Advice on the Internet

There is so much advice on the internet. There's advice on how to eat, how to sleep, what that slight pain in your side means, when to see a doctor, and how to negotiate your medical bills.

There's also plenty of advice on writing. There are YouTube channels, podcasts, blogs, forums, and ebooks. There is so much content online trying to tell you how to do things that it can be difficult to know who to listen to. To help you sift through the mess, I've decided to offer four questions to ask yourself about any writing advice (that I ask myself):

1. Does this advice in any way serve the person giving it? There are plenty of people out there ready to make a quick buck off of the dreams of writers, so beware any kind of advice that seems to profit the adviser. For example, is one bit of advice that you should take a writing workshop--when they happen to offer a 2 week online writing workshop? Do they encourage doing daily writing exercises, and then offer you a handy ebook of daily writing exercises for only $2.99? Any time advice seems to directly profit the one giving it, tread carefully. It's not that this advice is inherently bad, but you should be extra critical. 
2. Does this person know what they're talking about? By this I don't mean to ask whether they have a PhD in creative writing; you don't need a degree to know how to write. Hell, you don't need to be published to know how to teach writing. Instead, listen to the actual words coming from your source. Do they know simple writing terminology, for example? Or do they stumble over basic concepts like characterization and adverbs? I once watched a writing video on YouTube of a woman who questioned whether flash fiction was really a thing (which it most certainly is). Anyone can give advice on the internet, that doesn't mean they know what they're talking about. 
3. Does the author explain their advice? There are plenty of people out there who will spout the basic rules of writing at you: "Show don't tell," "Cut the adverbs," "Read Stephen King's On Writing." However, this advice is unlikely to be helpful on its own (except for reading On Writing--that one's pretty good). A good teacher will not just tell you what to do, but why. Without the why, it's just more noise added to the din. Look for advice that is practicable, not just proverbial. 
4. Is this advice something I can use, or does it just make me feel good? Many bits of advice out there are actually affirmations in advice's clothing. They might make you feel good, but they aren't actually teaching you anything. There's nothing wrong with a blog post or vlog boosting your motivation, but is there somewhere else you can get that motivation? Is your sudden inspiration translating into words on the page? If the advice is only pumping you up about being a writer and not getting you actually writing, it might be time to move on. 

Anyway, that's all I've got right now. Hopefully you find this useful out there in the wide world of writing bullshit advice.