How to Write Stuff - A Writing Guide (Sort Of)
How to Write Everything Under the Sun
There are countless websites and online articles telling us how to write almost everything from poetry and flash fiction to novels, biographies, and nonfiction informational content. There are also numerous books, magazines, and courses striving to do the same. Gosh, I have even written "How to Write" articles myself.
We all strive to be the very best at what we do, or at least do the best we can so, as writers, we delve through the raging river of information on the art we love so that we can achieve our goal. The trouble is it gets to the stage where you feel you are just going around in circles and reading the same advice over and over again. Am I right?
So, in this article I won't tell you how to do any of these things. I'll simply attempt to tell you how to write "Stuff."
What is Stuff?
Well you may ask, "What is Stuff?"
Stuff : is one of the most common nouns in speaking. It is more informal than thing. It is not at all common in writing.
noun noun: stuff; plural noun: stuffs
- matter, material, articles, or activities of a specified or indeterminate kind that are being referred to, indicated, or implied."What's that black stuff? ."
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- a person's belongings, equipment, or baggage."We can't move to a smaller place, we have too much stuff." synonyms: possessions, personal possessions, effects, goods;
- BRITISH informal: dated, worthless or foolish ideas, speech, or writing; rubbish."stuff and nonsense!" synonyms: rubbish, nonsense, twaddle, balderdash, claptrap, gibberish, drivel ; More
- informal: drink or drugs."The islanders get fighting mad on the stuff"
- things in which one is knowledgeable and experienced; one's area of expertise. noun: one's stuff; plural noun: one's stuffs"; "I've read all his books. He knows his stuff and can write really well." synonyms: facts, information, data, subject, discipline
- the basic constituents or characteristics of something or someone."Hansen was made of sterner stuff."
- used to refer to more things of a similar kind to the ones you mentioned. "I was embarrassed because she just wanted to talk about love and stuff."
- to completely fill a container or space with something. "Under the bed they found a suitcase stuffed with money."
- used to express indifference or rejection of something: "Stuff this diet."
So, my interpretation of all this is that if you want to write anything non-specific or indeterminate, or just to fill up space in an article, you can write about stuff.
(source Cambridge Dictionary and stuff)
10 Tips for Writing Stuff
- If you have any dreams, random thoughts, ideas that you'd like to develop and expand on, just start writing that stuff down.
- Don't bother planning. How can you plan anyway if you are just writing about random stuff.
- Just ad lib as you go and write whatever stuff pops into your head. That's kind of exciting as you never know what the finished project will end up like.
- Look to others for inspiration. They know and do stuff too, and it may be different stuff to you.
- Research stuff. It helps to make you appear to be an authority on whatever stuff you are writing about.
- Following on from the previous point: Don't write about stuff you know nothing about, especially if it is medical or health related. You could kill or maim someone with your advice, and then they'd be stuffed, and so would you.
- Write stuff that people want to read. Find your audience. Then they will follow you and share your stuff on Facebook, Twitter, and stuff.
- Try writing a poem about stuff. Here are some words to rhyme with stuff to start you off: snuff, gruff, puff, cuff, rough, tough, enough, scuff, huff, duff, chuff, bluff, buff, fluff.
- Use stuff to help reach a minimum word count. Stuff your article or story with lots of different stuff to make it more interesting. Especially if it is on HubPages, the stuff can include photos, videos, polls, call-outs, recipes etc.
- When all else fails, make stuff up! Fiction is a popular genre - so go for it! You can write all kinds of stuff under the banner of fiction - crime, mystery, horror, romance, drama, comedy, and best of all - science fiction.
Most people will enjoy reading your stuff. But anyone who doesn't appreciate the stuff you write, especially after all the trouble you went to, can just go and get s...some other stuff to read.
Oh, here is one additional tip for writing stuff thanks to Austinstar:
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There is a cool journalism trick for writing - start with Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. If you include the 5 'Ws' whenever you write, you will have a good foundation for writing stuff.
This Poem is Stuffed
I gather my climbing gear and stuff,
Today I will scale the mountain.
I know the steep accent will be tough,
But I am excited and determined.
As I climb to the top of the bluff,
Even though I have trained for months,
The exertion makes me huff and puff,
And it seemed to take forever.
But on reaching the summit I am chuffed,
The view from the top is amazing.
The descent also proved to be very rough,
My knees copped a good grazing.
One elbow was also quite badly scuffed,
As I gladly set foot on the ground.
But, I arrived back down safe enough,
At least this time around.

How do you write?
© 2016 John Hansen
Comments
Humorous article, John, I like your sense of humor and the poem.
Enjoyed reading your hub. It is refreshing in its directness. While I do most of these, I write what I like to write so I need to really focus on what people like to read. The problem is the top topics are not in my sphere of interest. Ahhh, as you've said there's always a way with these stuff.
Good 'STUFF' here John!
I enjoyed the few pointers, and stuff!
Lawrence
John, this is some pretty funny stuff! How do you come up with this off-the-wall stuff, anyway?
Thanks for the laugh. It lightened me up from the stuff I'm doing at work right now.
I do agree with you. I can recommend to read this book (it's short, but very effective. It made a lot of difference to me). Understanding that one writes for himself gives a certain feeling of freedom. I like to frame the question "For whom do I write?" (translation "Why do I bother writing at all?") as "What's my agenda?"
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Anyway, this is the quote:
“The Audience. Soon after you confront the matter of preserving your identity, another question will occur to you: “Who am I writing for?”
It’s a fundamental question, and it has a fundamental answer: You are writing for yourself. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience – every reader is a different person.”
William Zinsser “On Writing Well”
I have read your stuff writing about stuff. I don't use the word "stuff" in my writing often, but when I do, I do so for the triple F emphasis. In spoken language, however, "stuff" has its place as a filler or a crutch if you wish.
As far as writing advice goes, I agree with you, there is too much advice and too much writing, but not enough reading. Writing is more fun because it is a process in which one is an active participant just like in speaking or playing a video game.
Reading, listening, or watching TV, on the other hand, are passive tasks and that is why it is harder to follow, have interest, fully engage.
There is a clever observation - "why listeners get more tired than speakers when it is speakers who do all the work?"
I believe at one point any writer or person who writes is confronted with the question "For whom do I write?" (apart from what? and how?)
Long time ago, I got over those question by writing an article "Creating a Vision - It's All in My Head" and a few days ago, after a long, long, long period of publishing nothing, I wrote "You've Got a Message Re: Pressing Matter".
Essentially, everybody writes for himself. There is no such thing as an audience.
There is a lot of good stuff in your article. Although you incorporated an amusing twist, the final message came through loud and clear. I really enjoyed reading this.
You made me laugh! What a great article on stuff and all so valuable. This is great "stuff"!
If I surround myself with a theme then I can write about it but the most magical writings I think are just put upon us and amaze us when it is done. Maybe that sounds a bit conceited but I think you know what I mean. That is the joy of writing about "stuff" I think. lol
Great way to write. Sometimes you got to make stuff up.
Love your reply, John. Long-winded, too long? Nah. How long is a rope? I've always heard that a rope is 2 x 1/2 its length. (Probably just long enough to hang oneself.) Love ya.
Great motivation! My favorite sentence is "When all else fails, make stuff up!" Obviously, you have a high regard for stuff. Who else can show us how important stuff is?
Oh, John, stuff it! No, I didn't really mean that. In fact, I don't think I've ever taken the time to tell you how much your friendship means to me. I love being around good writers like you who can tell us how to write stuff. My training, other than in creative coercive advertising to sell stuff, was mostly in writing serious stuff, and it's been a hard pull to try to get some of the stuff, uh, starch out of my collar. This stuff is great, my man! Keep it up.
The comment in my mind was, "This is some really cool stuff!", but then I saw Ericdierker already used it.
I write all kind of stuff. It all depends on the stuff that's going on in my mind.
Jodah, you've made me smile!
Great article about writing stuff. Lately, my writing stuff has been slacking, but I really need to gain interest in it once again. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow! This is an amazing stuff. It filled my whole stuff with cheers. Thanks, John, for this wonderful entertainment and illumination.
Loved your take on writing stuff, enjoyed reading your poem.
The funnest part of writing is seeing what "stuff" is going to come out today. Too much planning would spoil the fun. You go in with a skeleton of an idea, then flesh it out. Great work.
This hub is stuffed with excellent stuff to stuff into a useful article that will benefit the readers as they stuff more knowledge into their overstuffed brains! :)
Spot on Jodah....lots of -uff to go around and I write most of my work in just this way :D
Angels are on the way to you this afternoon ps
This article had lots of energy and was lots of fun to read. Good stuff!
Really helpful and funny!
I used to plan a lot before writing. But it didn't work out so well. So now I plan after I am done writing, which is a whole lot better and easier.
Gonna start a guild. The Guild of people who like to write stuff;-)
I hope not. As long as it doesn't make you go to sleep before you get to bed!
Thank you for your kind comment, John. I've just finished the latest 'Take a Word' so I hope you've got time to take a look and that it lives up to your opinion of my work!
Have a great Sunday! (or is just about done for you?!) Anyway, enjoy!
Ann
Interesting article. IT's important just to write about "stuff" every once in a while. Writing is an adventure, it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. Especially with NaNoWriMo around the corner, it's great to be able to write about the stuff we love without worrying too much about perfection, and the more we write the better we get.
My mind is so full of stuff, mostly rhyming words. Sometimes I just stuff it all and start over again, but pretty soon I'm back to rhyming. It's like my angel cabinet, there's no more room, yet every time I see another angel, I want more of the angelic stuff. It's like what my mother always said, " Stuff won't make you happy. " That's true in a sense, when I overeat and I feel stuffed, I'm unhappy. I like the stuff you write...
Great stuff, John! This all makes such sense and the humour is great. I like taking words and analysing them, as you know from my 'Take a Word' series, and this is a light-hearted resumé of all that confusing advice available. I'd sooner read yours as it's all we need!
I often find that if I'm not sure how to tackle an article, I just start writing and it goes off on its own. They're often the best ones, strangely, so why plan?!
Have a great Sunday!
Ann ;)
You write some good stuff here, Kohn, including the poem.
Hello John - I write stuff. I have written lots of stuff. Plan, what is a plan?
Very creative, fun piece of writing here. This needed to be said, and you said it. We all have our own techniques. As Theresa and you point out, we often have an idea of a destination, yet end up elsewhere.
LOL@Jodah
please teach me how to write for cash!
Hahaha, I love this one, John! Yes, there's so much stuff to write about and I like your approach here. Your poem is creative as always and a delight to read.
I do have a lot of "stuff" in my mind but not sure anyone would want to read about it LOL. However, as you say, we can add so much interest really to any topic to ensure that whoever reads will be entertained or maybe even learn something new.
What usually happens with me in writing is that I "think" I have a good topic to write on and then I get started going in one direction, and then later just out of the blue it begins to take on a whole new aspect that is far removed from my original idea ...thank goodness!
Peace and blessings
Thanks John. Al very useful ideas. I remain the creative type. I know of forms and structure... I grew up with them and do believe they work. Yet I must create. I follow my inner Sun and go where She takes me, with a sense of destiny yes, but not much. I don't encourage too many to do this.
Nice poem about stuff. A very pleasant weekend to you and family.
I took off writing this morning with nothing but a song lyric in mind. I ended up miles away from the original thought but with page filled with some serious stuff. Probably nothing I'll publish. It's that kind of serious. Thanksgiving is coming soon up our way, and that, of course, means turkey and stuffing. Have a great day/night John.
There is a cool journalism trick for writing - start with Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
If you include the 5 'Ws' whenever you write, you will have a good foundation for writing stuff.
Random stuff writing can only improve your skills! Good hub!
Very fun. Loved your poem that found numerous ways to rhyme with "stuff". It was stuffed with stuff.
I laughed out loud when I read the title. Great stuff here, filled with valuable stuff for any writer or writer wannabee, and a great reminder that you, my friend, are a creative, writing machine.
Lots of cool stuff here Jodah. I love some of the images too.
This is some really cool stuff. I think that maybe I needed to hear this today. Sometimes I think the stuff I write about sounds just off the cuff. Maybe it is.
John you have been an inspiration to me, thank you.
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