STOP Trying to be a Good Writer... Harsh Writing Advice!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2021
- Do you struggle to write good prose? Do you ever catch yourself writing a sentence, then staring at it until you hate it and delete it? If so, this video is for you. Beautiful prose can be awesome - but what is more important: making your writing SOUND good? Or making your reader feel something? That's the question we're challenging in today's video. Get ready for some brutally honest writing advice.
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Don't eeeeever forget folks... what you read are FINISHED books. Edited and read 50 plus times! Just write your story damn it! And yes! I'm talking to myself!
Seriously. I have been reading Lord of the Rings and I'm overwhelmed by how good his writing is! But Tolkien was a philologist and spent 10 years writing it, on top of being one of the best fantasy authors ever
EXACTLY!!!
Loved this 😂
You're right though. I don't think prose should be pretty so much as memorable.
😊😊😊😊😊😊@@mathlaaalbarwani6601
There's a quote about the movie Amadeus that I think it relevant here: "Salieri wanted to be a great composer, but Mozart wanted to make music"
Nailed it
"I don't want the readers to hear my voice. I want them to hear my characters' voice"
Thank you!!!
That helped me out. I recently compared two different books' opening pages to compare the protagonists' voices, rather than the authors' writing style. I was able to understand the contrast, even though both books used 1st person narration.
I didn't ask to be attacked personally...but I needed to be 😌
😂
Lmao yess
Lol
My creative writing teacher once told me that my writing was too flowery to the point that it was annoying. That comment made me hate my writing so much I ended up rethinking every sentence I came up with and just wrote down what I was saying in the most simplistic way. Harsh writing advice, but it was the best writing advice I've ever gotten lol
Maybe you should try poetry
SAME! Minus the annoying part. Lol.
There's nothing wrong with flowery prose per se, but it can feel like too much if it's... Well, too much.
Everyone starts out overdoing it.
I will. Are we still discussing other BOOKS?
I have the overwhelming pressure to make every sentence pretty and purposeful... this is the perfect video for me-
I know how you feel I’ve written four chapters out of fourteen but I’ve been two days editing the first chapter it just seems like I love it but I want it to be better I’m doing more editing than writing ☹️
@@gabbiecooke2608 yeah... it isn't easy! i hope you get through the drafts. four chapters is great progress though!
@@amitamridha6036 thank you so much 😊
That's a beautiful (and handy) thinking. Thank you for sharing it! :)
@@gabbiecooke2608 Hi Madison! A little tip: Try to entirely write the first draft of these fourteen chapters before editing. I can explain a few good reasons to do so:
1. Even if you're a plotter, there's always going to be some details you'll add while writing the first draft, and you can come back in the editing phase to properly foreshadow them! That'll make your story all tied up and readers will feel rewarded for paying attention and turning the pages.
2. You become a better writer as you write: When you finish the first draft as a whole, you'll be better than when you started, and can easily spot the things you want to change in the editing phase. If you write then edit, write then edit and so on, you'll get stuck on the same chapter forever, because each time you edit you'll have improved a little bit, and will want to change something else upon reading again.
If you want to study this more in depth, Jenna Morecci is also a writing youtuber, and she has a good video on editing.
Hope I could be of help! :)
Ps: Sorry for any grammar mistake. English is my second language
Me trying to make my writing perfect, pressured, frustrated: 🥺📝
Abbie: *posts*
Me: ❤👁👄👁📝
I know you posted this a year ago but if you still struggle with this my creative writing teacher tells me "don't get it right get it written" and this helps me alot and if you keep editing it will be harder to finish
Abbie - STOP trying to impress somebody who doesn't care!
Me - :0
best part of the video by far
same😭🤣
I LOVE pretty prose. I don't want to write it to impress people and I don't want to write it because I feel like I have to in order to be taken seriously-I simply enjoy crafting beautiful sentences. HOWEVER, when I am writing from the perspective of a character who does not care about eloquence or poetry, I intentionally "dumb it down" or make it simpler. Because portraying a character as they are is so much more important! They don't need big words to get their thoughts across, so there is absolutely no need to write their story like they've swallowed a dictionary. Pretty writing without emotion is just pretty. It doesn't move anyone, and that's what matters.
Love the video! Very important advice! 👍
My thoughts exactly! I do it because I love pretty sentences 🥰 but I don’t necessarily expect that when I sit down to read a book. I don’t think one is better than the other, I just love writing it, even if it drives me crazy sometimes 😆
Same, it feels so satisfying reading the sentences I craft in this way.
Same!
I always wanted to make the reader’s perception of the world and the reading experience itself as beautiful and wonderful as possible with pretty prose but that’s pretty difficult to do and when done wrong it can be pretty cringy.
I came here because I was feeling discouraged about my writing being too childish, and I'm leaving encouraged. You're amazing
I like beautiful writing; I find it to be more immersive. There's something about a well written sentence that almost tastes good. That being said, I've definitely enjoyed things that were written more simply as well.
People don't have a clue what I mean when I say I can taste a story, or I want to write words that make my taste buds flutter. I feel like I finally am seen just through your use of the word taste.
Sometimes the most simplistic sentence is beautiful and captivating.
I love the idea of raw, simple writing that makes me feel something; or makes me take a second thought about a scene or situation. Thank you, pretty lady!
My thoughts exactly
Comparing ourselves to other writers is going to be the downfall of us. It can be great to learn from those you admire but readers come FOR YOU, not for the other writers so you should show them who you are and your story in the most authentic way possible.
Love this Abbie! Thanks for always making videos we didn't know we needed!
I'm starting a Creative Writing degree in September & I soooo needed this video. If I get a 1st at the end of my degree, I won't just be thanking my lecturers, I'll also be thanking you as I've been binge-watching your videos since the start of the pandemic. Much love from the UK!!!
Hey I’m close go starting college and got very curious, what exactly is a degree? I don’t have the same school system you’ve got, but i rlly wanna go to the uk for my studies
@@Fof9892 You study for a set amount of years (usually three) and you get a degree that makes you more credible for work or whtever. Idk how it will be at your college but at mine there's no real learning in the uni u have to find a way to learn on ur own. Its just so that u can get the degree which usually helps students get into work easier. Depends what major you're going for, and good luck in college mate.
@@thebobman1834 gee thanks! Strangely more helpful than what google told me
I’ve just finished my first year in my creative writing degree. I’m absolutely lovin’ it. It is so nice to be with like-minded people. I have learnt so much within such a short time.
I really appreciate it when one, simple sentence can reach into my soul and plant itself there and draw out emotions I can't even explain. Now that is impressive.
Is it bad if my writing isn’t ‘pretty’? Like I don’t even try to make it that way, my vocabulary is limited and I know it but idc, I don’t want to be a writer, I just want to tell a story.
Me too bro, All I want to tell this world is my story, not how it is written
I guess my fear is that if someone doesn’t know what a word means, to the point where they need to look it up (or they do it even out of curiosity), it breaks their trance and detaches them from the story. That’s a genuine fear of mine, because frankly if that happens enough to a reader, then I bet they will lose interest in the book.
@@jackgaffney8468 I think if it came off pretentious, your fear in your last comment is valid.
But remember that reading is how many people, especially those who don't have other opportunities to do so, develop good vocabularies. So I think purposefully "dumbing down" your work because you believe that a) your readers won't understand the words or b) your readers don't want to learn new words or c) your readers will be annoyed overall by new words does a great disservice to your potential readers.
ETA: That said, if you naturally write simply, or prefer to, that's not a problem. But be careful about making assumptions about what your readers are or aren't willing to do/accept in terms of vocabulary, and making decisions based on those assumptions. It's definitely possible to have a range of vocabulary levels within a work and not come off as pretentious/forced.
@@Kailandra29 I fully agree with that. I love learning new words through books, even if I have to stop and Google what they mean. In fact, I have a list of new and unusual words that I would like to remember and use in the future.
These are currently the words I have: Guffaw
Mirth
Swindle
Ire
Bursar
Tablature
Luster
frivolous
Mallow
Expunged
Vice
Warren
Thoroughfare
Atrium
Frenetic
Dilapidated
Sedition
Effulgent
Pompous
Woah 😳 this advice hit me so hard. I've always loved creative writing, but everytime I've tried really getting into it (drafting a decent manuscript, creating a writing life, etc) I've found the excitement sputters out and leaves me only drained. Why? I've never been able to figure out how I could end up hating something I loved, but it's because my goal when I got serious was to craft something "beautiful." Ooof. Thank you! Sometimes a lil tough love is what it takes.
I feel like being hit by a huge thunder right now *weeping
Thanks Abbie for this video.. definitely a wake up call that I need..
Somewhat related, but that is why I love John Mayer’s FIRST album (Room for Squares). He did that so well with all those songs. He didn’t get flowery with anything. He just used every day, common language to paint pictures in your mind that you just felt. Like there’s a line in “83” where he’s talking about revisiting his childhood home and he says “You can paint that house a rainbow of colors, rip out the floorboards, replace the shutters but, that’s my plastic in the dirt.” I felt that.
I just got nostalgia so hard reading this comment. Great album.
You're like my writing coach, Abbie. And this video saved me from a lot of negativity today. I love it so much. I can't thank you enough. Because I needed it ☺
I’ve just sit down for my writing and check TH-cam for fast motivation and it showed me this new video posted two minutes ago! That’s awesome!❤️
What I love the most about your videos is that it feels like you know exactly what goes on in my mind
the way i dropped everything once the notification popped up 😅
Same lmao
I don't tend to like very flowery prose, but I feel like where I live, the "trend" is to write as plainly (as in no frills) as possible, and I think that can get boring as well as there isn't so much personality in that. But I do like when I can say a lot with a few words. My main concern when writing is being repetitive.
I'm a huge fan of both flowery and straightforward prose! I prefer a mix of both in every book, of course... Flowery, descriptive prose highlight dramatic moments, and straightforward prose work well for the mundane. But I also love the converse: an intentionally pain-staking over-description of the ordinary - and when something Incredible/Horrific/Beatific/Cataclysmic or otherwise awe-inspiring happens, and is described in just three simple words...
I'm editing my first novel (yay!) and this is exactly the video I needed! I caught myself being overly flowery with my words, and obscuring the actual content in an attempt to be a ~good writer~. The point about "who are you trying to impress" hit really hard, definitely something I'm going to be keeping in mind as I continue forward!! :)
YES! thanks you abbie. I was reading my favorite books because I literally forgot how to write. (Thanks prose) I found the simple writing was the one that got me hooked and made me read it over and over. I CAN WRITE AGAIN!!!!
My favorite quote about writing is, "Plot is a verb! If it is not moving your story is dead." Also, Dean Koontz says writing is, "Action, action, action." Flowery and long-wided prose slows things down.
i always write what i feel, i dont care about the writing and then i go back and i perfect it! you shoukd step into the story and you cant do that if you are distracted with the word you should use
I’ve been writing almost every day for the last year. The good news for anyone that writes, is that our beautifully designed supercomputer, automatically will make us a better writer, just from using it. I’m so much better than I was before, it’s wonderful. Thanks Abbie, for all your advice, I now have a novel that matters and is fun to read.
I've been binging all your videos, Abbie, and they are helping me SO MUCH. This one made me realize I was trying to make my stories sound good instead of get my readers to feel for the characters. Thank you so much!
Awesome video! So true! We gotta be real with ourselves. Write the story inside of you, and when it comes out, people will see the passion you have behind it, they will feel the depth of the story. But don't try to make your story perfect for everyone, because if you do, you'll feel like a failure.
I’d love to do a period piece sometime. A flowery literary fiction that baffled people, however, I myself have more fun writing easy-to-read fantasy and science fiction. Almost every book has its place 😊
I think I'm more of a raw writer, but sometimes get caught in the trap of thinking I"m not writing beautiful enough prose. I'm on my first draft of a novel and have to keep reminding myself to just write. I've written about 100K words and have done most of it pantsing. It has given me a clearer insight into my character's POV. Thanks for all the great advice, Abbie!
Writing help me for fighting my lonilesness. I write because it fulfills my emotional side which I needed from someone else 🙏🏾
I was a complete bobblehead through this entire vid. SO much good stuff, Abbie! I am with you on keeping it as simple as possible to evoke the most emotion. Great advise (side note: glad to see you didn’t give your jacket away, lol - love your style 💜 #LinenEverything)
So to summarize: It's generally best to make your characters sound like real people. Is this correct?
Yay! Your advice is so encouraging and helpful. Thank you Abbie, for your quality packed videos! I learned so much from your channel! I agree! Simple yet precise prose is amazing! Thanks to you, I made my writing more impactful than flowery!
As a writer who is super critical of themselves in not just writing but all aspects of life, this rlly helped me 😭 Thx abbie
i keep on procrastinating because i think my writing is sooo juvenile. i am addicted to beautiful prose because i wanna win an award (Pulitzer to be specific) hahaha
Love this! The pressure to create something others would appreciate has kept me back for almost a decade.
This totally makes sense! I enjoy dramatic writing (that's just my style, I suppose) but words are the lens that readers see the world through a character's mind, so it's more important to make sure it sounds like a character than be pretty.
Great video, Abbie! 😃
You were able to capture what I see so often in many young authors today. Thank you for mentioning this. They need to hear this.
I just wanted to tell you how much you've helped me improve my writing over a few months, Thank you so much Abbie
This is some of the best writing advice I've heard lately. I've been through the whole trying hard to be a fancy writer and in the end, what I'm writing stops making sense, and I wonder if anyone reading it won't understand what is going on. I end up re-writing it in a more practical way. I also agree with the notion that the POV character at that time should probably dictate how things are worded.
Thank you!
I'll probably rewatch this video dozens of times, it was so encouraging to hear
I completely agree! I mean, Harry Potter is the most popular series ever and it's not known for its wonderful prose but it's compelling story and characters.
That being said, good prose guided by a solid story is one of the things I love most about writing and reading. Works by Cicero, Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Odyssey, Shakespeare, and Lord of the Rings have left me gushing many times at the prose which so perfectly crafts the tone of the story. Of course, the stories here are also incredible and I wouldn't be interested in the prose alone!
One thing Brandon Sanderson said was that his first drafts are all about making a good story to make sure it works, then he makes it sound better later. I think this is a great way to do it. Story/characters first, prose later.
I love your positivity and the energy you bring ❤️❤️
It's an amazing video! Many writers need to hear this more. Keep it up, Abbie!
I just discovered your channel and I’m literally binge watching every video. You’re awesome!! I have an idea for my first novel and I had so many questions and you’ve been a life saver. Thank you so much 💕
The best example of a writer with not as ostentatious writing as others yet still being good is Brandon Sanderson's writing , his writing is loved for the plot , characters , world building imo he is the best writer of our time putting out bangers after bangers.
Loved the video! Totally agree with the clear window metaphor, personally I have struggled for years with the ideia that my writing should be “pretty” and have felt really bad when it sounded “simple”.
It was only after I read King’s “On writing” where he talks about writing a book in 3 months (and his books are huuuge) that it hit me: I bet that he is not obsessing over pretty prose when he is writing, he’s just doing it! And that honestly freed me in so many ways! ✨✨
I strongly agree, achieving that emotional oomf in a story is why I love writing them so much. The first short story I wrote has an ending that people said was really emotionally resonant. I think I'm already on good terms with myself when it comes to worrying about impressing others. It's still interesting to watch ur videos as it helps me remember what matters most, thank you for all these videos they helped me a lot.
I just discovered your channel. I did a youtube search for how to write flashbacks and your video came up. I have to say my writing is getting better thanks to channels like yours.
Abbie you are the best. Your videos keep correcting my perspective
This came out at the right timing, thank you!
just wanna say, i love u. u gave me so much confidence right now.
Hey Abbie! I've been re-reading my writing over and over again waiting to find that one thing wrong. This video was a life saver and very helpful! Thank you so much for making this, I needed to be personally attacked for my weird sounding prologue
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. My WIP is embellished and fictionalized account of my grandmothers childhood in the early 1900s in central Texas. I currently belong to a small critique group who meets online and I have been given lots of wonderful insight and direction from their experience. It’s only natural for all of us to compare what we write to other people that we admire but it really does get down to telling our story with emotion and feeling. I am struggling on a chapter about Thanksgiving and I woke up this morning wanting to take out the bits and pieces of that story that make a difference and exclude the rest. It doesn’t need to be about Thanksgiving. It needs to be about her world at that time that included a Thanksgiving meal. Thank you so much for your wonderful insight as always. You always seem to have the right thing to say when all of us need that information.
I’m not a native English speaker, but I loved writing and illustrating for my books as a teenager and didn’t care about how my English sounded when writing. But now I’ve become so self conscious about my writing because I’ve been reading books with such wonderful descriptions and wow words, and I love them a lot but I’m sad that I can’t write like that. It just sounds so boring and plain compared to the books I read, but hopefully I’ll get over that and my writers block
Spot on, Abbie! Your view of "writing style" is exactly what I've found--it changes based on the MC.
Oh... I've just begun to watch it but spending 40 minutes on a sentence already sounds way too familiar to me!!! Abbie, thank you sooo much for this video; it's pure gold!
This is amazing advice. I feel like my writting is so elementary compared to other authors. It's that imposter syndrom feeling. But, like most things you must keep practicing your craft and the rest will fall into place. I think this video gave me alot to think about. The old saying less is more. I think that is the case with a lot of heavy scenes in movies, where there is a big reveal and then the other participants say one word responses. That one word, usually contains so much meaning. I love your channel and am binge watching all your videos! :)
Thanks Abbie for stopping me before I start, lol
seriously though, thanks! Great videos! It is so true that the most beautiful part about writing (any kind) is making your readers care, and making them feel things.
This is exactly what i’m dealing with right now 🥺 i’ve been trying to write in a way that would appease others because of how critical I am about my writing style
Abbie, you are sunshine in a person. Love your writing advice, has helped me HEAPS and now am on my way to completing my big work in progress. Thanks a bunch!
Thank you! I was thinking about this since I started writing and you just clarified my same position. I actually hate to read poetic prose and prefer a clear story with simple writing that goes to the point, and that’s also my style of writing. Thank you for this video 💖 you’re the best!
OMG!! It came just when I needed it Abbie. I relate to this so much. I've been procrastinating because I have been lamenting over this very thought
Hi Abbie! Just wanted to say I've just recently found your channel and absolutely fell in love with the way you construct your characters with desire, fear, and misbelief. My characters have come alive, and I really loved your 3 act story structure method too, it works so well! Oh and thank you for the very delicious example with the cake lol :D
I always look forward to Wednesdays! This is SO GOOD. Thanks for this video Abbie
THANKS A LOT. I really needed to hear this!!!
Thank u so much Abbie we got the point we must focus on
I was really needing this, thank you
Oh this is such a relief ! Thank you so much...
Breath of fresh air - thanks, Abbie
Oh my gosh this is unbelievably relatable!!!!
Thank you for this. I really needed to watch this video right now.
I write as I think, most of the time, and alter based on character -- then clean for grammar. And I hope that will be enough someday.
I didn’t know prose was a thing until people talked about it in a GC. It was a struggle to find my writing style and hard to compare. So true, Abbie. A lot of my writing style change i noticed with different books of mine. It’s a little different.
I REALLY needed to hear this. Thank you for this brain slap, Abbie!
I’m always frustrated to make my novel perfect and this help me to just not write like other Authors
Oh my goodness, the thing she said about Writers voice being flexible to the characters??? MIND BLOWN THAT IS SO TRUE
In addition to make readers "feel", it is also important to provoke their "thinking", add a new perspective to their point of view
Raw, simple writing works for me. That’s my style too! Thanks Abbie for this amazing video❤
oh my gosh i just looked at your subscriber count and your channel has grown so much! I'm proud of you, Abbie!
I needed this video. I love your content and the way you teach and the way you think. You have a gift.
this is a great way to refocus on the story! i love the actionable tips/prompts you give. it’s so effective for my learning!
I also think it’s really helpful as somebody who is new to fiction writing. I know my essay sounds good, but I have deep self-doubt about my ability to write stories. Refocusing on conveying an important story in a way that will make it important to a reader and have them connect to my main characters and why it’s important to them, takes a lot of pressure off the process.
Honestly, I don’t write more than I used to. I take care of myself more than I used to 😊
Impressing? Career? Nah nah, I just want to share the stories I’ve had ever since I played with toys as a kid XD
During this video novel Flowers for Algernon instantly came to my mind. I remember how much trouble i had to get past first half of the book, but I never felt more emotionaly invested into fiction THAT much. And I cried like baby at the end. So yeah, I would say that Flowers for Algernon definitely proves your point and you are absolutely right.
It's still hard to ignore that reflex trying to make every damn sentence beautiful and perfect though. My daily strugle xD
Thank you. I've been trying to write like James Dashner, you just taught me how to wright, without trying to hard. Thank you!
thank you for this! i tend to overwrite and immerse myself with beautiful words and sentences that i forget about how my readers will feel. this realization hits so hard. i might edit them all once im finished with the second draft ( im halfway through )
Thank you so much Abbie! This is the perfect video for me! 😍😍😍
I needed to hear this, thank you Abbie!!!
My God did I need this, you dragged me the whole time but I NEEDED to hear this! Thank you!
Wait..... I didn't realize how much I needed this video 😭
baahahaa omg not even a minute into it and already feeling like I need to take some serious notes :D thanks Abbie !
Thanks, I needed to hear this.
needed to hear all this. thank you
This has helped me so much. Thank u! 😄👌