500 Ways to Write Harder

by Chuck Wendig

“Chuck Wendig’s Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey is full of the kind of writing advice I wish I’d gotten in school. Practical, brutally honest, and done with the kind of humor that will make it stick in your brain. Whether you’re a veteran writer or new to the craft, you’ll find something useful in here. Plus he says ‘fuck’ a lot, so, you know, there’s that.”

– Stephen Blackmoore, author of Dead Things

500 Ways To Write Harder aims to deliver a volley of micro-burst idea bombs and advisory missiles straight to your frontal penmonkey cortex. Want to learn more about writing, storytelling, publishing, and living the creative life? This book contains a high-voltage dose of information about outlining, plot twists, writer’s block, antagonists, writing conferences, self-publishing, and more.

All this, straight from the sticky blog pages of terribleminds.com, one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (as named by Writer’s Digest).

This book contains the following chapters:

25 Bad Writer Behaviors
25 Hard Truths About Writing & Publishing
25 Steps To Becoming A Self-Published Author
25 Steps To Edit The Unmerciful Suck Out Of Your Story
25 Things To Do Before You Start Your Novel
25 Things You Should Know About Antagonists
25 Things You Should Know About Conventions & Conferences
25 Things You Should Know About Metaphor
25 Things You Should Know About Narrative Point-of-View
25 Things You Should Know About Outlining
25 Things You Should Know About Worldbuilding
25 Things You Should Know About Young Adult Fiction
25 Things Writers Should Beware
25 Things Writers Should Know About Traveling
25 Turns, Pivots and Twists To Complicate Your Story
25 Ways To Be A Happy Writer
25 Ways To Get Your Authorial Groove Back
25 Ways To Survive As A Creative Person
25 Ways To Unstick A Stuck Story
25 Writer Resolutions
Appendix: 50 Rantypants Snidbits Of Writing And Storytelling Advice

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, How To, Language

216 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).

He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.

Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.

He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hands-down the best book of writing advice I've ever read. (The more level-headed among you would want to ask themselves: But how many books of writing advice has he read? ;) It's fresh, it's funny, it's fucktacular. (Contagious, too. I'm not a great pal of the f-word, normally.) Just check the quotes I liked.

It is extremely pithy and witty, and therein, I suppose, may lie its only pitfall: that each bit of advice is too short. Would it have enough time to sink in? Wouldn't it benefit from more (I mean, even more) examples? I can't really say; to me, the ideas here work as reminders and refreshers, dusting off things that I've already dug out, shining new light on them. (The only really new angle for me was the Rule of Threes: mention a gun at least twice before it goes off.) Now, how would a beginning writer take them?

Give it a try. See for yourselves.

And then, to echo Chuck Wendig: fucking start writing! ;)

[Daniel Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previous to 500 Ways to Write HarderI'd never read anything by Chuck Wendig, and I still may never. But if you're looking to kick start your writing habits, Wendig has the weirdest, most energetic, and, well, most kick butt ways of telling you to write...harder. Yes, harder.

It's a fun, foul mouthed list of 500 thoughts, insights and ideas to help the budding writer. Wendig divides the 500 bite size thoughts into lists of 25, dealing with character, ideas, stories, publishing, agents, critics, editing, and more. Truth to tell, I didn't really read this straight through. Rather, I have it on my mobile phone and iPad, and I would pull it out between...stuff. Outside the elevator, waiting in line, and on the porcelain throne. I'd read a couple of Wendig's "ways to write harder" and recharge my motivation to write, be awesome, and to create. I'll keep it on there, too, because writing doesn't seem to get easier, just better, with practice.

The 500 ways all seem to have one thing in common: write, write, and write more. Reading a book about writing is not writing. Writing is writing.

Which is why this review is shorter than as is typical for me. I'm going to go write.

PS. When I say "foul mouthed," I really do mean it. Wendig likes to cuss.

[Ellie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual with Chuck and this series of nsfw lists, this book is something I'll come back to again and again every time that I need inspiration and/or an ass kicking. It's beautiful, and f'ed up, and I love it. I'd write a longer review, but I have to go write everything else.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My complaint with Chuck Wendig is always going to be the same: He curses too much. He makes no apology for it, in fact celebrates himself for it, but it ultimately takes away from what seriously is great advice for writers. Because of his language - which is his stylistic thing, I understand, but is just wholly unnecessary - I cannot recommend him to students, to friends, to family who are interested in writing. And that really is a shame because the advice he offers is right on. I can learn from this man, and I can grow as a writer by reading the wisdom he shares ... but I cannot in good faith say that this is a book I feel I can recommend.

If, however, the language won't bother you (and it is sincerely plentiful and creative and interesting) and if you're interested in writing better, then this is worth the $0.99 or $2.99 or whatever it costs you (I got mine as part of HumbleBundle).

Chuck, how about an expurgated version for those of us with more conservative mindsets?

[Sunil · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read any of Chuck Wendig's previous writing books (or his blog), you know what to expect. General writing advice with style. Sure, much of what Wendig says sounds obvious, but he uses the most colorful language to get the point across. Sometimes it gets in the way of the point, but other times it actually makes the point much better than it would be otherwise. Profanity, homonyms, silliness, masturbation—you'll find them all here in the service of making you a better writer. Truly, the most appealing thing about Wendig's writing advice is his passion for writing and writers: he wants you—yes, you—to write, to write, to WRITE, and to create the art that only you can create. Reading these tips is an inspirational kick in the pants.

[Lene · Rating 3 out of 5]

So alright. You have a hugely successful writer who is shitloads of fun and profanity and judging by his Twitter and all independent accounts is an all around great guy giving you writing advice, so nothing can go wrong, right? Right?
Well.
This book is all right, I guess. It contains a lot of solid writing advice, and also a lot of advice that is anything but solid but might just work. For someone. Not for you, certainly, but that doesn't matter much, since there is still a lot of good advice left for you. Whether the format is a good solution is debatable though, I find advices numbered 1-500 (plus BONUS ADVICE!) not particularly fitting for a field as complex as writing. And the style... Listen, I'd never thought I'd say this one day, but after a while you get tired of the profanity and the whimsical non sequiturs. They are fun for a while, but they always stay the same and the entertainment factor is worn out.
Then again, I got the book for about a buck, I knew it was just a collection of blog posts and I certainly got my money's worth and then some. As I said, some solid advice in there. Could have been better, sure, but not bad.

[Miguel Ángel Alonso Pulido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo que reconocer que este libro me ha gustado bastante más de lo que pensaba, y mira que el planteamiento no me parecía bueno: una serie de listas con pequeños consejos y reflexiones para el escritor, hasta totalizar las 500 maneras del título. El caso es que uno va leyendo una lista, luego otra, luego otra y al final el humor cachondo de Wendig y sus geniales metáforas te va ganando. Y la guinda te la pone cuando estás terminando; si solo puedes leer una lista para inspirarte, debes leer el apéndice con sus 50 retazos irreverentes de consejos sobre escritura y narrativa. No te arrepentirás en absoluto.

[Shaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing like a pep-talk from wacky Uncle Chuck. There are some good pointers in this book. It is best taken as a collection of humor-infused, brass-tacks bits of advice that are intended to keep you on the writer saddle (there’s a saddle right? We all have saddles).
Wendig doesn’t go too deeply into any of the topics. He mainly gives a quick line or two about each subtopic and moves on. It feels like some honest conversational advice from a long-time penmonkey. It’s entertaining, even if he occasionally repeats himself, gets drunk, and takes his pants off.

[Samantha Rochon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love anything by Chuck. Packed full of tasty nuggets of wisdom, it's not exactly mind blowing news but it is helpful. Especially if you are a writer still wet behind the ears. Great for new and old writers, Chuck has a way of spinning things you know so you look at it again with fresh eyes. Plus, its Chuck. No boring monotone "thou shall do" items, lots of humor and a dash of naughty (often made up) words.

[A.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

GR lists 146 distinct works for Wendig and he’s now writing the new Star Wars books; the man knows his stuff. If you haven’t read any of his blogs they are always helpful, sometimes serious, occasionally profound, and usually profane.
If that offends you, don’t go there…
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/

I joked on Twitter the other day about the “Seven Habits Of Successful Writers,” which, really, isn’t a joke at all. The seven habits of successful and effective writers?
1. Write
2. Write
3. Write More
4. Keep Writing
5. Finish Writing
6. Rewrite
7. Go Write Something Else
(To clarify, that’s not meant to be weighted unfairly against rewriting which, by the way, is just writing.)(Kindle Locations 155-160)

Like the other books in this series (I bought them in a bundle from Chuck’s website) he divides them up into 25 points under each heading.

Table of Contents
25 Bad Writer Behaviors
25 Hard Truths About Writing & Publishing
25 Steps To Becoming A Self-Published Author
25 Steps To Edit The Unmerciful Suck Out Of Your Story
25 Things To Do Before You Start Your Novel
25 Things You Should Know About Antagonists
25 Things You Should Know About Conventions & Conferences
25 Things You Should Know About Metaphor
25 Things You Should Know About Narrative Point-of-View
25 Things You Should Know About Outlining
25 Things You Should Know About Worldbuilding
25 Things You Should Know About Young Adult Fiction
25 Things Writers Should Beware
25 Things Writers Should Know About Traveling
25 Turns, Pivots and Twists To Complicate Your Story
25 Ways To Be A Happy Writer
25 Ways To Get Your Authorial Groove Back
25 Ways To Survive As A Creative Person
25 Ways To Unstick A Stuck Story
25 Writer Resolutions
Appendix: 50 Rantypants Snidbits Of Writing And Storytelling Advice

The editing steps are brilliant. And this quote:

The biggest and best test of an antagonist is that I want to a) love to hate them and/or b) hate to love them. Do either or both and it's a major win. If you make me love them and I feel uncomfortable about that? You win. If you make me despise them and I love despising them the way a dog loves to roll around in gopher guts? You win again. I hate that I love Hans Gruber. I love that I hate every Nazi in every Indiana Jones movie. For fuck's sake, make me feel something. That, after all, is one of the great and undiscussed goals of storytelling. (Kindle Locations 1077-1083).

Chuck admits to being a pantser by nature but a plotter by necessity.

I tried writing one novel, Blackbirds, over the course of several years. And the story just kept wandering around like an old person lost at K-Mart. It felt aimless, formless, like I couldn’t quite get it to make sense, couldn’t get the damn thing to add up and become a proper story. Eventually, while in a mentorship with a screenwriter, he told me to outline it. (Kindle Locations 1606-1610).

Plotted out, it took months to complete and became his debut novel.

Write What You Know is one of those pieces of writing advice that inspires glorious epiphany and pants-pooping rage in equal measure. Genre fiction tends to be where folks hit their heads against it in frustration: "Well, how can I write about murder scenes, alien apocalypses, or humping a sexy elf? I'VE ONLY DONE TWO OUT OF THE THREE. And the third, I was really drunk on monkey schnapps." With worldbuilding, the question becomes: how can this advice hold up? The easy answer is: it doesn't.

Exactly.
I witnessed an argument on twitter this week where an author pointed out that your medieval fantasy world is wrong if it has potatoes in it. (South America wasn’t discovered then).
And a guy popped in to argue about putting gay people in it as well demonstrating his ignorance of both gays and potatoes.
Chuck deals with that persona, too.

If you're firmly ensconced in your mini-mansion sitting on top of Heteronormative White Dude Mountain, you should cast an extra-long look at any presuppositions in your worldbuilding and sniff for the acrid tang of privilege sprayed all over from your White Dude scent glands. The result of worldbuilding in genre fiction seem to skew strongly toward White Dudes, and this is frequently excused in some way -- "Well, in the Middle Ages, women were basically sexy goats and dudes were the shepherds and I'm just being authentic and something-something slaves and blah-blah-the-Moors--" Mmm, uh-uh, bzzt, wrongo. First: you don't need to be "authentic" to history in genre fiction that does not use actual history. Second, history is a lot more nuanced than you think. Third, we know you're just using that as an excuse, so just stop it. You're embarrassing yourself. For shame. *shakes head* (Kindle Locations 1763-1768).

45. The Secret The secret to writing is so simple it tickles: Write as much as you can. As fast as you can. Finish your shit. Hit your deadlines. Try very hard not to suck. That's it. That's my secret. Don't tell anyone or I'll charge you with espionage and shit in your fish tank. (Kindle Locations 3373-3376).

It’s great advice.
So dooo eeet!
5 stars

[Gareth Otton · Rating 4 out of 5]

500 Ways to Write Harder by Chuck Wendig is a very easy book to read and digest. The fact that it is broken up into 500 easy to swallow nuggets of information makes it a breeze to find what you're looking for and absorb what you read.

Personally, I would use this as a reference book. There were lots of pearls of wisdom here but not all of them are going to be relevant all the time. The section and subheadings throughout the book would make it easy to find what you need to know at a later date, as and when you need them..

That being said a quick pre-read might be in order to make sure you aren't missing out on information you didn't even know you would need.

Overall this is a good book filled with very useful information. But, be warned that the language used in it is beyond colourful and it is certainly not a book for the faint hearted. It didn't bother me personally but it is the reason why this book lost a star in my review.

I can see the funny side of such word choices and indeed I like the author's sense of humour, so I enjoyed the book. But I would hesitate before recommending it to others as it's kind of like recommending that people watch South Park. Some people are going to find it a work of hilarious genius, and others are going to be deeply offended.

So you've been warned. If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, then definitely buy this book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you already like Wendig, which I do, and want to write or improve your writing then this is a decent read. If you're a follower of his blog then you've seen some of this already. If you don't know Wendig from his other work then this is likely to be jarring and off putting. Let's face it, Wendig is an asshole, but he's my kind of asshole. While nothing more than a series of profanity ridden lists the actual writing advice here is simple, straightforward, and something that every aspiring writer should hear. Some may say that the same could be accomplished without the vulgarity but then it would Chuck Wendig, would it?

Don't go in to this expecting a formula for a successful novel, you'll be disabused of that notion very quickly. This of this as chicken soup for the writers soul, as given out by a complete bastard. If you're not the sort to get your panties in a wad over a little language, and want to know what actually goes in to the writing process then pick this up.

[Lou Sytsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blunt, funny, and honest look at the writing process and writing work ethic. Wendig's advice boils down to the two main mantras - read and write - and adds the bald truth that it is up to you, and only you, as to how much writing you will accomplish.

There is no yesterday. Or tomorrow. There is only today. Only NOW is the moment when you can write so ...write.

The book is structured like a Letterman Top Ten List but the topics have 25 items instead of 10.

Wendig has a sharp tongue and I laughed out aloud several times.

Great book for writers - especially if you feel in a rut or need a motivational kick in the pants.

[Andrea Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Wendig knocks it out of the park. This book will make you laugh and get you off your lazy hands and back to writing. He provides great advice and isn't afraid to be as blunt as he needs to be. The truth hurts and Wendig isn't afraid to swing that bat around your head a few times.
The topics vary and present a wide, general overview of writing and the behind the scenes of it, as well as a look at publishing styles and what to be wary of.
A great collection that I recommend every writer read.

[Donald Jessop · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest my expectations were low for this one and I was very pleasantly surprised. While some may not like his straightforward manner I found his voice to be refreshing and brutally, really brutally honest. The 500 ways are not lengthy and I am sure that if you go to his blog (http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog/) you will find more detailed information on most of the items, but the compilation of them in one spot was perfect for me. It provided me bite sized segments of insight into Chuck Wendig and the publishing industry. I'm just not sure which one scares me more.

[Elisabeth Kauffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chuck, you are the best. I love your no-bullshit, plain speaking take in writing advice. Your blog is where I go when I need to get my inner penmonkey fired up to scare away the self-doubt monsters. This book is full of classic Chuck Wendig metaphor and hyperbole and I laughed out loud more than once causing people to stare at me with confusion and mild terror.

I took lots of reference notes and kept many encouraging quotes to revisit when I need the inspiration. Thanks Chuck!!!

[Aleksandar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay. It's not a serious writing help book, nor does it try to be. It can be humourous at times, but more often than not, that's the only thing that's holding it up. And that can get tiresome after plowing through list after list. For that reason, I'd really recommend not reading this book in a single sitting, but rather when you need some inspiration.

[Amanda Antonelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really been struggling with writing lately, and this is a book that understands that struggle. It faces the writer's mind, the banging-head-against-the-wall frustration, with humor, honesty, and and reckless glee. This is the first writer's companion piece I had fun reading, and it made me want to write. I can't give it higher praise than that.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of deceptively simple truths about writing that had me laughing til I cried while also giving me a kick in the pants to get on with, you know, actual writing. Oh, and a lot of profanity. A lot. But in a funny way.

[Katherine Hayward Pérez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some good advice amongst alot of swear words. Whoever thought gelling with readers is achieved by using a swear word every other word is wrong. I read the sample and can't bring myself to buy the full ebook. The writing advice was really mediocre.

[Lanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the "list" style. Also feels similar to a favorite of mine, Baltazar Gracian's The Art of Prudence.

Plenty of humor while offering very good advices and remainders for every style and gender of writing.

[M.A. Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

That's it. I have to read Mockingbirds.

[Nikki Yager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read.

[Durand Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots of good ideas, and more than it's share of good hard talk about getting off your duff and writing. No pretense. Really enjoyed this book

[Bren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing advice - just get past the profanity.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motivating! Makes me wanna go write some $#@&!
(review edited for language, unlike this book)

[Adam Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid book on writing from Chuck Wendig, filled with his trademark profanity and wit - oh, and writing advice, of course. There's some of that too.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's some great tips in here, and Chucks awesome sense of humour makes them memorable.

[M Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wendig is offensive and crude and brilliant and concise.
If you want to be a better writer, pay attention when those that make a living give advice.

[Vanwhelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, crass, and helpful.