I started teaching English in 1969, and I’m still at it. Although I’m officially retired, I facilitate a local writing group (and have a lot of fun doing it).

That means I’ve spent a huge part of my life thinking about writing, talking about writing, and critiquing what other people have written. Sometimes I wonder if I should have tried to make a detour somewhere.

Well, actually I did. I taught basic skills in a prison for three years. I was a vet’s assistant for a while. I taught in a police academy.

But most of my career has focused on one narrow groove – helping people with their writing. Not only did I have a wonderful time: I learned a lot. And I kept learning.

What I’ve discovered is that writing is bottomless. It’s a topic you just can’t use up. There’s always something new to learn…if you can find resources that know what they’re talking about. (Here’s a good one: Naked, Drunk, and Writing, by Lara Adair.)

Unfortunately I’ve found that much advice about writing isn’t very helpful. This morning I came across yet another article that promises more than it delivers: “8 Things We Can All Learn from Elizabeth Kolbert.” 

The article is exhilarating, well written, and fun to read. But (and this is a big but) I’m wondering how anyone could to turn the advice into something practical and useful.

For example, advice #1 is “Leave Home. Talk to Strangers.” Elizabeth Kolbert is a journalist who’s traveled to far-flung and fascinating places to write lively pieces about the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon. Applause, applause!

But what am I supposed to do with that advice? Travel – where? Talk to – whom? Write about – what? I can’t just pack up and head for Greenland, as Kolbert did. Is there a way to apply this rousing advice close to home? Instead of digging in to the “Leave Home” idea, the article rushes on to #2: “Show – and Also Tell.”

Applause again! But how do I do that? The article says that Kolbert put on a wet suit and explained ocean acidification by writing about scuba diving. Good for her! But what about people like me who don’t write about the ocean and have never gone scuba diving? (Does snorkeling count? I love snorkeling.)

But before I can figure out how to integrate “Show – and Also Tell” into my writing, we’ve raced on to #3 (“Be Adaptable”). And so it goes. 

The article is fun to read, and it might motivate a writer who’s feeling sluggish and bored. But let’s get real. Writing usually doesn’t feel like an exhilarating dash around the world. It’s a slow, careful process requiring a lot of thinking, experimenting, and craft.

Yes, writing can be exciting and, more often than you’d think, it’s great fun. When one of my writing tasks is heating up, I can’t wait to put my fingers on the keyboard and start tapping.

But how do you get ideas, and how do you organize them? And how do you make readers care about them? There are very few resources to tell you how to do those things, and the article about Elizabeth Kolbert – alas – isn’t one of them.

Here’s a piece of writing advice that doesn’t get much coverage in articles and books about writing: Don’t get ahead of your reader. It’s not as exciting as a trip through the Amazon, but it’s an important concept – as I realized this week while I was editing a book for a friend.

He’s an expert on his subject (keeping tropical fish). The people who will buy his book are not. Yet he kept using terms that a newbie would find puzzling. What are “community fish”? What does “substrate” mean? And he keeps urging readers to control the lighting, temperature, and water chemistry – but he doesn’t explain how to do these things.

After I started editing, I called him to talk about the book. Chagrined, he admitted that he hadn’t tried to picture his readers while he was writing. Keeping tropical fish is such a familiar topic to him that he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that other people don’t have the slightest idea of what’s involved. (Right now, while I’m typing this, he’s going back over what he’d written and filling in the details. At least I hope he is.)

Let’s not get sidetracked here. Yes, you need to keep your readers in mind when you’re writing. But the takeaway I’m hoping for today is bigger than that. Here it is: Don’t confuse a pep talk with genuine writing advice. They’re not the same thing!

If you sit down to write and find that you keep hitting your delete key, and you’re struggling to find the words you want, and your piece sometimes feels like a dog pulling on a leash – congratulations! Now you’re in the realm of real writing. No, it’s not always fun. But the reward – a finished piece that others find worth reading – is worth it.