Post Your Useful Writing Videos Here

[TheMightyAz]

I haven't seen another thread like this so thought it was a good idea. Sometimes videos are easier to digest than whole books on writing, and not only that but they can hone in on particular niggles one faces as a writer. Here is my contribution for the day. It was most helpful in focusing in on how to approach a short story:

[BrandonTheWriter]

Simple and quick video that really helped me. I would recommend all of these TED-Ed videos.

[TheMightyAz]

[TheMightyAz]

Excellent for beginners and great for those of us who need reminding:

[Cephus]

This isn't a writing video per se, but it really does explain how to avoid all of the stupid "I'm not motivated!" complaints that we all see constantly. Motivation doesn't matter. Get your ass to work.

[TheMightyAz]

Some useful tips here. Note that when she's talking about not using verb/adverb but instead use a stronger verb, I don't think she meant to say 'jogged', I think she meant to say 'sprinted'.

[vranger]

Some useful tips here. Note that when she's talking about not using verb/adverb but instead use a stronger verb, I don't think she meant to say 'jogged', I think she meant to say 'sprinted'.

I found this, for anyone who'd rather just read her list than watch the video. Some of these points need discussion, because they're only correct with much more discussion.

She does give a bit of detail for "thesaurus writing" which is correct. You don't use the thesaurus to artificially insert a fancier word or a longer word. You use it when the word you have in mind isn't as precise as you'd like, or to replace a common word with a more interesting word (which doesn't mean it's fancy!).

• Spelling changes. If you spell a name a certain way, make sure it's always spelled that way including capitalization. Same with locations, magic spells, etc.
  
• Similar names.
  
• Mistakes in procedures with different professions, particularly social work, police, courts, and forensics.
  
• Mistakes in medical care, technology, and weapons.
  
• Small talk in dialogue that takes up a bunch of space but doesn't mean anything and doesn't have any relevance.
  
• Forgetting to include sensory information (sights, sounds, smells, etc).
  
• Naming the minor character after yourself or a slight variation of your name.
  
• Cliches used too frequently and especially on the first page.
  
• Using the same sentence construction over and over.
  
• Switching between past and present tense unintentionally.
  
• Pausing the story every time a character is introduced to provide a laundry list of physical description.
  
• Over use of alternative dialogue tags.
  
• Using more than one or two adjectives to describe a noun.
  
• Using more words than is necessary.
  
• Thesaurus writing.
  
• Constantly repeating the character's name.
  
• Repeating characters' names in dialogue.
  
• Repeating the same descriptions over and over.
  
• Switching the POV character at random.
  
• Including mundane details for no reason.
  
• Describing every article of clothing every character is wearing at all times.
  
• Using an adverb plus a verb instead of a stronger verb ("he moved quickly" vs "he jogged.")
  
• Overly formal dialogue, especially dialogue that doesn't use contractions.
  
• Introducing too many new characters at the same time.
  
• Writing stage direction instead of action.

[BrandonTheWriter]

[Cephus]

I forgot about this one, which is extremely true, even though most amateur writers don't want to listen:

[BrandonTheWriter]

I forgot about this one, which is extremely true, even though most amateur writers don't want to listen:

I think I've accepted today that writing isn't for me. I didn't want it to be true, but I'm just not having fun anymore. Not saying people should give up on their dream, but sometimes you're just not cut out for it. I can't handle the criticism and get discouraged really easily.