20 Years of Writing Advice in 52 mins

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Unlock the secrets of expert writing with these 31 Writing Tools, featuring insights from literary giants like Thomas Mann, Ryan Holiday, Robert Greene, Cormac McCarthy, David Foster Wallace, Sam Harris, Dylan Thomas, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, Charles Darwin, Raymond Chandler, Philip Larkin, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, Thomas Pynchon, Paul Millerd, Nat Eliason, and even Frank Zappa.

A writing professor with 20 years of experience, William Fitzpatrick reveals powerful writing techniques—like the Locomotive Effect, Diacope, Enallage, Ironic Juxtaposition, and the Ladder of Abstraction—to make your writing clear, engaging, and unforgettable.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, these writing tools will help you connect with readers and solve their problems. Perfect for writers seeking creativity and clarity, this video breaks down complex concepts with examples from Steinbeck, Eliot, and even Monty Python, ensuring your prose sings like Zappa’s solos. Watch now to level up your writing.

Timestamps
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00:00 The #1 thing holding writers back (ft. Thomas Mann)
01:06 Declutter your sentence with the locomotive effect (ft. Ryan Holiday)
02:38 Make it strange with Enallage (ft. Cormac McCarthy & Dylan Thomas)
04:26 Don't write at a 5th grade level (unless of course you're writing for fifth graders) (ft. Richard Hanania)
06:16 Hemingway vs Faulkner vs Mark effin' Manson
08:04 Create tension with Ironic Juxtaposition (ft. T.S. Eliot & Monty Python)
09:36 Promote persuasion with Alliteration (ft. Mark Forsyth)
10:55 Move up and down the Ladder of Abstraction (ft. F. Scott Fitzgerald)
12:19 Make lines pithy and memorable with Polyptoton (ft. Jay-Z, the Beatles, Carl Jung)
13:28 Give force to statements (and use semicolons) with Antithesis (ft. Oscar Wilde)
14:38 Remember that writing is a Conversation (ft. David Foster Wallace & Paul Millerd)
18:39 Write vivid descriptions with Synesthesia (ft. Raymond Chandler & David Abram)
21:38 Write memorable one-liners with Diacope (ft. Bond, James Bond)
24:29 Motivate your readers with Prolepsis (ft. Ernest Hemingway & Philip Larkin)
25:45 Establish vivid context with Congeries (ft. David Foster Wallace)
27:51 Bring your favorite writers into your voice by Stealing Style (ft. Walter Benn Michaels)
29:56 Let your ideas grow and evolve by Collecting Scraps (ft. Robert Greene, Kendrik Lamar & Rick Rubin)
32:08 Characters in Subjects, Actions in Verbs
33:44 Find the Engine of the story (ft. Cormac McCarthy)
35:15 Write valuably with Problem Statements
37:36 Avoid clichés (like the plague!) (ft. George Orwell)
39:02 Understate the Serious, Overstate the Light (ft. Steven Spielberg)
40:32 Allow Interesting Names to invite you into their story (ft. Thomas Pynchon)
41:53 Meet your reader at their door with a Bilbo Moment (ft. Sam Harris & Nat Eliason)
44:22 Write like Frank Zappa
45:56 A-A-B Structure for presenting examples
47:00 Move beyond mere description with Analytical Writing
47:53 Beware Zombie Nouns
49:00 Avoid long, introductory clauses
50:04 Don't let the object stray far from its verb