3 Tips for Avoiding Boring Writing and Making Your Life Easier 

You could say that it's super effective!

It actually demonstrates another way of keeping writing from getting boring, a screenwriting technique called "The Pope in the Pool." Basically, if you're going to have the characters deliver exposition, make them do something interesting or unusual while they're talking. (Named after a movie scene where a character explains a plot point to the pope as he goes swimming.)

very, I smiled

A perfect application of this! I'm glad to hear that other people are thinking about this kind of stuff. Like I said, I originally had a really hard time learning what needs to be on page vs what doesn't. It sounds like you've wrapped your head around it pretty well!

Exactly this! "Show Don't Tell" is repeated ad nauseum, giving beginner writers the impression that telling is bad. Hate to break it to ya Becky, but all writing is "telling," some parts are simply more detailed. Learn when to keep it short and direct. 😅

@@johnnyritenbaugh1214 Yeah, there is definitely times that telling is much more powerful than showing. Mostly because it is so efficient. If you have to write something boring, it is almost always better to summarize it and move on quickly.

Hmm noted

@@johnnyritenbaugh1214 A better version of this phrase that I've heard is "Demonstrate Don't Describe". It's not a universal rule, but generally helpful.

I am nothing if not committed to a bit

That’s so true XD

git gud

@kashe7285 I don’t get it either and I’m glad you mentioned it before me. There have already been writers hired to provide material to train these things, they have no respect for any trade or hobby including their own which is wholly pitiable. The worst part is I don’t think they even understand the repercussions of their choices. I hope one day they do, and they change for the better. Until then, they’re not worth acknowledging. Anyone can be an illustrator, and I think writers could especially benefit from learning how to draw because illustration is a fantastic way to visually tell a story and even convey what writing cannot. Tolkien is a great example of this. It’s not commonly known, but he did water colors for his own books because he was the only person who could visualize his world the way he envisioned it, and he was quite good too. He dedicated an absurd amount of time to his world and took the time to learn to paint as well which is incredibly admirable. It genuinely doesn’t take anything more than dedication to learn how to draw, paint, etc. Hell, look how fast Pewdipie has improved in just 100 days, it’s insane how much he’s grown. Meanwhile, I don’t think this bloke even understands why using a*i was a poor choice and has in turn driven away so many viewers (myself included). The best I can wish is that he realizes his errors, moves forward, and improves.

The same thing applies to artists not being concerned about voices or music AI, or what about the devices we all use being unethically sourced? You couldn't make a living on digital art if it wasn't for slave labor in places like Borneo. Honestly you can boycott all ya want it's not gonna change anything. Progress is inevitable so you just gotta adapt with the times. By all means if you don't wanna use AI then don't but don't put other people down for using a tool just because your livelihood is being affected on a grand scale; he as an individual is not hurting you by doing this. AI certainly isn't stopping you from creating your own art, but it's not about the sanctity of the art, it's about the ability to profit off of something that only holds subjective value. Yours is not a principled stance in the first place, it's one based in self interest. Which is FINE, but then don't try to morally police other people on some kind of high horse. You and the other individual in this thread are just making yourselves look like you have an overinflated sense of importance. As for the second person, why would this guy care if this turned you away from his channel? I don't think he's missing out on much, I certainly wouldn't wanna deal with trying to please people who think like you anyway

@@VelvetAura i velvet Aura’ed ur mom 👁️👄

​@alabasterindigo No matter how much you cry, throw silly tantrums or whine about ai, it'll still continue doing what it's doing. Your narrow-minded viewership won't help anyway, so feel free to leave; because soon, there'll be nowhere for you to go since ai will be everywhere. It's inevitable, no matter how much you b*tch about it. And stop talking about writers like that, when you clearly don't know anything. The reason why most of us don't whine like you're doing right now and seem unaffected, is because we write cuz we want to. You're the pitiful one, who turn away from a helpful video because of some stupid almighty self righteousness you think you have. Letting something like ai determine what you do with your passion, makes you even less worthy than the writers you just mentioned. While people are evolving themselves along with the ai you're so afraid of, people like you will shrivel away and disappear. "Not even worth acknowledging" who tf are you to acknowledge people anyway😂 Do you even matter?

That’s really nice!! Thank you so much!

Can you give any links or websites that explain what you're talking about? I would love to read more about that specific type of writing, it sounds interesting and I think it may help with a writing problem I have.

@@Mii.. this info is not from a specific author (I think), but something I’ve learned after consuming a lot of media and writing a few things, I think you can investigate the use of ma in studio Ghibli films, there are a lot of videos in RU-vid talking about it. You can also investigate about ambientation in movies which is very important to manage well this writting technique.

@@ricky.t.1658 Thanks for that. I will definitely check those out and study them a little more.

My writing has been this for me, I think it's why I take it so seriously. Thank you for putting into words what I've been dealing with my entire life. Now I can begin researching the whats and whys. ❤

A flow state isn't inherently some sort of MDD although *some* people with MDD may have an easier time falling into a flow state. MDD is a disorder for a reason. Saying that any flow state that mimics a similar feel to maladaptive daydreaming is by feature some sort of MDD is kind of like saying PMS mood swings are a flavour of bipolar disorder. They are not the same. They may both involve mood swings but one is classified as a disorder for a reason. Let's not muddy the waters of actual disorders by pathologizing normal feelings and behaviors.

I had a writing coach that claimed nobody writes for themselves, but I always believed in your idea that my writing is telling stories to myself.

@@nbucwa6621 Am I muddying the waters about Maladaptive Daydreaming? MDD is the acronym for Major Depressive Disorder?? I do believe when writers talk about "flow" they're usually referring to that possessed/auto-writing like feeling associated with Maladaptive Daydreaming. Experiencing a maladaptive daydream is like literally being dropped into a 360 degree movie you can *usually* pause, fast-forward, and re-wind at will (though you can't always alter them). I experience them, mostly related to growing up as an undiagnosed/unsupported Autistic and ADHD girl in a "strict" household. The Celiac disease that went undiagnosed from early childhood to my twenties didn't help, either. At four, I had my own Ruby and Max/Peppa Pig-esque characters. On the bus I would look out the windows then close my eyes and get sucked into a 1-1 scene where characters from tv and/or my stories would interact with each other and me. Like, tony the tiger was my bff. I would have scary daydreams that would traumatize me, like at 7 I had one where *in reality* I was actually an asylum patient strapped to a chair just repeating all of my most embarrassing thoughts. It was so real that a part of me believed it until well into middle school. I would literally bring it up to friends and family as a "what if....?" to see if they'd prove/disprove it. Like, it reminds me a lot of the Truman Show disorder. Was horrible. 0/10. At 16 a parent urged me to quit writing when they, w/o permission read a draft of a Naruto fic I wrote at 14. So, I did. After I quit storytelling, my daydreams started manifesting as intrusive rumination, and conversation mapping. Both were almost always stressful and upsetting. I started having anxiety-based hallucinations of the people I knew calling my name (not over and over, but from varying distances). Like, I lost so many relationships, my dude, just by walking into the wrong place at the wrong time bc I thought someone called. My family had me evaluated for schizophrenia and when I didn't have it they went "you're all good!" and gave up on me. Literally lost most of my family. Like, then the celiac-caused gluten ataxia (brain damage) progressed to the point ppl with Parkinsons were telling me to get tested. But like, I couldn't get tested for years, because the slur + gait issues made all the medical staff (I mean ALL of them) think I was on something and drug-seeking. (Literally the same nurse who cruelly jabbed me really hard during a blood draw six years ago, this August was flirting with me and reassuring me all was good after I literally forgot my left from my right. Medical Bias is messed up) Toward the end (diagnosis/going gluten free) I couldn't speak in full sentences. I'd literally look at a toaster, think "toaster", but what would come out was "b-buh-b-buh-b-b-buh" Words mixed/fell out of existence as I was speaking them. Like, I was depersonalizing to the point I felt 24/7 underwater, or like this teeny little version of myself staring out my eyes as my big clunky, robot-like body I was operating went berserk on my life. It was surreal. Back then the daydreams I had before bed, if they weren't some type of rumination, were almost always like sitting under a tree with an anime character (a big tough one, like Guts), either being held warm (I was always feverish) or like sitting next to me while I lay in the sun. Bc of the abdominal pain I used to take a lot of hours long baths, and daydreaming was one of the only ways I got through (I couldn't look at my phone too much without literally losing the ability to read or getting a migraine). Like, when I am GI sick I always, always start halluci-daydreaming about being in an environment I got really GI sick in during early childhood. Like, I can feel the cool tile under my arm type experience Like, I'm really excited to yap about surviving celiac related ataxia in my book (my villain has it). I almost didn't make it, or be able to recover my mind. But like, as I've recovered (it's taking A LOT longer w/o access to the appropriate neuro-meds), I regained a lot of the confidence my parent's words and the brain damage took from me. It took another few years after going gluten free for me to be able to write again, ten years since I quit. This is the fourth year I've been back at it. Getting back into storytelling gradually retrained my daydreams to not hurt me, and in a bunch of ways saved my life. The first story I worked on had a ML recovering from a traumatic brain injury (bc I had the same level of cognitive impairment). I started daydreaming about it bc I wanted to feel lovable/worth caring for despite my disability. I think I chose to project myself into the male lead because I deconditioned down to SpongeBob muscles while sick and wanted to be as physically abled as him. Also because I was my family's provider until the illness and an eldest child. I felt like, if I couldn't provide, I'd be thrown away (like I've been before). I felt like that was more relatable through the eyes of a male character as men are by-default pushed into a provider role. When I was really sick though, I had to do a lot of research, which led to a hyperfixation on learning why my mind/and body works the way it does. Like, I love researching this. Next to writing it's probably my second biggest passion. I don't know if it was maybe my word choice that irked you. Like, it'd be messed up to say, "you think like that probably cause you were traumatized as a kid"... Idk Maladaptive Daydreaming is largely thought to be a coping mechanism caused by early childhood trauma or higher stimulation needs associated with neurodivergence (like ADHD and Autism). For me, my discovery writing is almost always a one-to-one recording of my daydreams. Like, a lot of mine include physical sensations like dampness, cold, and texture (not every person experiences this, but it is common). Like, writing this I experienced a Daydream about having a Maladaptive Daydream about the OG Strawberry Shortcake book world and literally could smell caramely chocolate chip cookies. Maladaptive Daydreams are often refferred to as "flow" because the words flow out faster than you can write them. A lot of writers aspire to find "the flow" or "the feeling" w/o knowing what it is or why it's triggered. So like, mine are triggered mostly by under stimulation and interest. I can purposefully trigger mine through several methods (prompts, standing in shower, doing dishes, reading, watching TV...), but I can't control how long I stay in, especially if I lose interest with an idea or imagined scenario. While I can trigger them, I don't always. Most just come for me. And, if something in my external environment pulls me out of one, I get spacey, often confused. Ooh, I do a bunch of odd movements throughout my daydreams too, like rocking, leaning, head tilting, face scrunching, and unconsciously mimicking character expressions. Sometimes I make little noises or talk to myself. When it was mostly rumination and mapping, I would defensively respond, often out loud. That somehow morphed into verbal/mental tics (the same ones girls are getting that Dr's are now saying are caused by tic tok- for me it's just shame 🤣) I can't stay in a daydream long while other people are around, because the way I mask my autism/ADHD is a flight or fight response. Like, I don't mean to make light of Maladaptive Daydreaming (my 3rd grade teacher used them and my staring out the window during as evidence I was "R-worded"/should be pulled from school). I'm trying to spread awareness. Maladaptive (sometimes called Excessive, because it shouldn't be so pathologized) Daydreaming is a common thing but hardly anyone knows about it.

@@nbucwa6621 I'm confused. MDD is the current acronym for Major Depressive Disorder and Maladaptive Daydreaming on its own can be a symptom, but is also a normal behaviour (especially if autistic or ADHD bc of sensory seeking behaviour and higher stimulation needs). I didn't say Maladaptive Daydreams are always the flow state, but that often, that's what writers mean when they refer to "flow." I started maladaptive daydreaming in early childhood because I was under-stimulated/undiagnosed auADHD. Like, I'm not trying to make light of it, or pathologize it further. Researching this type of psychological phenomena is one of my hyperfixations and I often info-dump about Maladaptive Daydreaming as a way to spread awareness. A lot of ppl write the same way I do with NO clue why they do it. When I stopped actively channeling my daydreams toward storytelling/fantasization (during a ten year hiatus) they began mostly manifesting as intrusive thoughts, rumination and conversation mapping. Like, storytelling saves my life everyday. Figuring out what I was getting out of the maladaptive daydreams I was having was absolutely life changing in terms of my productivity and overall writing quality. Like, I have celiac that went undiagnosed/untreated from early childhood until my twenties. The gut damage progressed to neurological damage (gluten ataxia). When I was my sickest, slurring and unable to walk straight (brain damaged), no Doctor would treat me because they thought I was drunk or on something. One time a nurse intentionally jabbed me really hard to like, punish me for coming in? At that point, I'd never met him before in my life. Before he did it, I cracked a joke about being afraid of needles and he just stared at me stone faced. (6 years later, now that my hair’s grown back and I'm healthy-ish, he flirted with me in-office and laughed at all my dad jokes. He was so kind I didn't recognize him until I was walking home. It was so messed up.) While sick and unable to self advocate I did heaps of research which finally got my Dr on-board. After I went gluten free I started recovering. But, *really slowly*. Like, It's been five years and my brain is still healing. Early on into recovery, I took up writing as a way to regain some of my vocabulary (I could no longer speak aloud in complete sentences without mix-matching every other word). The first story-oriented maladaptive daydream I got sucked into was a romance featuring a ML with a traumatic brain injury. I never finished the story (though I will pick it up again after I've finished my current book). Later, upon learning about maladaptive daydreaming, I realized why I told myself that story. I was projecting myself into the ML because my muscles had deconditioned down to SpongeBob and I wanted to feel strong again. The ML suffered a mild traumatic brain injury at the start of the story bc it's the same level of cognitive impairment I was suffering. My brain was telling me I was lovable in spite of my disability (helping me overcome the internalized ableism standing in the way of my grieving process). Like, the reason the MC was the one recovering- I was my family's provider before I fell sick and I think relaying the story through the eyes of someone pushed into the provider role by default (a man) made it easier for me to process. I didn't want to feel like my value was tied to my ability to provide. His love interest was a nurse, a compilation of all the medical research I had to do while sick. She was the caregiver role I didn't have anyone around that could step into. And like, also a ghost of the caregiver I've had to be in the past. Like my brain was literally spamming that story at me as a way of coping with my diagnosis and I didn't finish it at the time because I had no clue that was happening. Many writers' writing stems from maladaptive daydreaming, especially the writers who start in early childhood- they start, often, bc they're recording daydreams. Like my first stories were wordless comics about a cat and dog sibling/best friend duo. At the time I was an oddball only child w no friends and undiagnosed auADHD. The main characters' names were literally Kit and Kat, like KitKat. I came up with them because I wanted to felt understood and a sense of belonging. I started doing fanfiction because I couldn't stop daydreaming about my favorite characters. While Maladaptive Daydreaming can be a disordered behavior, it's currently not being diagnosed as its own disorder. It's secondary name “Excessive Daydreaming” is meant to be less pathologizing. I'm sorry if my word choice offended you.

WAIT JED HERNE??

Themes are overrated. Rules are overrated. Write what fits best in your story or vision. Also, do you mean plot or actually "theme" .. because theme doesn't even make sense, you can't have every conversation and or sentence be a comment on or related to your theme. That would make for an extremely boring read.

@@3choblast3r4 I mean theme, you can also call it leitmotif or premise if you like, and no, I do not mean plot. Also, it is funny that you call something overrated that you clearly seem not to grasp at all.

@@Drudenfusz A premise and theme are two completely different things my friend. Have a nice one though

@@3choblast3r4 If you would have said they are not identical, then I would have agreed with you, but completely different?

@@Drudenfusz wouldn’t expect an idiot like that to understand much of anything, really. Clearly doesn’t understand how theme and premise are inexorably linked somewhere in the process.

But its not boring? It brought both me and you here unless the thumbnail didnt load or something like that?

@@OfficeDuck-i clicked because it looked off to me, as much of ai art does

@@elokin300 oh, well i think i need to learn the difference then 😂😅

Why? It looks great

We’re taking this thing to the moon! Hop on!

Hello Kat! Thanks for letting me know. Good news and bad news: Good news is that I have created a playlist now for all channel videos! I never would have done it if I hadn't see your comment, so thank you for letting me know. Bad news is that you may only be seeing four videos because I just started the channel! If I had to guess, the "videos published" includes some shorts that I put out as well.

Hit us with the coin method!

​@@Writing-Theory It also can be called "gold coin" method. An author alled Don Fry came up with it, beacuse readers kept abandoning his books. And his idea was to put "gold coin" periodically. "Gold coin" can be a lot of things. For example: a suprise twist, a minor character who is really funny, or a cliffhanger or a new information about one of your character/world.

Very well said!

That feeling almost never goes away! Don't give up hope! Sometimes you, as the writer, get so used to the plot and the characters and the world that it stops being a cool, new experience. It's just you with the book. It's all a mind game and it can be tough sometimes

Worth the sacrifice 🤘

this is all you care about huh

@@VelvetAurai only care about velvet aura-ing ur mom through my jorts

It’s not art. unfortunately they’re just AI generated images. I liked this video but found the AI images really off putting

@@novelle.27 Yes, I know it's AI art, it's so obvious it's painful to watch (hence I didn't watch the vid, just from the thumbnail it was glaringly obvious). Tl;dr: I was trying to bait out, if possible, the idea that as a writer would he be okay if people used his books for AI learning and stuff. I understand the AI bros being douchebags and using it, but creative workers (writers, designers, etc.) using it is such a huge--- Point is, it's almost impossible to trust anyone willingly stealing content from others using AI. The advice might sound "good" but the same advice will and have come from others who commission artists instead, or use free assets. In fact, how can we believe he did research and didn't just ask ChatGPT or whatever system to write the entire script for this video?

Damn.. now I am just disappointed now.

they are 5 second shots on a free youtube video. ease up on the righteousness bro

Hear! Hear!

You know, I always thought this was the norm, but the more people I talk to, the more people tell me that they write differently!

@@Writing-Theory Yes, I can definitely relate to that...

Finally someone who adresses this...

This is so true.

We already have a bunch of competition, so while it'll probably make it harder to get your stories read, I don't think it will change that much. AI will create a bunch of mediocre to crappy stories just like people do, and there will be some good stories. They'll just be more of a mire for readers and authors to sift through to get to the gold. When AI gets better I'll use it for editing and getting ideas, I'll use it as a tool like artists should. I don't think were going to be able to stop AI, so I see it as a challenge to get better as a writer so I'm not bogged down by AI. Maybe people will feed my works into a Dataset and copy my style, oh well, I'll just have to get better and better. I think people will deliberately try to buy human made stories like people buy handcrafted furniture. And honestly, the whole problem really boils down to money and capitalism, even without AI, making money with the arts is hard. We should really be advocating for more robust social welfare and UBI's. Especially if anybody wants to survive the Automation/AI revolution if it happens. The only real advice I can give to Artists, Writers, etc. Is to make works people will want to buy from you, or as gamers say, Get Gud. Adapt, use all the tools at your disposable, persevere, practice.

Though I wouldn't go that far into the subject, yes, AI art is demeaning for the creative type, like myself. My main issue though is not the use of it but people claiming that the work is theirs and placing themselves over actual creative types. What he did here was probably a time saver and a cheaper alternative, because a really good artist could be expensive and people don't usually have that kind of money to spare and videos, especially ones with more grandiose editing tends to eat at a deadline. I don't fault him for his choice primarily because he doesn't put others down or claim it as his own, but I do understand how others could feel how you do.

​@@notimportant1659 I understand your point, but saying it's a "cheaper alternative" is excusing it. Of course it's a cheaper (let's just say free) and faster option, but AI is not offering a solution to a problem that people struggled with or held them back- People have been managing to create graphics for their videos for years before now and weren't desperately looking for a solution. It would be more accuate to say that suddenly all this ability to create graphics has been dumped at everyone's feet, even though they didn't ask for it, and everyone is going hogwild with it and not asking where it came from. It's like getting a truckload of cupcakes delivered to your door one day- it's not good for you, but it's fun and free. Meanwhile AI harms the very creatives, like this youtuber, who use it. So I do fault him for his choice, not out of creative ego or that he's claiming artistic authorship of the images, but out of the shortsightedness, bordering on hypocricy.

He is ☹️

Quite sad

Who cares?

@@Datbwoi-b1q the leaked list of thousands of artists whose work was scraped without their consent

@@Datbwoi-b1q thousands of artists whose work has been scraped without consent, according to a leaked list and chat wherein midjourney CEO can't care less when they talk about "laundering"

Congrats on the second rewrite! 30k is a lot of words to cut and can be really tough to make yourself do!

Aww shucks, I appreciate that!

I agree with the opposition to generative AI being used for the creation of videos in such a manner, i will also, however, say that it doesn't immediately discredit the advice he has to give. He is 100% in the wrong for using it, considering the predatory systems of collection that have been used for most, if not all AI image generators, however.

@@Spookatz.lol maybe you’re right, i just get very frustrated when I see it. I still don’t think I will be subscribing

Highest compliment I’ve ever received

So happy to hear that! Writing is something you can do for the rest of your life. I hope you enjoy it!

A great question and probably a topic for an entire video. Short answer is that I’ve found generative AI to not be fantastic at most creative storytelling uses. I have found generative AI to be helpful in naming characters, places, and generating images to inspire my stories. Any fiction-writing AI tool that I’ve researched into has been lackluster so far

@@Writing-Theory I've felt that way too. Works fine for pieces of of inspiration. But it doesn't add any conflict or humanity in practice. I feel like the same applies to AI paintings too. There's something empty about both. And if people can't see it, I start to doubt their advice on other stuff too. Feels like taking advice about construction from someone who uses duct tape to seal their pipes or something. Bit silly. Anyways, thanks for the tips.

@@Writing-Theorywould you use ai in your writing if it was good enough?

I have a video that I’m working on that explores AI tools marketed for writers. Short answer right now is that I don’t think the big AI models have made it economically viable. I’ve tried to get writing output from AI but every time it has been lackluster. Just like you can tell AI art, you can tell AI writing and, once you know that you’re looking at AI, it’s easy to see where it fails. I don’t think we’re at the point where AI writing in long form content is good enough for reading. I think if you are really trying to force text generative AI into your writing process, it’s best used as a super advanced writing prompt. Having it generate story beats, chapter summaries, characters that you can then modify and write from can be a feasible approach. But it can’t yet be used as a straight from AI to published work kind of tool.

@@Writing-Theorybut if it could, would you use it?

Agreed. Plus, LOTR IS a billion pages long

Intro made me very close to changing video, so that goes both ways 👍

There’s a surprising amount of crossover between writing and dnd! Check out my video on world building to see what I mean!

@@Writing-Theory will certainly do