My Top 12 Writing Tips! | Advice That Changed How I Write
TLDRIn this video, Shaelin shares 12 impactful pieces of writing advice that transformed her approach to storytelling. She emphasizes the importance of focusing on essential moments, using strong and specific verbs, avoiding 'to-be' and '-ing' verbs, and embracing descriptions over explanations. Shaelin also discusses the value of slowing down a boring story to enrich it, being specific in descriptions, finding hope and despair in every scene, and exploring contradictions in characters. She concludes with the overarching question to make writing interesting, highlighting the personal nature of writing advice and its impact on her craft.
Takeaways
- 📚 The script emphasizes the importance of focusing on necessary details in writing, suggesting that not every event needs to be shown if the reader can imagine it without being told.
- 🔍 Shaelin shares her favorite writing advice, highlighting that these tips resonated with her personally and improved her writing, but they may not apply universally to all writers.
- 💪 The advice to use strong verbs was a game-changer for Shaelin, encouraging her to avoid common verbs and opt for more unique and powerful ones to enhance her prose.
- 🚫 She advises to cut down on 'ing' verbs and 'to-be' verbs to improve control of language and make the prose cleaner and more precise.
- 🎭 The concept of 'describe, don't explain' was a significant revelation for Shaelin, helping her understand the essence of 'show, don't tell' in a more approachable way.
- 📉 If a story is boring, Shaelin suggests slowing it down to increase richness and detail rather than speeding it up, which might remove important elements.
- 🔑 Specificity is key to good writing according to Shaelin; vague writing is often weak, whereas specific details naturally make the language more interesting.
- 🌟 Finding hope and despair in every scene is a method to create tension and keep the reader engaged, as advised by one of Shaelin's professors.
- 🤔 The difference between 'goal' and 'yearning' is highlighted, with 'yearning' offering a deeper, more emotional drive for characters, especially in literary fiction.
- 💡 Embracing contradictions in characters is crucial for creating interesting and realistic personalities, as contradictions reflect the complexity of real people.
- ✂️ Line editing for concision is a vital skill that helped Shaelin make her descriptions more impactful and storytelling more concise.
- 🎨 Artistic incongruity, or the unexpected pairing of words, can add interest and depth to writing, a concept introduced by one of Shaelin's professors.
- 🔍 Lastly, Shaelin stresses the importance of always asking 'how can I make this more interesting?' as a guiding principle throughout the writing process.
Q & A
What is the main topic of Shaelin's video?
-The main topic of Shaelin's video is discussing the top 12 pieces of writing advice that have significantly impacted and changed her approach to writing.
What is the first piece of writing advice Shaelin mentions?
-The first piece of advice is that if the reader can imagine something happening without needing to be told, then the writer doesn't need to show it in detail.
How did Shaelin's approach to writing change after the first piece of advice?
-Shaelin began to focus on including only what is necessary in her stories, cutting out redundant details that were previously included for the sake of realism.
What does Shaelin suggest about using strong verbs in writing?
-Shaelin suggests that using strong, unexpected, and sometimes even made-up verbs can make the prose more visceral, exciting, and surprising.
Why did Shaelin and her university cohort start focusing on verbs?
-Shaelin and her cohort started focusing on verbs as part of their discussions and interest in improving their writing by making it more dynamic and engaging.
What is the advice about avoiding 'ing' and 'to-be' verbs?
-The advice is to cut down on the use of 'ing' verbs and 'to-be' verbs to improve control of language and make the prose cleaner and smoother.
How did the advice 'describe don't explain' change Shaelin's understanding of 'show don't tell'?
-The phrasing 'describe don't explain' made Shaelin realize that 'show don't tell' is essentially about showing through description rather than explaining, which she found more approachable.
What is the advice Shaelin found in the Glimmer Train Bulletin Archive about dealing with a boring story?
-The advice was to slow down a boring story rather than speed it up, as it might be boring due to a lack of richness and detail for the reader to engage with.
Why is specificity important in writing according to Shaelin?
-Specificity is important because it leads to stronger writing. Choosing more interesting and specific details inherently makes the description and language more engaging.
What does Shaelin mean by finding 'hope and despair' in every scene?
-Shaelin means that balancing hope and despair in a scene creates tension, which is crucial for a compelling narrative. Even in moments of despair, there should be a hint of hope, and vice versa.
How does Shaelin view contradictions in characters?
-Shaelin views contradictions as what make characters most interesting and human. She believes that acknowledging and exploring these contradictions reveals the most compelling aspects of a character.
What is the line editing tip Shaelin emphasizes?
-Shaelin emphasizes cutting as many words as possible to make sentences more concise, which helps important words stand out and makes the description more impactful.
What is the concept of 'artistic incongruity' as mentioned by Shaelin?
-Artistic incongruity refers to the unexpected or slightly askew elements in writing that create interest. It's about pairing words in unconventional ways to spark curiosity and engagement.
What is the guiding question Shaelin asks herself throughout her writing process?
-Shaelin's guiding question is 'how can I make this more interesting?' She applies this question to every aspect of her writing to ensure that it remains engaging and compelling.
Outlines
📝 Writing Advice That Transforms
Shaelin introduces her video on writing advice that has significantly influenced her writing style. She emphasizes that while there's a plethora of advice available, not all resonate with every writer. Shaelin shares her top 12 writing tips, starting with the importance of not showing every detail if the reader can imagine it without being told, which helps to keep the story focused on essential moments. She reflects on her early writing habits and how this advice helped her to streamline her storytelling.
🔍 Refining Writing with Strong Verbs and Concise Language
The paragraph delves into Shaelin's journey with enhancing her writing through the use of strong, vivid verbs, a habit she and her peers developed during university. She also discusses the importance of avoiding '-ing' and 'to-be' verbs to improve language control and prose quality. Shaelin shares her experience with writing constraints, which paradoxically pushed her to use language more effectively and cleanly.
🎭 The Art of Tension and Rich Story Details
Shaelin discusses the concept of 'show, don't tell' rebranded as 'describe, don't explain,' which she found more approachable and clear. She also shares advice on dealing with a slow or boring story by slowing it down to add richness rather than speeding it up. The paragraph highlights the significance of specificity in writing, creating compelling descriptions through the choice of detailed and precise details, as opposed to vague and overly complex phrasing.
🌟 Injecting Interest and Artistic Incongruity into Writing
In the final paragraph, Shaelin emphasizes the importance of making every aspect of writing interesting, from details to characters and scenes. She talks about finding hope and despair in every scene to create tension and the significance of characters' yearnings over concrete goals. Shaelin also touches on the concept of artistic incongruity, introduced by a professor, as a source of interest in writing, and concludes with her philosophy of always asking how to make writing more compelling.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Writing Advice
💡Show, Don't Tell
💡Strong Verbs
💡Line Editing
💡Specificity
💡Hope and Despair
💡Yearning
💡Contradictory Characters
💡Artistic Incongruity
💡Interest
💡Flashback
Highlights
Writing advice that resonates with the author can significantly change their writing style.
If the reader can imagine something happening without being told, it doesn't need to be shown.
Focusing on important moments in the plot helps eliminate redundant details.
Using strong verbs can instantly improve the quality of writing.
Avoiding 'ing' and 'to be' verbs can enhance control over language.
The concept of 'describe don't explain' is more approachable than 'show don't tell'.
If a story is boring, slowing it down can increase richness and reader engagement.
Being specific in writing is key to creating strong descriptions.
Finding hope and despair in every scene adds tension and interest.
Characters should yearn for something, not just have concrete goals.
Characters' contradictions make them more interesting and human.
Cutting as many words as possible can make important words stand out more.
Artistic incongruity, or unexpected elements, can add interest to writing.
Asking 'how can I make this more interesting' is a guiding question in writing.
Writing advice is personal and should be curated to fit individual writing styles.
Not all writing advice will resonate with every writer, and that's okay.
Transcripts
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