Ten Weird Writing Tips That Actually Work

hi hannah, your videos and thumbnail can be edited better and can be improved, do you need help in editing?
your videos are actually helpful to me, just subscribed your channel.

Lots of great advice here. Thank you very much!

I like to have a document reserved for loose ends and half-baked scenes/ideas. So like if I write a scene that doesn’t end up fitting the mood or whatever but the writing or characterization or dialogue or whatever was super good, I’ll just ctrlX the whole thing into the loose ends doc so I can use it later if I want. I also put brainstorming, scenes from later parts of the story that haven’t connected yet, and occasionally chapter outlines in there. It works well for me, maybe it’d work for you too:)
Great tips in this video!️

I read all conversations out loud like my characters are actually talking to each other. If I start stumbling over my words, then I know to change it.

Another author recommended your book of short stories so I picked it up about two hours ago and this video then showed up in my feed.

I've got one that's served me well through the years, and I never hear of anyone doing this, if they do, lol no one talks about it.

Okay so be it a need for help with your main character, Support Character, Sub Character, or fill in the hollow background people, or EVERYONE, this tip will help you write more believable characters. After doing this for years you will be able to build your own believable characters, or you may find yourself going back to this to save you some brain energy.

To write better and believable characters:

Get your local paper or look online at the Obituaries.

Yep, it's a wealth of Character Pool of creation, and because they have passed, their information is free domain, of course the normal people not historic folks lol.

But it's a great character builder, you got names, ages, places and dates born, hobbies, work and job history, family members, some obituaries are big and detailed, some are short, but all are helpful, and you can mix and match the information. They are have a picture so you can describe what they look like! Their Astrology sign can be in there, I find learning about what Sun Sign a character is great helps shape their personality even if it never even makes it into the story, it helps you the writer!

Sure you can feel a bit ghoulish or you can think of it as bringing new life into people who probably wouldn't have minded being in a book. Most living folks if asked have no issue so long as it's a good character. The bad ones are the people who should have known better than to mess with a writer....am I right? Lol !!!

Hope that helps someone who may struggle with character building.

And yes, it is completely legal, and if you have any fears of it not being so then mix and match names and information.

I run speech-to-text in either MS Word or Google Docs. I skim the page as I listen. Typos and awkward dialog stand out like a neon sign, and tracking where I am on the page lets me do a quick scribble for a later correction. It also highlights where prose is long or clunky. Again, a quick note scribbled in the margins for a rewrite. This always gives me a fresh perspective on my draft.

I can do math, I swear😢

Remarkably good list.

The trick that I have used (don't remember where I first saw it) is to turn off your screen when writing. This prevents you from dropping into edit mode when you're writing, so it's easier to maintain momentum.

Also, when you go back to a piece written this way, while you will have lots of errors, you have a built-in excuse for them, so you're likely to have a lower emotional attachment to your 'deathless' prose and might find it easier to rip things apart when they need it.

Obviously, this works best if you're a touch typist. 8-)

To me the thing that helped me the most was consistency. I had my daily objective to write 300 words almost every day for almost two years. Even if I was aware what I wrote wasn't the best and not what I had in mind, I continued writing, I would fix later what I didn't like.

Also, my main advice is to stick with one project and not start new ones. You have new ideas? Good, try to re-adapt them to the already existing project, add depth to your work.

I'm definitely not a successful writer. Heck, English is not even my first language, but I still managed to publish my book and even get a physical copy, and when you hold for the first time the thing you have worked so hard for in your hands, it doesn't matter if it will be successful or not, it doesn't matter if it's a masterpiece or a piece of crap, you'll still love that feeling.

One last thing: write because you love to write, not for success or money.

Oh my Gosh... A writing Tipps Video that's not XXX hours long? I am BLESSED! xD I have wrote a few different scenes in my cute little Notebook at work and after years I opened my self written Novels again (bcs I never had time or energy for it. idk why...) and that got my creativity skyrocketing or so. :D And I like the Tipps you gave. I will try them out when I can ^^ <3

As a writer
I use grammarly and speechify.

I see all the errors
I need to remove and
I hear how it sounds out loud
while looking at the words
in Google Docs.

You have a great voice. Keep doing what your doing!

The name change is a wonder-filled idea

I know this is such a random thing to say but you remind me so much of Billie Eilish . You both have this chill, down-to-earth vibe and it's amazing <3

Favorite weird writing hacks:
1) I help put myself into the mood to write, kind of like a ritual, usually around 6:00pm or later (it has to be dark outside), I make a fresh pot of coffee and blast synthwave music in my headphones.
2) Playing games counts as research.

Great video. Love your relaxing and conversational style.

I like to write out the internal conflict of my characters before starting a scene.
For instance recent:
Happy to be alive - freaked out by close touch with death
Upset adult isn’t concerned about brothers injuries - understands the bigger picture
Thankful brother is alive - upset the injury wasn’t prevented.

Having her thoughts in mind helps put more tension into the scene.

novelpad is neat but I'm a lifetime Dabble writer girlie

Number 4 is the one I do ALWAYS :)

Quick and informative! I dislike long videos, but this was very direct! Thanks!!

One thing/tip I think about a lot because honestly I can be QUITE the people pleaser, is write the book you want to read. Because if you are writing for like a cash grab, or you just hate it, or you think that if you do “blah blah blah” nobody will read it, you aren’t going to feel as motivated to finish it. There’s less passion. Sometimes when I’ve been in a rut, feeling too constrained by my perceived expectations of the people around me or my personal expectations, just thinking “what do I want to read” can really help.

This is gold.

I like to make sure there is an escape from the immersion if it gets too intense for some people, as writing has triggers for some.

On point 2: I often find that the last thing I write is the strongest because it puts everything I've said prior into one line.
I refer to it as spiral talking but it's where I talk about a point to myself, often writing it down in the process, and I end up talking around and around the point, gradually it makes more sense, and then it just clicks. Like a spiral.

I like to keep specific songs in a playlist for each type of scene. That way if I struggle to feel exactly how the characters would feel, I can feel it through the music.

Your voice is cool.

Short, efficient and to the point. Thank you.

This hack seems weird to me, but I almost guarantee someone else does it, is to put your favourite music in and do something else- work out, go for a walk, cook something or have lunch, maybe drive or play a videogame.
At surface level that just sounds like blatant procrastination, but then like Hannah here has mentioned a few times you subconsciously work on these problems, and that helps me a lot. I can't count the number of times I just got up, went on a walk, and came back with golden ideas and a new drive. Thanks for the tips!

For me, I have a couple servers on discord. Both rp based, one is private, the other was meant to be more of a campaign setting.
And I've found writing in there at least keeps me writing something. Theres no obligation for start, finish, i can write/rp my characters and work on where I want them to go. I dont need to be organized which is great, cuz i suck at that XD
Not really a hack i suppose, just something that i found fun and kinda works for me so far.

My favorite one is to stop writing while you still have ideas. I write my ideas out when I write and it may take me two weeks to write again because I've ran out of ideas so great tip.

I wasn't expecting this video to be this helpful. Don't get me wrong but I find that a lot of advise never really works for me or the person giving the advice just rambles around the point. HOWEVER this was so straight to the point and the ideas were fresh and interesting - I am amazed! Thank you😍

Bro this is actually really helpful

Those times whenever I want to destroy a character, I go 'what would shou tucker do?'. Then the populations of humans and dogs go down a little.

"Cause writers dont know how to shut up" i feel attacked 😂😂😂 but its ok cause its truth for me anyway.

I know this is an old video but reading outloud over the draft helps me cause my brain will process the words better.

Hannah, you are fun to watch and listen to. Clearly a very sharp mind. Keep up the good work. I’ll check out your books. And don’t get the sleeve tat. Just don’t.

I enjoy connecting my senses to my books. for instance, for my fantasy novel about a young girl taken in by a tavern owner, I listen to tavern noise. I turn the lights down and I have a lamp that flickers like a flame, and I even have a candle burning that smells like fresh baked cookies. for my novel about a girl learning to be a fairy, I listen to forests sounds, make sure I have lots of natural light, and light a candle that smells woodsy. now that I have trained myself like that, if I'm ever struggling trying to write, I just light the right candle or play the right sounds and bam! brain go vroom!

I rarely like writing advice videos, but this was all really good advice. Some I already do, but some are just great ideas I will try next time I'm having trouble.

Tip 3 is actually how I do research—if I do everything in one day, I don’t feel as motivated the next day. Having something you want to do the next day is super helpful in avoiding burnout.

Something that might actually help now that it's out, is to make AI chat bot(s) of your character(s). Not only is the process of writing down characteristics in natural language, W++ or Boost a process itself to really solidify and narrow down their traits, but you learn to get to the meat of what they are. It's been helpful for me to think of single or double word descriptors to condense what really makes them who they are IE Cocky, Self-assured, Patient, Capricious, Egalitarian, Stoic etc. As well as interacting with them to see how they "flow" in conversation that isn't written by my own brain. You can RP with them as a character yourself or talk to them as their creator or "user". You can also tell how fleshed out they are through this. I've known for a while 3 of my characters are not well fleshed out and the other 5 are much more, with 2 or 3 in particular having the most proverbial meat on their bones. Writing a bot for each of them (which anyone can do, you don't need to know coding) has helped me see where they need tuning or more "meat".

I’ve been seeing this video recommended to me for like a year LMAO. Love this!!! Also Loved the 5 week video. Haven’t heard of novel pad, I’ve been on scrivener…can you please elaborate on..”ate my story”😭😭

This seems really obvious but it takes a while to actually do in practice, but if you are feeling a big emotion, sit down and write a scene with that emotion. Not only has this produced some of my best writing, but-and I will die on this hill- istg it's made my mental health better too

My favourite is writing like its a letter. Like ur telling another character what Character A did that day, eho they interacted with, did Characters A and B meet up with C? Character D know but E doesn’t, because A and B are mad at E. And then all the sudden i have a few chapters once i add a bit more context

I have a personal unorthodox rule that breaks storywriting. If you don’t want to write a character that is repetitive (such as tragic or pure evil for no reason), go for someone new that challenges the norms of society without being a part of it.

I am a young writer (11) and often get discouraged as it often takes me a while to write. I currently have my new novel started and I’m on page 25! I’m trying to make more plans about my novel, world building, character building, etc. Let me know some tips on what websites, apps, etc. I can use to help me! Have a great day! 😊 Ty! 👍

A mentor once said to me:
Writing books is easy.
Writing GOOD books is hard.