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.
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.
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.
I've always wanted to be a writer, but prior to this year, I would always "wait for the ideas to come". This year I changed my strategy, at my wife's urging - I write for three hours a day, no matter whether it's good or not, no matter whether its for my novel or not. If an idea hasn't come, I just start writing ANYTHING, doesn't matter what, as long as it's narrative fiction. What I've noticed is that the more I write "anything", the more I think about writing and the more the "ideas come". Stuff has started coming to me in the shower, while walking, at lunch, just randomly while I'm laying in bed. It's the the point where I got an iPad Mini to have handy everywhere so I can jot the ideas down as they come, though most of them actually stick in my mind. "The only way to be a writer is to write, and then when you're done with that writing, write some more. You keep doing that and eventually you got a book, and then you have two, and then you have a career and you look back and wonder what the hell you were fussing about." - Walter Mosley
@@NeonPixels81 This made me feel ecstatic for you. What you described is how the most achieved men/women in history have worked. From Gandhi to Darwin to current artists like Nick Cave who goes in this study & writes for hours everyday like he's clocking in for his shift. I did a speech on this so just want to say that, putting in long continuous hrs does not typically help. Working deeply for a few hours everyday, taking a break for a walk, checking mail, socializing, etc is critical. Your brain begins working when youre least trying & ideas come when you're "away" doing chores of life. Just like what youre experiencing! 🦾🦾
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.
Did a bit more research and it appears that Garner takes a rather conservative/prescriptivist approach to his "Modern English Usage" without the snootiness that one may expect. So I bought it and love it so far. The only time I can say I've enjoyed reading a reference book. And you breeze through it rather quickly.
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.
Did I miss the link between the title of the video, "Good Writing is Ego Death", in the the video or comments? It doesn't seem to be addressed? I feel unsatisfied borderline fooled.
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!
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.
I got into writing recently. I can't tell if my writing is good or not. I'm an artist, a landscape painter, draw the figure well. I can tell if my drawing or painting is good. Writing is real work.
Number 2 has a lot to it. In my view, DFW was a philosopher first, a mathematician second and a writer third. This really comes through in his biography, “Every Love Story is a Ghost Story”. Number 2 of his tips is about setting up an argument in specific terms and why it’s vitally important. To do this, you have to know something of how to think. So if I were to suggest what is a prerequisite for good to great writing: Learn to think and argue. Have something to say that you can promote and defend. Think of what is most valuable in life and argue it. Don’t worry about the form, it will come from the content. Take a position, and supposition, proposition, exposition, opposition, imposition, preposition, and composition will follow. Here’s to an Infinite Jest!
I'm definitely worse than you, because I share my work with friends and sometimes even strangers who have shared their interest in my work get to read some of it. I can hardly fathom the genius you must possess.
Welcome to the universe I was briefly observing prior to the establishment of the current human egoic experience on the second version of the internet.
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 terminology.....
IMHO that's because IJ needs to at times be read in the same way that you observe an impressionistic painting. Himself's filmography, for example, only needs to be scanned for the hilarious titles and ridiculous media involved. The whole bit where James is moving the mattress with his Dad and the door knob breaks off and he discovers, what, annular fusion or some such also has passages that form more of an impressionistic whole when read from a distance. I think IJ only becomes a challenging read when you (synecdoche) try to read the whole thing through the same lens. The reader needs to know that they can push and pull through their first reading without applying too much of a compress on the requirements of a linear narrative and just sit back and go gaga over the playfully virtuosic writing and hilarious/poignant plot lines!
@@Lanearndt i don't know, i feel like often there are little easter eggs and when you skim parts stuff gets lost. You can be fine with that, but I like to get as much as I can from books. I read the whole thing while looking up meanings through the online wiki. And I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't thought hard about it I would have missed things, like for example Orin's relationship with Avril is a reference to an article by Freud (Freud describes that some boys with Oedipus complex will go on to move from woman to woman without committing in order to "save" them, usually women who are married, just like Orin). Another example is that some characters, like Gately, parallel Greek mythology. Also in the filmography there are references to certain neurons and it's best you understand what they are in order to enjoy the joke. I enjoyed the whole process, I didn't feel it was tedious at all, it was the best reading experience I ever had and i didn't want it to end. But it certainly can't be described as "using complex language only when necessary" and i feel like you lose things by looking at it at face value and not putting in effort. (not trying to attack you just explain my point, sorry)
As far as I can remember, J.O.I.'s filmography is also the first instance in the book where you can put together some broader sense of chronology for subsidized time: the date of the films are in order. Now there's some neat narrative function, right? Besides what each film relates to in biographical terms...
For those of you who use the usage dictionary, what are the advantages of using a dictionary like that? Do you have any other examples? I know the video touched on some of the advantages, but I'd like to hear more explanation and/or examples of why this type of dictionary is helpful.
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. 🙏
I know this is a year old, it got recommended to me only now for some reason lol. However, I wanted to speak on point three. It is extremely difficult to pay attention to this rule in fantasy writing, it seems that so many dislike explanations, whether that be over explaining or under. You want to help guide the reader, because obviously they don’t know about your fantasy world, yet it is so impossible it seems to ride that fine line of over explanation that so many readers are critical of.
Most people make the mistake of having their friends who know grammar the best edit their work. This can be helpful, but my audience tends to be hard working, middle-aged males. They don't give a stuff about proper usage, but want a good story to rock them to sleep. So, I've learned to have at least one person from the group I'm aiming at, read my drafts.
I noticed and commented on this as well. Later in the video, the speaker commented on changing use of imply and infer. Perhaps this was meant to imply that his word choice was correct (or perhaps to slyly admit that it was incorrect, as an easter egg for the attentive?)
Amazing video, idk if its just me but the background music was drowning out the narration a bit. Idk if a better mic or lowering the music would solve it but. Anyways, great content, I am looking forward to future videos from this channel
Highly recommended for writers of non-fiction: Robert Graves and Alan Hodge, The Use and Abuse of the English Language, 2nd Ed. (Paragon House, 1943). “A ‘must’ book for prose writers.”-Reviewed in The Atlantic February 1944, Vol. 173, #2, pages 123-124. Also, Stephen King's On Writing (2000). I used to read quotes from King's book to students in my math classes (I had them write one short essay every quarter) --e.g., "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."
See, he gave all these advices but didn't use a single one of them himself; and I'm absolutely sure he knew this. Since this is the most important thing that most people don't realize: to be a "good" writer, you need to write in a way that comes naturally to you. To do this, you have to put aside the fear of what other people might think. Because if DFW would've followed any advices to try and please a general audience with his own writing style, I'm certain no one would have ever heard of him. So, don't listen to his advices nor anybody else's for that matter, regarding your own writings.
Thank you, another terrific video. This is probably silly --- I recently finished "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa and... stumbled upon something unusual. When reading his journal entries, and after you've finished reading a given passage. Often (not always), you can reread the same passage backwards. Begin w/ the last sentence then the one before that and so on. Before you know it, you've read two distinct passages. Also, at the same time I was reading Pessoa, I finished reading "How to Read a Book" by M. Adler... I'm rambling a bit but anyhow---thanks again.
Had Wallace spent his time studying actual writers like Pessoa instead of some far right legal goof ball like garner, he may have managed to produce something worth reading.
I agree; I enjoy reading so much more when an author encourages me to let my mind wander. When I read Melville's "Moby Dick", his words: "Thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul, to keep open the independence of her sea..." moved me so (even though, I was so young at the time-- I hadn't a clue what he meant); but years later I came to synthesize what they meant for me. Meaning, that I could choose to become my own navigator... @@phasespace4700
Put some thought and effort into establishing your voice for any given project, and more importantly... maintain that voice. It helps both writer and reader.
Never sell your work to a company as a truly enigmatic spirit. That way there’s no chance for the incentive to create the kind numbers that posthumous sales can generate.
I think this is all strong and some of it is stuff (I am not educated in this way) I am aware of and I perform, though I had never really contextualized as a mechanic which now can be improved upon, now, since it is identified, but almost all of these things are second draft stuff: like I just write and then afterwards you hew and carve it down to being perfect, but the page is not a block of wood to be refined until you have filled it with a first draft, personally anyway. which is writing, like you don't have an editor but most of the bulk of good writing I think comes from editing your own work until you have a final draft. then you need to approach an editor.
It's a truthful depiction of how he died, so is it necessary? I guess only insofar as people are curious as to how he died. And I'd say many people are curious about that or want to know, so I considered an accurate illustration worth including in the video.
@@TurtleneckPhilosophy Yeah I get you didn't mean anything. And I should have included some emoji or something so my comment didnt seem so harsh. Just struck my as a bit odd as most videos that include cartoon illustrations dont really have such heavy subjects. For me, it was a bit sudden. Nice video otherwize keep doin what you're doin 👍
a cartoon noose was def unnecessary (not to mention tasteless) and i wouldn't watch another video of yours based on that and your response here. an accurate illustration? nah, you just made light of an adult's suicide and it made you come off as not serious despite the turtleneck and phony sophistication.
@@tb5032 Yeah. It is a little bit of an odd response. But I like to imagine the best intentions in others when I can. Feels like it keeps the bloodpressure in check somewhat. xD
seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai, for instance. i would wayyy rather take the advice of someone who contributed to this world as much as dfw than that of some sanctimonious prick who holds righteous judgement over someone whose intimate details and inner circumstance they don't even know, but that's just me.
So, I'm not even a wannabe author any more, I guess, but. 1. Usage dictionary became a necessity, because I am neither a native speaker, nor live in an English speaking country. Luckily, the power of Internet gets me covered. 5. Again, as a non-English writer, I find that standard English punctuation sucks. In other European languages commas basically work like brackets in math. Unfortunately, it seems to be a general rule that education systems fail at communicating that simple fact at school. Instead, it is replaced with either 'punctuation is pronunciation' or - in my case - a mixed bag of disconnected 'simple' rules that are supposed to be easier to grasp than one general they all derive from. They aren't. And as to flow, in Germany they say: "Einer muss leiden" - "One is to suffer". Either the author who makes effort to make their text readable, or the reader. Or both.
Thanks for the insight. I particularly like your german saying for effort inherent understanding a text or being understood as a writer. It seems as if one is inversely proportional to the other. Meaning that the amount of effort I put into being understood through my writing is approximately subtracted from readers effort in understanding me. At least this is what understand your last paragraph...but perhaps i'm not putting in enough effort 🙃
@@TurtleneckPhilosophy Yeah, that's exactly what the saying says. I was told this one when applying for a job and getting advice on writing an application letter - but it is applicable everywhere. This, however, is an ideal or, rather, Pareto-optimal situation. I'm afraid that, more often than not, both ends end up suffering.
commas do work like brackets in english too. They separate clauses. For example: Tomorrow night, if the weather is good, let's go to the beach. (Tomorrow night) (If the weather is good) (Let's go to the beach). You should then be able to rearrange those three parts however you want. Example! Let's go to the beach, tomorrow night, if the weather is good! If the weather is good tomorrow night, let's go to the beach. What I realised in doing this is that in English, you can remove the commas if you want when the meaning is clear enough to not need them. That's what most people do, also because they don't really know when to use them!
@@Heidi-ih9ej What I've realized studying Russian, my mother tongue, at school, is that people first neglect commas altogether, but then, after being bombarded with a whole swath of comma-related rules, start, to, put, them, all, most, every, where except for where they are required.
Depends on what u writing honestly...would argue stories are easier to write because you can use yourself to develop the characters...just break yourself down into behaviors or situations...then expand that particular behavior or situation then add new details to it..then tie it into what you are working on...hardest part is moving from perspectives like I and he to an observational viewpoint
Interesting. I’ve seen people caution against self-inserting but really how can you avoid it? It’s best to do as you say and “lean into it” but then tweak it to differentiate the character from Author. I just saw a video where someone admonished writers to pay attention to your characters’ conflict resolution styles. Amateurs will tend to make that instinctive reaction the same as theirs. The trouble is that if ALL your characters react to conflict the same way, (flight, fight, freeze or fawn) then they will feel too similar to each other for the reader. I think it’s a good point and guarding against that should lend a genuineness to the characters and the dynamics between them. He goes into depth about considering power dynamics relative to conflict styles too - as in you will intentionally change your conflict resolution style according to who you’re dealing with. For example, you’ll tend to argue differently with your boss than you will your teenage son or daughter. Awareness and use of these concepts gives Author an opportunity to make interesting choices about the dynamics between characters in scenes with conflict. The concepts provide an opportunity for depth of the characters’ interactions because a “flyer” vs a “fighter” gives you a conflict scene that looks very different than a “fighter” and a “fawner” for instance. Then you can also evolve the conflict resolution dynamic as the relationship changes between the characters! For example, people that intensely dislike each other will resolve conflict very differently than two people who love each other. In a Hate to Love Romance for instance, the dynamics of their disagreements and conflict should change as the relationship goes from hate to love. I think being mindful of these concepts will help me when I flesh out my characters and develop my scenes. I took your comment and ran off into the weeds with it a little; but what you said resonated with me and then connected with the other idea 😂 Thanks and take care! Take care!
"The Reader cannot read your mind." OMG! Thank yoooou, DFW :) Is there anything more annoying than a poet or songwriter who confuses everyone, all in the name of veiled art and mystery. Ambiguity is one thing, but vagueness is not cleverness 🙃
I became a fan of DFW after reading his book review called "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart." I'm not a fan of Garner. He didn't follow my recommendations for revising entries in his10th ed of Black's Law Dictionary. His version is too sparse and incomplete. A good law dictionary has always been a bit more encyclopedic than his, as Black's 5th ed is.
1. Read the Elements of Style and (mostly) follow its advice. 2. Don't repeat powerful vocabulary; it loses its power (see what I mean?) 3. Edit. Several times.
I crossed a bridge. I wish I hadn't. That was five years ago. I'm gonna try and make it back. I see the bridge in the distance. Those who have gotten close, we've never heard from them again. We're leaving tomorrow. Will you help us? (Stimulation for writers!) Stimulation, is the name for a crew of writers on this side of the bridge that tag and bomb on crumbling walls, secret messages for The Movement.
Am I the only one who thinks his definition of good writing isn't itself very good writing? I suppose it's just a transcript of what he said aloud, so it's not exactly writing, but I still find it a little ironic
most important in your statement is the 'to me.' why are you even here? you obviously have some kind of regard for what he was actually able to achieve and put into the world just by choosing to click. so you don't like some of his choices, and hedge that as a reason to dismiss all insight from him whatsoever? what an absolute boorish position. as if *any* of your literary heroes lived perfect fugging lives. DFW obviously made an important contribution and legacy from his writing, and on the subject of writing, would be one of the finest to dispense advice. if that isn't valuable to you, great, be on your way. there are myriad here and all over the globe however, who clamor for the gem of his advising, which ' *to me* ' is the correct attitude.
@@DanielBoonelight check yourself before you go at a stranger like that. being a sanctimonious little prick in the service of defending DFW shows, more than anything, that you didn't get very far in understanding the message he wanted to convey at the core of all of his writing.
@@phasespace4700 Do You sell words for a living? Because yeah, you want your opening to actually be readable, duh. If they think it sucks shit, they won't read the rest, obviously.
@@EricEngle-f1q Again, who is they? You imply readers have the same tastes and great books follow an identifiable blueprint, but of course that's utter nonsense.
As well made and insightful the video was, my jaw dropped a bit when you showed up cuz of how gorgeous you are I had to rewind 10 seconds to relisten and process what you said. Gahdamn
There’s only one dictionary I use: the Oxford English Dictionary. Insofar as the English language is concerned, it is the court of final appeal. On top of that, the Oxford Thesaurus of English. That is all one really needs, but I accept that US-based writers might require additional resources on account of the fact you barely speak the language over there. ;)
@@TurtleneckPhilosophyI’ll say this for you: those who can write well on your side of the Pond really do write very well. Some of the clearest and most powerful prose I’ve ever read has been by North American authors. Literacy is a more generalisable problem, I think. It’s just that I don’t think you’ll find the solutions to that particular problem in a Merriam-Webster’s or a Fowler’s.
Wallace lied in his journalism and stole for his fiction. Despite his ramblings on cynical irony and post-modernism, his works reflect the punnery and mere 'symbolic play' of authors like James Joyce (who was modernist, but I have a feeling if people actually look into the movement, they'd sling modernism as an insult just as they do with pomo now).
HUGE props for not making this video half an hour long. Right into the substance. Good writing.
There are INEXPENSIVE ways to correct your Attention Deficit Disorder
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar nice burn, but there is value in being concise-they have a point.
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollarwhat are they?
@@Sundownerrr they're watching us rn
@@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar diluted soup is bad, it's not a gourmet dish
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.
This is a solid routine. I do something of the same because I feel that I'm most creative in the morning.
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.
"You can write a book in a month but a decent sentence is the work of a lifetime"--Jack Spiegelman
So true, then again I want to meet the person who can manage to write a book in a month lol.
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.
And same for any other craft. Cant be a good plumber if youre looking at pipes once every so often.
I've always wanted to be a writer, but prior to this year, I would always "wait for the ideas to come". This year I changed my strategy, at my wife's urging - I write for three hours a day, no matter whether it's good or not, no matter whether its for my novel or not. If an idea hasn't come, I just start writing ANYTHING, doesn't matter what, as long as it's narrative fiction. What I've noticed is that the more I write "anything", the more I think about writing and the more the "ideas come". Stuff has started coming to me in the shower, while walking, at lunch, just randomly while I'm laying in bed. It's the the point where I got an iPad Mini to have handy everywhere so I can jot the ideas down as they come, though most of them actually stick in my mind.
"The only way to be a writer is to write, and then when you're done with that writing, write some more. You keep doing that and eventually you got a book, and then you have two, and then you have a career and you look back and wonder what the hell you were fussing about." - Walter Mosley
@@NeonPixels81 This made me feel ecstatic for you. What you described is how the most achieved men/women in history have worked. From Gandhi to Darwin to current artists like Nick Cave who goes in this study & writes for hours everyday like he's clocking in for his shift.
I did a speech on this so just want to say that, putting in long continuous hrs does not typically help. Working deeply for a few hours everyday, taking a break for a walk, checking mail, socializing, etc is critical.
Your brain begins working when youre least trying & ideas come when you're "away" doing chores of life. Just like what youre experiencing! 🦾🦾
lol this is so true! Stop worrying, start doing what you're worrying about doing wrong!@@NeonPixels81
Also important to read a lot. Readers are writers
0:41 love this style of art, a few lines yet you know exactly what distinguished figure it is
You are right! Peppermint Patty with a book on his/her head. 🙄
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.
This was excellent. Thank you! 😎👍
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.
Which Usage Dictionary is the most “conservative” (in DFW’s terms)?
Did a bit more research and it appears that Garner takes a rather conservative/prescriptivist approach to his "Modern English Usage" without the snootiness that one may expect. So I bought it and love it so far. The only time I can say I've enjoyed reading a reference book. And you breeze through it rather quickly.
Thank you. I was looking through the comments for a recommendation.
That Thesaurus is fantastic!
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.
Did I miss the link between the title of the video, "Good Writing is Ego Death", in the the video or comments? It doesn't seem to be addressed? I feel unsatisfied borderline fooled.
A great usage example: THAT versus WHICH.
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!
Thank you for listing these books!
I've been a published writer for over 40 years, and this was really helpful. I'll be getting a usage dictionary today.
I really love this book
Love that bit about punctuation
Love this thank you 🙏 ❤
A very insightful video 💯
How you explained everything makes things very clear.
This is such a quality youtube video. Thank you so much!
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.
Excelente video. Thanks
I found this useful as a song writer - thank you
I got into writing recently. I can't tell if my writing is good or not. I'm an artist, a landscape painter, draw the figure well. I can tell if my drawing or painting is good.
Writing is real work.
The noose was crazy tho damn
Number 2 has a lot to it.
In my view, DFW was a philosopher first, a mathematician second and a writer third. This really comes through in his biography, “Every Love Story is a Ghost Story”.
Number 2 of his tips is about setting up an argument in specific terms and why it’s vitally important. To do this, you have to know something of how to think.
So if I were to suggest what is a prerequisite for good to great writing: Learn to think and argue. Have something to say that you can promote and defend. Think of what is most valuable in life and argue it. Don’t worry about the form, it will come from the content.
Take a position, and supposition, proposition, exposition, opposition, imposition, preposition, and composition will follow.
Here’s to an Infinite Jest!
I am the greatest writer in my lifetime. No one will ever know...sigh...it hurts to be so perfect.
that sucks. I'm so sorry, brilliant man
@@JimTheCurator haha
I'm*
I'm definitely worse than you, because I share my work with friends and sometimes even strangers who have shared their interest in my work get to read some of it. I can hardly fathom the genius you must possess.
Welcome to the universe I was briefly observing prior to the establishment of the current human egoic experience on the second version of the internet.
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 terminology.....
It definitely required two bookmarks (to follow every tangent of his peripatetic mind 💨🫡) look at him go!
I was thinking the same. IJ was so difficult for me that I never finished it, despite having expected to like it. It felt psychotic.
IMHO that's because IJ needs to at times be read in the same way that you observe an impressionistic painting. Himself's filmography, for example, only needs to be scanned for the hilarious titles and ridiculous media involved.
The whole bit where James is moving the mattress with his Dad and the door knob breaks off and he discovers, what, annular fusion or some such also has passages that form more of an impressionistic whole when read from a distance.
I think IJ only becomes a challenging read when you (synecdoche) try to read the whole thing through the same lens. The reader needs to know that they can push and pull through their first reading without applying too much of a compress on the requirements of a linear narrative and just sit back and go gaga over the playfully virtuosic writing and hilarious/poignant plot lines!
@@Lanearndt i don't know, i feel like often there are little easter eggs and when you skim parts stuff gets lost. You can be fine with that, but I like to get as much as I can from books. I read the whole thing while looking up meanings through the online wiki. And I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't thought hard about it I would have missed things, like for example Orin's relationship with Avril is a reference to an article by Freud (Freud describes that some boys with Oedipus complex will go on to move from woman to woman without committing in order to "save" them, usually women who are married, just like Orin). Another example is that some characters, like Gately, parallel Greek mythology. Also in the filmography there are references to certain neurons and it's best you understand what they are in order to enjoy the joke. I enjoyed the whole process, I didn't feel it was tedious at all, it was the best reading experience I ever had and i didn't want it to end. But it certainly can't be described as "using complex language only when necessary" and i feel like you lose things by looking at it at face value and not putting in effort. (not trying to attack you just explain my point, sorry)
As far as I can remember, J.O.I.'s filmography is also the first instance in the book where you can put together some broader sense of chronology for subsidized time: the date of the films are in order. Now there's some neat narrative function, right? Besides what each film relates to in biographical terms...
For those of you who use the usage dictionary, what are the advantages of using a dictionary like that? Do you have any other examples? I know the video touched on some of the advantages, but I'd like to hear more explanation and/or examples of why this type of dictionary is helpful.
I love the aesthetic of this video! The typewriter font on paper is great to follow along
Glad you like it :)
Aesthetic, now that’s a good one for the usage dictionary!
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. 🙏
Great advice :) thank you. Getting a usage dic right now
I know this is a year old, it got recommended to me only now for some reason lol. However, I wanted to speak on point three. It is extremely difficult to pay attention to this rule in fantasy writing, it seems that so many dislike explanations, whether that be over explaining or under. You want to help guide the reader, because obviously they don’t know about your fantasy world, yet it is so impossible it seems to ride that fine line of over explanation that so many readers are critical of.
The ego is the interface between the mind and the physical world. Therefore, it cannot die.
Yes, it is a necessary part of your physical being. To be alive, we need the ego to interface with physical reality. Like a psychic skin.
Most people make the mistake of having their friends who know grammar the best edit their work. This can be helpful, but my audience tends to be hard working, middle-aged males. They don't give a stuff about proper usage, but want a good story to rock them to sleep. So, I've learned to have at least one person from the group I'm aiming at, read my drafts.
Very well made. Subbed.
0:42 "as the name infers" should be "implies". Wouldn't nitpick, but this video is on language and writing after all.
I noticed and commented on this as well. Later in the video, the speaker commented on changing use of imply and infer. Perhaps this was meant to imply that his word choice was correct (or perhaps to slyly admit that it was incorrect, as an easter egg for the attentive?)
Wow didn't expect Carson Daly to be such a big DFW fan....
Amazing video, idk if its just me but the background music was drowning out the narration a bit. Idk if a better mic or lowering the music would solve it but. Anyways, great content, I am looking forward to future videos from this channel
Thank you for the feedback 🙏
I luvvvvvv this and I got a lot out of it
Highly recommended for writers of non-fiction: Robert Graves and Alan Hodge, The Use and Abuse of the English Language, 2nd Ed. (Paragon House, 1943). “A ‘must’ book for prose writers.”-Reviewed in The Atlantic February 1944, Vol. 173, #2, pages 123-124. Also, Stephen King's On Writing (2000). I used to read quotes from King's book to students in my math classes (I had them write one short essay every quarter) --e.g., "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."
"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." 😂
The animation at 0:34 is in pretty bad taste
See, he gave all these advices but didn't use a single one of them himself; and I'm absolutely sure he knew this. Since this is the most important thing that most people don't realize: to be a "good" writer, you need to write in a way that comes naturally to you. To do this, you have to put aside the fear of what other people might think. Because if DFW would've followed any advices to try and please a general audience with his own writing style, I'm certain no one would have ever heard of him. So, don't listen to his advices nor anybody else's for that matter, regarding your own writings.
Agree. His 1-3 page long sentences are anything, but clear and effective communication. XD
what, he didn't use a dictionary?
Thank you, another terrific video. This is probably silly --- I recently finished "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa and... stumbled upon something unusual. When reading his journal entries, and after you've finished reading a given passage. Often (not always), you can reread the same passage backwards. Begin w/ the last sentence then the one before that and so on. Before you know it, you've read two distinct passages.
Also, at the same time I was reading Pessoa, I finished reading "How to Read a Book" by M. Adler... I'm rambling a bit but anyhow---thanks again.
if you liked Pessoa another interesting read is "Morsels for the Depressed, Depraved, Pessimistic and otherwise declining"
@@adrenochromedreams5993 I sense a liking for Hunter S. Thompson's drug stories from your username :)
Had Wallace spent his time studying actual writers like Pessoa instead of some far right legal goof ball like garner, he may have managed to produce something worth reading.
I agree; I enjoy reading so much more when an author encourages me to let my mind wander. When I read Melville's "Moby Dick", his words: "Thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul, to keep open the independence of her sea..." moved me so (even though, I was so young at the time-- I hadn't a clue what he meant); but years later I came to synthesize what they meant for me. Meaning, that I could choose to become my own navigator... @@phasespace4700
Does anyone here know, is the Merriam Webster vocabulary builder the same as a usage dictionary?
Very nice.
Thank-you.
You look like the main character in my novel 😮
Put some thought and effort into establishing your voice for any given project, and more importantly... maintain that voice. It helps both writer and reader.
My writing tips? Perspective and concision.
0:43 Did you just say 'as the name infers'? Also, the noose animation is not okay.
Love this!
Does anyone know the music at 4:00?
Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, “The Swan”
@@matthewbbenton Thank you!
Which "Usage dictionary" should I get?
If i hear the phrase Writing Journey one more time I'm gonna lose it...
Every video on writing!!!
I find the music during the video very distracting.
Never sell your work to a company as a truly enigmatic spirit. That way there’s no chance for the incentive to create the kind numbers that posthumous sales can generate.
I think this is all strong and some of it is stuff (I am not educated in this way) I am aware of and I perform, though I had never really contextualized as a mechanic which now can be improved upon, now, since it is identified, but almost all of these things are second draft stuff: like I just write and then afterwards you hew and carve it down to being perfect, but the page is not a block of wood to be refined until you have filled it with a first draft, personally anyway. which is writing, like you don't have an editor but most of the bulk of good writing I think comes from editing your own work until you have a final draft. then you need to approach an editor.
Was the cartoon noose really fecking necessary? Really strange thing to include.
It's a truthful depiction of how he died, so is it necessary? I guess only insofar as people are curious as to how he died. And I'd say many people are curious about that or want to know, so I considered an accurate illustration worth including in the video.
@@TurtleneckPhilosophy Yeah I get you didn't mean anything. And I should have included some emoji or something so my comment didnt seem so harsh. Just struck my as a bit odd as most videos that include cartoon illustrations dont really have such heavy subjects. For me, it was a bit sudden.
Nice video otherwize keep doin what you're doin 👍
a cartoon noose was def unnecessary (not to mention tasteless) and i wouldn't watch another video of yours based on that and your response here. an accurate illustration? nah, you just made light of an adult's suicide and it made you come off as not serious despite the turtleneck and phony sophistication.
@@tb5032 Yeah. It is a little bit of an odd response. But I like to imagine the best intentions in others when I can. Feels like it keeps the bloodpressure in check somewhat. xD
But yeah if i think about it a cartoon noose is quite tasteless tbh. And the response is quite tonedeaf.
harold ross who founded the New Yorker was 10 years into the job when he said to EB White: Most writers dont know how to write.
Advice on self improvement from a suicyde committer?
seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai, for instance. i would wayyy rather take the advice of someone who contributed to this world as much as dfw than that of some sanctimonious prick who holds righteous judgement over someone whose intimate details and inner circumstance they don't even know, but that's just me.
great video. very informative and concise.
So, I'm not even a wannabe author any more, I guess, but.
1. Usage dictionary became a necessity, because I am neither a native speaker, nor live in an English speaking country. Luckily, the power of Internet gets me covered.
5. Again, as a non-English writer, I find that standard English punctuation sucks. In other European languages commas basically work like brackets in math. Unfortunately, it seems to be a general rule that education systems fail at communicating that simple fact at school. Instead, it is replaced with either 'punctuation is pronunciation' or - in my case - a mixed bag of disconnected 'simple' rules that are supposed to be easier to grasp than one general they all derive from. They aren't.
And as to flow, in Germany they say: "Einer muss leiden" - "One is to suffer". Either the author who makes effort to make their text readable, or the reader. Or both.
Thanks for the insight. I particularly like your german saying for effort inherent understanding a text or being understood as a writer. It seems as if one is inversely proportional to the other. Meaning that the amount of effort I put into being understood through my writing is approximately subtracted from readers effort in understanding me. At least this is what understand your last paragraph...but perhaps i'm not putting in enough effort 🙃
@@TurtleneckPhilosophy Yeah, that's exactly what the saying says. I was told this one when applying for a job and getting advice on writing an application letter - but it is applicable everywhere.
This, however, is an ideal or, rather, Pareto-optimal situation. I'm afraid that, more often than not, both ends end up suffering.
commas do work like brackets in english too. They separate clauses. For example: Tomorrow night, if the weather is good, let's go to the beach. (Tomorrow night) (If the weather is good) (Let's go to the beach). You should then be able to rearrange those three parts however you want. Example! Let's go to the beach, tomorrow night, if the weather is good! If the weather is good tomorrow night, let's go to the beach. What I realised in doing this is that in English, you can remove the commas if you want when the meaning is clear enough to not need them. That's what most people do, also because they don't really know when to use them!
@@Heidi-ih9ej What I've realized studying Russian, my mother tongue, at school, is that people first neglect commas altogether, but then, after being bombarded with a whole swath of comma-related rules, start, to, put, them, all, most, every, where except for where they are required.
R.I.P. Ego
How is it you can miss a man you've never met as deeply as I do for Wallace.
Depends on what u writing honestly...would argue stories are easier to write because you can use yourself to develop the characters...just break yourself down into behaviors or situations...then expand that particular behavior or situation then add new details to it..then tie it into what you are working on...hardest part is moving from perspectives like I and he to an observational viewpoint
Interesting. I’ve seen people caution against self-inserting but really how can you avoid it?
It’s best to do as you say and “lean into it” but then tweak it to differentiate the character from Author.
I just saw a video where someone admonished writers to pay attention to your characters’ conflict resolution styles. Amateurs will tend to make that instinctive reaction the same as theirs.
The trouble is that if ALL your characters react to conflict the same way, (flight, fight, freeze or fawn) then they will feel too similar to each other for the reader. I think it’s a good point and guarding against that should lend a genuineness to the characters and the dynamics between them.
He goes into depth about considering power dynamics relative to conflict styles too - as in you will intentionally change your conflict resolution style according to who you’re dealing with. For example, you’ll tend to argue differently with your boss than you will your teenage son or daughter.
Awareness and use of these concepts gives Author an opportunity to make interesting choices about the dynamics between characters in scenes with conflict.
The concepts provide an opportunity for depth of the characters’ interactions because a “flyer” vs a “fighter” gives you a conflict scene that looks very different than a “fighter” and a “fawner” for instance.
Then you can also evolve the conflict resolution dynamic as the relationship changes between the characters!
For example, people that intensely dislike each other will resolve conflict very differently than two people who love each other. In a Hate to Love Romance for instance, the dynamics of their disagreements and conflict should change as the relationship goes from hate to love.
I think being mindful of these concepts will help me when I flesh out my characters and develop my scenes.
I took your comment and ran off into the weeds with it a little; but what you said resonated with me and then connected with the other idea 😂
Thanks and take care!
Take care!
do you have any tips from a good writer?
*implies
"The Reader cannot read your mind." OMG! Thank yoooou, DFW :)
Is there anything more annoying than a poet or songwriter who
confuses everyone, all in the name of veiled art and mystery.
Ambiguity is one thing, but vagueness is not cleverness 🙃
I became a fan of DFW after reading his book review called "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart."
I'm not a fan of Garner. He didn't follow my recommendations for revising entries in his10th ed of Black's Law Dictionary. His version is too sparse and incomplete. A good law dictionary has always been a bit more encyclopedic than his, as Black's 5th ed is.
My fave books are my own 😂 .
music background can be improved. this music (carmen) has a lot of movement, which is detrimental to the understanding of your content
1. Read the Elements of Style and (mostly) follow its advice.
2. Don't repeat powerful vocabulary; it loses its power (see what I mean?)
3. Edit. Several times.
I thought this video would talk more about ego death...
Those three books are online now, for free.
"As the name infers'?'
You mean 'implies', right?
3:59 This one is actually wrong. the average American reads at a high school level. So it's important to use simple language. And short sentences.
I crossed a bridge. I wish I hadn't. That was five years ago. I'm gonna try and make it back. I see the bridge in the distance. Those who have gotten close, we've never heard from them again. We're leaving tomorrow. Will you help us?
(Stimulation for writers!)
Stimulation, is the name for a crew of writers on this side of the bridge that tag and bomb on crumbling walls, secret messages for The Movement.
Very good video, but that music is really fighting you. I struggle to hear you.
Thanks for the feedback, will work on improving audio quality.
Good is an enemy to great
Foster Wallace is death metal, but words.
You can’t offer good you don’t have what it takes when it’s needed there jump not only perfection but skip and got lost in bad products
There isn't even a dictionary of English usage on the internet, I search for it and get pages of spam, what an awful thing search engines are.
Am I the only one who thinks his definition of good writing isn't itself very good writing? I suppose it's just a transcript of what he said aloud, so it's not exactly writing, but I still find it a little ironic
I've listened to a number of interviews with DFW and he indeed talks the way he writes. Badly.
Ego death can't end in suicide because suicide is ego driven
Thanks Turtleneck. But with the music, way too thick and distracting.
taking any kind of life advice from somebody with a biography such as DFW seems dubious to me.
most important in your statement is the 'to me.' why are you even here? you obviously have some kind of regard for what he was actually able to achieve and put into the world just by choosing to click. so you don't like some of his choices, and hedge that as a reason to dismiss all insight from him whatsoever? what an absolute boorish position. as if *any* of your literary heroes lived perfect fugging lives. DFW obviously made an important contribution and legacy from his writing, and on the subject of writing, would be one of the finest to dispense advice. if that isn't valuable to you, great, be on your way. there are myriad here and all over the globe however, who clamor for the gem of his advising, which ' *to me* ' is the correct attitude.
@@DanielBoonelight check yourself before you go at a stranger like that. being a sanctimonious little prick in the service of defending DFW shows, more than anything, that you didn't get very far in understanding the message he wanted to convey at the core of all of his writing.
I can teach you some lil tricks wWITCH may help a bit leme kno wate o stay babah
0:35 The way you chose to illustrate this part was really distasteful.
Puss
Whoever put the graphic of the noose in there has very poor taste! It’s not a joke!
:50 you want "implies", not "infers".
lol wtf would the guy who wears a bandana every day know about ego death, wouldn't be at all surprised if he had NPD.
Yes, your opening MUST be Brilliant. They will NOT read one line more if the start sucks!
who is they?
@@phasespace4700 your would be audience anyone
@@EricEngle-f1q If you are trying to write a Tom Clancey pot boiler that may be true, but as a general rule of literature? No.
@@phasespace4700 Do You sell words for a living? Because yeah, you want your opening to actually be readable, duh. If they think it sucks shit, they won't read the rest, obviously.
@@EricEngle-f1q Again, who is they? You imply readers have the same tastes and great books follow an identifiable blueprint, but of course that's utter nonsense.
Lol dfw forgot his own advice about punctuation i guess
Is it ironic that the guy known for writing a "difficult" book like Infinite Jest is stressing the importance of ease of reading?
Just a bit
As well made and insightful the video was, my jaw dropped a bit when you showed up cuz of how gorgeous you are I had to rewind 10 seconds to relisten and process what you said. Gahdamn
Right, gorgeous to you, disturbing to me but... i'm not alone somehow
@@funkiEst why disturbing?
What does DFW say about not killing yourself?
He said the reader should appreciate economy? Yes that’s why a lot of people don’t wanna read infinite jest. 🤣
lol fair point
This has nothing to do with Egp Death. Clickbait thumbnail.
Those who can, do. Those who cannot, write bad books on how to not.
There’s only one dictionary I use: the Oxford English Dictionary. Insofar as the English language is concerned, it is the court of final appeal. On top of that, the Oxford Thesaurus of English. That is all one really needs, but I accept that US-based writers might require additional resources on account of the fact you barely speak the language over there. ;)
Fair take...and yes, it's a sad state of affairs over here.
@@TurtleneckPhilosophyI’ll say this for you: those who can write well on your side of the Pond really do write very well. Some of the clearest and most powerful prose I’ve ever read has been by North American authors. Literacy is a more generalisable problem, I think. It’s just that I don’t think you’ll find the solutions to that particular problem in a Merriam-Webster’s or a Fowler’s.
Wallace lied in his journalism and stole for his fiction. Despite his ramblings on cynical irony and post-modernism, his works reflect the punnery and mere 'symbolic play' of authors like James Joyce (who was modernist, but I have a feeling if people actually look into the movement, they'd sling modernism as an insult just as they do with pomo now).