Write a Better Love Poem (or Anything) | The Power of Specificity

Good writing is specific writing. In this video, we talk about the importance of specificity by looking at how a love poem improves when it gets more specific.
Downloadable writing prompt and revision guide available at: www.andrewbashford.com/post/h...
0:00 Introduction
1:27 The Importance of Specificity
3:47 Three Ways to Be More Specific
6:55 Specificity in Action

[@Skummy123]

I haven’t wrote a poem since elementary school… I really care for this person and she sent one i still hold onto. Horrible with conveying feelings to words when i have so much too say. so i’m trying to not make it feel generic. You helped a lot ❤

[@WritingwithAndrew]

I'm glad to hear it--no matter how you may think the final product turns out, just taking the time to write something unique and from the heart will count for a lot

[@jeffstone5554]

Hey Andrew, good advice. I could have used it before I wrote my love poem.
The aspie writes a love poem
You got my heart beating at scouring velocity I bet
The colors of your paint job would be Flambeau and desert sunset
You got more juice than a Holley 650 double pump carburetor
As kind and cool as the interior of a 68 continental coach door
Your mouth was built with the precision of a go no go gauge
Your voice the soothing hum of a well-bathed metal lath
With a mind that’s as on point as a floor-mounted drill press
The drafting baton that laid down your lines, curvaceous
Another thing I noticed is you shine brighter than chrome
With the simple yet complex beauty of a geodesic dome

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Delightful--thanks for sharing! I like the mechanical images that put a new spin on the idea of love, and the sounds and images of the last two lines are especially nice (brighter than chrome/geodesic dome)!

[@Camila-mk8ym]

It reminded me of that scene in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy say “I thought the poetry was the food of love” and Elizabeth Bennet say “Of a fine stab that it may but if it is only a vague inclination and prevents one course on it will kill it stone dead”
After all, we can’t really pretend to love and expect it to feel natural…
Loved the video!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Nice, I like that--and thanks!

[@bernadetteyelland3969]

Love your videos Andrew! I have only just recently found you. These are so helpful and fun. You have an engaging way of sleaking and the content is spot on.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks a bunch!

[@Jane-zp7hy]

Thank you!

[@Moon-lt5bi]

What are your thoughts on quatrains? I am working on a series of them and think it’s hard to be specific in them though I can be concrete. I love your videos

[@omorfaruqakib965]

8:50 that sudden break of eye contact 😅
Andrew I am really glad that you are continuing to upload these videos. Even though they might not be as 'successful' as they should have been, you are not discouraged, and I am glad for this.
And, I really love the way you recite poems, would you be able to sometime upload episodes where you only recite poems?

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks for the kind words!
I've thought about it--maybe I'll start thinking about it more seriously!

[@da3855]

Hi Andrew! I wish I had discovered your channel sooner; you have such a clear, eloquent manner of speaking that is both high brow and understandable. Thanks for these videos, they might not generate the viewership they deserve, but I’m confident that in time, fame will come! Also, I wasn’t going to mention this, but since this episode is about love poems (much to the chagrin of the clearly disgruntled Kaput), I just wanted to let you know that your good looks are quite distracting for the more romantically inclined of your subscribers.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@petra_png]

Great advice!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks!

[@thenatureofsketching4622]

I appreciate your videos a lot Andrew but can’t see a playlist for poetry whereby I could find all your poetry videos specifically

[@WritingwithAndrew]

For now, there's just a creative writing playlist (which is mostly poetry). I may have to make it it's own playlist, though

[@billyalarie929]

When you thought for a good min that this dude actually thought the word was pronounced “valentimes”

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Ha! Nothing like writing a joke that pays off five months later--thanks for watching!

[@billyalarie929]

@@WritingwithAndrew you’re welcome!! Thanks for making this video

[@user-sr3ze8tz7q]

This might sound generic but I love that skull laying besides you

[@kaputmortuum]

Your taste is not generic but exquisite