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

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

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.

*kick-flips on skateboard and smiles into the camera* “Verb. It’s what you do.” *pose with arms crossed and cap turned sideways*

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?

"... 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.

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

"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

You literally have the best writing content in all of authortube

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".

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

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

I agree with the character having contradictions. One of my contradictions is that I'm an atheist, but I love studying religion.

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.

“Describe, don’t explain” is excellent

You can't fix a blank page! Also, read this in an article somewhere: Quantity over quality A pottery teacher split their class into two groups. A were assigned to make one perfect pot; B were to make as many pots as they could. In the end, guess who made the better pots? If us writers keep tinkering our one 'pot', we won't gain much experience for becoming better writers, is what I firmly believe :3 So go forth and write. Have fun with it

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.

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.

Your teacher was just like, "I'm not a fan of the term 'oxymoron,' so we're going to call it 'artistic incongruity.'"

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.

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 😊

"It is now, my guy," Shaelin said, and assuredly. I laughed. It was too real a relevance of sentence phrasing in my world.

This was a really useful list of tips. The one that resonated with me the most was the first one. I vividly remember discovering that myself in a scene. I had first written: 'She took the coin from her pouch and extended her hand with it and he reached out and took the coin from her.' Which read so ponderously. So I changed it to: 'She handed him the coin.' And doing that was like slamming a door open, and I realised I could do this with not merely sentences, but whole scenes, simply cutting away all the 'step-by-step' details.

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. :)

"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.

A piece of advice that stuck with me is...your character starts by trying to get what they want, and ends with getting what they need. Thanks for making this video. Your efforts are much appreciated! :)

As a retired Producer, one of the things I really like about screenplays is that the story can be told only through action and dialogue. Characters don't think - because we can't film that. They can only speak or do things. And all scripts are in the present tense; even flashbacks and flash forwards, because in the film, we are always in the "now".

Love this. I like the following advice: Every "scene" should contain have a goal, conflict and disaster. And every "sequel" to a scene should have a reaction, dilemma and decision. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks again.

Great advice. I couldn't read until I was 18 (bad parenting basically). I plucked up the courage to write my first book/short story, later in life which I self published on Amazon. It's a journey that has allowed me to shake the illusions and dig deeper into reality. Many of my characters were also instrumental in challenging my egotistic tendencies, profoundly.

This one video is better than my entire MFA program in creative writing (Just kidding, I'm tired of school)

Watched this again 11 months later, as I've now written my 1st book, and I'm editing and perfecting it. Always great advice from shaelin

I really liked the "slow it down" because I often feel the exact same way. I find that the most compelling stories are the ones that take time to let the world unfold before you at a crawl.

"It is now..." Living languages change, only dead languages and French are static. Thank you for standing up for new and vibrant word and ways to use English. 🤗

This is not exactly a writing advice and I can't remember who I've heard this phrase from, but it says something like: "This is your story. If you won't tell it, no one will". It may sound simple but it motivates me a lot.

This is a long rant in appreciation of your advice Shaelin. I started writing again in September of last year and this channel has been great for helping me tune up my writing. So, accept my long rant of thanks :)

Now I will follow up with this: I was most intrigued with the advice of, "If your story is boring, slow it down instead of speeding it up." I've never heard that before and it was extremely thought-provoking!

A KNOWING BABY. THAT ONE HIT ME.

I loved the "if a story is boring, slow it down" 🥺🥰🥰 great advices!

I remember when I'd watch videos about writing advice, and absolutely everything would hit me like a truck, constant realizations everywhere, but more and more lately, I've been finding that I've naturally discovered on my own a lot of the advice out there, and more often than not, videos about writer's advice have been serving as more of a reminder than a lesson. It's a surreal feeling to have come this far. That said, thank you for the reminders, sometimes it can take a few repetitions to know the advice in your heart as well as you know it in your mind.

“Find despair in hope and hope in despair...” gave me goosebumps.

'It is now my guy!' - LOL! I am dead... you have slain me 10/10

My best advice is to think about the negative aspects of submitting to contests or showing the work before I finish it. I've been derailed twice, once not writing for two years because of scathing judge comments. Before the story is birthed into at least a second draft protect it, nurture and feed it frequently. Next advice fits me, not everyone but stop taking writing or author classes as that eats up my writing time and is a way to procrastinate. Learn by writing and getting a developmental editor.

"Describe don't Explain" over "Show don't Tell" is itself a lesson in the very lesson that it itself is alluding to.

The yearning one. Got this in Script Writing. Our teacher talkes about wants and needs. What the character wants is usually a tangable. But then you have the need, which is the root yearning desire that drives that want. And some of the best stories are when the want and the need are in conflict. Like, the character wants love and acceptance, but they think they need power so they'll never be hurt again. #writingGoodVillains

Something that has helped me is reading ‘mentor texts.’ If there is an author whose style you like, read them. There is nothing wrong in emulating.

Enlightening as always, of course. One advice I think is important is to finish what you write. This one is by Neil Gaiman. I find that finishing a story, even just a first draft, feels so satisfying and teaches you so much.

Holy crap I could cry! The slow down advice for boring stories is exactly what I needed to hear! Tysm!

Me and the boys all love verbs!

Thanks. Used your advice to write this: Empower the reader through imaginative description. Nail it with a strong verb. Sidestep passive verbs and nominalization. Pace your story with specifics. Find despair in hope, and hope in despair. Expose character yearnings. Paint character contradictions. Wield few words. Fashion artistic incongruities. Compel with interest.

I enjoy most about this video, that you never used never. So many other writing tubers that I watch try to tell me what I can't or shouldn't do. This is one of the few videos where I felt validated in my choices so far. You are genuinely trying to help others improve, not to groom a generation of writers to your tastes. hats off to your authenticity.

The character contradictions tip saved me like I seriously obsess about being consistent with their behavior. Never thought about how unpredictable and contradictory I am as a human being myself lmoa. Thankyou!

My personal favorite is “No subject is terrible if the story is true, if the prose is clean and honest, and if it affirms courage and grace under pressure.”

Your videos always take the threat out of writing. I feel I can continue my story with a new sense of bravery after watching them. Thanks.

I really appreciate the re-phrasings of advice so often said--it helped me see things in different ways. Especially the "Describe, don't explain" and "skip scenes the reader can imagine." I feel like the "slow down" advice is really helpful in cases where a story is going too fast or just doesn't have much depth yet. It really lends itself to the advice about specificity and looking closer at a story.

“It is now my guy”. So glad I found your account. Wonderful content.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry there aren't examples for all the points here. I made this video more as a summary of advice I'd talked about in other videos, so I didn't want the video to get too long or tread ground I'd covered before, but to my surprise this video ended up getting a lot of views and reaching people beyond my usual audience. You can check out these videos for examples of many of the points covered in this video! -18 Hacks for Stronger Prose: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rJplpsmjsc6wnWg.html -Creating Complex Characters: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f8pxa6ebzreapac.html -Show, Don't Tell: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sLNhn8lyxKzWl5c.html -Word Choice: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oLGfgtujyLzSeIE.html -Specificity and Concrete Language: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rs1-ipZ2zNq4YXk.html -Description: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p5t4a9KB3rfFgIU.html -Creating Verbs: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7pyqsqIks-Vqok.html ALSO I am aware that -ing verbs are the *present* participle, not the *past* participle like I said in the video - I often just say the wrong word when filming and didn't catch it this time.

You're a gem, my writing improved so much for the past years I've been subscribed 🌈

A piece of advice I heard once that stuck with me is that you just have to throw everything you've got at the reader to make them keep reading. That's what most people set out to do as an author, and it feels easy to forget that.

The best advice I got as a beginner was to just write. Don't worry or fret. Just start. If you don't finish your story, it's o.k. If you muddle it up, it's o.k. It's the habit of sustained flow.

These are some solid tips. Kind of abstract advice that I don't know if I would have gotten otherwise.

i'm doing a phd in creative writing and your content still helps me so much - thank you!

One of my best pieces of writing advice is that *you deserve to tell a story that you, yourself are excited about.* You are the only person in the world who can tell this story, no one else can do it like you. So just allow yourself to enjoy the process of telling a story that's uniquely *you* .

‘A knowing baby’ … good one! Thanks for this. All the tips are helpful but it is the example of artistic incongruity that turned a light in for me!

I am new to writing but I am working on my first science fiction novel. These tips are really helpful and intimidating at the same time. I've been hacking away at it for a year ( periods of procrastination, lol) but I am determined. I glanced at some of my earlier chapters and realized I was doing a lot of telling and not showing. These are some things I will fix when I do my proof reads after I am done writing. For now I don’t want to lose my Ideas by trying to edit while writing. Thanks for the tips.

I've never seen such a great video on tips about how to improve in writing. I am struggling with my english studies and essays, but after seeing this video i'm so motivated and confident that i believe to score well in my tests too. Thank you Shaelin for making such a helpful and informative video for students like me.

2:25 - "We were just talking about verbs all the time." Sounds fun.

My favorite piece of writing advice I've gotten is expecting a first draft to be perfect, is like expecting flour and eggs to taste like a cake.

I think this is probably the most useful video I have ever stumbled across on KZfaq. I think everything you mentioned here was tremendously helpful but as someone terribly guilty of the purpliest prose, I'll be taking care to rigorously prune my sentences of unnecessary words going forward. I'm currently writing book number three, so I will be implementing this straight away!

I always listen to shaelin,her experience is well worth regarding Writing etc,I learn a lot and learning a lot from her pieces.

I have been watching writing videos for hours. Your video has been more helpful than anything else I've seen all night. Thank you.

All good advice. Whenever I'm at a loss of where to take the story next, I just focus on what the characters are thinking and feeling, and then I let THEM decide where to take the story next.

I have a question for the readers out there: Would you rather read a longer book series where all the main characters get a whole book to express their feelings about events throughout a certain timeline or would you rather read a shorter book series where one main character describes an important event by themselves Basically the difference is that one character will tell the experience from their point of view instead of having all of the characters tell the story in their unique and different views. I really don't want to use third person because I want my ideas to be in a series, but I am tied between the two. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask; I know this can be confusing :)

"The knowing baby" really hits hard.

Great suggestion to change "show, don't tell", to the much less mysterious, "describe, don't explain"! I also find advice number 1, "If a reader can imagine it happening without being told, you don't need to tell them" very helpful. I tend to over describe situations of less importance.

I remember a professor saying this when I was in a screenwriter course: "if you are stuck on a plot-hole, leave it & keep on to the next thing. It will fill itself, eventually." Its weird bc you wont get it until you are actually in that situation. I took longer trying to finish my first short bc I woyldnt allow myelf to keep going without taking care of the plot holes first but when I moved back and foward in between chapters the ideas came in faster than on my 1st short. The ideas just came flowing like a waterfall everything made sense.

Hey Shaelin. I very much enjoyed your tips you've given in this video. I'd like to give just 1 tip I use, that you might find interesting. This may be a less common tip, but I've found that KEEPING A JOURNAL has actually improved my writing quite a lot. And it's for these reasons: 1 - It helped me be more 'real' with who I am as a character in this life, and this is important for creating relatable characters. What do I mean by real? Well, I become aware of what I react to, how I respond to what things, how I used to do that...I see my own character development, and after 24 years a person tends to have had plenty of "aha" moments that developed one's personal character. Moments that you can use to put into a story. Great writers like J.R.R. Tolkien have done exactly that! 2 - Doing the writing has allowed me to sharpen the skill of writing. Since I do not edit what I wrote yesterday, I can go back to it and see what progress I might have made. This comparison actually makes me more aware of how I write my stories, and helps pin-point how I might improve the structure of my sentences. To give an example: Version A: "The archer had gathered his ranger-like equipment with a lot of haste; his bow which he had inherited from his father, the quiver that his mother used before, his arrows which a friend made for him the day before, his recently sharpened knives, and a cloak that has such patterns that it blends in well with almost any kind of surrounding." Version B: "The archer had gathered his ranger equipment speedily; his father's bow, his mother's quiver, the arrows a friend had made for him, his sharpened knives, and a patterned cloak that made him blend in with almost any environment." Version C: "The ranger had gathered his equipment speedily; his bow, the quiver filled with arrows, his knives, and his hooded cloak with a pattern that camouflaged him almost anywhere." As you can see, every version gives you the same message: "The ranger gathered his equipment". But I'm sure you can tell version A is just too much side-info, and B can be good but a rule of thumb is "don't think your readers are stupid". What is information that they can envision themselves? That's where version C is concise, carries the same message, yet allows the reader to picture it themselves more (which creates 'immersion'). I trust you found this tip interesting, and I hope it is helpful too!

‏i didn't really understand the "to be and -ing" verbs tip. Can you please give an example to that? Maybe in a line editing video?

I love your channel because your focus is on things you find useful and you don’t imply there’s an objective way to write, it’s actually really helpful.

I've watched a lot...a LOT of writing advice videos, read countless articles...but this is the first one that has actual advice and not just re-used points. It's fantastic, and I know many of these will influence my writing from here on out. Thank you for your time!

ShaelinWrites, you are the best. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I love that you are so passionate about the craft and that you are willing to help us all. Thanks Sis.

This is such good advice! Regarding characters, I found that basing them off the 16 different personality types (ex, I'm INFJ) and dropping them into situations helps with writers block; what would this character do in this situation based on their personality? It makes the writing experience more enjoyable in that it seems the characters are writing the story for you. If anyone wants feedback on their work, I just started providing beta reading on the side as a freelance activity. If anyone's interested I'll be happy to drop my link.

As journalism major (and son of a journalist) turned lawyer, compression and active voice drive my writing; these tips are familiar and good to hear again.

This was a super helpful video, especially after finishing my first draft ever. The one that really stuck out to me was "if your story is boring, slow it down." A critique I got was that a really emotional scene in my story went by too quickly and that they didn't feel the weight of the situation. When writing that part, I was unsure of how to express that moment and I also didn't want to slow down the pacing. But looking back, working on how to expand on it has really improved the writing/story.

Do you have a video on your favorite writing resources? I’ve never heard of the Glimmer Train Bullet Archive in my life

I ones that stood out for me are; describe don't explain, make your characters complex, make your writing interesting and don't feel the need to show everything.

Thanks for another awesome video, Shaelin! Especially loved you tip about slowing your narrative down and showing rich details. A well-written sensory description is so satisfying to read!

Thank you so much for this very helpful video. I’m so excited that I found your channel, you’re so brilliant and such a clear communicator. 🙌

Shaelin. Another home run. Excellente, mi amiga.

a lot of authortubers just seem to focus on polishing their image or degrading others, you actually share some really useful quality content, thank you

"The push and pull of hope and despair" really hit me! That's brilliant. However, the entire video is awesome. You're doing such a good job, giving the rest of us writers great advice, tips, and insights. Thank you!

Shaelin, I love fleshing out a character and bringing it to the world through its contradictions because that is what creates a beautiful story. The story should tell itself from the threads of the story that we have conjured. Experimenting with different forms and styles and staying true to the character voice has been a lovely way to write and this has been writing advice that I have heard and decided how I feel it should make its way into my writing. I love you

Should I be worried that I'm a lot better at finding despair in hope than I am at finding hope in despair? XD (I made a note of this one to remind myself to do the latter, though.)

I see Shaelin, I click.

I loved all your advice in this video. A lot of it spoke to me. The verbs, the unexpected descriptions especially "the knowing baby" and cutting out scenes the reader can already imagine.

Thanks. Very helpful. 'Describe, don't explain' makes better sense to me rather than 'show, don't tell,' which always made me wonder, 'how do you show something without telling?' The image of a photo would pop into my mind, whereas 'describe' gives a clear direction.

I've had intense training in cutting needless words. XD My story was... a bit too long. I've cut about 46k from it now. :3

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I like how she said some of these writing tips came from a "period of time" in her life as a writer. Its a good reminder that you can't become a the writer you want to be overnight. It takes time and practice to grasp even one concept! So get practicing and keep at it. My film teacher said you can't have one good idea without having a bunch of bad ideas first. I think the same applies to writing pieces

“Show, don’t tell” is still valid when writing for stage or screen.

This is the best video on writing that I've seen on KZfaq. Thank you so much for this excellent advice. It was well organized, insightful, and clearly spoken. You are an excellent teacher! I'll be referring back to your channel FREQUENTLY as I go through the process of writing my own book! -Maya