5 Rules for Good Writing | David Foster Wallace

In an interview between David Foster Wallace and Bryan A. Garner, David gives advice on writing well, self-improvement and how to become and authentic individual.
In this video, I focus on 5 insightful tips given by David Foster Wallace on how to be a good writer.

BOOKS:

[spicydaddy]

HUGE props for not making this video half an hour long. Right into the substance. Good writing.

[jackiwannapaint]

"You can write a book in a month but a decent sentence is the work of a lifetime"--Jack Spiegelman

[GodNGangsters]

My one tip is to write in the morning and edit later in the day. I write drafts first thing in the morning, sometimes.. Walk to desk. Type until I feel like quitting. I'm in a partial dream state, paying zero attention to anything but what is pouring out of my mind. (DId I just write "Out of My Mind?) By mid day I have bedome more logical, and that is a better time to edit what I have written.

[robincrowflies]

Back for another comment. Thank you for typing the words as you spoke them, for DFW. It helped me ingest them. Also, haha, I just saw your moniker, Turtleneck Philosophy. I had thyroid surgery when I was 47 years old, and the surgeon remarked more than once on the condition of my neck. Apparently it should have been shriveled but it wasn't. I attributed this to my collection of turtlenecks, which I have been wearing most of my adult life. Lol.

[lovetownsend]

0:41 love this style of art, a few lines yet you know exactly what distinguished figure it is

[WHOAM]

Almost every legendary writer agrees you should write everyday or mostly everyday to be a good writer. That's probably the most important advice when becoming a great writer. The more you practice the more you'll get closer to excellence.

[robincrowflies]

I have treasured my German-English/English-German Dictionary from college because it was a usage dictionary, and I've long treasured a Shorter Oxford English Dictionary for the etymology/usage, but I didn't know until now to think that I could get an English usage dictionary. Wow. Thanks.

A great usage dictionary that DFW himself contributed to is the "Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus." I've been using it since it was first published in 2004.

[juancarlosgallegos]

My favorite books about writing so far are Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg and Draft No. 4 by John McPhee. Quack this Way sounds worth checking out!

[cahyasatixoxo]

There’s really only one piece of advice anybody needs for any creative endeavor: get yourself as far away from the process as possible, creativity is an intuitive process, intuition and intellectualism are mutually exclusive. The more you think about it the worse it gets, just sit there, don’t think about anything, don’t listen to anybody, just let it flow out onto the medium and worry about the rest later, that goes for any kind of creative endeavor.

[mohitsrivastava]

A very insightful video 💯

How you explained everything makes things very clear.

[blurbing]

This is such a quality youtube video. Thank you so much!

[skyko]

FANTASTIC VIDEO! Thank you! One excellent video such as this, makes up for a whole day wading through the countless garbage that is spewed into my feed each day. 🙏

[GodNGangsters]

I've been a published writer for over 40 years, and this was really helpful. I'll be getting a usage dictionary today.

[yaeli_i_guess]

kind of funny to hear DFW say that good writing should take little effort from the reader, considering infinite jest. i'm saying this while IJ is my favorite book of all time, but it definitely took effort haha. i mean, 20 pages of a fictional filmography, detailed descriptions of medication and drugs and how they work in terms of neurotransmitters, usage of obscure references and difficult language, medical

[Mhdightman]

Great advice :) thank you. Getting a usage dic right now

[hpbccyl]

A great usage example: THAT versus WHICH.

[judahbusby]

Thank you, this was the wake up call i needed. You see i'm a comic\manga writer, but I've nothing published thus far, have this idea my head but the readers can't read my mind. So i gotta stop writing the way i'm writing take step back and try again. Cause I've read some books Hunger games, 1984, all of Tolkien's books ect. Plus an absurd amount of comic books an manga, so thanks and i will get a usage dictionary.

[iainmackenzieUK]

I found this useful as a song writer - thank you

[gfunkenator]

The ego is the interface between the mind and the physical world. Therefore, it cannot die.