5 Rules for Good Writing | David Foster Wallace

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  • čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
  • In an interview between David Foster Wallace and Bryan A. Garner, David gives advice on writing well, self-improvement and how to become and authentic individual.
    In this video, I focus on 5 insightful tips given by David Foster Wallace on how to be a good writer.
    BOOKS:
    Quack This Way: David Foster Wallace & Bryan A. Garner Talk Language and Writing - www.amazon.com/Quack-This-Way...
    Dictionary of Modern American Usage - www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Mod...

Komentáře • 264

  • @spicydaddy2526
    @spicydaddy2526 Před 9 měsíci +160

    HUGE props for not making this video half an hour long. Right into the substance. Good writing.

    • @MyOneFiftiethOfADollar
      @MyOneFiftiethOfADollar Před 8 měsíci +6

      There are INEXPENSIVE ways to correct your Attention Deficit Disorder

    • @playthechanges
      @playthechanges Před 8 měsíci +5

      @@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar nice burn, but there is value in being concise-they have a point.

    • @HWSNISNW
      @HWSNISNW Před 8 měsíci +2

      @@MyOneFiftiethOfADollarwhat are they?

    • @NUCLEARDASH
      @NUCLEARDASH Před 8 měsíci

      @@HWSNISNW they're watching us rn

    • @regnbuetorsk
      @regnbuetorsk Před 8 měsíci +3

      @@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar diluted soup is bad, it's not a gourmet dish

  • @jackiwannapaint3042
    @jackiwannapaint3042 Před 9 měsíci +45

    "You can write a book in a month but a decent sentence is the work of a lifetime"--Jack Spiegelman

  • @WHOAM1894
    @WHOAM1894 Před 9 měsíci +95

    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.

    • @shahn78
      @shahn78 Před 9 měsíci +13

      And same for any other craft. Cant be a good plumber if youre looking at pipes once every so often.

    • @NeonPixels81
      @NeonPixels81 Před 9 měsíci +26

      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

    • @shahn78
      @shahn78 Před 9 měsíci +7

      @@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! 🦾🦾

    • @DarkAngelEU
      @DarkAngelEU Před 8 měsíci

      lol this is so true! Stop worrying, start doing what you're worrying about doing wrong!@@NeonPixels81

    • @BrigsComics
      @BrigsComics Před 8 měsíci +6

      Also important to read a lot. Readers are writers

  • @robincrowflies
    @robincrowflies Před 3 dny +2

    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.

  • @9750939
    @9750939 Před rokem +77

    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.

    • @zachmorley158
      @zachmorley158 Před 9 měsíci +2

      Which Usage Dictionary is the most “conservative” (in DFW’s terms)?

    • @zachmorley158
      @zachmorley158 Před 9 měsíci +5

      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.

    • @nathanbranson9149
      @nathanbranson9149 Před 8 měsíci +1

      Thank you. I was looking through the comments for a recommendation.

    • @Joshua.B.Buzzard
      @Joshua.B.Buzzard Před 8 měsíci

      That Thesaurus is fantastic!

  • @GodNGangsters
    @GodNGangsters Před 6 měsíci +3

    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.

    • @TurtleneckPhilosophy
      @TurtleneckPhilosophy  Před 6 měsíci

      This is a solid routine. I do something of the same because I feel that I'm most creative in the morning.

  • @lovetownsend
    @lovetownsend Před 9 měsíci +10

    0:41 love this style of art, a few lines yet you know exactly what distinguished figure it is

    • @skyko
      @skyko Před 9 měsíci +1

      You are right! Peppermint Patty with a book on his/her head. 🙄

  • @juancarlosgallegos3902
    @juancarlosgallegos3902 Před 9 měsíci +13

    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!

  • @robincrowflies
    @robincrowflies Před 3 dny

    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.

  • @cahyasatixoxo7207
    @cahyasatixoxo7207 Před 8 měsíci +3

    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.

  • @jeffrey3498
    @jeffrey3498 Před 2 měsíci +2

    This was excellent. Thank you! 😎👍

  • @blurbing511
    @blurbing511 Před 8 měsíci +3

    This is such a quality youtube video. Thank you so much!

  • @mohitsrivastava8
    @mohitsrivastava8 Před 8 měsíci +2

    A very insightful video 💯
    How you explained everything makes things very clear.

  • @skyko
    @skyko Před 9 měsíci +2

    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. 🙏

  • @GodNGangsters
    @GodNGangsters Před 6 měsíci

    I've been a published writer for over 40 years, and this was really helpful. I'll be getting a usage dictionary today.

  • @meursault7030
    @meursault7030 Před 8 měsíci +2

    Love that bit about punctuation

  • @yaeli_i_guess
    @yaeli_i_guess Před 8 měsíci +11

    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.....

    • @bobpurcell7175
      @bobpurcell7175 Před 8 měsíci

      It definitely required two bookmarks (to follow every tangent of his peripatetic mind 💨🫡) look at him go!

    • @TheFantomfeltpen
      @TheFantomfeltpen Před 8 měsíci

      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.

    • @Lanearndt
      @Lanearndt Před 8 měsíci

      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!

    • @yaeli_i_guess
      @yaeli_i_guess Před 8 měsíci

      @@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)

    • @motherfinestudios
      @motherfinestudios Před 8 měsíci +1

      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...

  • @Mhdightman
    @Mhdightman Před rokem +5

    Great advice :) thank you. Getting a usage dic right now

  • @JurandirGouveia
    @JurandirGouveia Před 8 měsíci +1

    Excelente video. Thanks

  • @chamicels
    @chamicels Před 9 měsíci +164

    I am the greatest writer in my lifetime. No one will ever know...sigh...it hurts to be so perfect.

    • @JimTheCurator
      @JimTheCurator Před 9 měsíci +43

      that sucks. I'm so sorry, brilliant man

    • @chamicels
      @chamicels Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@JimTheCurator haha

    • @lovetownsend
      @lovetownsend Před 9 měsíci +6

      I'm*

    • @DarkAngelEU
      @DarkAngelEU Před 8 měsíci +4

      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.

    • @ronsoderstrom7967
      @ronsoderstrom7967 Před 8 měsíci +5

      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.

  • @judahbusby
    @judahbusby Před 8 měsíci +3

    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.

  • @iainmackenzieUK
    @iainmackenzieUK Před 8 měsíci +1

    I found this useful as a song writer - thank you

  • @toledo9194
    @toledo9194 Před rokem +5

    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

  • @user-hp5bc5cy2l
    @user-hp5bc5cy2l Před 9 měsíci +1

    A great usage example: THAT versus WHICH.

  • @charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181

    Love this!

  • @philoki
    @philoki Před 9 měsíci +7

    I love the aesthetic of this video! The typewriter font on paper is great to follow along

  • @dad102
    @dad102 Před 9 měsíci

    Very nice.
    Thank-you.

  • @cymbol73
    @cymbol73 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Very well made. Subbed.

  • @3SIDEGOOF
    @3SIDEGOOF Před 8 měsíci +4

    The noose was crazy tho damn

  • @stephenl9463
    @stephenl9463 Před 5 měsíci

    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!

  • @GodNGangsters
    @GodNGangsters Před 6 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @gfunkenator7125
    @gfunkenator7125 Před 9 měsíci +3

    The ego is the interface between the mind and the physical world. Therefore, it cannot die.

    • @robincrowflies
      @robincrowflies Před 3 dny

      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.

  • @elihyland4781
    @elihyland4781 Před 8 měsíci +1

    I luvvvvvv this and I got a lot out of it

  • @lkjina
    @lkjina Před 9 měsíci +2

    great video. very informative and concise.

  • @nelsonx5326
    @nelsonx5326 Před 8 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @scotttanner8043
    @scotttanner8043 Před rokem +23

    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.

    • @adrenochromedreams5993
      @adrenochromedreams5993 Před rokem +3

      if you liked Pessoa another interesting read is "Morsels for the Depressed, Depraved, Pessimistic and otherwise declining"

    • @thedarknight5714
      @thedarknight5714 Před rokem +4

      @@adrenochromedreams5993 I sense a liking for Hunter S. Thompson's drug stories from your username :)

    • @phasespace4700
      @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci +2

      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.

    • @scotttanner8043
      @scotttanner8043 Před 8 měsíci

      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

  • @WildFungus
    @WildFungus Před 9 měsíci

    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.

  • @BookClubDisaster
    @BookClubDisaster Před 8 měsíci +2

    Wow didn't expect Carson Daly to be such a big DFW fan....

  • @nathanbranson9149
    @nathanbranson9149 Před 8 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @muffinpoots
    @muffinpoots Před 9 měsíci +2

    My writing tips? Perspective and concision.

  • @Iksvomid
    @Iksvomid Před 9 měsíci +5

    R.I.P. Ego

  • @michaelstueben2880
    @michaelstueben2880 Před 2 měsíci

    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."

  • @haleyhart9373
    @haleyhart9373 Před 8 měsíci +1

    You look like the main character in my novel 😮

  • @davidminken4094
    @davidminken4094 Před 9 měsíci +2

    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.

  • @arzabael
    @arzabael Před 9 měsíci +3

    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.

  • @anthonycosentino463
    @anthonycosentino463 Před 8 měsíci

    If i hear the phrase Writing Journey one more time I'm gonna lose it...
    Every video on writing!!!

  • @mcardy2001
    @mcardy2001 Před 8 měsíci +3

    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.

    • @AlexD-os8hw
      @AlexD-os8hw Před 8 měsíci

      True. Ego death wasn't addressed. If you want an example of bad writing being caused by overdeveloped egos, look at anything Hollywood has produced over the last ten years.

  • @AbrahamOfWorms
    @AbrahamOfWorms Před 8 měsíci

    Does anyone here know, is the Merriam Webster vocabulary builder the same as a usage dictionary?

  • @em2002
    @em2002 Před 8 měsíci +19

    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.

    • @user-tb4sd5eh7q
      @user-tb4sd5eh7q Před 8 měsíci +2

      Agree. His 1-3 page long sentences are anything, but clear and effective communication. XD

    • @dieu_et_maitre
      @dieu_et_maitre Před 5 měsíci

      what, he didn't use a dictionary?

  • @wolfranone
    @wolfranone Před 8 měsíci

    Does anyone know the music at 4:00?

  • @petermhippard8168
    @petermhippard8168 Před 8 měsíci

    0:42 "as the name infers" should be "implies". Wouldn't nitpick, but this video is on language and writing after all.

  • @jackiwannapaint3042
    @jackiwannapaint3042 Před 9 měsíci

    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.

  • @jesse6468
    @jesse6468 Před 9 měsíci +1

    I find the music during the video very distracting.

  • @marijandesin8226
    @marijandesin8226 Před 8 měsíci

    Which "Usage dictionary" should I get?

  • @yoonahkang7384
    @yoonahkang7384 Před 8 měsíci

    My fave books are my own 😂 .

  • @mikewazowski350
    @mikewazowski350 Před 9 měsíci

    Those three books are online now, for free.

  • @LukeVilent
    @LukeVilent Před 9 měsíci +4

    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.

    • @TurtleneckPhilosophy
      @TurtleneckPhilosophy  Před 9 měsíci +1

      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 🙃

    • @LukeVilent
      @LukeVilent Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@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.

    • @Heidi-ih9ej
      @Heidi-ih9ej Před 8 měsíci +2

      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!

    • @LukeVilent
      @LukeVilent Před 8 měsíci +2

      @@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.

  • @RagdollRalph
    @RagdollRalph Před 9 měsíci +8

    Was the cartoon noose really fecking necessary? Really strange thing to include.

    • @TurtleneckPhilosophy
      @TurtleneckPhilosophy  Před 9 měsíci +1

      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.

    • @RagdollRalph
      @RagdollRalph Před 9 měsíci +3

      @@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 👍

    • @tb5032
      @tb5032 Před 9 měsíci +5

      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.

    • @RagdollRalph
      @RagdollRalph Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@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

    • @RagdollRalph
      @RagdollRalph Před 9 měsíci +2

      But yeah if i think about it a cartoon noose is quite tasteless tbh. And the response is quite tonedeaf.

  • @StephenDoty84
    @StephenDoty84 Před 8 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @user-co6ww2cm9k
    @user-co6ww2cm9k Před 8 měsíci

    do you have any tips from a good writer?

  • @seanemmettfullerton
    @seanemmettfullerton Před 7 měsíci +5

    "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 🙃

  • @user-to2gh7sg3l
    @user-to2gh7sg3l Před 9 měsíci +1

    I like Emerson more but I think he was on to something. Shame he couldn't maintain a better headspace...

  • @HappyEddyMcGuire
    @HappyEddyMcGuire Před 8 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @kylebrian7771
    @kylebrian7771 Před 8 měsíci

    Advice on self improvement from a suicyde committer?

    • @DanielBoonelight
      @DanielBoonelight Před 8 měsíci

      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.

  • @GLG-mf2ev
    @GLG-mf2ev Před 8 měsíci

    Good is an enemy to great

    • @AlexD-os8hw
      @AlexD-os8hw Před 8 měsíci

      I think it's the other way around, meaning you have to know when to move on because what you have is already good, rather than waste time perfecting that which is already functional, and risk making it worse.

  • @oquefilmaragora
    @oquefilmaragora Před 8 měsíci +1

    music background can be improved. this music (carmen) has a lot of movement, which is detrimental to the understanding of your content

  • @Zomfoo
    @Zomfoo Před 8 měsíci +1

    *implies

  • @renatajd7758
    @renatajd7758 Před měsícem +1

    Foster Wallace is death metal, but words.

  • @johnmacgregor324
    @johnmacgregor324 Před 9 měsíci +1

    "As the name infers'?'
    You mean 'implies', right?

  • @loayhusien3673
    @loayhusien3673 Před rokem +2

    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

    • @funkiEst
      @funkiEst Před rokem

      Right, gorgeous to you, disturbing to me but... i'm not alone somehow

    • @loayhusien3673
      @loayhusien3673 Před rokem

      @@funkiEst why disturbing?

  • @Citroen_2cv
    @Citroen_2cv Před 5 měsíci +1

    0:43 Did you just say 'as the name infers'? Also, the noose animation is not okay.

  • @user-uu5og2fs5b
    @user-uu5og2fs5b Před 8 měsíci

    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

  • @kingjae1498
    @kingjae1498 Před 9 měsíci +4

    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

    • @nikkinewbie6014
      @nikkinewbie6014 Před 8 měsíci

      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!

  • @brinkbooks3492
    @brinkbooks3492 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Very good video, but that music is really fighting you. I struggle to hear you.

  • @vincesc720
    @vincesc720 Před 8 měsíci

    Ego death can't end in suicide because suicide is ego driven

  • @feliscorax
    @feliscorax Před 8 měsíci +1

    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. ;)

    • @TurtleneckPhilosophy
      @TurtleneckPhilosophy  Před 8 měsíci +1

      Fair take...and yes, it's a sad state of affairs over here.

    • @feliscorax
      @feliscorax Před 8 měsíci

      @@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.

  • @roundninja
    @roundninja Před 9 měsíci +1

    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

    • @phasespace4700
      @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci +1

      I've listened to a number of interviews with DFW and he indeed talks the way he writes. Badly.

  • @cosmoetica
    @cosmoetica Před 8 měsíci +3

    Those who can, do. Those who cannot, write bad books on how to not.

  • @denkanator
    @denkanator Před 8 měsíci

    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.

  • @user-hi4ld7cj7g
    @user-hi4ld7cj7g Před 3 měsíci

    I can teach you some lil tricks wWITCH may help a bit leme kno wate o stay babah

  • @calebmorgan6939
    @calebmorgan6939 Před 4 měsíci

    :50 you want "implies", not "infers".

  • @user-hp5bc5cy2l
    @user-hp5bc5cy2l Před 9 měsíci

    Yes, your opening MUST be Brilliant. They will NOT read one line more if the start sucks!

    • @phasespace4700
      @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci

      who is they?

    • @user-hp5bc5cy2l
      @user-hp5bc5cy2l Před 8 měsíci

      @@phasespace4700 your would be audience anyone

    • @phasespace4700
      @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci

      @@user-hp5bc5cy2l If you are trying to write a Tom Clancey pot boiler that may be true, but as a general rule of literature? No.

    • @user-hp5bc5cy2l
      @user-hp5bc5cy2l Před 8 měsíci

      @@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.

    • @phasespace4700
      @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci

      @@user-hp5bc5cy2l 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.

  • @hermittmog8697
    @hermittmog8697 Před 8 měsíci

    Is it ironic that the guy known for writing a "difficult" book like Infinite Jest is stressing the importance of ease of reading?

  • @Frisbieinstein
    @Frisbieinstein Před 8 měsíci +1

    0. Start at a young age. Six for me.
    1. Read a lot. As in at least five hundred books.
    2. Write a lot.
    Then you won't need those writing tips.
    Foster had a lot of talent but often didn't seem to know what to do with it.

    • @Frisbieinstein
      @Frisbieinstein Před 8 měsíci

      @@user-fm2sb7jo2z In my opinion being a good writer and having books published are unrelated. My library was giving good to great books away to make more space for the trash. I got a hardbound copy of Catch-22 for free.

    • @stedbenj
      @stedbenj Před 8 měsíci +1

      This comment made me just a hair stupider. How can you see the keyboard with your head so far up your own backside?

    • @Frisbieinstein
      @Frisbieinstein Před 8 měsíci

      @@stedbenj Thank you for sharing a sample of your writing skill.

  • @rickysrockinreviews3011
    @rickysrockinreviews3011 Před 8 měsíci +2

    The animation at 0:34 is in pretty bad taste

  • @rippendale
    @rippendale Před 9 měsíci +1

    taking any kind of life advice from somebody with a biography such as DFW seems dubious to me.

    • @DanielBoonelight
      @DanielBoonelight Před 8 měsíci

      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.

    • @rippendale
      @rippendale Před 8 měsíci

      @@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.

  • @josephfoster1987
    @josephfoster1987 Před 8 měsíci

    Lol dfw forgot his own advice about punctuation i guess

  • @simonburton992
    @simonburton992 Před 9 měsíci

    Thanks Turtleneck. But with the music, way too thick and distracting.

  • @markhasleton6403
    @markhasleton6403 Před 9 měsíci

    A shame that the narrator DOES NOT know the difference between imply and infer.

  • @GamePhysics
    @GamePhysics Před 8 měsíci

    This has nothing to do with Egp Death. Clickbait thumbnail.

  • @Trashhgordon
    @Trashhgordon Před 8 měsíci

    Exterminate all rational thought, that is the conclusion I have come to.

  • @leona2222
    @leona2222 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Whoever put the graphic of the noose in there has very poor taste! It’s not a joke!

  • @robertanderson3905
    @robertanderson3905 Před 8 měsíci

    THE UNPURITAN THAT WAS GOOD WRIGHTING

  • @Acquisitor
    @Acquisitor Před 9 měsíci +2

    I love writing in a very cynical metaphoric dark way. And 'only' so. 95% of the readers dont get the points Im trying to make at all.

    • @CMON75
      @CMON75 Před 9 měsíci +4

      🙄

    • @simon2776
      @simon2776 Před 9 měsíci

      You must not write very well, then. 😂

    • @Acquisitor
      @Acquisitor Před 9 měsíci

      Actually I write very well, however Im foolish enough to think that the readers are capable of drawing the right conclusions while in reality by far most of them represent the idiocy of today on incomprehensible levels and are only capable of literal interpretation of the text

    • @simon2776
      @simon2776 Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@Acquisitor🙄

    • @yoshibros8904
      @yoshibros8904 Před 8 měsíci +1

      Where can I read your stuff?

  • @thismouseisillegal944
    @thismouseisillegal944 Před 8 měsíci

    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).

  • @phasespace4700
    @phasespace4700 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Thanks! It all makes so much more sense now. Clearly, a major source for DFW's deadly boring and pedantic writing is this tiresome legal pest Garner, a close associate of the vile Antonin Scalia and sometimes author, whose claim to fame is a treatise on how to persuasively con judges.

  • @Mighty_Atheismo
    @Mighty_Atheismo Před 7 měsíci +1

    That noose animatic was stone fucking cold. Idk how i feel about that. Too cute. Not respectful.

  • @theprecipiceofreason
    @theprecipiceofreason Před 9 měsíci

    Ego Death is a buzz word. It doesn't exist. You cannot prove me wrong.

    • @theprecipiceofreason
      @theprecipiceofreason Před 8 měsíci

      @@Givebackthescarf surprise surprise, you make assumptions with no foundation.

  • @Tennishero
    @Tennishero Před 8 měsíci +1

    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.

  • @doublestarships646
    @doublestarships646 Před 8 měsíci

    You're probably cringe if you're worried about ego death.