How to Improve Your Sentences when Writing | Ask a Bestselling Writer

New York Times-bestselling author Joshua Fields Millburn talks about improving your sentences by knowing when to show and when to tell. Download our free ebook, 15 WAYS TO WRITE BETTER: howtowritebetter.org.
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[@wilsonh3164]

I am the Wilson who posed this question one year ago in the How to Write Better course general forum. It was my very first post upon enrolling. Reviewing the blog post I was writing, which prompted the question, I not only agree with JFMs assessment of the one sentence, but the whole thing is just wordy. Hearing my question answered in this podcast was a nice surprise, and I'm looking forward to re-writing the post with this gift of a great first line (plus the vast improvement I've made as a writer since then). Thanks, Joshua! And yes, the course was worth every penny, and then some.

[@Polyester_Avalanche]

"Subtract, subtract, subtract." What a minimalist.

[@tekannon7803]

What an amazing thing words are and how putting them in just the right way can make them into wisdom.

[@nancymadsen3834]

I am so glad to find your videos. My story is about how my husband and I are related, and trying to put it on paper is one of the most challenging things I've ever done. Oh, we are related, but not by blood. Your videos are a great inspiration. Thank you

[@elaineclaire7063]

" its not by adding more, its by removing that with the subtractions." is all about editing, less is more.

[@eazzinaro]

Interesting. Btw, my mother always said that the word, "got" was the laziest verb in the English language. I Never use that word in conversation and can be seen pausing to recreate my words while eliminating that word. Good advice, I think.

[@YanaLet]

The red corvette as an example of midlife crisis. Just described my ex with his crisis at that age 😅. Can not be better example that this 👌💯

[@iahorvath]

Great reworked sentence! I love it.

[@pammccubbin6975]

I learned something. Thanks

[@Tommy_007]

Instead of receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, I studied forty videos about elegant sentences.

[@user-ch8rr6ey9l]

I tend to be better at telling than showing; this is a great example of turning a tell into a show. Many thanks!

[@sandaruravihari8499]

great video! learned a lot

[@whyamisick]

Solid advice. Thank you for sharing this.

[@claireconnolly969]

Really good advice, thank you for sharing! I will be working through the videos.

[@griffinkirkland9087]

thank you for making youtube awesome

[@melissamacclean1859]

Thanks for sharing!

[@viraj1805]

Thank you for sharing such videos, easy to undertsand

[@MandolinSecrets]

Thanks Joshua! This advice helps my songwriting.

[@Thecelebritystudio]

Thoughts of parenthood, a red convertible and travel were dumped as I faced a certain mid life crisis with weary eyes and weak knees.

[@devorahhjones3358]

Good advice - easy to understand!

[@AbidTaladar-jb8yb]

Sir how to improve written style

[@user-jb4uq5fd4q]

Sgoinneil!

[@cyrus9912]

Promo-SM 😬

[@movingpicutres99]

But did parenthood cause the delay or even cancellation of a midlife crises? The improved versions jump to conclusions. An outside observer might do that. The first person narrator is gingerly exploring a range of possibilities. With uncertainty.

[@stephenwalker2924]

Parenthood supercedes the red corvette (a stand-in symbol for a mid-life crisis). So parenthood displaces, replaces or supplants said crisis.

[@corley-ai]

How could that sentence NOT be improved?

[@BetterThanNada1]

Instead of buying a red corvette, I conceived a child at age 40, implies the child was 40 when it was conceived. Might it be better to say, Instead of buying a red corvette, at age 40 I conceived a child?

[@stephenwalker2924]

Everyone knows it is impossible to have a baby who would be middle-aged at birth. There is no such thing as an old baby; that oxymoron is self-contradictory. Babies by definition are young: newborn. So the implied meaning you describe does not exist. Not a problem.

[@BetterThanNada1]

@@stephenwalker2924 It depends on what genre you're writing. :-)

[@stephenwalker2924]

@@BetterThanNada1 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?

[@BetterThanNada1]

@@stephenwalker2924 Precisely. :-)