My Top 12 Writing Tips! | Advice That Changed How I Write

RELATED VIDEOS:

MY SHORT FICTION:

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Skip scenes the reader can imagine
2:11 - Use strong verbs
3:33 - Avoid '-ing' and 'to be' verbs
4:40 - Describe, don't explain
5:31 - If your story is boring, slow it down
6:46 - Be specific
7:45 - The push and pull of hope and despair
8:23 - Character yearning
9:06 - Character contradictions
10:08 - Use the fewest words possible
11:17 - Artistic incongruity
12:15 - How can this be more interesting?

OUTRO MUSIC: "l u v t e a [acoustic]" by Autumn Keys

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[CheniseSinclaire]

My favourite is “write as if no one will ever read it.” That’s what makes great stories. Raw. Vulnerable. Real.

[AJDunnReads]

My favorite piece of writing advice is to write about the things you're afraid to talk about out loud.

[laurenturigliatto]

My favorite piece of writing advice came from a screenwriting teacher of mine and he said, to paraphrase, “Write the first draft for yourself. It’s where you tell yourself the story for the first time.” I would always get so hung up on making things perfect, that I wouldn’t even be able to get the words down at all. That bit of advice, to allow for that safe space, knowing no one else would ever see that first draft other than myself, helped so much. I know now that that has been said in many different ways by others, too, but that was the first time I heard it and it made such a difference.

[aaronmudd]

*kick-flips on skateboard and smiles into the camera*

“Verb. It’s what you do.” *pose with arms crossed and cap turned sideways*

[illogically]

1. If a reader can imagine it happening without being told, you don't need to tell them.
2. Use strong verbs.
3. Cut "ing" and "to be " verbs
4. Describe, don't explain. (Show, don't tell.)
5. If your story is boring, slow it down instead of speeding it up.
6. Be specific
7.Find the despair in the hope, and the hope in the despair.
8. What does your character yearns for?
9. A character's contradictions are what makes them interesting.
10. Use the fewest words possible.
11. Artistic incongruity.
12. How can this be more interesting?

[chimchimbean]

I’m obsessed with “describe don’t explain”. It just makes so much sense! Simple yet effective!

[AdamFishkin]

"... except that this isn't a verb." "It is now, my guy. Let this be the first day of the rest of your life."
Holy shit. My sides have officially split.

[rev]

You literally have the best writing content in all of authortube

[nazifa.d]

"Slow it down..." I really wish I got to have this discussion with someone lol... This phrasing really clicked just now. This happened to me in my first project and I tried reducing the pacing and looking at the story from a much wider lens. I began adding things like back stories, flashbacks, more intense scenes, and it actually seemed very much more interesting

[nabilamiah]

This video already makes me want to write, even during a severe writing slump! You're a gem, Shaelin!

[xyhmo]

I think the main difference between goal and yearning is that a goal is something the character is necessarily conscious of and has thought about and defined, while yearning needn't be. A character (or a real person) can have implicit and unconscious yearnings. So yearnings go deeper in a way, it's what you truly want, while goals can be mistaken or based on what your parents want or whatever. Perhaps they've made you set a goal to become a doctor, while you actually want to be a painter, or whatever.

[EmptyKingdoms]

My favourite writing advice is "write from your f****ng heart!". One that always follows it: "write no holds barred; edit later". The final one is Mallarmé's reply to Degas: "But poems are not made of ideas, they are made of words".

[annajones]

One of my favorite pieces of writing advice is to not overthink it. It's such a conflicting statement because you have to think and develop and edit, but for a first draft I was always told "Don't overthink. Just imagine and write." Thank you for coming to my ted-talk.

[NyssasOrbit]

"Slow it down instead of speeding it up" literally never thought of this tip, thank you so much for this whole video

[Maidaseu]

I agree with the character having contradictions.

One of my contradictions is that I'm an atheist, but I love studying religion.

[sumitguha]

Once my teacher told me - your writing missed the "smell" - actually I wrote about villagers who lived near the jungle - while my emotions and story were right but staying in a metropolitan I just painted a story missing the essence of their day to day life. It was quite an eye opener.

Just loved your advice - definitely it will help me in my writings 😊

[bree]

The best writing advice is something I tell myself now after I noticed that not enough authors do in fast-paced books: make your characters sit down and have a conversation. Even if the conversation doesn't make a lot of sense for the plot at the time, it can work wonders for your story with character development. I've read many books that were action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat, but I didn't end up caring what happened in the end to the characters because the author never gave us a chance to see who they were. The conversation could reveal a yearning or an interesting part of their personality. It's a fatal flaw that even the best books have, like The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. I think I would've cared more about the deaths of some characters in both those series if they had been better developed.

[LeoMafraArt]

About the slowing it down: I agree so much. I noticed you can get really fast paced with short descriptions of everything, but it’s very easy for it all to feel the same and become dull, even though it’s “shorter”. But, if you slow it down, you can really home true on a scene and almost completely skip the superficial stuff with a sentence or two, and this can give way more energy to the story when you have this narrative push and pull.

[thisisarecycledaccount]

I'm so glad you mentioned character contradictions! I've found myself writing my (evil) POV character contradicting herself regularly, and while I've always thought it added to her charm, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks it can be good for characters to have contradictions. :)

[johnygoodrock]

"Despair in hope, hope in despair." Brilliant. I'm a painter and sculptor, attempting to expand my creative world by tackling the art of writing. As in my paintings, where I simply start with some nondescript brushstroke and let the subject reveal itself, I find writing to be the same. I create a character and then sit back and enjoy the ride. To my surprise, these characters all have keys to rooms I had no idea I owned. The emotional roller coaster has me laughing and crying and sometimes walking away to digest it all. I'm entering the final chapter of my life which has taken me to many places. Now it is time to travel within. Your tips in this video are helpful and will surely add to the honesty of what has been held captive until now. Thank you Shaelin and keep enjoying life in a creative mind.