I’m A Failed Writer #8: Fresh Ways To Look At Your Crappy Writing

By
Nov 25 20
(failed writer video)

There’s a saying in the presentation world: “once you need your wife to film you naked for a presentation, you’ve gotten too desperate.” OK. That’s not really a saying… But it should be.

In any case, I hope you find some of this presentation useful. I took the tremendous risk of getting my wife to film me naked for this video (which is risky for both my presentation gig and my marriage) because I wanted to show you many of the ways I try to get a fresh look at my own writing. Let’s see if it pays off…

(For the full scoop, check out my blog post at Writer Unboxed.)

I’m going to take a month off from the I’m a failed writer series to do a little work on my upcoming novel release (Fall 2012). I’ll be back in January with the series.

(But I still hope to make a short presentation in December about how I make my presentations… Michael Schechter, this is your fault.)

Click here to view other “I’m a failed writer” videos.

Click here to view all my videos.

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17 comments
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tlalinne
tlalinne

Don't know why but this reminds me of Salvatore Dalì who used to paint naked in the sun covered with flies.

Who knows, maybe it also works while writing ;-)

"I adore flies. I am only happy in the sun, naked and covered with flies’ -- Dali, Salvador (1966, 159) in Diary of a Genius. Trans. Richard Howard. London: Hutchinson.

Craig McBreen
Craig McBreen

Well,Yuvi, This was very informative and helpful AND I'm all for making my writing less crappy. I'm not sure the shower scene was really necessary, but there is this thing called creative expression. ;)

Anyway, love the ideas you've presented here. I never really thought of reading to a mirror. I wouldn't take off my pants and do this, but hey, whatever gets those creative juices flowing again.

Just subscribed and glad I found you over at Erin's place. It looks like I have more than a few videos to view here.

fergusonsarah
fergusonsarah

Nice presentation. I think writer's need to have good materials or ideas to be able to be a good writer.

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yuvizalkow
yuvizalkow moderator

@fergusonsarah Thanks for the feedback. I agree that a writer needs good material, but I also think that in the early drafts it's not always easy to distinguish the good from the bad. Or sometimes, what seems "bad" actually has a nugget of goodness in there, and it can take a fresh perspective to see it that way... Or something like that...

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jaifarris
jaifarris like.author.displayName 1 Like

Oddly, this was helpful. I recently discovered an iPad app called Write&Say that reads your stuff back to you. It does help to have the boring computer voice read it to you. Sometimes I think we take ourselves way too seriously and forget to have fun with our writing. Thanks for reminding me to have fun Yuvi....

yuvizalkow
yuvizalkow moderator

@jaifarris Oh cool. The Write & Say app sounds great... That is one thing I miss on my iPhone: a way to do easy text to speech... Thanks for the feedback!

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Charlotte74
Charlotte74 like.author.displayName 1 Like

I think you're right - it's not writer's block it's about finding the right voice, and shining a fresh light on your writing is important. Great presentaion.

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FrankDickinson
FrankDickinson

I vote that Serena likes it a lot - your writing that is :)

Okay - the truth of the matter is very simple about this presentation:

1. It is your best so far

2. It failed because I am a list junkie and you did not number your fresh ways - duh - everyone in the blogosphere knows that you number your tips for morons like me.

3. When showing @MSchechter how you make these - you can lay off the taping naked in the shower part.

4. Great content with several takeaways for me!

Excellent - as always my friend.

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yuvizalkow
yuvizalkow moderator

Thanks for the feedback, @FrankDickinson . You know, I originally *did* have them numbered, but then it just flowed better without numbers... I didn't want to interrupt the elephant when he was on a roll...

As for Michael Schechter and anyone interested in my presentations --- my biggest fear is that every single one of my subsequent presentations will now include me naked. Perhaps I'll rename the series: I'm a Failed and Naked Presentation Maker.

MSchechter
MSchechter like.author.displayName 1 Like

@yuvizalkow@FrankDickinson Don't fall into Frank's number track. You're better than that Yuvi. Frank isn't, he's exactly that type of number guy, but not you. You don't need no stinking numbers... Unless you're doing a presentation called 5 reasons why Frank likes numbered lists... then it is perfectly acceptable, if not required.

Now as for the renaming... I'm not one to tell a man how to live his life (he lied), but I think you're missing an opportunity here. Why combine them when you can attract two entirely different audiences. Keep I'm a Failed Writer going as is and then create, I'm a nude presentation maker...

The obvious downside is the need for more presentations, but think of the people you'd meet!

yuvizalkow
yuvizalkow moderator like.author.displayName 1 Like

@MSchechter@FrankDickinson Actually, if I'm going to break this into multiple series, I might as well go all the way:* I'm a Failed Writer* I'm a Failed Presentation Maker* I'm Naked

I may run out of ideas for the first two, but the last one has endless, horrifying possiblities.