And this is why I self-pub. 😉 While I agree that knowing the "rules" is important, sometimes breaking those rules makes for a better story. There's a big difference between "good" and "correct".

ProWritingAid replaces one adverb with another and changes it again on the next pass. Grammarly takes out commas and puts them back in on the next pass. So much for “correctness.”

@TokyoXtreme

2 ай бұрын

Get rid of comma splices, and all the other comma rules easily fall into place; semicolons are coming back in a big way.

Excellent video, not just for fiction. Nonfiction writers will benefit from the same pointers. Thank you!

@ahairraisingtale

Ай бұрын

I agree these rules apply to all writing.

Dave, good points. But (and you knew this was coming), I had an author who ran his fully edited manuscript through ProWritingAid after I had done a lovely two-pass edit. I am a nonfiction book editor. He changed everything flagged, introduced error because these apps are not always accurate, and accused me of missing all these points. Not true at all. So I caution authors to be careful. And if you are going to use these AI editing apps, do it early in your writing when you can identify your patterns and fix them then.

@patrickoneill8707

Ай бұрын

As a full-time ghostwriter and freelance writer since 2008 I absolutely agree. There are times when doing the "wrong" thing is the right thing. I have had clients tell me to run my content through whatever editor they have been told is the be-all end-all of editing. And I have to say that 10 times out of 10 it kills the quality of the content.

This is why I *love* linguistic focus on Scrivener 3! Cheers, Dave, for another helpful video. Though it would be boring if we all wrote like Hemingway.

Great video! Spoke to this old English teacher’s heart. I’m now a freelance editor and, oh dear, the -ly words and the being verbs are very alive and doing quite well in the Indie industry today I’m sorry to say.

@LL51190

Ай бұрын

That's true! I started my writing journey by reading Stephen King's "On Writing" and one of his topics is taking away all the -ly words. It feels refreshing using nudged instead of pushing gently/slightly, slamming the door instead of closing slightly etc... I think the only exception I make for the draft is "Really?" as a single word during dialogue, but this one is changed for a more creative one during the editing process.

Another gem, Dave. Thanks!

Thank you for this, Dave! Useful!!

Thank you for the new videos. I love them.

Dave, this was a wonderful video-quick, concise, and helpful. It arrived in my email at the perfect time for me to start my personal edit in a couple of days.Thank you so much! You're appreciated.

wow....I went through that list of ten and the last one...I nearly fell off my chair!! Used 941 times!!! I may be gone a while...lol

@Kindlepreneur

Ай бұрын

May the writing force be with you.

I do the word search thing for every book and it's the longest part of rewriting. 😮‍💨☕️

Tautology-returned back; responded back; collapsed down; etc

That was really interesting. Really!

As Steve King wrote (before he descended into TDS) `adverbs are not your friends`. I have to write speeches and this was a great video to make sure I am on point and convey the right pace and tone. Thank you.

@JS-hd5uy

Ай бұрын

Maybe you should read his novel The Dead Zone.

I use "understand" and "comprehend" instead of "realize," which I tend to overuse.

This was informative

DID HE SAY "IRREGARDLESS"? 😱

@janithhooper2013

Ай бұрын

I was about to add a comment about this. lol

@hypnoticblaze4323

Ай бұрын

His credibility vanished. Do not listen to him because he shills shite products and services.

@Tiffers963Hz

Ай бұрын

@@hypnoticblaze4323 You're not a very happy or fulfilled human, are you? May you find peace, my friend.

Please, is it the reason Amazon kpd are blocking books?? Please can you make a video on it. I need a solution to this very problem. Thanks I will be grateful.

“Thanks, Dave,” I said. “I felt that was a really, very good clip that just completely made my day. I smiled and nodded continuously with the occasional shrug as I watched your breathing, your breath, with every inhale and exhale as you continued to breathe while not saying any needless run-on-sentences or excessive tags,” I said again, then just reached for my thesaurus as I sat in wonder and additionally pondered about how to avoid tautology. Needless to say, I find that repeating repetitive and repetitious words can be samey, lack variety, constantly boring, uninteresting and in some cases verbose. “Irregardlessly I’ll try to make sure I don’t use words that don’t really exist,” I said before signing off with regards. 😉

@paulmahoney5326

Ай бұрын

Just so everyone knows I love Dave's clips, and the above was meant as satire. It was an example showing off a lot of the mistakes that Dave mentioned or warned us about in his video.

It's also important to avoid the other extreme - if certain details are not that essential to the story, it's perfectly fine to just use an adverb. If you avoid adverbs at all costs, you risk of overwriting your scenes and detracting from the main message.

Great video, very informative. Definitely will use this as a key when writing! But YOU should remove "Irregardless" from your writing, Dave. It's what's called a "nonstandard" word. That means it's technically not a real word, but it's been in use for so long, its been accepted into the language. "Irregardless" has the same meaning as "Regardless," so you might as well use "Regardless."

@DianneHarding

Ай бұрын

It is now in the dictionary

@patrickoneill8707

Ай бұрын

Over 2 years ago it was agreed upon that irregardless is a word which can be used. I hate it. I know you do too, but that is where we are.

@zekethefreakmashingupgeek

Ай бұрын

@@DianneHarding Yeah I know. Sigh 😔

@zekethefreakmashingupgeek

Ай бұрын

@@patrickoneill8707 Yeah I hate it too. SMH! 🤦🏾‍♂️ Sigh 😔

Thanks, Dave! I was searching this exact topic.

"literally" needs to be removed from the dictionary and banned by Big Brother

I literally felt like it was a really great video. (lol) Thanks!

This was very helpful. Grammarly continues to add That's, Was', Were's, changing my style and driving me nuts. I haven't finished my first book; halfway through my second chapter, out of 5. Once completed, Atticus.

I've noticed many writers don't use enough dialogue tags. If I have to re-read to know which character is talking I put the book down and never again purchase from that author.

@lizoneill1055

Ай бұрын

irregardless makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Near the end you say, "irregardless" - a word which doesn't exist. It's simply, "Regardless". And you're a writer?

@donalee5472

Ай бұрын

Times change. It is now accepted. The word has been a thorn in my side for years. The constant use has given it legitimacy. Merriam Webster has legitimized it.

@hypnoticblaze4323

Ай бұрын

Mor Ron.

@BernadetteOntong

Ай бұрын

You may not like it but it is a word.

@patrickoneill8707

Ай бұрын

You must not know what you are talking about. As a full-time writer since 2008, I hate that word, irregardless. I agree with you that it used to be considered not a word. Unfortunately, words which are used frequently enough can become accepted as okay in our lexicon. Irregardless as one of those words. The couple of years ago it was officially listed as an actual word. Again, I hate this as much as you do, but that is where we stand on that word.

Don't tie yourself into knots trying to avoid the use of 'the', was etc. Make the words flow like music and it'll sound right, that's what's important. 'And' should never be used to start a sentence. 🙂

I'm getting the feeling this applies a lot more to fiction than non-fction

'And' joins things of the same time-frame. 'Then' indicates a later occurrence. For that reason, I don't think they're interchangeable.

"irregardless" is not a word. Don't worry; it happens to all of us.

Great video, Dave!

Fabulous video - thank you Dave.

great video - thanks!!!

All really great ideas and I wrote it all down, but , then you say "irregardless" at 8:35 which is/isn't a word. Yes, it's been used since the 1700's at least, but it's a double negative, so let's not use it just to make sure. But I really enjoyed this video regardless.

How to make every story exactly the same as every other story and make none of them worth reading. This advice is what has made books unreadable in recent years.

@Kindlepreneur

Ай бұрын

That's a bit reductive. The advice of improving your writing doesn't make every book the same.

Dave, you had me laughing at 6:42 when you said: The drawer was completely full of socks. You then rewrote the sentence: The drawer was full of socks. I laughed right here because you used the passive word: WAS. These words are hard to avoid as a writer, and even the most accomplished writers will use them. The words, WAS, JUST, and THAT are some of the hardest to avoid when writing. When I sit down to write, I struggle with these words, and not using them. What am I saying, I struggle with passive voice, and the show-not-tell in my writing. Thanks for the video word reminders.

@debrabaethge6521

Ай бұрын

Socks (filled, clogged, overflowed) the drawer.

Thank you, Dave! Even experienced writers benefit from being reminded of some basics.

u had a seven month break all fine bro?

i have to disagree on the complete, sounded better imo

Irregardless???

Irreguardless is NOT a word. Look it up. Or try to.

@Kindlepreneur

19 күн бұрын

Hi Charlene - apologies if that was offensive, but there is no need for such a response. I agree with you, and don't need to look it up. This was a speech, and I wish I was perfect in my diction and grammar in everything I say, but alas, my speaking isn't perfect.

@TheQuilldancer

17 күн бұрын

@@Kindlepreneur Good point. My apologies. I responded to what I heard as if it had been written. I don't speak like I write, either. What I should have said was that this video is full of excellent tips and I very much appreciated it. I am sorry I negated that by saying something off-base and petty. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, you may not directly benefit, but I will try to do better in the future. Again, my apologies for being obnoxious.

@Kindlepreneur

16 күн бұрын

@@TheQuilldancer much appreciated and thank you.

You can "quickly scroll through" each occurrence IN THAT CHAPTER, but even though Atticus shows you all the occurrences in the book, the search/replace function doesn't move between chapters, making it time consuming and forcing me to use Word or Scrivener (the last also bad at S&R, to be fair).

Dave Chesson! Did you say irregardless? Shame! Otherwise useful video, thanks.

@Kindlepreneur

Ай бұрын

Yes I did apparently. Although this was about writing. Ensuring every word you say is perfect....well that's probably a different lesson and probably not one I could lead in...or anyone else I know. But shame be it.

@metaprosperity

Ай бұрын

@@Kindlepreneur Well, of course "I" am perfect in every word I utter. (Not). Just had to needle a bit, and you are welcome to needle back at any time.

So, use more verbs. Activate sentences. Thanks

Great tips for better writing. A good friend of mine in the industry also says you have to be on message for fiction books. Even if the writing is excellent, they will not publish anything outside of what's accepted under fourth-wave feminism. I find this very odd myself, but that's the reality. She's leaving the industry next year!

Speaking of tautologies ... "young child" is one that irritates me :)

@TriciaLynne

Ай бұрын

Young child can mean different ages. When I think of young child, I think of a three or four year old, not an eight year old.

Overused: "not gonna lie" completely unnecessary.

@Kindlepreneur

2 ай бұрын

Oh yeah, like I said, we all have our go-to...both in writing AND in speech ;)