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How to Write Good
An unconventional, irreverent, yet heartfelt memoir by Ryan Higa, one of the top creators on YouTube. With pictures! And illustrations! And, y'know, words.
I know you're used to seeing me on the Internet, but here I am, coming at you in book form. You might be asking yourself, A Book? You? Why?
Great question! Why did I write a book?
Listen, I'm as surprised about it as you are. But I have a story to tell that I believe will help inspire people who are going through tough times to not only persevere through those tough times but to excel in them. And I couldn't be the only YouTuber without a book, could I?
So, welcome to Ryan Higa's How to Write Good , by me, Ryan Higa.
This is the story of how I went from being a relatively happy kid to being depressed and angry and filled with dark thoughts. This is the story of how I thought I had only one way out of this cruel world. This is the story of how I found a better way.
But wait, there's more! You're not only getting my story but you'll also learn how to write good--I mean well--from a college dropout who struggled in basic-level English classes and still became a legit, published Best Sailing Author. (That wasn't a typo. I plan to buy a boat one day...but probably not anytime soon. This book might not cell good.)
I know you're used to seeing me on the Internet, but here I am, coming at you in book form. You might be asking yourself, A Book? You? Why?
Great question! Why did I write a book?
Listen, I'm as surprised about it as you are. But I have a story to tell that I believe will help inspire people who are going through tough times to not only persevere through those tough times but to excel in them. And I couldn't be the only YouTuber without a book, could I?
So, welcome to Ryan Higa's How to Write Good , by me, Ryan Higa.
This is the story of how I went from being a relatively happy kid to being depressed and angry and filled with dark thoughts. This is the story of how I thought I had only one way out of this cruel world. This is the story of how I found a better way.
But wait, there's more! You're not only getting my story but you'll also learn how to write good--I mean well--from a college dropout who struggled in basic-level English classes and still became a legit, published Best Sailing Author. (That wasn't a typo. I plan to buy a boat one day...but probably not anytime soon. This book might not cell good.)
208 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2017
37 people are currently reading
969 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
September 12, 2017
A Few Things I Learned Reading How To Write Good:
1) His ghostwriter got paid WAY too much. "My Sensei was never not yelling, but he always had an extra note of disappointment in his yell when it was directed at me," is just painful.
2) Quite a bit of its contents can be gotten (for free) from his Draw My Life video.
3) His videos are better and way funnier. Ryan Higa is and likely always be my favorite Youtuber, but he's just not a writer. Some stories are more at home onscreen.
(I'd still freak out if I met him in real life. Keep on being awesome, Hanate)
1) His ghostwriter got paid WAY too much. "My Sensei was never not yelling, but he always had an extra note of disappointment in his yell when it was directed at me," is just painful.
2) Quite a bit of its contents can be gotten (for free) from his Draw My Life video.
3) His videos are better and way funnier. Ryan Higa is and likely always be my favorite Youtuber, but he's just not a writer. Some stories are more at home onscreen.
(I'd still freak out if I met him in real life. Keep on being awesome, Hanate)
June 27, 2019
My son found this very funny. I admit I haven’t read it, but he enjoyed it, so it was a good purchase in my mind :)
June 26, 2017
Giving a rating to this is rather hard, because it's a memoir you know? Not a fiction book like I'm used to but I wanted to challenge myself and requested that to do so. And I'm glad I did, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and actually found myself enjoying a lot of parts of it.
It felt like I was really getting to know Ryan and see all the hardships he went through, and to have that solid reminder that things DO get better. If you're into funny and quirky books with a lot of comic strips in them, I'd totally recommend this
It felt like I was really getting to know Ryan and see all the hardships he went through, and to have that solid reminder that things DO get better. If you're into funny and quirky books with a lot of comic strips in them, I'd totally recommend this
June 11, 2017
I'm sad there's no mention of Sean!
Ryan did a fantastic job bringing his unique voice to the page!
Ryan did a fantastic job bringing his unique voice to the page!
June 1, 2017
I can honestly say that I've never read a book like this before. It was uniquely written in a style that is "so Ryan". Throughout the memoir, there was humor and sarcasm as well as a look into Ryan's childhood and when he began making videos.
Even from reading the first couple of pages, I was already laughing.
Even from reading the first couple of pages, I was already laughing.
September 9, 2021
"We can break all the rules.
Because there are no rules."
July 16, 2017
Started reading: July 14, 2017
Finish reading: July 15, 2017
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆/5
[IMPORTANT NOTE] This book review contains spoilers, a lot, since I'm going to include my favorite lines, and yes I love spoilers. You've been warned! 😉✌
[ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT NOTE] I'm not really good in expressing myself in english, if you find some of my grammars off, please correct me politely so I can edit my review. Thank you. ♡
back to my not so important book review…
Okay, so yes, based on Ryan's debut book (Google said I have to write debut novel but i don't know I'm stubborn I want to use debut book) this book was about how to write good, I was expecting a pointer by pointer tutorial on how I should improve my writing. Not that I'm going to write my own book and not that Ryan is a pro in writing since, hey, this is his first book. How come Ryan is giving us tips on how to write good when basically he's not a professional and this was his first time? Lol but nah don't worry he won't disappoint you. This book gives me more than what I expected. Yesssss! If you're reading my review and you haven't read his book, believe me you'll gonna want to read it after this. I hope I'm that convincing tho. Haha
When I first heard about Ryan's book I was like, how come Ryan is publishing a book about writing when he is not a writer but a vlogger? (<---- that line was meant as a joke please don't take it too seriously). Can he write a book about videos instead? Oh sorry I underestimated him right there. But haha Ryan said he got some help with the co-author Sarah Tomlinson, so I guess it's okay. Right, Ryan? But still, why are you writing about writing?
If you are like me who take the title too literally (and skipped the author's note), I bet you're surprised as well. Because as much as the title said, this book is not just about writing good, How To Write Good is a 1) tutorial slash 2) Ryan's memoir that's written (better) like a YA novel slash 3) self help slash 4) collection of qoute you may use on your twitter bio (kidding, quotes that may inspire you and save your life). It's like different genre in one book, how's that possible? Only Ryan Higa can do that y'all!
1) Ryan still gave us some pointers about writing your own book, thanks Tomlinson, for the help! From Characters to back story to prologue and epilogue. But I guess those were just an excuse, this book is actually a memoir. I'm sorry I skipped the author's note. 😅
2) Yes! This book is actually Ryan's memoir. Ryan gave us a glimpse of pre-debut Ryan Higa, the little, young Ryan I want to protect because after reading this book he became more precious to me! Like "come here young Ryan, let me love you". Watching old video of Ryan already gave me the idea that he's bullied when he was a kid. But I never thought he actually got some suicidal tendencies. My heart is aching for young Ryan. 😭
“If this is what life is like, wouldn’t it be better to be dead?”
"The thought of dying didn’t scare me—it was the getting-dead part I was having a problem with."
Funny because I totally can relate myself with suicidal Ryan. From sleeping pills to cutting my wrist to jumping off a building, all those thoughts including the excuses on why I can't do it were all the same.
"Now I just had to figure out a way to do it.
My first idea was to overdose on sleeping pills. But my mind was logical about this too."
"I thought I could slit my wrists. But that would hurt too. So that was out.
I thought I could jump off a building. But I was afraid of heights. So that was out too.
I wasn’t sure how I’d do it. But I knew I’d do it if I had to."
Don't worry, HTWG is not that depressing, like I said this book was written better than a YA novel. Aha! I'm not fond of reading memoirs, there I said it. But there's something in his story that can't stop me from reading it. Ryan Higa made one of a kind memoir here, he gives another flavor from your typical memoir book.
3) Again, this is not that depressing. I may have felt really sad about Ryan's middle school life, but like any other protagonist from your YA novel, of course Ryan made his comeback. It's inspiring how he stole the spotlight from his bullies. If you're being bullied, this book may help you, learn from Ryan's experience. I'm not saying it's easy, it's never easy on young Ryan, I bet on you too. What I'm saying is, instead of beating yourself on how miserable your life is, think of something that will make your life at least a little better.
"Rather than think about ways to die, I now focused on ways to live."
The world is already harsh on you, please be gentle on yourself, darling. 😊
4) Quotes!!!! One of the things I love in reading are the quotes, quotes I can relate with. And man~ HTWG and Ryan nailed it.
"A Happy Meal is not enough happiness to live on." only Ryan Higa can make a quote out of happy meals. 🙌
"I’ve found that this is the best way to avoid being disappointed: Lowball yourself in life, and you’ll be fine." — Ryan Higa
"We all want to win. It’s human nature.
But there’s also some truth to the fact that winning isn’t everything." — Ryan Higa
[NOT SO IMPORTANT NOTE] I actually made a twitter thread of my favorite quotes from HTWG. Lol
https://twitter.com/dnctpnlgdmt/statu...
So there. Im glad I've read this book, but more than that, I'm glad Ryan wrote this memoir.
And to answer Ryan's question,
"I don’t know why I decided to finally start a YouTube channel that day. But aren’t you glad I did? I am."
I AM MORE THAN GLAD, I AM OVERJOYED! Thank you for sharing those videos that made us laugh, thank you for your words that inspires us and made us think. Your videos are all funny and brutally honest, I love it that way. Most of all, thank you for not giving up, thank you for not killing yourself.
"but I also knew, deep down, that I didn’t want to die. I had survived the year of regular torment; I wasn’t going to kill myself now."
THANK YOU FOR BEING AN INSPIRATION, Ryan!
How To Write Good is actually Ryan giving us a life lesson on how you have the power to change your life for the better. On how to write your own story with a good ending.
I told you, you'll learn more than a pointers on how to write good from this one, this book is really inspiring on so many levels. If you're still not convinced I don't know anymore.
[EXTRA NOTES] I have mention that I love quotes, right? And Ryan is brutally honest with his videos. I actually have this one quote from Ryan that I always keep in mind, most the of the time it helps, so thanks Ryan.
"does that really offend you or do you just think it should."
That was from his "Easily Butthurt People" video 2-3 years ago. This quote is my forever mantra in this harsh internet world. This makes me less of a jerk, tbh. I learned when to say something and when to shut up. 😂
Oh and I got my new favorite Ryan quote from HTWG…
"Just don’t care. Don’t care about anything. And you’ll be fine."
To save yourself from heart breaks, learn not to care. 😉
[SUPER DUPER EXTRA NOTES] I have some questions regarding this book, so I guess we need a book 2. Lol
• How does Ryan's mom feel after reading his book?
• Where's Nicole now?
• How's Ryan's relationship with his wrestler friends?
• What happened to his ant video?
• Does Ryan send a copy of this book to his bullies? I hope yes.
• Is Tomlinson real?
THE VERY IMPORTANT BUT LATE NOTE: I may sound rude somewhere in the beginning. That was actually a joke, I'm not really questioning Ryan's ability to write a book, sorry for my not so good humor. Plus someone from twitter enlightened me about how vlogging works. It includes writing as well. So there you go. ^^ and I adore Ryan so much just to make it extra clear.
------------------------------------
That's all! I'll end my book review here because I'm not good in writing a book review and I'm just wasting your time. If someone read this until the end please leave a "less then three" comment lol kidding. But seriously, thanks! :)
------------------------------------
Don't forget to subscribe on Ryan Higa's YouTube channels:
http://www.youtube.com/nigahiga
http://www.youtube.com/HigaTV
Ryan's Twitter & Instagram:
http://www.twitter.com/TheRealRyanHiga
http://www.instagram.com/notryanhiga
And if you want to waste more time, follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/dnctpnlgdmt 😉
Finish reading: July 15, 2017
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆/5
[IMPORTANT NOTE] This book review contains spoilers, a lot, since I'm going to include my favorite lines, and yes I love spoilers. You've been warned! 😉✌
[ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT NOTE] I'm not really good in expressing myself in english, if you find some of my grammars off, please correct me politely so I can edit my review. Thank you. ♡
back to my not so important book review…
Okay, so yes, based on Ryan's debut book (Google said I have to write debut novel but i don't know I'm stubborn I want to use debut book) this book was about how to write good, I was expecting a pointer by pointer tutorial on how I should improve my writing. Not that I'm going to write my own book and not that Ryan is a pro in writing since, hey, this is his first book. How come Ryan is giving us tips on how to write good when basically he's not a professional and this was his first time? Lol but nah don't worry he won't disappoint you. This book gives me more than what I expected. Yesssss! If you're reading my review and you haven't read his book, believe me you'll gonna want to read it after this. I hope I'm that convincing tho. Haha
When I first heard about Ryan's book I was like, how come Ryan is publishing a book about writing when he is not a writer but a vlogger? (<---- that line was meant as a joke please don't take it too seriously). Can he write a book about videos instead? Oh sorry I underestimated him right there. But haha Ryan said he got some help with the co-author Sarah Tomlinson, so I guess it's okay. Right, Ryan? But still, why are you writing about writing?
If you are like me who take the title too literally (and skipped the author's note), I bet you're surprised as well. Because as much as the title said, this book is not just about writing good, How To Write Good is a 1) tutorial slash 2) Ryan's memoir that's written (better) like a YA novel slash 3) self help slash 4) collection of qoute you may use on your twitter bio (kidding, quotes that may inspire you and save your life). It's like different genre in one book, how's that possible? Only Ryan Higa can do that y'all!
1) Ryan still gave us some pointers about writing your own book, thanks Tomlinson, for the help! From Characters to back story to prologue and epilogue. But I guess those were just an excuse, this book is actually a memoir. I'm sorry I skipped the author's note. 😅
2) Yes! This book is actually Ryan's memoir. Ryan gave us a glimpse of pre-debut Ryan Higa, the little, young Ryan I want to protect because after reading this book he became more precious to me! Like "come here young Ryan, let me love you". Watching old video of Ryan already gave me the idea that he's bullied when he was a kid. But I never thought he actually got some suicidal tendencies. My heart is aching for young Ryan. 😭
“If this is what life is like, wouldn’t it be better to be dead?”
"The thought of dying didn’t scare me—it was the getting-dead part I was having a problem with."
Funny because I totally can relate myself with suicidal Ryan. From sleeping pills to cutting my wrist to jumping off a building, all those thoughts including the excuses on why I can't do it were all the same.
"Now I just had to figure out a way to do it.
My first idea was to overdose on sleeping pills. But my mind was logical about this too."
"I thought I could slit my wrists. But that would hurt too. So that was out.
I thought I could jump off a building. But I was afraid of heights. So that was out too.
I wasn’t sure how I’d do it. But I knew I’d do it if I had to."
Don't worry, HTWG is not that depressing, like I said this book was written better than a YA novel. Aha! I'm not fond of reading memoirs, there I said it. But there's something in his story that can't stop me from reading it. Ryan Higa made one of a kind memoir here, he gives another flavor from your typical memoir book.
3) Again, this is not that depressing. I may have felt really sad about Ryan's middle school life, but like any other protagonist from your YA novel, of course Ryan made his comeback. It's inspiring how he stole the spotlight from his bullies. If you're being bullied, this book may help you, learn from Ryan's experience. I'm not saying it's easy, it's never easy on young Ryan, I bet on you too. What I'm saying is, instead of beating yourself on how miserable your life is, think of something that will make your life at least a little better.
"Rather than think about ways to die, I now focused on ways to live."
The world is already harsh on you, please be gentle on yourself, darling. 😊
4) Quotes!!!! One of the things I love in reading are the quotes, quotes I can relate with. And man~ HTWG and Ryan nailed it.
"A Happy Meal is not enough happiness to live on." only Ryan Higa can make a quote out of happy meals. 🙌
"I’ve found that this is the best way to avoid being disappointed: Lowball yourself in life, and you’ll be fine." — Ryan Higa
"We all want to win. It’s human nature.
But there’s also some truth to the fact that winning isn’t everything." — Ryan Higa
[NOT SO IMPORTANT NOTE] I actually made a twitter thread of my favorite quotes from HTWG. Lol
https://twitter.com/dnctpnlgdmt/statu...
So there. Im glad I've read this book, but more than that, I'm glad Ryan wrote this memoir.
And to answer Ryan's question,
"I don’t know why I decided to finally start a YouTube channel that day. But aren’t you glad I did? I am."
I AM MORE THAN GLAD, I AM OVERJOYED! Thank you for sharing those videos that made us laugh, thank you for your words that inspires us and made us think. Your videos are all funny and brutally honest, I love it that way. Most of all, thank you for not giving up, thank you for not killing yourself.
"but I also knew, deep down, that I didn’t want to die. I had survived the year of regular torment; I wasn’t going to kill myself now."
THANK YOU FOR BEING AN INSPIRATION, Ryan!
How To Write Good is actually Ryan giving us a life lesson on how you have the power to change your life for the better. On how to write your own story with a good ending.
I told you, you'll learn more than a pointers on how to write good from this one, this book is really inspiring on so many levels. If you're still not convinced I don't know anymore.
[EXTRA NOTES] I have mention that I love quotes, right? And Ryan is brutally honest with his videos. I actually have this one quote from Ryan that I always keep in mind, most the of the time it helps, so thanks Ryan.
"does that really offend you or do you just think it should."
That was from his "Easily Butthurt People" video 2-3 years ago. This quote is my forever mantra in this harsh internet world. This makes me less of a jerk, tbh. I learned when to say something and when to shut up. 😂
Oh and I got my new favorite Ryan quote from HTWG…
"Just don’t care. Don’t care about anything. And you’ll be fine."
To save yourself from heart breaks, learn not to care. 😉
[SUPER DUPER EXTRA NOTES] I have some questions regarding this book, so I guess we need a book 2. Lol
• How does Ryan's mom feel after reading his book?
• Where's Nicole now?
• How's Ryan's relationship with his wrestler friends?
• What happened to his ant video?
• Does Ryan send a copy of this book to his bullies? I hope yes.
• Is Tomlinson real?
THE VERY IMPORTANT BUT LATE NOTE: I may sound rude somewhere in the beginning. That was actually a joke, I'm not really questioning Ryan's ability to write a book, sorry for my not so good humor. Plus someone from twitter enlightened me about how vlogging works. It includes writing as well. So there you go. ^^ and I adore Ryan so much just to make it extra clear.
------------------------------------
That's all! I'll end my book review here because I'm not good in writing a book review and I'm just wasting your time. If someone read this until the end please leave a "less then three" comment lol kidding. But seriously, thanks! :)
------------------------------------
Don't forget to subscribe on Ryan Higa's YouTube channels:
http://www.youtube.com/nigahiga
http://www.youtube.com/HigaTV
Ryan's Twitter & Instagram:
http://www.twitter.com/TheRealRyanHiga
http://www.instagram.com/notryanhiga
And if you want to waste more time, follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/dnctpnlgdmt 😉
July 4, 2024
rewind about a decade and i would have eaten this book up
September 13, 2017
I devoured this book like a nice meal ..I read it all in one sitting, Ryan Higa is my absolute favorite YouTuber and I love everything about his work .. this book gave me a deeper perspective about thigs that are going on in my life .. and the tips about writing a book aren't bad either .. it was a really nice read and I hope that there is a sequel to it :)
January 11, 2024
I really wanted to read this book because Ryan has a huge part of my childhood. It was very rare to see Asian/Asian-Americans in the media growing up so he made me feel represented. I was reluctant after reading some reviews saying it was a bad version of his "Draw My Life" YouTube video, and respectfully, that review is a horrible synopsis. The majority of the book is either events that were never mentioned in his "Draw My Life" (and in my opinion more significant events to make him who he was) or the parts (I did know) were heavily detailed (which gave me a better understanding). I was surprised to see how dark it really was and how I wasn't the only one to feel like that at such a young age. He does cover up the mentions of death/s**cide with a lot of comedy but it really highlights that "happy" people still have very real emotions and dark thoughts/pasts. I will say, the way it was written wasn't particularly for me but it is very true to who Ryan is and the second half was much better. In the end, I do find him more appealing in videos/film but he makes it very apparent that he knows he's better on camera than paper. I'm pleasantly surprised and glad I read it.
October 5, 2018
Everyone has gone through something terrible at one point or another in their lives, whether or not they do something with it - is in their control. How to Write Good by Ryan Higa is about the author growing up in a small town on the big island of Hawaii. He lives through trials and tribulations and eventually proves that no matter what situation you’re in, you can get out of it and make something wonderful out of your life.
This book made me wish that I was alive during the dawn of the internet. Ryan Higa is one of the most prominent social media influencers today, and has been since about 2006. When I’m in a depressive rut, I always look for something to distract me or bring me out of it and put all of my energy into. Higa had just that; when his bullies would catch up to him, he would film videos and ignore what they were saying.
This book made me realize that everyone goes through something hard in their lives, no matter where they are now. Higa was bullied and forced into sports and extracurricular activities that made him depressed. He would dread going to school and would think some very unhealthy thoughts. What matters, though, is that he made something out of his depression and if he can do it, we all can.
This book made me wonder about different cultures. Ryan comes from an asian family that takes grades very seriously, and I come from a family that doesn’t put too much weight on grades. I found the way he lived interesting, I have never had an issue with my parents putting too much pressure on me and it was strange to read what it’s like to grow up in a household like that. How to Write Good made me wonder about what it’s like to live where your school work rules over you.
This book made me see that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Higa was in a very dark place and even considered suicide at one point just because he couldn’t stand his bullies anymore. Many people in this day and age struggle with mental health issues and Higa was no exception - there are many books written about this topic but this book portrays the struggles in a real way that can be easily digested by the reader.
This book made me believe hat if I can set my mind to something I can accomplish anything. Ryan Higa started his YouTube channel back more than a decade ago and is currently boasting over 21 million subscribers. In his book he says that he couldn’t have accomplished it if it weren’t for his love and dedication to film making. 6 years ago I started playing the flute and I thought that I would never be as good as the flutists in the high school band, and I’m currently about to play second flute in the marching band. So really, this book taught me that when you give something time and you stay passionate, you’ll eventually get something you’re proud of.
This book made me feel that I was special in the world. Higa went through a long period of time when he felt like nobody cared about him but his book ensured that everyone is cared about no matter what. Higa said that when he was younger he knew all of the things he knew now. And it made me feel like one day everything would be okay, and that I can tell myself that high school and hard times are temporary and one day all will be well.
This book made me hope that I can find something to put all of my creative energies into, Higa liked to film videos so he built his entire life from that, I like movies and writing and art and one day I’d love to be able to do what I like and be able to make a living out of it. I hope to one day be able to forget about all of my said feelings that I’ve had in the past, like Higa, and be able to live my life free of high school worries and teenage miserability.
This book made me wish that I was alive during the dawn of the internet. Ryan Higa is one of the most prominent social media influencers today, and has been since about 2006. When I’m in a depressive rut, I always look for something to distract me or bring me out of it and put all of my energy into. Higa had just that; when his bullies would catch up to him, he would film videos and ignore what they were saying.
This book made me realize that everyone goes through something hard in their lives, no matter where they are now. Higa was bullied and forced into sports and extracurricular activities that made him depressed. He would dread going to school and would think some very unhealthy thoughts. What matters, though, is that he made something out of his depression and if he can do it, we all can.
This book made me wonder about different cultures. Ryan comes from an asian family that takes grades very seriously, and I come from a family that doesn’t put too much weight on grades. I found the way he lived interesting, I have never had an issue with my parents putting too much pressure on me and it was strange to read what it’s like to grow up in a household like that. How to Write Good made me wonder about what it’s like to live where your school work rules over you.
This book made me see that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Higa was in a very dark place and even considered suicide at one point just because he couldn’t stand his bullies anymore. Many people in this day and age struggle with mental health issues and Higa was no exception - there are many books written about this topic but this book portrays the struggles in a real way that can be easily digested by the reader.
This book made me believe hat if I can set my mind to something I can accomplish anything. Ryan Higa started his YouTube channel back more than a decade ago and is currently boasting over 21 million subscribers. In his book he says that he couldn’t have accomplished it if it weren’t for his love and dedication to film making. 6 years ago I started playing the flute and I thought that I would never be as good as the flutists in the high school band, and I’m currently about to play second flute in the marching band. So really, this book taught me that when you give something time and you stay passionate, you’ll eventually get something you’re proud of.
This book made me feel that I was special in the world. Higa went through a long period of time when he felt like nobody cared about him but his book ensured that everyone is cared about no matter what. Higa said that when he was younger he knew all of the things he knew now. And it made me feel like one day everything would be okay, and that I can tell myself that high school and hard times are temporary and one day all will be well.
This book made me hope that I can find something to put all of my creative energies into, Higa liked to film videos so he built his entire life from that, I like movies and writing and art and one day I’d love to be able to do what I like and be able to make a living out of it. I hope to one day be able to forget about all of my said feelings that I’ve had in the past, like Higa, and be able to live my life free of high school worries and teenage miserability.
November 23, 2018
My name is Ryan Higa. You might know me from the Internet. But I am also the author of this book.
Actually, I shouldn't say “the author.” Technically, I'm a coauthor of this book. You aren't supposed to know this, but my publisher - hereafter to be known as The Publishing Company, or TPC for short - hired me a ghostwriter. A real, professional, anonymous writer who's supposed to secretly help me tell this story. Her name is Sarah, but we'll just call her by her last name, Tomlinson, to protect her identity.
I have a confession to make. I’ve had the biggest crush on Ryan Higa since 7th grade when my friends and I discovered Ryan’s Nigahiga YouTube channel and watched his lip sync videos and viral How to be a Ninja, How to be a Gangster and How to be a Rockstar videos (these videos have since been removed from his channel due to copyright issues relating to the music he used, but you can probably find them somewhere on the internet). Ryan was the OG Youtuber who introduced me to the world of YouTube and YouTubers and I’ve probably watched 90% of all the videos he’s ever uploaded since 2006.
So… This review is going to be a bit biased (because I’m clearly a pretty big Nigahiga fan).
I’ve been holding off on reading this book mainly because I’ve had my fingers crossed the past few years that there would be an audiobook version read by Ryan himself. But, there was never an audiobook version and reading this book made me realize why - it’s full of comic book-styled graphics!
As expected, this was a pretty entertaining book to read. I’ll admit, Ryan’s humor is probably not for everyone. It’s a very juvenile and PG kind of humor which, in my opinion, is always very cleverly executed. It’s great for all ages but mostly suitable for middle grade / preteens (and of course, loyal Nigahiga fans).
Welcome to Ryan Higa's How to Write Good, by me, Ryan Higa, where you’re going to learn how to write your own book from a college dropout who has never written a single book, who struggled in basic-level English classes throughout his life, and who doesn't know the difference between “your” and “you're.” So, you know your in good hands!
This book was written in an interesting format. It's written as a guide on how to write a book (by someone who has never written a book). Each chapter is a lesson on important components to writing a story while using Ryan's childhood as examples. Each story and lesson also includes a few comic strips of Ryan and his ghostwriter Tomlinson (portrayed as a ghost who sometimes looks like a genie or floating mermaid) where they reflect on the story and lesson.
I will point out that this book was much darker than I expected. It touches primarily on Ryan's middle school years when he was bullied and contemplated suicide. The dark content is frequently interrupted by a comic strip that quickly lightens the mood and adds some humour to the book.
Overall, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting from Nigahiga's memoir but I still really enjoyed it.
June 13, 2017
This made me laugh so hard but the material was actually pretty deep and very relatable. What made it stand out from the shelves of other memoirs was the comic strip parts. Those were cool.
June 23, 2017
This book was really cool. It gave short writing lessons in between telling Ryan's story, it was funny, interesting, and an easy read.
July 25, 2017
YouTube contributor Ryan Higa shares his early life experiences and challenges in this heartfelt memoir. He has a distinctive voice and wry sense of humor, both of which come through in the book's pages. Because the book serves two functions--a memoir that lets him look back on some of his formative moments and a writing guide that helps potential writers figure out how to tell their stories, it should be useful to many readers. I didn't really expect that he's have anything much for me to learn about writing, but the way the chapters are organized into writing lessons that focus only on one aspect of telling a story is quite effective and serves as a terrific writing guide. Although some might find it intrusive, I liked the inclusion of his ghost writing assistant and advisor and the acknowledgement of what the publishers wanted him to deliver and what he wanted to do. There are passages that will warm readers' hearts and make them smile and laugh, but there are also descriptions of his darker days during which he was relentlessly bullied and contemplated suicide. Perhaps other youngsters or teens will draw inspiration from his story and his example of finding something that gave him a sense of belonging or his gravitation to humorous videos as a means of creative self-expression. His humbleness about grammar and writing made me smile because I like a touch of self-deprecating humor in my books.
January 5, 2019
I am a huge fan of Ryan Higa, I watched his videos the moment they are uploaded I got notifications from his channel (obviously), and I was so excited that I was able to get his book. I live in Jordan and we didn't have copies for his books anywhere, I made my first ever amazon order and got the book 3 weeks later! The cover was marvelous I was in love with the pages and the comics in it, it felt like a comic book or a light novel not a book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it so very much I felt closer to Ryan, and like he was one of my friends talking to me about the issues he dealt with and how he overcame them, additionally every now and then a joke a pun or something hilarious would show up to lighten things up. I had so much fun reading it I did not want it to end and it taught me no matter how lost or out of place I feel like things will eventually work out but of course with lots of hard work and effort and that things won't magically solve themselves you have to take an action to solve them. Finally, this book has been more of a life lesson that a light humor but it was great! Thanks Ryan for writing this book.
May 5, 2020
I picked up this book because it had the title "how to write good" but it wasn't cataloged as a writing book, so I wanted to see if it was in the wrong place. It wasn't. Each chapter does open with a writing principle, but that is mostly window dressing.
I had never heard of Ryan Higa, likely because I am old and YouTube is big so his videos weren't in my orbit, but he comes across as likeable here. If this is his public persona, I can see how he could be quite popular.
The messages are good, even if takes a lot of stylistic gymnastics to pad the story to book length (the writing tips in each chapter and comic strip style interactions between the author and ghost writer). I would recommend it for a fan of his or a reluctant middle school/high school reader who wants something that deals with bullying.
I had never heard of Ryan Higa, likely because I am old and YouTube is big so his videos weren't in my orbit, but he comes across as likeable here. If this is his public persona, I can see how he could be quite popular.
The messages are good, even if takes a lot of stylistic gymnastics to pad the story to book length (the writing tips in each chapter and comic strip style interactions between the author and ghost writer). I would recommend it for a fan of his or a reluctant middle school/high school reader who wants something that deals with bullying.
August 20, 2018
I stumbled upon this book in the library while charging my phone. I was familiar with Ryan Higa from back when I watched YouTube videos excessively circa 2009. I don't think I learned much on how to write but what I did learn is Higa also dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts from a young age. I wish more YouTubers were coming out with memoirs like this 10 years ago, but I'm glad that the conversations are coming up now.
September 18, 2022
I've missed Ryan Higa's humour. As my first memoir, I'd say it was a quick, funny, and interesting read. He wrote in a way that makes me think a young audience struggling in their day to day life may find hope that their future will get better.
June 14, 2017
It was the worst book I read. I hated very thing about it.
TEEHEE
It was actually the best book I have read. I enjoyed everything about it.
TEEHEE
It was actually the best book I have read. I enjoyed everything about it.
August 28, 2017
There are many books written by YouTubers, and most of them are half memoir/half motivation. The books written by Grace Helbig, Tanya Burr, Connor Franta, Louise Pentland, Jenn McAllister, Estee Lalonde, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Lilly Singh, Eva Gutowski, Marcus Butler, Bethany Mota, Lindsey Stirling and Anna Akana all roughly follow this pattern. And those are just the ones I have read. There are probably more like that. One problem with this is that a twentysomething has only so much material to work with. This book also follows that pattern, but it is more. Much of it is written as a comic book or graphic novel, Ryan talking to his ghostwriter. That is actually something I like as well, the fact that practically on the first page he admitted that he had help writing the book. The book was funny, and it actually lives up to the title, in having some rudimentary advice on how to structure and write a book.
March 19, 2023
Randomly found this book in the library and thought it would be a good read since Ryan was a decent part of my childhood. The book was a lot darker than expected but his experience of getting bullied and fitting in was very relatable. The book felt genuine and his personality still shines through just like his videos.
June 3, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ryan and Tomlinson did a stellar job. I loved how unique it was.
December 29, 2017
3.5 TEEHEE STARS
I love Ryan Higa and the RHPC crew. I wholeheartedly believe he is the most dedicated, creative, and funny people on youtube rivaled only by Jenna Marbles. I had no idea what he went through in his younger years. This book got DARK. But man, I related to a lot of it. He's come so far and I'm so proud of him. This was a little corny but still overall enjoyable especially if you're a fan.
I love Ryan Higa and the RHPC crew. I wholeheartedly believe he is the most dedicated, creative, and funny people on youtube rivaled only by Jenna Marbles. I had no idea what he went through in his younger years. This book got DARK. But man, I related to a lot of it. He's come so far and I'm so proud of him. This was a little corny but still overall enjoyable especially if you're a fan.
August 1, 2017
This was a quick 2 hour read for me. I love how its a comic book and novel-like hybrid when reading it. I like watching a lot of Ryan's comedy skits, so it was cool for me to learn more about who Ryan is behind the camera.
October 13, 2017
***Warning: A long review that turned out to be a little bit personal and embarrassing. In my own opinion it doesn't contain spoilers or at least major spoilers for anyone who's a fan of Ryan, but just to be sure: "Minor... SPOILER ALERT!!!!" :P***
As we all know, Ryan is a very talented youtuber, honestly all of his ideas are creative, entertaining, and of course funny. (By the time of this review, his channel has reached 20,127,558 subscribers) If you're don't know Ryan higa,,,,, you seriously need to watch some of his videos. May I recommend his Skitzo clips? Or a Dear Ryan??? Hensley, anything of his is a good recommendation. So clear up whatever schedule you have and binge watch him all day.
We got off track...So of course, the expectation bar of this book is high, and guess what? Ryan has delivered... again. The way this book is created is so creative. He combined both the art of a comics and novels in one book. Ryan doesn't know how to write, and he admits it right at the beginning. So he hires a ghost writer translate his ideas down in written words. Now that's the novel side, the comic side is my favorite thing about this book. It basically includes conversations between him and his "ghost" writer (you'll know why I made the quotation marks when you buy the book) behind the scenes + including Ryan's jokes and funny personality. I wont spoil what goes in them for you.
Now about the content, I literally thought it was going to be mostly comedy; something to laugh at and enjoy because well due to the Ryan we see on youtube (we did see that Ryan A LOT in the book), but there's another Ryan we got to see, a Ryan who I am thankful he allowed us to see... meet.
I've been meaning to buy the book the moment I saw the announcement post on Facebook, you remember it, the "hey I wrote a book" post. But I didn't until yesterday (12/10/2017) I couldn't be more thankful for putting it off; maybe if I had bought the book and read it before now, its core may not have gotten to me... Currently, I'm (I was) in a very dark place in my life (Engineering College-Fourth Year-Future ahead of me- Life- Bullying- etc) I literally had strong thoughts of suicide; just staring at my wrists, I would start imaging the situation where I cut them, bleed to death. My father returning home at night only to find me in a pool of my blood, my mom and little brother booking a flight back home, my graduation project group wondering why the hell did I disappear all of the sudden and never knowing that I killed myself. I don't want to spill of my personal life in this review, but I felt like I should emphasize how dark it has been so you can understand the gift in this book.
Ryan speaks mainly about his childhood years, 5 years old, 10 to his teens, if you saw his Draw my life video you'll know he was bullied as a kid, but what he doesn't say there goes inside this book in detail. He got me feeling and understanding what he had been through, even though I'm almost 21, and little steps away from graduation with an engineering degree I'm still not able to break the "shackles" of shame, self-hate, the need to be 'invisible and not be seen. These were created by my school years from the 8th grade up to finishing high school and few times through university. I know a lot of people get bullied on, but hearing someone's story, seeing them explain a painful and possibly shameful part of their life helps to at least ease your pain. This bullying and other factors caused depression to overwhelm him, to the point of thinking about Dark thoughts and here it is an important note to shine the light one: "Even though kids are -mostly- ignorant to what life is and its hardships that doesn't mean they're protected from negativity and depression. Depression doesn't know an age, and its serious. IN FACT, I'm ready to argue that depression effects may be more sever on young people rather than grown up because a child's mind is sensitive, pure and well childish! they can't cope with depression, their emotions are like music turned on the highest volume! And they don't understand life and death that well, they're kids! A depressed kid may end up killing himself or growing up broken and God knows what happens next!
And since we're talking about depression, Ryan made me see something very important that changed my view on suicidal thinking, (USUALLY) we tend to think about suicide to escape whatever is making us miserable, in Ryan's case it was bullying. At the summer vacation, with no bullying he came to a realization: "He didn't want to die, he didn't want to kill himself, what he wanted was to not get bullied. He wanted TO LIVE." I stopped at that thought, and reflected on myself, did I really want to die? My answer was no.... I just wanted to be happy. Alongside other thoughts, my darkness vanished, okay didn't completely vanish. Consider it like this, I was in the middle of a moonless, cloudy night but now I'm standing in the shadows on a sunny day, thinking about talking a walk under the sun. (did you get the picture?)
This was the reason I gave the four stars out of the five. Now for the final star:
Ryan higa's excellent ability to tell his story and keep us entertained. I loved his jokes and side notes. The comics of let's say "behind the scene" with his ghost writer were amazing! And joyful to look at. Even though the story got pretty dark, there were moments of laughter and joy between each lesson and sometimes within the lesson itself. Like watching a very scary movie in midday...while the door was open and you mom is making dinner next room.
There's also this important note about the tittle (How to write good.... and in very small letters beneath it, x....well.) The title is on point about what it means, you see the book chapters are called lessons and each with an important title, they're also written to not tell his story but to show the important elements of what a good story should have, from characters and description, the goal, the climax and other things related to a writer's journey in writing a book. So not only people specially parents and kids could benefit from this book but also aspiring writers. I guarantee that the basic knowledge presented here is something professionals and top sellers can't explain as good as he did here. If you have a friend who wants to be a writer, you should tell him about this book.
Now at the end of this review, I want to add an extra note:
I've only read three books by youtubers because they were the only ones I felt deep love for. Ryan High How to Write Good: taught me, how to see life differently.
Lindsey Stirling's the only pirate at the party: which reminded me of the value of family specially your mom and dad.
Superwoman's how to be a bawse: set of guidelines for real work and the truth behind success.
I highly recommend these three books. And sorry for the detailed, very personal (._.) review. Here's A Ryan's gif as an apology:
As we all know, Ryan is a very talented youtuber, honestly all of his ideas are creative, entertaining, and of course funny. (By the time of this review, his channel has reached 20,127,558 subscribers) If you're don't know Ryan higa,,,,, you seriously need to watch some of his videos. May I recommend his Skitzo clips? Or a Dear Ryan??? Hensley, anything of his is a good recommendation. So clear up whatever schedule you have and binge watch him all day.
We got off track...So of course, the expectation bar of this book is high, and guess what? Ryan has delivered... again. The way this book is created is so creative. He combined both the art of a comics and novels in one book. Ryan doesn't know how to write, and he admits it right at the beginning. So he hires a ghost writer translate his ideas down in written words. Now that's the novel side, the comic side is my favorite thing about this book. It basically includes conversations between him and his "ghost" writer (you'll know why I made the quotation marks when you buy the book) behind the scenes + including Ryan's jokes and funny personality. I wont spoil what goes in them for you.
Now about the content, I literally thought it was going to be mostly comedy; something to laugh at and enjoy because well due to the Ryan we see on youtube (we did see that Ryan A LOT in the book), but there's another Ryan we got to see, a Ryan who I am thankful he allowed us to see... meet.
I've been meaning to buy the book the moment I saw the announcement post on Facebook, you remember it, the "hey I wrote a book" post. But I didn't until yesterday (12/10/2017) I couldn't be more thankful for putting it off; maybe if I had bought the book and read it before now, its core may not have gotten to me... Currently, I'm (I was) in a very dark place in my life (Engineering College-Fourth Year-Future ahead of me- Life- Bullying- etc) I literally had strong thoughts of suicide; just staring at my wrists, I would start imaging the situation where I cut them, bleed to death. My father returning home at night only to find me in a pool of my blood, my mom and little brother booking a flight back home, my graduation project group wondering why the hell did I disappear all of the sudden and never knowing that I killed myself. I don't want to spill of my personal life in this review, but I felt like I should emphasize how dark it has been so you can understand the gift in this book.
Ryan speaks mainly about his childhood years, 5 years old, 10 to his teens, if you saw his Draw my life video you'll know he was bullied as a kid, but what he doesn't say there goes inside this book in detail. He got me feeling and understanding what he had been through, even though I'm almost 21, and little steps away from graduation with an engineering degree I'm still not able to break the "shackles" of shame, self-hate, the need to be 'invisible and not be seen. These were created by my school years from the 8th grade up to finishing high school and few times through university. I know a lot of people get bullied on, but hearing someone's story, seeing them explain a painful and possibly shameful part of their life helps to at least ease your pain. This bullying and other factors caused depression to overwhelm him, to the point of thinking about Dark thoughts and here it is an important note to shine the light one: "Even though kids are -mostly- ignorant to what life is and its hardships that doesn't mean they're protected from negativity and depression. Depression doesn't know an age, and its serious. IN FACT, I'm ready to argue that depression effects may be more sever on young people rather than grown up because a child's mind is sensitive, pure and well childish! they can't cope with depression, their emotions are like music turned on the highest volume! And they don't understand life and death that well, they're kids! A depressed kid may end up killing himself or growing up broken and God knows what happens next!
And since we're talking about depression, Ryan made me see something very important that changed my view on suicidal thinking, (USUALLY) we tend to think about suicide to escape whatever is making us miserable, in Ryan's case it was bullying. At the summer vacation, with no bullying he came to a realization: "He didn't want to die, he didn't want to kill himself, what he wanted was to not get bullied. He wanted TO LIVE." I stopped at that thought, and reflected on myself, did I really want to die? My answer was no.... I just wanted to be happy. Alongside other thoughts, my darkness vanished, okay didn't completely vanish. Consider it like this, I was in the middle of a moonless, cloudy night but now I'm standing in the shadows on a sunny day, thinking about talking a walk under the sun. (did you get the picture?)
This was the reason I gave the four stars out of the five. Now for the final star:
Ryan higa's excellent ability to tell his story and keep us entertained. I loved his jokes and side notes. The comics of let's say "behind the scene" with his ghost writer were amazing! And joyful to look at. Even though the story got pretty dark, there were moments of laughter and joy between each lesson and sometimes within the lesson itself. Like watching a very scary movie in midday...while the door was open and you mom is making dinner next room.
There's also this important note about the tittle (How to write good.... and in very small letters beneath it, x....well.) The title is on point about what it means, you see the book chapters are called lessons and each with an important title, they're also written to not tell his story but to show the important elements of what a good story should have, from characters and description, the goal, the climax and other things related to a writer's journey in writing a book. So not only people specially parents and kids could benefit from this book but also aspiring writers. I guarantee that the basic knowledge presented here is something professionals and top sellers can't explain as good as he did here. If you have a friend who wants to be a writer, you should tell him about this book.
Now at the end of this review, I want to add an extra note:
I've only read three books by youtubers because they were the only ones I felt deep love for. Ryan High How to Write Good: taught me, how to see life differently.
Lindsey Stirling's the only pirate at the party: which reminded me of the value of family specially your mom and dad.
Superwoman's how to be a bawse: set of guidelines for real work and the truth behind success.
I highly recommend these three books. And sorry for the detailed, very personal (._.) review. Here's A Ryan's gif as an apology:
October 22, 2017
It would behoove readers to know that purchasing a book, about writing books, authored by someone whom has never written professionally before (much less a book), is a gamble of the highest order.
Unpredictable and aimless, but occasionally full of intellect and whimsy, RYAN HIGA'S HOW TO WRITE GOOD doesn't hold much value outside of being a thrift read at a local library. This, of course, belies the purpose of the book, which, it seems, even the author struggles to identify by the closing chapter.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD is oddly, poorly structured and is likewise oddly, poorly narrated. For starters, the book has three voices, and it's not always clear which point-of-view holds greater authority or what the hierarchy is supposed to be. The book follows (1) Adult Higa as he writes about (2) Adolescent Higa, growing up on Big Island, Hawaii (an over-the-shoulder glance of an author sharpening their craft). During which, (3) Ghostwriter Pal plays the straight-faced character to Higa's goofball by way of illustrated conversations that are conveniently/inconveniently inserted in-between Adult/Adolescent Higa's story. Said illustrations are meant to teach Adult Higa a lesson about professional writing, storytelling, or what it means to act responsibly in general.
Got all that?
The result is a story-within-a-story, diary turned graphic novel, which would have fared better as an animated short film than as a hardcover book. Indeed, perhaps the book's failings are a matter of format. The linear nature of book reading means Adult Higa's error-driven comedy routine is only funny if the tempo of the humor reflects the tempo of the story; Adolescent Higa's various bouts of depression read as emotionally valid only in cases where HOW TO WRITE GOOD, more obvious than not, is explicitly seeking to teach the reader something (as opposed to blithely entertaining them); and Ghostwriter Pal's casual, third-rail injunctions are only successful if the timing is absolutely and unequivocally perfect.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD does have a few gems. In Chapter Three, Ghostwriter Pal discusses the importance of balancing competent drama with guided humor:
"This is the part of the story that gets dark. During the serious parts of a book, a little sarcasm goes a long way [..] because humor can be a way to keep people at bay. When you don't want them to see how much something hurts you [..] [T]his is exactly the part of the book where we want to invite the reader to get closer, so they can really feel what you're going through. Maybe even relate to it because of something they're going through in their own life" (p. 44).
For writers both professional and amateur, this is solid advice. Understanding how to control a reader's emotional investment in a story through specific rhetorical and narrative cues or character dynamics is an enduring, fundamental truth of quality writing.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD also discusses the impact of having a good backstory, of consequential foreshadowing, and of integrating meaningful details into a narrative. Not all of this advice is clear-cut, and not all of it is properly or adequately manifest in Higa's story-within-a-story format . . . but it's there, somewhere.
Nugroho's illustrations add a lot of personality to the book. And although the lettering isn't particularly good, the comic inserts do a better job of articulating Higa's emotional resilience than do the young man's back-and-forth Adult/Adolescent narration. If one is to resolve the problem of overlapping perspectives in HOW TO WRITE GOOD, producing separate, alternating chapters of comics/narration and story, in turn, may have more crisply conveyed the relevance of each point-of-view from start to finish.
Further, separating the publication's constituent parts would have provided room for debate. Was Higa's familiarity with bullying at a charter school in Hawaii as consequential as he says? Perhaps, but his experience certainly wasn't unique. Was Higa's seesaw relational drama with his invisible crush as genuine as he says? Perhaps, but it's difficult for readers to get in sync with secondary characters whose emotions they aren't privy to.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD is a serviceable read for middle-school or early high-school writers. (Even so, the quantity of educational content is strikingly low.) Beyond this, professional writers or writers with a college-level education are not likely to learn much, if anything, from this book.
Unpredictable and aimless, but occasionally full of intellect and whimsy, RYAN HIGA'S HOW TO WRITE GOOD doesn't hold much value outside of being a thrift read at a local library. This, of course, belies the purpose of the book, which, it seems, even the author struggles to identify by the closing chapter.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD is oddly, poorly structured and is likewise oddly, poorly narrated. For starters, the book has three voices, and it's not always clear which point-of-view holds greater authority or what the hierarchy is supposed to be. The book follows (1) Adult Higa as he writes about (2) Adolescent Higa, growing up on Big Island, Hawaii (an over-the-shoulder glance of an author sharpening their craft). During which, (3) Ghostwriter Pal plays the straight-faced character to Higa's goofball by way of illustrated conversations that are conveniently/inconveniently inserted in-between Adult/Adolescent Higa's story. Said illustrations are meant to teach Adult Higa a lesson about professional writing, storytelling, or what it means to act responsibly in general.
Got all that?
The result is a story-within-a-story, diary turned graphic novel, which would have fared better as an animated short film than as a hardcover book. Indeed, perhaps the book's failings are a matter of format. The linear nature of book reading means Adult Higa's error-driven comedy routine is only funny if the tempo of the humor reflects the tempo of the story; Adolescent Higa's various bouts of depression read as emotionally valid only in cases where HOW TO WRITE GOOD, more obvious than not, is explicitly seeking to teach the reader something (as opposed to blithely entertaining them); and Ghostwriter Pal's casual, third-rail injunctions are only successful if the timing is absolutely and unequivocally perfect.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD does have a few gems. In Chapter Three, Ghostwriter Pal discusses the importance of balancing competent drama with guided humor:
"This is the part of the story that gets dark. During the serious parts of a book, a little sarcasm goes a long way [..] because humor can be a way to keep people at bay. When you don't want them to see how much something hurts you [..] [T]his is exactly the part of the book where we want to invite the reader to get closer, so they can really feel what you're going through. Maybe even relate to it because of something they're going through in their own life" (p. 44).
For writers both professional and amateur, this is solid advice. Understanding how to control a reader's emotional investment in a story through specific rhetorical and narrative cues or character dynamics is an enduring, fundamental truth of quality writing.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD also discusses the impact of having a good backstory, of consequential foreshadowing, and of integrating meaningful details into a narrative. Not all of this advice is clear-cut, and not all of it is properly or adequately manifest in Higa's story-within-a-story format . . . but it's there, somewhere.
Nugroho's illustrations add a lot of personality to the book. And although the lettering isn't particularly good, the comic inserts do a better job of articulating Higa's emotional resilience than do the young man's back-and-forth Adult/Adolescent narration. If one is to resolve the problem of overlapping perspectives in HOW TO WRITE GOOD, producing separate, alternating chapters of comics/narration and story, in turn, may have more crisply conveyed the relevance of each point-of-view from start to finish.
Further, separating the publication's constituent parts would have provided room for debate. Was Higa's familiarity with bullying at a charter school in Hawaii as consequential as he says? Perhaps, but his experience certainly wasn't unique. Was Higa's seesaw relational drama with his invisible crush as genuine as he says? Perhaps, but it's difficult for readers to get in sync with secondary characters whose emotions they aren't privy to.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD is a serviceable read for middle-school or early high-school writers. (Even so, the quantity of educational content is strikingly low.) Beyond this, professional writers or writers with a college-level education are not likely to learn much, if anything, from this book.
March 22, 2022
Ryan Higa aka nigahiga on YouTube reflects on his pre-YouTube days.
Spoilers ahead.
Since this was a non-fiction book, this review will be a general one rather than focusing on the usual plot and pacing, characters and writing style.
This book had been on my radar for AGES but I avoided reading it because I was worried it would diminish my view of Ryan. I’ve always loved nigahiga’s channel on YouTube and it’s one of the greatest tragedies that Ryan hasn’t posted anything in years. I miss when YouTube was wholesome like that. But anyway, this book was just sitting alone on a shelf in the library and I figured it was almost a sign that I should read it. I read the first few pages and it sounded so damn much like Ryan—like, I could hear his voice in my head—that I knew I had to borrow it.
There’s a lot in this book about death and dying, some of which I knew a tiny bit of from the Draw My Life video (oh my god, remember when that was a thing???). I was still taken aback by paragraphs like:
Because, well, 1) it’s not every day that you learn the person who shaped your humour had such low mood as an adolescent and 2) it resonated a lot with me.
The sheer amount of honesty in this book is quite impressive. One of my favourite comic panels was the one with Ryan saying, “But I didn’t like being bad at things. I liked to see progression. When I put my time into something, I wanted to see myself getting better. Even if it was building a fort or playing video games. I didn’t mind putting in the work, as long as I knew that I was going to get a result.” I mean, I didn’t realise other people felt that way too because that’s pretty much how I feel about everything in life.
I wouldn’t say that Ryan Higa was a role model per se but part of me always sort of looked up to him? And I guess I thought that he had this genius that no one could replicate and that’s why I could never achieve the same level of success as him. However, Ryan expounds on the fact that he was so absolutely average at everything (though I do think skipping a grade suggests you’re above average on SOME level) and that kind of made me feel better.
So, stuff that I could have done without/things that the book was kind of meh about:
- I didn’t like all the comics that much. I was just…I wanted more of Ryan’s writing. I get that his conversations with the ghostwriter were meant to show the behind-the-scenes stuff but I was more interested in what Ryan had to say than what his ghostwriter had to say. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way and obviously the ghostwriter would have helped polish everything Ryan wrote but the conversations between the two were jarring and made me quite annoyed at times.
- The whole concept of this book is kind of meta. In each chapter, Ryan explains different parts of a story and the purpose of things like similes and character development. It was cool to read at first but after a few chapters, I just wanted to skip to the Ryan bits.
- I feel like the whole YouTube thing was tacked on at the end. I would have loved to know more about how Ryan dealt with the fame and pressure. I wanted to know WHY he stopped posting videos because I seriously have yet to find another YouTuber who is as wholesome and funny as Ryan. He’s got a very special brand of humour and it has imprinted itself on me since I’ve been watching him since I was, like, seven.
Spoilers ahead.
Since this was a non-fiction book, this review will be a general one rather than focusing on the usual plot and pacing, characters and writing style.
This book had been on my radar for AGES but I avoided reading it because I was worried it would diminish my view of Ryan. I’ve always loved nigahiga’s channel on YouTube and it’s one of the greatest tragedies that Ryan hasn’t posted anything in years. I miss when YouTube was wholesome like that. But anyway, this book was just sitting alone on a shelf in the library and I figured it was almost a sign that I should read it. I read the first few pages and it sounded so damn much like Ryan—like, I could hear his voice in my head—that I knew I had to borrow it.
There’s a lot in this book about death and dying, some of which I knew a tiny bit of from the Draw My Life video (oh my god, remember when that was a thing???). I was still taken aback by paragraphs like:
“I wasn’t sure how I’d do it. But I knew I’d do it if I had to. The thought of dying didn’t scare me—it was the getting-dead part I was having a problem with. Imagining being dead felt good, like a form of power during days of complete and total powerlessness and misery.”
Because, well, 1) it’s not every day that you learn the person who shaped your humour had such low mood as an adolescent and 2) it resonated a lot with me.
The sheer amount of honesty in this book is quite impressive. One of my favourite comic panels was the one with Ryan saying, “But I didn’t like being bad at things. I liked to see progression. When I put my time into something, I wanted to see myself getting better. Even if it was building a fort or playing video games. I didn’t mind putting in the work, as long as I knew that I was going to get a result.” I mean, I didn’t realise other people felt that way too because that’s pretty much how I feel about everything in life.
I wouldn’t say that Ryan Higa was a role model per se but part of me always sort of looked up to him? And I guess I thought that he had this genius that no one could replicate and that’s why I could never achieve the same level of success as him. However, Ryan expounds on the fact that he was so absolutely average at everything (though I do think skipping a grade suggests you’re above average on SOME level) and that kind of made me feel better.
So, stuff that I could have done without/things that the book was kind of meh about:
- I didn’t like all the comics that much. I was just…I wanted more of Ryan’s writing. I get that his conversations with the ghostwriter were meant to show the behind-the-scenes stuff but I was more interested in what Ryan had to say than what his ghostwriter had to say. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way and obviously the ghostwriter would have helped polish everything Ryan wrote but the conversations between the two were jarring and made me quite annoyed at times.
- The whole concept of this book is kind of meta. In each chapter, Ryan explains different parts of a story and the purpose of things like similes and character development. It was cool to read at first but after a few chapters, I just wanted to skip to the Ryan bits.
- I feel like the whole YouTube thing was tacked on at the end. I would have loved to know more about how Ryan dealt with the fame and pressure. I wanted to know WHY he stopped posting videos because I seriously have yet to find another YouTuber who is as wholesome and funny as Ryan. He’s got a very special brand of humour and it has imprinted itself on me since I’ve been watching him since I was, like, seven.
July 11, 2017
4.5 / 5 stars
It seems like every YouTuber now has or is starting to write a book, usually in the style of a memoir. But this one's different, made by someone I admire. After all, the very 1st YouTube video I ever watched was "How to be Ninja" by nigahiga. Naturally, Ryan Higa became the first YouTuber I followed and subscribed to. He still continues to be one of my all-time favourites due to his humour and the creativity & effort he puts into his videos. As a bookworm myself, I was pretty excited for his first foray into writing a book. Add these two factors and it's a no-brainer for me, so I got myself a copy.
And I had no regrets. I was instantly blown away by how uniquely written this book was. What sets this apart from the others was its distinct charm and it had "Ryan" written all over it (LOL no pun intended!). It was interesting how his comedy and his general outspokenness translated onto paper. I love how all the elements of a writing guide, a memoir, and a graphic novel were meshed together and coalesced into one! Being a sucker for graphic novels, I appreciated how it was incorporated to break up the chapters. Speaking of breaking, I'm a HUGE fan of fourth wall breaks and there were plenty of those!
However, what really surprised me most was the more somber and emotional moments. There were parts where the book got dark, deep, and direct with sensitive topics. I nearly forgot how brutally honest Ryan can be sometimes, which I totally appreciated. Ryan's troubled past was extremely relatable (especially for me, since he & I were that "small ugly Asian kid" people can pick on and bully) and it honestly made me tear up a little. :(
All in all, this was a very enjoyable read! If you're a fan and are familiar with his sense of humour from his YouTube videos, I highly recommend this! This book not only lets you know Ryan on a more personal level from his past experiences, but you'll also learn something from it! And thanks to him, I now know how to writegood well!
TEEHEE!!! xD
It seems like every YouTuber now has or is starting to write a book, usually in the style of a memoir. But this one's different, made by someone I admire. After all, the very 1st YouTube video I ever watched was "How to be Ninja" by nigahiga. Naturally, Ryan Higa became the first YouTuber I followed and subscribed to. He still continues to be one of my all-time favourites due to his humour and the creativity & effort he puts into his videos. As a bookworm myself, I was pretty excited for his first foray into writing a book. Add these two factors and it's a no-brainer for me, so I got myself a copy.
And I had no regrets. I was instantly blown away by how uniquely written this book was. What sets this apart from the others was its distinct charm and it had "Ryan" written all over it (LOL no pun intended!). It was interesting how his comedy and his general outspokenness translated onto paper. I love how all the elements of a writing guide, a memoir, and a graphic novel were meshed together and coalesced into one! Being a sucker for graphic novels, I appreciated how it was incorporated to break up the chapters. Speaking of breaking, I'm a HUGE fan of fourth wall breaks and there were plenty of those!
However, what really surprised me most was the more somber and emotional moments. There were parts where the book got dark, deep, and direct with sensitive topics. I nearly forgot how brutally honest Ryan can be sometimes, which I totally appreciated. Ryan's troubled past was extremely relatable (especially for me, since he & I were that "small ugly Asian kid" people can pick on and bully) and it honestly made me tear up a little. :(
All in all, this was a very enjoyable read! If you're a fan and are familiar with his sense of humour from his YouTube videos, I highly recommend this! This book not only lets you know Ryan on a more personal level from his past experiences, but you'll also learn something from it! And thanks to him, I now know how to write
TEEHEE!!! xD
March 23, 2022
I will admit... this is not a book I would have picked up on my own. The only reason I read this is because about a month ago I was asking my boyfriend what books he would like me to download onto my kindle to read one day. If I'm honest, I didn't expect him to give me any suggestions, because I know he's not a huge reader, but lo and behold, he suggested a few. One of them was this book, and I thought, why not? So here we are.
I have never watched a nigahiga video before, yet I still found this book engaging and enjoyable. The mixed media elements sped up my reading pace, and I really liked Higa's choice of narrative voice: a conversation between Young Ryan, current Ryan, and the ghost writer. The outline of this book fit well with the messages Higa conveyed, and as a reader I felt like I got exactly what I signed up for when choosing to read this book. This book does not pretend to be something it is not, and I appreciate it so much for that.
In this memoir, Higa touches on his experiences growing up, specifically regarding bullying, suicidal ideation, and finding your passion. Each of these lessons were touched on sufficiently, and I believe will be incredibly relatable to many younger readers.
As much as I enjoyed this book, it doesn't stand out as anything special to me. Because I had little to no background on Ryan Higa before reading this book, I didn't feel the same magic I believe fans will feel when digesting this memoir. For this reason, I would primarily recommend this to Ryan Higa fans, particularly if you are in middle school/high school yourself. I would also recommend this to younger readers who have an experience with bullying or suicide. However, there is still something to be taken from this even if you are none of those things, like myself!
I have never watched a nigahiga video before, yet I still found this book engaging and enjoyable. The mixed media elements sped up my reading pace, and I really liked Higa's choice of narrative voice: a conversation between Young Ryan, current Ryan, and the ghost writer. The outline of this book fit well with the messages Higa conveyed, and as a reader I felt like I got exactly what I signed up for when choosing to read this book. This book does not pretend to be something it is not, and I appreciate it so much for that.
In this memoir, Higa touches on his experiences growing up, specifically regarding bullying, suicidal ideation, and finding your passion. Each of these lessons were touched on sufficiently, and I believe will be incredibly relatable to many younger readers.
As much as I enjoyed this book, it doesn't stand out as anything special to me. Because I had little to no background on Ryan Higa before reading this book, I didn't feel the same magic I believe fans will feel when digesting this memoir. For this reason, I would primarily recommend this to Ryan Higa fans, particularly if you are in middle school/high school yourself. I would also recommend this to younger readers who have an experience with bullying or suicide. However, there is still something to be taken from this even if you are none of those things, like myself!
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