Watchmen’s Alan Moore Tells Writers “The Single Most Important Thing” They Need to Master

Alan Moore is nothing short of a visionary creator, making any craft advice he’s willing to share invaluable for writers at all levels and stages of the creative journey, from the established, to the emerging. Despite the Watchmen author’s complicated relationship with his own work, and the comic book industry at large, his approach to the page will help any aspiring author in need of guidance and affirmation.

In a series of clips posted by @BBCMaestro, Moore shared “the single most important thing” a writer needs to get a handle on, as well as “three great tips for plotting out stories,” providing an insight into his own creative mindset, which has developed over the course of a prolific and critically lauded writing career.

Moore is often considered the foremost “literary” writers to have worked primarily in the comic book medium, though he has now shifted his focus to prose fiction, having most recently released the story collection Illuminations in 2022.

Alan Moore’s Writing Tips Are Exactly What Aspiring Authors Need To Hear

Despite having become a perennial gadfly for the American comic book industry, taking every chance he can get to call-out superhero stories, Alan Moore is charming in the BBC interview these clips are taken from. In the first, speaking deliberately, full of gravitas, he proclaims, “the single most important instrument a writer has is absolutely honest with their readers,” before his features immediately soften, and he says playfully, “No, I’m actually kidding, it’s misdirection,” with evident delight at having implemented his own advice in the process of giving it.

In the second clip, Moore shared his three vital tips for plotting stories:

1. Always make sure you finish your work

2. Don’t beat yourself up excessively for what you see as its failings

3. Never, ever be completely satisfied with anything that you write

These are basic commandments from an expert, which are both firm and compassionate instructions for writers seeking guidance, whether they’re trying to finish their fifth novel, or starting their first college essay. When it comes to writing, especially fiction, many people struggle with how to start – but many, many more struggle with finishing what they have started. Moore’s exhortation reminds writers that success can only come from not giving up, and that it is essential to finish a project once it is started.

A Writer Must Be Hard On Themselves – But Careful Not To Be Too Hard

Alan Moore’s second and third tips work together. He tells writers not to beat themselves up “excessively” for the perceived shortcomings of their work, but also to “never, ever be completely satisfied” with their writing. Moore is advising is that writers should be critical of themselves, even hard on their own work in ways they might not be with other writers – but that the writer also needs to know their limits, and when to afford themselves grace. A writer that is overly critical of their work will never finish anything, violating Moore’s first rule, and will never achieve success.

That said, writers who are too in love with their own work, or too eager to publish, are less likely to produce the greatest version of their work, because they are not pushing themselves to ascend to greater and greater levels. According to Moore, a writer can be satisfied with what they’ve written, but never “completely.” Alan Moore’s groundbreaking work is a testament to his own desire and determination to push the boundaries of his work, and his medium, and likewise, his advice attests to his desire to help all writers actualize and elevate themselves.

Source: @BBCMaestro