent.
Show, don’t tell.
This is the golden rule of writing, so I’m not saying to dismiss it entirely. I’m advising you to use it with caution. Too much showing can derail your writing and create length and distraction that tax your readers’ attention spans. Sometimes the stylistic choice to tell the reader (in exposition or dialogue) what’s going on feels really refreshing.
Write what you know.
Say this to a speculative fiction writer and watch them laugh. Seriously, one of the best parts of being a writer is taking a long walk through the land of What If.
Kill your darlings.
I don’t think this is terrible advice, but I’d encourage you to take a broader view of what the phrase means. You need not kill your favorite characters. You’re writing them so readers can also love them–and they will. I think this can mean not to be too precious with your work. You might have to cut or rewrite whole scenes, pieces of dialogue, or chapters to make way for writing that works better. It’s time-consuming, annoying, and sometimes agonizing to start a new draft of a book (or poem or screenplay, etc.) that you thought you were done with. But it will make you a better writer, and your writing will be more nuanced and engaging in the end.
Sawyer Lovett is a writer who lives in Tazewell County, VA, by way of Philadelphia. He is the author of Shampoo Unicorn, a new YA novel from Disney-Hyperion. He’s also a professor, dog dad, occasional bookseller, barista, and a balloon artist who makes zines. His novel Shampoo Unicorn was published in 2025.
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