I've fallen down the hole of writer's advice on Medium a few times and usually climb out feeling irritated and confused. Like you, I've seen so many people tell me there's no secret, and then attempt to sell me their secret.

I've come to the conclusion that the most important thing I can do, is write something honest. That's about it. If it catches, cool, if not, that's fine. At least this way I feel good about what I write.