"Parts of ____ is one of my most common Google searches" is one of the most relatable things I've ever heard.

It's impressive how a couple of well curated words can evoque a much more striking image and mood than whole sentences of description ever could.

"visceral" is very visceral both for the ear to interpret and for the mouth to negotiate

the fact that shaelin is doing this for free i-YOU ARE AN ANGEL MA'AM

Totally impressed you can say specificity three times in close proximity without stumbling. I can't even say it once!

"The Best Bad Things" - I see "DEAD CURLS" on a bride as curls that are not naturally in her hair, but which are "plastered" on her temples with some gel or goop that holds them stiffly in place.

Love the comparison you do for The Best Bad Things passage. I really like the way you hone in on the minute details rather than talking in broad generalizations about writing. Really helpful!

Shaelin I just want to thank you for being here and giving us all advice. I think I can say with confidence that you're the person on this app, who's helped me the most. Please never stop posting ❤️

•Dr.Kriss Meyers had contained her emotions for too long. -a doctor (or scientist sees her emotions as a specimen/experiment) •The policewoman had pushed off her emotions for too long. -police=more violent daily conversation/linguistic as well as showing a more brutal character •The actress had masked her emotions for too long •the miner had carted off her emotions for too long •the runner ran away from her emotions for too long. •the reporter had written off her emotions •the dancer stretched her emotions thin for too long •the queen cut her emotions for too long •the waitress shook off her emotions for too long •the madam had drunk off her emotions for too long •the lawyer had withheld the emotions for too long •the sorceress had cast off her emotions for too long •the knight had guarded her emotions for too long •the artist had covered her emotions for too long •the actress had signed off her emotions for too long (implies fame by comparing emotion to signing an autograph) Hope this helps for neurodivergent people to have a simple direct way to show “charachter voice” and setting

I find that sometimes a highly specific noun can come across as overly verbose or anachronistic. You want to add texture to the piece, but really specific nouns might be out of place. I've definitely been guilty of this. For example: "I adore his coat." Gets changed to: "I adore his balmacaan." 1) what the fu*k is a balmacaan? There isn't sufficient context for us to understand what the narrator is talking about. 2) Let's say they were supposed to be a child. What kind of child knows what a balmacaan is? We have to re-adjust our perception of the speaker. You basically already cover this in your section on "linguistic ecosystems," but I think it bears saying. It's not enough to switch out a vague noun for a specific one, it has to be specific to the story. (Btw, your videos are incredibly helpful, I've learned more from them than I have from some of my workshop classes lol.)

Those words that sound like themselves was a revelation. Thanks so much for all your videos, Shaelin!

This is my favourite writing topic I can now indulge 🙏🏽 Shaelin always coming through 🙏🏽

1) loving the vintage bowling chic 2) thank u for once again delivering the oddly specific advice my pea-brain needs

I would assume “ dead curls” as to be hair extensions, from cut hair, dead and curled.

IM SO STOKED ABOUT THIS SO SO SO SO SO SOS OSO SO SO SO SO STOKED DICTION/WORD CHOICE IS THE WHOLE REASON MY BRAIN CRASHES WRT WRITING

I think clouds snapping open sounds lovely and visceral. Even better if they're described as taut beforehand.

The more you discuss craft and technique, the more I anticipate the publication of "Pareidolia"! I want to see your linguistic ecosystems in concentrated form! (And yes I know the individual short stories are online but it's easier to focus when there are pages in my hands instead of scrolling a screen. Easier on my eyes too.)

Paul Valéry tells a story: once Edgar Degas asked Stephane Mallarmé: "I can't find ideas for my poems!", to which the poet replied: "Poems are not made of ideas, poems are made of words." That's the issue: writers forget they only have _one_ raw material: language. I know the experience, the phenomenological description so to speak, is that we have two dimensions of freedom (qua two axes in Cartesian spatializing): story and language. But to the reader, to ourselves when we get back to reading critically and editing, there's only language. Characters and stories and… It's all just sentences upon sentences, so they better be good. "What does the sun do?" Glow! "Shine. The sun shines." Oh… What you called a linguistic ecosystem is merely diction or the lexicon of a particular work. From the artistic creative perspective it makes sense to dub it something else when we add your consideration for sound, as that could be an implicit guiding measure. What you call linguistic atmosphere is merely mood. "trees _strangled_ in vines" you mean it is more _agentive,_ right? To strangle is an action, an act out of volition, an intentional usage of one's means. That's prosopopoeia, giving agentive traces to inanimate or otherwise non-volitional entities. In the end, prosopopoeia is the figure that sustains fiction, for we make _language itself_ speak, tell, show, feel, recollect, etc. It gives itself life! ("It gives itself" for prosopopoeia _and_ language are both… Linguistic.) "A macaw […] over the ocean." Why not: Screech from jungle. Beach palms. Coconuts melted to sand. Stars stung the black carpet above. White pale face reflected in waves. Keeping it unspecific yet interesting via slight surrealism with short phrasing. Brevity marvels! Another wonderful video, as usual. Lovely stuff. P.S.: why can't she be eating the original sin in her kitchen? Symbolism is amusing, to say the least. She _is_ just eating an apple, but she is musing on her ruined relationship now that she cheated and got this rush of adrenaline all over the place, so that _is_ the decisive moment. What about that? Making fantastic out of mundane is (im)pure art. P.P.S.: Moby Dick @MobyDickatSea an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward. I guess Melville just forgot some tips on his way home (hence masterpieces are not that masterful, rather measured by institutionalized continuity of appraisal).

More please. I keep wrangling wrongish wordisms.

I AUDIBLY SCREAMED WHEN I SAW THIS TITLE MMMMM SCRUMPTIOUS

Shaelin - Wow. This is terrific! I recorded it as MP3 and will listen in the car a few dozen times, for sure. The one, great advantage of a 16-hour weekly work commute.

Defamiliarization is such a useful concept. I think about it constantly when I'm editing.

Fantastic! This was incredibly helpful, thank you.

Awesome advice Shaelin! Thanks so much!!

Amazing content! Keep up the good work, Shaelin❤

Omggg! This was just an epic masterclass for free! Thank you Shaelin

Your prose is so pretty *-* can't wait to read your novels!

I’ve watched every video on this channel, and this one is 10/10!

your videos mean a lot to me, thank youuu!!

i can't believe i'm only just seeing this video. this is exactly what i was struggling with in my current fiction, about how to use interesting words without being melodramatic. this was such a helpful and informative video!

I needed at 30min video, this is perfect thanks Shaelin!

Sweet! Thanks for the advice!

I seriously needed this! So happy I clicked since I’m editing soon🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

I always enjoy your videos and find them very helpful ty

I love your videos!!! You've taught me so much😊

Thank you for this video

The before and after examples are super helpful.

Great video! It was super helpful to see the line editing changes on the screen.

Thank you so much! This channel taught me so much

Shaelin, you're absolutely terrific.

This is one of the most helpful videos on writing I've seen recently. Great topic, and really helpful tactical examples!

For those of us who cannot afford to learn from universities, these videos are invaluable. Thank you

this video is the coffee i need rn. it's 1:30 AM in phil. so refreshing ❤. thank u, shaeeee.

I love the use of sound and rhythm to reflect the meaning of a word. It reminds me of the technique of word painting in music

Linguistic Ecosystems! I love this kind of abstract analysis of word choice

Brilliant video. Subscribed and thank you!

thank you Shaelin the video content you are creating is helpful and awesome

Thank you for making this video! Was very helpful, I’m trying to make my writing style better and more specific and found many useful tips. ❤️

Nice work on the explanation and slides to let us see the difference after the adjustments in word usage.

Shaelin, I love the way you explained the power of word choice in this video. In my stories, I love experimenting with vivid words, but it is important to use words and prose as a tool and when appropriate. I am working on using language to create atmosphere and tone in my fiction. The examples you provided today were helpful. I love you

I love your videos! I've been trying to teach my fellow writers exactly this. I'm just going to refer them to you!

Thank you! Extremely helpful.😊

Out of all the writing advice videos i watch this was is extremely unique. I never thought about word choice like this before. Thanks.

Thank you, very helpful for me as non-native English speaker. I have lists of the lists of my thesaurus sessions 😆 Also reminded me about my embarrassing story: I've used synonym search last second before giving my essay out and the line ended up being like "he was gone as a fart on a wind". My teacher marked it as "are you kidding me?" oops 😅

This was one of your most interesting and informative videos for me.

I am so glad to find this channel, please make videos about the core technicality of writing. Especially for blog articles & copywriting.

I find it genuinely unbelievable how helpful your videos and advice are to me. I just came across your videos today and I'm learning so much already. Your advice and experiences resonate with me. I've struggled to really dive into writing the way I've wanted to due to many things, but it's also been because I just haven't had the right guidance. I couldn't be more thankful to have come across your videos.

Shaelin, I am blown away by this episode. This is one of the best for me. I can't thank you enough for all the awesome value you're sharing with the community ❣️❣️❣️👏👏👏 Keep up the priceless work.

hi i love all of your videos So Much but this one in particular is SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL thank u!!!!!

Thank you so much for this video. I think this is one aspect of my writing that hasn't improved at par with my progress in other elements, and I've been trying to get better at it. Being a non-native writer, it gets difficult to even think about common words and expected verbs. I've been trying to expand my vocabulary and include better word choices in my writing, so this video comes as a great help.

i liked dead curls, great work. you choose your word well with such thought

Great examples, Shaelin, of pairing words that work with the setting of one's writing, and of condensing multiple adjectives into a single, stronger word!

GREAT VIDEOS - packed with useful information! 😉👍

Unbelievably knowledgeable guide. Thorough work. My hat tip to you.

Fantastic video! Linguistic synesthesia is when words provide that added sensory experience

Very inspiring video. Thank you

It was so....... so ......awaited video 😍

Thank you for not gatekeeping this wonderful knowledge.

This is so helpful!

Very helpful! You should do a video about choosing titles. Your titles are so good

Awesome video. I agree that specification is key in good writing. Brandon Sanderson has awesome lectures on the pyramid of abstraction.

great video! Thank you.

Thank you so much for this video. I have struggled for a number of years feeling like a failure for not knowing more nouns to describe specific things. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my struggle ^_^

I am very happy (late to the game) to see someone talking about prioritizing sound. It is such a big part for me about interesting and effective prose. :D As a native Finnish speaker, I struggle so much to find properly hard/rough words in English. Those are damn difficult to come by when you are used to rolling Rs combined with plenty of Ks and Ps and so on. On the other hand, finding short word tends to be easier.

Im new here. Everything has been so helpful. Thank you! ❤️

Hi! I recently subscribed and I'm in love with your writing advice, it's pure gold. Since I started implementing it, my writing has become so much better! I was wondering what you think about prioritizing specificity vs voice. Like, if a character hasn't really had an education/is a kid/etc., should I sacrifice specificity because it wouldn't fit their voice? Thank you in advance!

This is relatable to me because i wasn't taught to properly introduce word choice even though I understand synonyms...

I’ve set a list of words I love on my Apple notes. I’ll comb through out your verbs list to grab others!

Bless up, Shaelin never misses

I love this video!

I want to write a character like you. For instance, one who stops narrator every now and then and goes into details of narration to confront or emphasize main points. Though I need a bit more qualification to make it work like this, otherwise it will be just random loveliness interludes

Cool video. Thanks.

Suggestion for defamiliarizing verbs - "mangrove trees *crept* up the bluff, ..."

I've been editing for Camp NaNo so this is exactly what I have been doing. Spent 8 hours on 1 chapter. It's been rough!

This is an awesome gem

The best writing tips and useful information explained beautifully thank you 😎✌️

Also the fit 😍😍✨✨

I am terrified of that apple.

i relate so much to the "parts of blank" bit in this video bc literally earlier today i found myself searching for the "anatomy of a desk" so...

Simenon said that le crepuscule de soir was a lovely phrase, but that he would not use it in a novel. He restricted himself to the vocabulary of the average French speaker, the vocabulary of the tabloid newspapers of his day. Raymond Carver disagreed with Richard Ford on 'earth' being a better choice than 'ground' , Carver liked ground. Orgiastic is such an unexpected word in the closing page of The Great Gatsby : Fitzgerald had the ear of Keats at his best.

When you talk about "sound of words", that's what I like to call Euphonia. As I'm writing my rap verses, I often spend a lot of time on words that "sound like they fit the instrumental"

Good one, thanks

so word-choice as a concept consists of these parts?: Mask & Face(what they show, what they hide), Texture(soft or course), Temperature(fiery to cold), Tension (inertia of speech), (re/at)traction in relation, Specialization(complex or simple words) Context (Theme, Mood, etc. [what is general environment like?]) {nouns and verbs are specific and verbs are also more sharp or soft depending on intent/emotion} Hope you have a great day & Safe Travels!

IM FIRST. YESSS. IBEAT THE PERSON WHO ALWAYS COMES FIRST. AGAIN. VICTORY!!

I'm not a native speaker but technically certified to speak english on the same level as one (which probably is true for most situations I encounter) but when you showed that first text that you edited to be "worse" it had way more impact on me after the editing because I didn't know half the words you replaced. This is probably irrelevant in most cases but I think when you start looking for synomyns and find yourself tending towards ones that are new to you, you might want to check if the word is also new to the majority of your audience because most people don't read with a dictionary open next to them and when you start using words that aren't known well enough, even if they are ten times more specific than what you wanted to use before looking it up, that makes your prose a lot more vague.

Keeping the verb’s list💯🙏🏾

Can you do a video about coming up with scenes? Even when I have the bigger plot mapped, I sometimes get stuck in deciding the next scene.

That sweater is hella fly

You are so well spoken, I'm using your videos to study English lol (it's my second language)

Shaelin, you are poetry, you are lyrical, beautiful words that flood my being and take me to wonderful worlds. I could continue writing beautiful love verses on this serene night watching the stars twinkle in the sky and plagiarizing Neruda...