Matthew Wayne Selznick Creates

005: Become a Better Writer Faster

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A call for writing advice led me to seriously consider the best “shortcut” I know to become a better writer. It’s not a book. It’s not “butt in chair” or “writers write.”

And it’s not a shortcut.

But if you’re just starting out as any kind of storyteller, cultivating this skill will shave years of effort from your writing practice… and maybe even make you a better human being in the process.

It’s empathy.

Listen to find out the how and the why… then come on back here and leave a comment to tell me what you think!

Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode

Here are some of the things I talk about in this episode. Many of these links are to products and services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase those products and services through my links.

  • The beginning of this episode suffered from a lot of background noise that I think I scrubbed out of the audio you hear. The cause? Turns out my window was open. Urk.
  • This episode kicks off with my monthly transparency report detailing my revenue and social reach in the month of May, 2018.
  • Listen to episode two of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, “State of the Start.”
  • My social media hubs on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
  • The books I mention as focusing on writing theory over craft:
    • Aristotle’s Poetics
    • The Art Of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
    • Story by Robert McKee
    • The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
    • Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
    • “I am large, I contain multitudes” comes from Walt Whitman’s classic poem Song of Myself.
    • “Get To Know Your Worst Self,” my Scribtotum article featuring an exercise to write better antagonists.
    • I have not-kind things to say about Pacific Rim... but you can still learn about storytelling from the movie!
    • Brené Brown explains the difference between empathy and sympathy in a talk from The RSA that’s been adapted into an adorable cartoon.
    • “The unexamined life is not worth living” was purportedly spoken by Socrates at his trial, as described by Plato in The Apology of Socrates.
    • Sam Raimi created a fun, silly, Hercules TV series starring Kevin Sorbo… and it was light as air, and each episode blew out of one’s awareness just as soon as it was over.
    • You know who Han Solo is.
    • Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is my ongoing serial fiction project available exclusively to my patrons. Read the first three installments and then get the rest for as little as $1.00 per month!
      • What Do You Think?

      So what do you think? Is empathy over-rated as an important skill for writers and other storytellers? How do you use empathy when you’re writing? Do you even empathize..?  Let’s hear from you in the comments!

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      This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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      Matthew Wayne Selznick CreatesBy Matthew Wayne Selznick
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