A Book That Changed My Writing

"Several Short Sentences About Writing" by Verlyn Klinkenborg. I struggled not to highlight every sentence in this book. I loved it so much. It surprised me in so many ways and taught me things about writing I had never heard before.

Here are my key takeaways, nerdy stuff only writers will find interesting.

LINKS

Prefer listening to this? Here's the podcast link -

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:05 The writer's job
05:39 Writing by implication
09:00 Transitions and logic
14:05 In your head
18:20 Write what
24:00 Conclusion

[JoelWisn]

Fabio, I watched two of your YouTube videos and immediately saw a connection between them. I first watched How to Read Like a Writer (Practical Example). In it, you broke down eight sentences from Seth Godin's book Linchpin. After watching, I immediately subscribed to your channel. You made it so clear! Then, I watched this video and immediately saw the connection: the importance of writing good sentences. The sections on "Writing by Implication" and "In your head" are very helpful to me as a writer. I immediately ordered the book. I look forward to viewing your other videos. New Fan, Joel

[Joerideabike]

Your way of speaking is very personal. You remind me of a friend I had many years ago. He could speak right into me. Same with you. Not just the words, but the unspoken. The unevenness, the hesitation for a word drew me help you, to understand what you were thinking. Excellent. I have stopped midway to make a suggestion: that you give examples sentences that work, don’t work.

[niyuktijain]

This style of video. This 'reaction' of a book you read, with the original mess in your head, this expression... Is perfection.. i loved listening to you... And loved taking notes. Keep going !!

[LoisDiCicco]

I have enjoyed this informative video. When I checked out this book on Amazon, I was amazed at the reviews. Many of them were 30-40 paragraphs long. That was so strange. I didn’t take the time to read them and just scrolled on by. Fortunately, there were sensible positive reviews that echoed this video as well.

[claireryan]

Thanks for sharing. I had composed an artist’s statement of 300 words and knocked it down to 180 after watching this. Bought the book!

[afsanaakther]

A Book That Changed My Writing: An inspiring read that transformed my approach to storytelling and enhanced my writing skills. A must-read for every aspiring writer! 📚✍ #WritingJourney #BookRecommendation"

[LetsRestIntheVine]

Thanks for this review, getting this book. 🙏🏻🥰

[reenuvarghese]

Thank you Fabio, I love to listen to your videos.

[mariiazatorska]

It's an amazing review and very helpful video. Thank you so much. I love your content!

[divinenonbinary]

Please write abt anything. I feel like as a writer with an audience who’s interested in writing this is an absolute cheat code to write about anything bc it’s still writing. Just like a painting teacher who don’t need be reduced to paint mixing but must show the application of his knowledge in practice. Ciao!🙃

[divinenonbinary]

I’ve actually always done revision as a write and the advice “write whatever” sounded helpful yet I’m not sure my ideas could be decoupled from form for they come to me as one

[mannalisms]

Writing by implication: If you desire to arrest attention and surprise, do not give me the facts in the order of cause and effect, but drop one or two links in the chain, and give me a cause and an effect two or three times removed.

The best writing is that which does not quite satisfy the reader. Try and leave a little thinking for him. . . . A little guessing does him no harm, so I would assist him with no connections. If you can see how the harness fits, he can. But make sure that you see it. Do not put hinges to your your work to make it cohere. Coherence, then, is something that happens in the reader’s mind.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, on writing