There is no subject you can write about that will automatically improve your writing. 

There is no subject you can write about that will automatically improve your writing. 

There is no subject you can write about that will automatically improve your writing. 

OK?

I see a lot of young writers who think they’re being deep by including sex and violence.  That’s what the adults write about, right?  What they don’t realize is that the adults write about those things because some plots require them.  I don’t think many professional authors go, “Oh, my story’s not appealing enough, better add some mature subject matter.”  Mature subject matter will do absolutely nothing to save an unappealing story.

A good idea comes from having great characters and an enticing plot backed up by some solid prose.  Nowhere in that sentence was the word vampires.  Nowhere in that sentence was the word motorcycles.  Other words not included were bondage, explosives, and conspiracies.  A good story can include any number of the words not included, but those words do not make a good story.

If you see that a lot of good stories have a certain element in them, it’s probably because stories with that element are the stories you enjoy reading.  Maybe you’ll enjoy writing them, too, but the element itself won’t make your story great.

The follower of the day is gentlemantown.