“You ask whether your verses are any good. You ask me. You have asked others before this. You send them to magazines. You compare them with other poems, and you are upset when certain editors reject your work. Now (since you have said you want my advice) I beg you to stop doing that sort of thing. You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. “And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your while life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose. Don’t write love poems; avoid those forms that are too facile and ordinary: they are the hardest to work with, and it takes great, fully ripened power to create something individual where good, even glorious, traditions exist in abundance. “So rescue yourself from these general themes and write about what your everyday life offers you; describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty - describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, when you express yourself, use the Things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember. If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is not poverty and no poor, indifferent place. “And even if you found yourself in some prison, whose walls let in none of the world’s sounds-wouldn’t you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories? Turn your attentions to it. Try to raise up the sunken feelings of this enormous past; your personality will grow stronger, your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight, where the noise of other people passes by, far in the distance. - And if out of this turning-within, out of this immersion in your own world, poems come, then you will not think of asking anyone whether they are good or not. Nor will you try to interest magazines in these works: for you will see them as your dear natural possession, a piece of your life, a voice from it. A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it. “So, dear Sir, I can’t give you any advice but this: to go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create. Accept that answer, just as it is given to you, without trying to interpret it. Perhaps you will discover that you are called to be an artist. Then take the destiny upon yourself, and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking what reward might come from outside. For the creator must be a world for himself and must find everything in himself and in Nature, to whom his whole life is devoted. “But after this descent into yourself and into your solitude, perhaps you will have to renounce becoming a poet (if, as I have said, one feels one could live without writing, then one shouldn’t write at all). Nevertheless, even then, this self-searching that I as of you will not have been for nothing. Your life will still find its own paths from there, and that they may be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more than I can say. What else can I tell you? It seems to me that everything has its proper emphasis; and finally I want to add just one more bit of advice: to keep growing, silently and earnestly, through your while development; you couldn’t disturb it any more violently than by looking outside and waiting for outside answers to question that only your innermost feeling, in your quietest hour, can perhaps answer.” - Rilke
“Read what you love to inspire you. Not what’s popular”. Apparently it’s good to examine what you love, whether good or bad and try understanding what you like about it and writing something like it.
@@Drawperfectcircles Love this! Reminds me of a Ray Bradbury quote in his book Zen in the Art of Writing: "If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don’t even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is-excited."
There is a reason an opus alchemicum comes at the end of a career. Consider Paradise Lost. Also a "masterpiece" is strictly knew knowledge added after you complete your apprenticeship in order to show that you can make meaningful contributions to the field. Doesn't have to be a magnum opus to be that.
@@DEADEYESTUDIO Oh I'm not saying make something you want. I'm rather saying make what you feel called to make, but nest those things inside one another in a logical progression so that you're not writing Paradise Lost first (he did that at 60). Keep the vision, of course, but can you divide the vision up into manageable goals? This is the difference, to me. It's really a project management question, not a vision question at all. BELL HAMMERS is manageable. It also happens to be connected to my main fantasy series I've always wanted to write and has no less than four magic systems in it. But it's a historical fiction novel set in midcentury poor Americana, so no one notices the magic. Or many other things that are odd. A frigging meteor strike happens near the climax of the novel and no one - not a single reader - ever even brings it up. They just accept it as having happened and move on. So it's possible to do both, I think. It's possible (as I have) to even troll literary magazines and sell them things they think are commercial fiction stories that are really borrowing characters and set pieces and props from fantasy and sci fi worlds. Their loss, our gain. Yeah, follow the fun. Yeah, follow the bliss. Yeah, follow the conviction. But also eat your eggs. Also remember that though you can eat the whale or the dragon, you can only do it one bite at a time. If you can find a way to make a day's meals of it and call it "a day," why not put a bow on that work and sell it first before you take another bite? If that's the case, why is that settling?
I'm trying to write 'that book' for almost 5 years. I have other ideas, but they are stored for later. And I never even thought about writing something simple. Thank you.
“Write a book you can finish in the next 12 months.” This really hit hard for me, along with the advice of putting away the space opera for later. I’ve been stuck in a loop of several story ideas, and I keep reworking and changing them to be “that book.” In the back of my mind I keep thinking “it’s okay, books take years to write.” But that’s honestly slowing me down. I know all books take time to create, indeed years for most, but those few words of honing in on a smaller idea rather than a larger one really resonated with me. I’m definitely going to take this advice. Thank you so much for making such helpful videos. You’ve just got yourself another subscriber :)
There’s no such thing as “that book,” ultimately. There’s an ongoing portfolio of iteration that grows over time. Which of Shakespeare’s plays was the best? That’s debatable, largely based on personal preference. More importantly his worst works were written in the same years as his best. So iteration is key. A page a day with a day off and two weeks vacation is still a 90,000 word novel at the end of the year. Can you do that?
@@LancelotSchaubert I was thinking about doing Ray BradBury's writing challenge of writing a short story every week for a year, or developing one short story in a month like NaNoWriMo. But writing a page a day sounds like a good thing, too. I'll think about it and decide what to do before the New Year. Thanks for the advice!
@@topaz_topacio Or maybe alternate days. Minimum 250 words a day or 1500 in a week, however your schedule works. Get the muscle going. There are far worse ways to spend your time.
i..... needed this. sometimes you get so swept up by the dream, you end up forgetting the craft - the thing that makes you happy; the making that inspires dreaming... thank you for that.
This is actually really good advice. When I first started writing, I poured about two years into a book I wasn't able to finish, because I got so caught up in big problems I couldn't solve. Also didn't understand characters then. I've spent the last two years writing short fiction and it has made a world of difference in how I approach brain storming etc. I think I have so many more tools at my disposal to go back to that original story idea and actually make it work. Whoo!
I like it. Be Basic. The filmmaking version of this advice is very related to budget, so I'm glad you shared the deeper methodological reasons for it here.
It is connected to budget, in a way: how much time (tf money in salary) does it take to learn more than three locations? More than one viewpoint? More than five characters? More than…? It’s more like learning to iterate with something small and use it, progressively. Sound stages and makeup and costumes and miniatures would be the equivalent in studios
Very good advice. What could also help with this, in case someone really wants to write in that wonderful world they created, is to write novellas in it. Set up the world, its lands, culture, and magic systems and write a small story in it. Not the big epic sage, but something small in the world that might be worldbuilding in the eventual sage. It is great practice, helps to flesh out the world and those stories can be used to make a name. Because people are more inclined to buy a novella from a small writer than a first of a 13-book series that might never be finished. But a epic sage following up the novellas, well that sounds good.
I wrote 5 books to prepare for the big book I had in my head for 30 years. I'm glad I waited before doing the big book, but frankly, all of my books have some big book qualities. I started working on my tenth recently and this one will be a dozy. Every one builds craft upon what came before. Writing never gets easy but it gets better and better if you work at it.
It feels like you're talking to me, as I have this great idea for an epic space opera and I've been struggling for years to advance it; always rewriting and deleting without any true advancement. And just recently I thought of doing exactly this, to simply finish a book and get that experience done. Finding this video is like the universe is doubling down on that thought so I will.
I'm glad this little video could be helpful for you. I've found writing the "smaller" stories, while still world building the epic space story, to be a great balance for me.
At the surface it's good advice, but I think the better advice is to just simplify your story. As in: don't put all your ideas into one thing. That's the main way to over complicate things. I get that creating short stories is easier, but short vs. long stories are two completely different ways of story telling, and forcing someone who is better with higher concepts to make a short story doesn't really work. Short stories aren't just short versions of long stories (ie. the tortoise and the hare wouldn't work if extended, and breaking bad wouldn't work if shortened.) Take Love Death and Robots for instance. The main problem with the show is that it has huge concepts with the potential for complex characters and worlds but it cuts them short (the episode Ice is the worst offender for this. It should've been a movie or miniseries). Of course, practicing with short stories is good if you just want to finish something, or see if you like then better than high concepts, but that shouldn't discourage you from starting with something long. You just need to simplify the concept (alien fantasy time travel thing sounds like too much, but who knows. Basically, even the longest stories have simple ideas, they just explore more themes.) Ultimately you should do what you're best at!!
I don't think he should change his original story idea at all. I think he should build the skills from writing whatever other stories are simpler and, once those skills are present, write the BIG BOOK he's always dreamed of writing. Most careers are structured this way: Stephen King, Sanderson, etc. Folks seldom publish their big idea first, when they do its literal decades of revision and perfectionism like Rothfuss. Even Rothfuss admits his trajectory is a terrible one for even him, one no one should try to emulate, one that hinders his process, and that easier paths exist.
Short stories and novels are definitely different (at least they should be!). I think starting with the high concept story when first starting to write novels could lead to years and years of frustration because it’s hard to get the “win” of finishing a novel and the skills probably aren’t there yet. So, starting with a simpler novel sized idea is a great way to learn how to finish a book, which helps in a ton of ways!
Woah... this is actually the best possible advice anyone could give me! I'm going to start developing my other ideas instead of trying to fit it all into a 15-book story, lol! Thanks so much!!
Or find a small, self contained story within that 15-book world that ties into it, but doesn’t need a sequel or a big sequence to expand it beyond 60k-90k words
Brandon Sanderson's baby is The Stormlight Archive, he said he even wrote a short version of it as a Nanowrimo excercise. But as an author his first published novel was Elantris, then the Mistborn trilogy, then Warbreaker, and ONLY THEN he started publishing Stormlight Archive.
Having a roadmap is crazy important if you have several series worth of plots, settings and characters. I finally settled on just writing one of them for no other reason than it just feels right at this point in my life. Hopefully I can write them all.
I wrote my first book during NaNoWriMo! But, I've heard Sanderson say he's got chapters in The Stormlight Archive that are 30K words...which is as long as my entire first book, ha!
This advice is brilliant and should be considered in other creative outlets as well. Filmmaking, woodworking, drawing/character design, etc. could all use this advise to help grow in that area before you step into your big dream project
@@LancelotSchaubert I struggled to write a novel past three chapters for like, 15 years. I always felt like I was ruining my beautiful best idea ever, or that it wasn’t actually that good when I wrote it down. Then, in 2020, I tried to get over that hurdle by intentionally picking an idea that I wasn’t as attached to and made my goal to just finish the book, no matter how bad it is. That really helped me, and I loosely finished the book at around 50k words. Since then, I’ve written two more manuscripts, one of which is now on its fourth draft. This method might not work for everyone, but it REALLY helped me! Thanks for asking!
@@ethansexton2590 This is exactly what it's supposed to encourage: "Yes, and..." iterative thinking. Not being so damn precious about everything. Having fun again, and again, and at every stage.
@@ethansexton2590 For sure! When I was working on my first book, someone told me it would be bad. That they knew it would be bad without even reading it. In a weird way, that took a lot of pressure off for me. I still like the story and think its good (or I wouldn't have published it). I love that you just set your mind to finishing it no matter what. There's so much to be learned from that. Thanks for sharing!
As someone who DOES have a huge space fantasy version of King Arthur... yeah, I am not starting with that. My current plan is to work on several stories before that. Currently got a Land Before Time style adventure with dinosaurs as characters (who don't talk), and maybe a children's fantasy
@@LancelotSchaubert so far, a junior cadet for the town guard and apprentice alchemist find an aged down princess and try to reverse her curse, while fighting off two evil wizards (who are a young married couple). They come across a group of pirates who’s captain is desperately looking for a purpose in life. The princess may change to a starchild, I’m still deciding. That’s like the one element I don’t have yet
wow. I've worked occasionally on other projects, but The Book has been my focus for 4 & 1/2 years. I've definitely improved everything about my writing while working on it, but I only have about 40k of usable material-and I'd be very surprised if I'd written less than 500k on this project in various documents. In the past month I've been working primarily on something else, which has come easier in some ways (though harder in others, as it's difficult to understand this new set of characters), and its ease has made me further question if I should give up on The Book. I would never have thought of, or seen the value in, this approach on my own. Thank you so much.
Are you saying this happened as a direct result of this video a month ago? Also: none of that 500k is wasted. Organize it in a boneyard and you’ll be shocked at what emerges eventually.
@@LancelotSchaubert No, sorry, i started working on the easier project a month ago, and working on it has made me question if The Book is worth it. Seeing this video made me realize they're both worth it and working on one will help me improve the other!
@@xyzzyx4839 Yes, no words are ever wasted. I like having different projects at various stages of development (one in worldbuilding, one in outlining, one in first drafts, etc). I say keep doing what you're doing! Find out how many projects you can juggle at the same time, and at what capacity, so that you're enjoying them all, and still making progress, even if it's incremental. And keep us updated on your book in 2025!
I know exactly what story to write! I've been working on it all along but passing it off as a side story or just for my own entertainment. Thank you for sharing!
@@LancelotSchaubert Thanks for asking! It's a love story about a girl who despite her family & society's expectations does not actually want to be in love or get married. Being the descendant of formerly enslaved people and the eldest daughter of one of the most affluent Black families in town, she has to reconcile her desire for independency and "freedom" and her disdain with love/marriage as just another system keeping her from the life she truly wants. I don't typically see myself as a "romance writer" so I've been avoiding it, but honestly I have the most fun thinking through the female lead's thought process and putting her in situations with a certain suitor that swoops in and makes her question everything.
@@adajaharris8036 You're welcome! One of my main goals for writing is to write stories I want to write. I think readers will feel the fun and enjoyment that you've put into it. Keep having fun with it!
Starting with something you can actually write and finish is fantastic advice. Your first book is going to be hard enough no matter what you write. There is plenty of time to push yourself later.
I managed to write 'that book' for my first book. I am currently trying to get an agent. Took 5 years of learning and first draft, then 5 years going through the full editing process. It was a long journey - wish I'd seen this video back then 😅 Great advice. I do have to say I had a good time writing it though.
I have been given this advice a lot and I've genuinely struggled to come up with unrelated story ideas to my BIG idea. The closest compromise I've come up with is write later storylines that do not affect the start or write standalone inconsequential stories with the same characters.
Yeah, I get that. It took me 10 yrs to just now dissolve my story premise into like 5 decent stories. I told myself to make these 5 stories stand alone. There are other stories but they aren't as well thought out. Which is fine. I still plan to write them even if they can only be short stories. I think for me the big world building was more therapeutic than an actual creative goal. Your idea seems solid. Do it as stand alones. You seem to really want the characters to be known first so get them out there.
I think trying to write something shorter that you're not interested in would probably hurt more than help. I say keep going on the big story, knowing that you've got a long road ahead of you, but that you can do it a little bit at a time. The advice in the video is generally for authors just starting out that need any extra motivation they can get (like getting quick wins with short stories). Keep us updated on your book in 2025!
This is interesting. I have been stuck on a book for 6 years. 6. YEARS. And I have frequently wondered if I am just starting too big. The problem I have with trying to redirect is that at this point I almost feel like I don’t know how to think about anything else when it comes to writing. It’s almost as though Ive trained my brain to think of writing and this book as synonymous with each other. I’ve had a couple ideas here and there but they were either ones that I knew would have to be just as big, or they were for genres that I don’t enjoy reading, so… why would I write them?
Yeah, that's a long time. Could you write something with 3 or less locations, 5 or less characters, and only one "smoking gun" whether that's a magic system, a tech, a MacGuffin, or something similar? Do you have any ideas - or even any pieces of other ideas - that you could do? Getting 60,000 words of a simpler idea doesn't preclude it from being nested inside another - even FC wrote a sequel to his Rose Weapon. What would that be for you?
Writing stories I enjoy writing is one of the ways I define success, so I definitely wouldn't recommend writing something you don't enjoy (unless someone is commissioning you or something). I think Lance's advice is spot on. What's the book about?
for the story I'm writing its gone through so much personal change. i started with one high concept story and slide down a slope for years wanting to implement new ideas every few months. its gotten to a point were i had to come to this conclusion by just deleting everything. recently I've restarted but instead of writing THAT story I've decided to take all the setup and world-building and make that the focus of writing short storys in the world and around THAT story. if i ever do write a novel or the like it likely won't even be THAT story because there's nothing more defeating then working on your ultimate master piece only to realize you don't have the skill and understanding to pull it off. Eden cluster is the name I've given my universe and even though its not publicated and i partly doubt I'll ever try. its certainly helped me understand writing better keeping within the world i love without pushing myself for the perfect story
This is the actual problem. The main one. You're trying to outrun your own pace of exponential learning. And it takes, on average if you're working your butt off, anywhere from 3 months to a year to get a draft done. By the time you finish that draft, you're asking a whole new set of questions. So ultimately you need at least a base level competence on certain things. The funniest thing about it is that the novel I referenced in the original post wasn't even my dream novel. It was incredibly complicated, but there's one even far, far worse that I still don't have the chops to write yet. And I know it. Which means right now I really need to finish revisions and write something that's more or less at my competence level. I might actually take the very rubric FC used and try something even simpler still. So I suppose in that way, FC taught me. Why not keep the universe and connect other stories to it? Nothing's wasted, just keep it in a boneyard file folder on your desktop.
Thank you for sharing. I think starting with short stories in your world is a fantastic plan. Even if you never write THAT story, you might find another one in your world you love even more? In one of my favorite fantasy series, The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore, after writing the first half of the book, he decided to switch main characters and make someone who was more of a side character the main character, and now there are like 40+ books around that character!
This is really good advice. I have an idea for a huge space opera I came up with a couple of years ago, but thankfully I’ve had the insight to know that that kind of story is way too big for my current writing skills. So instead I wrote a fairly short 75,000-word novel set in a very quiet post apocalyptic rural Texas. The plot is simple and straightforward (with just enough complexity to keep it interesting and original). It is coming to Amazon in May 2025.
That is a very good advice. Thanks for sharing. I have the struggle of having stored wayyy to many story ideas over the years, some I will never write/finish cause I don't relate to the anymore and can't stand behind the story. I still keep them tho, in case I want to incoporate some of those in other stories. But I don't know where to start, any advice on that xD...
You don’t have to be passionate about an idea. You have to learn to play in the boredom. So just treat three of your ideas like raw clay in a school art class. Now play. Smash them together and see if you can write a small story in a small knowable world and get it on paper
Glad it was helpful! I'm in a similar place right now, trying to decide what to sink a ton of hours into to write next. The way I'm deciding is by asking myself this: "Which of these stories am I most excited about?" Writing is hard. If I can pick the story idea I love the most, that I'm most excited about, that will help me get a good running start (until I inevitably get worn out in the middle, but by then, the thought of having a finished manuscript is usually enough to pull me all the way through to the end). I hope that helps!
I have been thinking this for a while because I care about my current book so much that even my first draft has to be carved really carefully - 4 years later and I am only in chapter 20 in first draft. I never give up on it because I do love it but maybe, I just have to write something and finish it without caring too much and just having fun with setting myself free through words.
The high of finishing your first novel is perhaps the most motivating thing in the world. It’s an _earned_ dopamine high of long term delayed gratification.
Chapter 20 is great! I would say writing something you love, even it it is slow, is probably better than trying to write something you don't love just to finish it. Keep at it!
Shrug. It may sound snobby to say, but I am writing that book, I will finish the first one next year and I havent gotten discouraged on it for more than a week at a time (not because of the book anyways, we all know life tends to happen). Im not planning on blowing anyone away with it, I'm writing characters I care about and set a reasonable scope for what features in the narrative. I know the KISS principle exists for a reason, but with a bit of education/experience on project management and media production, it's not impossible to start with a full on fantasy novel. Its good advice, but personally I didnt feel like limiting myself in my hobby when I started turning my shoddy character building excercises into a novel. I dont regtet anything.
This works for any art form too! Drawing, filmmaking, game dev (I actually first heard it about game dev) Put off my game idea for 6+ years for this reason, had an idea for a comic but I put it off bc it had too many characters, so I thought of a smaller story Don't chase your dreams, walk towards them at a steady pace and enjoy the journey
for a moment I thought you meant BellHammer was a story about a group of carpenters that fight an oil company by using practical jokes somehow, took me a while to realize you meant the story itself has great practical jokes not that it is part of the premise 😂😂 that aside, really solid advice, thank you, I will definitely try writing something smaller now!
I came up with an epic crime novel idea at the beginning of high school. I was too afraid to write it because I knew I wasn't ready in any way, so I wrote a science fantasy Tom Clancy rip off instead. I made it about 250 pages before I realized I was trying way too hard to force it. Fifteen years later I actually have real life experience to write short stories that make me proud. That original idea over time has inspired many other ideas, helping me form my ecology focused new weird fiction, and the characters and settings have coalesced into larger worlds/universes that feel naturally interconnected. I'm still not good enough to write that epic crime novel, but I'm closer than I ever thought I would get.
Wow I was writing my first novel, which has a lot of the elements you mentioned. And I have been thinking about it for years. I am 30,000 words in with lots of momentum, and I was feeling so good about it. Until I watched this video. Now I am completely discouraged. 😟
Don't be discouraged. Timing and momentum are very important, and not many people talk about it. In many cases, you can't control when ideas come to you, and you need to make the most of them when they do. For example, I found that, if I write down just the ideas for scenes rather the scenes themselves, I can't make them work as well when I come back to them. Even though you might want to adhere to this advice, you will find yourself unable to focus on the smaller, "less challenging" project, because the ideas for your first novel will itch you, so you will become frustrated and do a lousy job with both. So, keep up the good work, because 30,000 words is fantastic. I'm in the same boat, btw. Been working on mine for the past 6 years, and I've relished every moment of it. I'm not in a hurry to have something published just for the sake of having my name on a book I don't particularly care about; I'd rather take my time and write something I love and am proud of.
Eh. Just finish that draft, then once you're done with it, start a first draft IMMEDIATELY of something simpler. Get a draft of a novel done - any novel - that'll help. But just sit on this one longer.
I wouldn’t feel discouraged, writing is a slow process as we all know. I’ve been working on my first novel for a year now and I have only 23k words. Everyone’s writing process is different and that’s okay. You don’t have to try to push this book out within the next 2 years. I was close to almost giving up the story and junking it completely when I had the first chapter but I didn’t because I knew there’s a story there somewhere despite it being a rough draft. But that’s exactly what it is, a ROUGH draft. So don’t be too hard on yourself, if you’re having trouble getting words down. Try writing a short story, it doesn’t have to be thousands of words. Then come back the your novel, I promise you you’ll get ideas. Realistically the story you have might not be bad as what you think. I’m writing a gothic romance (not dark romance) that follows a lot of those elements, it’s not about who wrote this first or anything. It’s how you execute the story.
Basically from what i learned from this video in video game perspective is to do the side quests and fight the beginner monsters first to gain more "experience" and to gain more level before trying to fight in the boss battle. If we dont do this and we instead go to the boss instantly without gaining the recommended xp, resources, and level, then we are expected to get crushed and fail. The only solution to this is to either gain more xp and resources first (recommended option) Or we continue to fight the boss without any preperation.. (second option) If we do the second option, then we will have a harder time to beat it rather than the alternative option. Its gonna be more time consuming and more stressful with more failed attempts falling ontop of each other until its uncountable. And once we finally beat the boss, we may have a sense of happiness at first, but we may feel sadness and nothingness later due to many "factors" coming into play later after beating the boss. tldr: The long way is the best shortcut. (Dont use the philosophy of this quote too much in every situation as some situations may be more complex and hard to solve than others.)
Yes. Also this is what that top commenter meant by Rothfuss’s career verses Sanderson’s. Elantris, if nothing else, is an incredibly simple high concept story.
I think you're on to something here. You can still gain experience by going straight to the boss, but you don't get the small "wins" that the side quests (simpler stories) give you, which can help keep momentum. Writing is hard, so I try to find momentum wherever I can!
PS: this is not just about books and writing. I'm a more entrepreneurial fella and my "space opera" is a specific type of business that I'd love to create one day, with an engaged community, some complex software, and a bunch more things that I'd have to figure out. For a while I was completely stuck and incapable of moving forward in life. Eventually, I got unstuck by just deciding to aim lower and take smaller steps. After 7 years, now I'm finally drastically closer to that dream and I may only be a couple years away from finally being able to start "that business". We all have our dreams and magnum opuses we want to create one day. But more often than not, our first few projects are not going to be a "facebook" that turns into an extremely successful thing. Almost always, our first projects will be pretty bad... and that's okay. The fool is the precursor to the saviour. As long as you don't quit, you can't lose :) And then, eventually, you'll get to write "that book".
Thank you for sharing. I hadn't really thought of it like that, but that makes sense. Also, congratulations on getting closer to your goal. 7 years is a long time!
I mean even Facebook had a radically small start - Harvard students. And it had an early iteration he made at his high school. So even in that case, it started small.
Honestly part of me cares more about this specific story, more than any particular career I may or may not have in the field. I would rather write this book a 100 times until it’s good, rather than a 100 books I don’t care about until I’m good.
You are exactly right! I too have several fantasy and Sci-fi epics in my head but I also right short stories and erotic content! Helps me learn the ropes.
Legit. Just finished my first novel. Could not have done it without solid groundwork on short fiction before. You'll run into so many unknowns you must have the practice and know characters and dialogue. These are mostly everything bc the sad truth is this: the world building means nothing. Only when people want to be back and revisit, then it'll come into play. But to get them there you have to tell your readers a story first. From beginning to end. So, don't get it right but get it written. Much more often than once.
Not a writer (but could become😈) but I had "that exact book" idea with me for years. Wanted to create this epic saga comicbook, with cosmos, mystery, monster fights, magic ect. Every few years i sit down and write down new ideas for it, but mainly try to understand what my plot is even about. Recently I started working on it yet again and what I discovered is upsetting. It seems like, I made up characters, their awesome powers, friendship and hardships but thats all I ever focused on. I have little bits of story or where it needs to go but generally my plot is very empty. My 2 first acts are literally "The characters wandered the magic realms jumping from one to another through mysterious portals; get new member; repeat" but i realize, thats its not a story even, just a direction for it. Although, I was thinking at least for now, when I am stuck and dont know what to do with this empty husk of a story, I could take a different approach with it. I do have short stories withing this giant saga that are actually well thought off. And I could just write them and make little comics of them for now. Still thought. Even after writing dow a huuuge analyze of all my plot holes and trying to give them all sorts of questions to sort them out i am completely lost where to even begin with this project. But I guess if the answer is really to "do something else" for now, I ll try that and we'll see if it does help after all. P.S. this vid's comment section is very helpful! Honestly I was familiar with this advice. I'm guilty, i even heard it few times before but its that kind of advice that you honestly should get to have on repeat before it either sinks in or you start applying it. Thing is I know i should start making short simple comics before i make the big one...but the urge to get closer to your dream is itchy. Anyway, this video popped up in the most right time, I started writing short plots and storyboarding ideas starting this fall. I should take this as call to make a short story.
Glad to hear this video was helpful! This sounds like a lot of fun, but yes, a very, very large scale book. Maybe you could go through your notes and pick one character and one monster that are most exciting to you, have the monster have a thing the character needs, and then write that short story. Very straight forward story, but could get you started (and maybe have a little fun along the way?)
I did start with that book and it somehow became a novel bigger than I anticipated. I'm 40k words in asking myself how I'm going to finish it within one single book.
I mean, that solarpunk transhumanist future story sounds pretty cool. Maybe keep worldbuilding on it, piecing the story together, while you write the first draft of the more familiar fantasy story?
@@F.C.Shultz Bro I day dream of it very often, I'll try to give as much of a quick rundown as I can, after all I don't wanna write the book here in this comment section. It follows the idea of the transhumanist extinction event, which is the scenario where humanity goes extinct not because we all died, but because we've used science and technology to change ourselves so much we don't fit the homo sapiens description anymore. We'd be homo something-else in this future. The book would follow an optimistic take on this event (therefore leaning more towards solarpunk than cyberpunk), humanity has embraced augmentation both through cybernetics and genetics to solve its issues and adapt to the ever-changing world, so the number of homo sapiens humans is dwindling. It would follow one of these homo sapiens humans sharing a journey with two augmented humans as they get to know each other in an effort to ease the homo sapiens worries that they will be alienated or destroyed by the augmented humans. There are grounds for a sinister plot twist here, but I'm not taking it. This is a story about a better world, not a utopia or dystopia. It is by no means a perfect world, but we'd be better off than we were before.
The best writing advice is "Don't write" As I have been trying to write a novel for like 4 years and have almost nothing to show for it, I think I've got the "don't write" down to a science. I can take an amazing epic idea or a mediocre lame idea... and not write either. I can out NOT write anyone on this site. COME AT ME BRO, you think you can write less than me, well let's do this, let's have a no write show down, my lack of writing will put your lack of writing to shame! Real Talk: I will try to write a simple novel in 2025. Hopefully in the first few months.
100%. I've seen a lot of writers start with something big and then never finish it because they don't have the skills yet and it just crushes them. Trying to help people not get crushed and be able to write that big story someday.
Start with writing a letter to a friend telling a real life event. Then write similar letters until you have a collection, and then you can start thinking about something bigger. Comments online work, too.
Back in the day frustrated authors were lost trying to complete their versions of War and Peace or Remebrances of Things Past. Existential sagas that collapsed under their own weight. Now we got wizards and goblins.
You can write that book, but "dont try to publish it, yet". At least that's what I did. I wrote down the story, the world and everything. I mean, I wrote like 600 pages in less then thee months. It was a fun to write, but it is nowhere near the quality that I would be statisfied with. So it definietly needs a few more draft. What I would recommend you to do is to don't start the second draft, yet. You are finished with the first draft of your first novel, you are now aware of what skills you need to improve to be able to finish it. It's time to write a few short stories or novels. Personally, I went with "short" side-stories of the background characters in the same world. They are perfect for deepening your own understanding of your own world, it helps to see your work and your characters from an different perspective and such...
Yes, this can be good advice, but on the other hand, sometimes the only reason someone is writing at all is to write that epic. Sure, they may not make it, give up half way, or have it sit there for a decade. However, the process of trying and failing is just as important as succeeding. I think it really depends on the person as to what they should do.
Trying, failing, iteration, motivation, creativity. If you have the kind of masochistic drive to finish it, then do. Few do, though. They give up, but they’re giving up because they went into the gym and tried to max benchpress 450 pounds. Very few humans can walk in off the street and do that. And maybe no one. But also few people can have the drive to walk off the street and set up camp inside the gym with a tent, refusing to leave until they can.
Well then do that. If it’s that or nothing, then do that. But if it’s possible to do some small segment of that, perhaps “that book” is really “that world” or even “that career,” which isn’t the same thing. It’s just a mental model of everything mashing together
Right on! I've talked to a lot of writers who start with their big space opera, but don't have the skills to write it, so they get discouraged and stop writing (which was my story for awhile). This video is for those people . If you're all in on your idea, don't let anything stop you. Keep us updated on your book in 2025!
I am not going to follow this advice. I'm 100,000 words into my epic fantasy novel, and it's a very flawed first draft with a lot of problems. It's slow going and can be discouraging at times, but I don't care that it's hard. Because it's the only story I'm passionate about writing right now. I'm in no rush to publish it. I'm writing it out of love. And I'm learning by writing it, so I don't see any of it as wasted time. It will be the first novel draft I finish, because I've promised myself and my characters that it will be. In the meantime, when I need to feel the satisfaction of finishing something, I write a poem or a short story.
I mean strictly speaking, I didn't follow the advice either. I think if you're learning, if you're iterative, if you're willing to try something else when you fail. I think all of those indicate what you need long term: play, resilience, creativity, life learning, curiosity, etc.
Its a good advice for those who procrastinates dreaming of making a saga, but never really getting to it (like me). Everyone is different, that is right. But man am i happy for you! Your comment is inspiring, good luck with your work and keep it up, thats amazing!
@@Splat654 And you as well. Hang in there. Remember the things that lead to success are perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness (a scrupulous regard to the dictates of conscience, careful, diligence taking the task seriously), optimism (and by that, I actually mean hope in the fundamental reality of life and being in the teeth of death), and self-control. And success isn't about money, fame, power, honor, pleasure. It's about truth, beauty, and goodness. Practice those and the writing will take care of itself because ultimately you'll be a good human and good writers, fundamentally, are first good humans.
100K words is incredible. Yes, if you have the love and discipline to write 100K words definitely don't listen to this advice. How close are you to finishing the first draft?
I think this is true. But "everything" isn't a genre - from whence we get "generic." It's more just everything that connects to a genre. One of the things that made Harry Potter interesting is it was simultaneously a generic gothic, generic boys school, generic magic / wonder awakening, generic mystery, generic talisman, generic alchemy, generic romance, generic orphaned hero's journey, and generic medieval Christian imagery story. You combine that many genres, something weird is bound to come out.
That's a great advice, but how do you forbide your mind from making your simple story idea a whole new universe with made up languages and its own history of the past 200 centuries ? I was trying to write "that book" and had an other, more chill and simple, idea, but I think I thought about it too much and now my first idea is actually more simple than the second one 😭
That's a great question. Take this with a grain of salt, but I wonder if really focusing on the story would help? One character has a problem they need to solve. You'll still need to do some worldbuilding, of course. But when you're worldbuilding, maybe keep asking yourself, "How does this impact my main character?" That might help reign it in a bit? On the other hand, if building these vast worlds is what you like to do, keep going. As you're building, maybe just keep an eye out for an opportunity to tell a small story within it?
I am a writer with over 20 years of experience including 12 years of professionally writing. I've never publish any book and I decided to Write That Book or rather something bigger than that. So thanks for that advice, but no thanks.
Well, this advice seems to be for people without 20 years of writing experience. I'm sure you have the stamina and attention to detail to accomplish your goal just fine
@@joshbarnes2313 Yeah, although I am currently in a chapter that I don't like and it is second version of that chapter. It stopped my progress, because I can't skip it. Third version should work, but when I lost my momentum, so... funny thing that when you have time to write something like this you don't have enough experience, but when you have enough experience your time is very limited compare to time you have when you are in your 20s.
Fantasy and sci-fi were definitely on my mind when I made this video (it's what I write and read), but I think it has broader appeal. What genre do you write?
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
“You ask whether your verses are any good. You ask me. You have asked others before this. You send them to magazines. You compare them with other poems, and you are upset when certain editors reject your work. Now (since you have said you want my advice) I beg you to stop doing that sort of thing. You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer.
“And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your while life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose. Don’t write love poems; avoid those forms that are too facile and ordinary: they are the hardest to work with, and it takes great, fully ripened power to create something individual where good, even glorious, traditions exist in abundance.
“So rescue yourself from these general themes and write about what your everyday life offers you; describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty - describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, when you express yourself, use the Things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember. If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is not poverty and no poor, indifferent place.
“And even if you found yourself in some prison, whose walls let in none of the world’s sounds-wouldn’t you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories? Turn your attentions to it. Try to raise up the sunken feelings of this enormous past; your personality will grow stronger, your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight, where the noise of other people passes by, far in the distance. - And if out of this turning-within, out of this immersion in your own world, poems come, then you will not think of asking anyone whether they are good or not. Nor will you try to interest magazines in these works: for you will see them as your dear natural possession, a piece of your life, a voice from it. A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it.
“So, dear Sir, I can’t give you any advice but this: to go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create. Accept that answer, just as it is given to you, without trying to interpret it. Perhaps you will discover that you are called to be an artist. Then take the destiny upon yourself, and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking what reward might come from outside. For the creator must be a world for himself and must find everything in himself and in Nature, to whom his whole life is devoted.
“But after this descent into yourself and into your solitude, perhaps you will have to renounce becoming a poet (if, as I have said, one feels one could live without writing, then one shouldn’t write at all). Nevertheless, even then, this self-searching that I as of you will not have been for nothing. Your life will still find its own paths from there, and that they may be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more than I can say. What else can I tell you? It seems to me that everything has its proper emphasis; and finally I want to add just one more bit of advice: to keep growing, silently and earnestly, through your while development; you couldn’t disturb it any more violently than by looking outside and waiting for outside answers to question that only your innermost feeling, in your quietest hour, can perhaps answer.”
- Rilke
“Read what you love to inspire you. Not what’s popular”. Apparently it’s good to examine what you love, whether good or bad and try understanding what you like about it and writing something like it.
@@Drawperfectcircles Love this! Reminds me of a Ray Bradbury quote in his book Zen in the Art of Writing: "If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don’t even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is-excited."
@@LancelotSchaubert So good. Worth reading over and over and often. Also, thanks again for letting me use that photo of you in the video!
The best way to criticize a story, is to write one of your own
I cal this the Patrick Rothfuss effect. If you get too hung up on writing your magnum opus as your debut, you'll never finish it.
There is a reason an opus alchemicum comes at the end of a career. Consider Paradise Lost. Also a "masterpiece" is strictly knew knowledge added after you complete your apprenticeship in order to show that you can make meaningful contributions to the field. Doesn't have to be a magnum opus to be that.
@@DEADEYESTUDIO Oh I'm not saying make something you want. I'm rather saying make what you feel called to make, but nest those things inside one another in a logical progression so that you're not writing Paradise Lost first (he did that at 60).
Keep the vision, of course, but can you divide the vision up into manageable goals?
This is the difference, to me. It's really a project management question, not a vision question at all. BELL HAMMERS is manageable. It also happens to be connected to my main fantasy series I've always wanted to write and has no less than four magic systems in it. But it's a historical fiction novel set in midcentury poor Americana, so no one notices the magic. Or many other things that are odd. A frigging meteor strike happens near the climax of the novel and no one - not a single reader - ever even brings it up. They just accept it as having happened and move on.
So it's possible to do both, I think. It's possible (as I have) to even troll literary magazines and sell them things they think are commercial fiction stories that are really borrowing characters and set pieces and props from fantasy and sci fi worlds. Their loss, our gain.
Yeah, follow the fun. Yeah, follow the bliss. Yeah, follow the conviction.
But also eat your eggs. Also remember that though you can eat the whale or the dragon, you can only do it one bite at a time. If you can find a way to make a day's meals of it and call it "a day," why not put a bow on that work and sell it first before you take another bite?
If that's the case, why is that settling?
I'm trying to write 'that book' for almost 5 years. I have other ideas, but they are stored for later. And I never even thought about writing something simple. Thank you.
You got this.
“Write a book you can finish in the next 12 months.” This really hit hard for me, along with the advice of putting away the space opera for later. I’ve been stuck in a loop of several story ideas, and I keep reworking and changing them to be “that book.” In the back of my mind I keep thinking “it’s okay, books take years to write.” But that’s honestly slowing me down. I know all books take time to create, indeed years for most, but those few words of honing in on a smaller idea rather than a larger one really resonated with me. I’m definitely going to take this advice. Thank you so much for making such helpful videos. You’ve just got yourself another subscriber :)
There’s no such thing as “that book,” ultimately. There’s an ongoing portfolio of iteration that grows over time. Which of Shakespeare’s plays was the best? That’s debatable, largely based on personal preference. More importantly his worst works were written in the same years as his best. So iteration is key.
A page a day with a day off and two weeks vacation is still a 90,000 word novel at the end of the year. Can you do that?
@@LancelotSchaubert I was thinking about doing Ray BradBury's writing challenge of writing a short story every week for a year, or developing one short story in a month like NaNoWriMo. But writing a page a day sounds like a good thing, too. I'll think about it and decide what to do before the New Year. Thanks for the advice!
@@topaz_topacio Or maybe alternate days. Minimum 250 words a day or 1500 in a week, however your schedule works. Get the muscle going. There are far worse ways to spend your time.
Thank you! I'm glad it was helpful for you. Keep us updated in 2025!
i..... needed this. sometimes you get so swept up by the dream, you end up forgetting the craft - the thing that makes you happy; the making that inspires dreaming... thank you for that.
Wonderfully said!
This is actually really good advice. When I first started writing, I poured about two years into a book I wasn't able to finish, because I got so caught up in big problems I couldn't solve. Also didn't understand characters then. I've spent the last two years writing short fiction and it has made a world of difference in how I approach brain storming etc. I think I have so many more tools at my disposal to go back to that original story idea and actually make it work. Whoo!
This is super encouraging. Thank you for sharing!
I like it. Be Basic. The filmmaking version of this advice is very related to budget, so I'm glad you shared the deeper methodological reasons for it here.
It is connected to budget, in a way: how much time (tf money in salary) does it take to learn more than three locations? More than one viewpoint? More than five characters? More than…?
It’s more like learning to iterate with something small and use it, progressively. Sound stages and makeup and costumes and miniatures would be the equivalent in studios
It's basically how I made my previous 5 videos these past 2 months, about to be 6.
@@masscreationbroadcasts Get it.
Very good advice.
What could also help with this, in case someone really wants to write in that wonderful world they created, is to write novellas in it. Set up the world, its lands, culture, and magic systems and write a small story in it. Not the big epic sage, but something small in the world that might be worldbuilding in the eventual sage.
It is great practice, helps to flesh out the world and those stories can be used to make a name. Because people are more inclined to buy a novella from a small writer than a first of a 13-book series that might never be finished. But a epic sage following up the novellas, well that sounds good.
Or even short stories. I've sold several from my dream project and it helps me play.
Thank you! And yes, this is super helpful. Love the short stories and novellas in the same world idea.
that's what've pivoted towards
I cannot believe this was your first video, it was so well put together with a great bit of advice at the core
Thank you!
Didn’t he do incredibly well?
I wrote 5 books to prepare for the big book I had in my head for 30 years. I'm glad I waited before doing the big book, but frankly, all of my books have some big book qualities. I started working on my tenth recently and this one will be a dozy. Every one builds craft upon what came before. Writing never gets easy but it gets better and better if you work at it.
@@rachelthompson9324 love this approach. You just gave me an idea for a video!
It feels like you're talking to me, as I have this great idea for an epic space opera and I've been struggling for years to advance it; always rewriting and deleting without any true advancement. And just recently I thought of doing exactly this, to simply finish a book and get that experience done. Finding this video is like the universe is doubling down on that thought so I will.
Woot! Get it!
I'm glad this little video could be helpful for you. I've found writing the "smaller" stories, while still world building the epic space story, to be a great balance for me.
At the surface it's good advice, but I think the better advice is to just simplify your story. As in: don't put all your ideas into one thing. That's the main way to over complicate things. I get that creating short stories is easier, but short vs. long stories are two completely different ways of story telling, and forcing someone who is better with higher concepts to make a short story doesn't really work. Short stories aren't just short versions of long stories (ie. the tortoise and the hare wouldn't work if extended, and breaking bad wouldn't work if shortened.)
Take Love Death and Robots for instance. The main problem with the show is that it has huge concepts with the potential for complex characters and worlds but it cuts them short (the episode Ice is the worst offender for this. It should've been a movie or miniseries).
Of course, practicing with short stories is good if you just want to finish something, or see if you like then better than high concepts, but that shouldn't discourage you from starting with something long. You just need to simplify the concept (alien fantasy time travel thing sounds like too much, but who knows. Basically, even the longest stories have simple ideas, they just explore more themes.)
Ultimately you should do what you're best at!!
I don't think he should change his original story idea at all. I think he should build the skills from writing whatever other stories are simpler and, once those skills are present, write the BIG BOOK he's always dreamed of writing. Most careers are structured this way: Stephen King, Sanderson, etc. Folks seldom publish their big idea first, when they do its literal decades of revision and perfectionism like Rothfuss. Even Rothfuss admits his trajectory is a terrible one for even him, one no one should try to emulate, one that hinders his process, and that easier paths exist.
Short stories and novels are definitely different (at least they should be!).
I think starting with the high concept story when first starting to write novels could lead to years and years of frustration because it’s hard to get the “win” of finishing a novel and the skills probably aren’t there yet.
So, starting with a simpler novel sized idea is a great way to learn how to finish a book, which helps in a ton of ways!
Woah... this is actually the best possible advice anyone could give me! I'm going to start developing my other ideas instead of trying to fit it all into a 15-book story, lol! Thanks so much!!
Or find a small, self contained story within that 15-book world that ties into it, but doesn’t need a sequel or a big sequence to expand it beyond 60k-90k words
Glad it was helpful!
Brandon Sanderson's baby is The Stormlight Archive, he said he even wrote a short version of it as a Nanowrimo excercise. But as an author his first published novel was Elantris, then the Mistborn trilogy, then Warbreaker, and ONLY THEN he started publishing Stormlight Archive.
Having a roadmap is crazy important if you have several series worth of plots, settings and characters. I finally settled on just writing one of them for no other reason than it just feels right at this point in my life. Hopefully I can write them all.
I wrote my first book during NaNoWriMo! But, I've heard Sanderson say he's got chapters in The Stormlight Archive that are 30K words...which is as long as my entire first book, ha!
Wow, writing advice in less than three minutes that made me feel like "Yeah, I can do that!". Thank you :)
Glad you found it helpful!
This advice is brilliant and should be considered in other creative outlets as well. Filmmaking, woodworking, drawing/character design, etc. could all use this advise to help grow in that area before you step into your big dream project
Agreed. Sistine Chapel and The David weren’t first for Michelangelo either, especially when you consider his apprenticeship under the Dominicans.
Thank you! I'd love to see the "Don't build that rocking chair" version of this video!
I wasn't prepared to receive advice so tailored to my situation
Haha. Often with the internet I say, “I feel personally attacked.”
Dang, our writing journey to writing that first book is SCARILY similar! Thanks for making this!
What was yours?
@@LancelotSchaubert I struggled to write a novel past three chapters for like, 15 years. I always felt like I was ruining my beautiful best idea ever, or that it wasn’t actually that good when I wrote it down. Then, in 2020, I tried to get over that hurdle by intentionally picking an idea that I wasn’t as attached to and made my goal to just finish the book, no matter how bad it is. That really helped me, and I loosely finished the book at around 50k words. Since then, I’ve written two more manuscripts, one of which is now on its fourth draft.
This method might not work for everyone, but it REALLY helped me! Thanks for asking!
@@ethansexton2590 This is exactly what it's supposed to encourage: "Yes, and..." iterative thinking. Not being so damn precious about everything. Having fun again, and again, and at every stage.
@@ethansexton2590 For sure! When I was working on my first book, someone told me it would be bad. That they knew it would be bad without even reading it. In a weird way, that took a lot of pressure off for me. I still like the story and think its good (or I wouldn't have published it). I love that you just set your mind to finishing it no matter what. There's so much to be learned from that. Thanks for sharing!
As someone who DOES have a huge space fantasy version of King Arthur... yeah, I am not starting with that. My current plan is to work on several stories before that. Currently got a Land Before Time style adventure with dinosaurs as characters (who don't talk), and maybe a children's fantasy
This all sounds awesome!
what’s the children’s fantasy about?
@@LancelotSchaubert so far, a junior cadet for the town guard and apprentice alchemist find an aged down princess and try to reverse her curse, while fighting off two evil wizards (who are a young married couple). They come across a group of pirates who’s captain is desperately looking for a purpose in life.
The princess may change to a starchild, I’m still deciding. That’s like the one element I don’t have yet
@@LancelotSchaubert actually, I say children, and they could read it, but I’m also trying to make it more comedic
@@FlyingFocs ¿por que no los dos?
wow. I've worked occasionally on other projects, but The Book has been my focus for 4 & 1/2 years. I've definitely improved everything about my writing while working on it, but I only have about 40k of usable material-and I'd be very surprised if I'd written less than 500k on this project in various documents. In the past month I've been working primarily on something else, which has come easier in some ways (though harder in others, as it's difficult to understand this new set of characters), and its ease has made me further question if I should give up on The Book. I would never have thought of, or seen the value in, this approach on my own. Thank you so much.
You’re saying it’s a direct result of this video? Also: nothing is wasted of that 500k - just find a way to organize it.
Are you saying this happened as a direct result of this video a month ago?
Also: none of that 500k is wasted. Organize it in a boneyard and you’ll be shocked at what emerges eventually.
@@LancelotSchaubert No, sorry, i started working on the easier project a month ago, and working on it has made me question if The Book is worth it. Seeing this video made me realize they're both worth it and working on one will help me improve the other!
@@xyzzyx4839 Yes, no words are ever wasted. I like having different projects at various stages of development (one in worldbuilding, one in outlining, one in first drafts, etc). I say keep doing what you're doing! Find out how many projects you can juggle at the same time, and at what capacity, so that you're enjoying them all, and still making progress, even if it's incremental. And keep us updated on your book in 2025!
I know exactly what story to write! I've been working on it all along but passing it off as a side story or just for my own entertainment. Thank you for sharing!
what’s it about?
@@LancelotSchaubert Thanks for asking! It's a love story about a girl who despite her family & society's expectations does not actually want to be in love or get married. Being the descendant of formerly enslaved people and the eldest daughter of one of the most affluent Black families in town, she has to reconcile her desire for independency and "freedom" and her disdain with love/marriage as just another system keeping her from the life she truly wants.
I don't typically see myself as a "romance writer" so I've been avoiding it, but honestly I have the most fun thinking through the female lead's thought process and putting her in situations with a certain suitor that swoops in and makes her question everything.
@@adajaharris8036 You're welcome! One of my main goals for writing is to write stories I want to write. I think readers will feel the fun and enjoyment that you've put into it. Keep having fun with it!
Starting with something you can actually write and finish is fantastic advice. Your first book is going to be hard enough no matter what you write. There is plenty of time to push yourself later.
Truth.
I managed to write 'that book' for my first book. I am currently trying to get an agent. Took 5 years of learning and first draft, then 5 years going through the full editing process. It was a long journey - wish I'd seen this video back then 😅 Great advice. I do have to say I had a good time writing it though.
What’s the book?
@@LancelotSchaubert 'Shadow of the Titan Hunter', going to give the traditional route a go, but will likely end up on self pub route.
@@jamesanderson7379 Best of luck to you!
That's great. Super encouraging. Keep us updated!
I have been given this advice a lot and I've genuinely struggled to come up with unrelated story ideas to my BIG idea. The closest compromise I've come up with is write later storylines that do not affect the start or write standalone inconsequential stories with the same characters.
Yeah, I get that. It took me 10 yrs to just now dissolve my story premise into like 5 decent stories. I told myself to make these 5 stories stand alone. There are other stories but they aren't as well thought out. Which is fine. I still plan to write them even if they can only be short stories.
I think for me the big world building was more therapeutic than an actual creative goal.
Your idea seems solid. Do it as stand alones. You seem to really want the characters to be known first so get them out there.
I think trying to write something shorter that you're not interested in would probably hurt more than help. I say keep going on the big story, knowing that you've got a long road ahead of you, but that you can do it a little bit at a time. The advice in the video is generally for authors just starting out that need any extra motivation they can get (like getting quick wins with short stories). Keep us updated on your book in 2025!
This is interesting.
I have been stuck on a book for 6 years. 6. YEARS. And I have frequently wondered if I am just starting too big.
The problem I have with trying to redirect is that at this point I almost feel like I don’t know how to think about anything else when it comes to writing. It’s almost as though Ive trained my brain to think of writing and this book as synonymous with each other.
I’ve had a couple ideas here and there but they were either ones that I knew would have to be just as big, or they were for genres that I don’t enjoy reading, so… why would I write them?
Yeah, that's a long time. Could you write something with 3 or less locations, 5 or less characters, and only one "smoking gun" whether that's a magic system, a tech, a MacGuffin, or something similar? Do you have any ideas - or even any pieces of other ideas - that you could do? Getting 60,000 words of a simpler idea doesn't preclude it from being nested inside another - even FC wrote a sequel to his Rose Weapon. What would that be for you?
Writing stories I enjoy writing is one of the ways I define success, so I definitely wouldn't recommend writing something you don't enjoy (unless someone is commissioning you or something). I think Lance's advice is spot on. What's the book about?
This works for researchers, too!
How so?
I want to be a writer. Finished a novel. Best advice.
Thank you!
for the story I'm writing its gone through so much personal change. i started with one high concept story and slide down a slope for years wanting to implement new ideas every few months. its gotten to a point were i had to come to this conclusion by just deleting everything. recently I've restarted but instead of writing THAT story I've decided to take all the setup and world-building and make that the focus of writing short storys in the world and around THAT story. if i ever do write a novel or the like it likely won't even be THAT story because there's nothing more defeating then working on your ultimate master piece only to realize you don't have the skill and understanding to pull it off. Eden cluster is the name I've given my universe and even though its not publicated and i partly doubt I'll ever try. its certainly helped me understand writing better keeping within the world i love without pushing myself for the perfect story
This is the actual problem. The main one. You're trying to outrun your own pace of exponential learning. And it takes, on average if you're working your butt off, anywhere from 3 months to a year to get a draft done. By the time you finish that draft, you're asking a whole new set of questions.
So ultimately you need at least a base level competence on certain things. The funniest thing about it is that the novel I referenced in the original post wasn't even my dream novel. It was incredibly complicated, but there's one even far, far worse that I still don't have the chops to write yet. And I know it.
Which means right now I really need to finish revisions and write something that's more or less at my competence level. I might actually take the very rubric FC used and try something even simpler still. So I suppose in that way, FC taught me.
Why not keep the universe and connect other stories to it? Nothing's wasted, just keep it in a boneyard file folder on your desktop.
Thank you for sharing. I think starting with short stories in your world is a fantastic plan. Even if you never write THAT story, you might find another one in your world you love even more? In one of my favorite fantasy series, The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore, after writing the first half of the book, he decided to switch main characters and make someone who was more of a side character the main character, and now there are like 40+ books around that character!
This is really good advice. I have an idea for a huge space opera I came up with a couple of years ago, but thankfully I’ve had the insight to know that that kind of story is way too big for my current writing skills. So instead I wrote a fairly short 75,000-word novel set in a very quiet post apocalyptic rural Texas. The plot is simple and straightforward (with just enough complexity to keep it interesting and original). It is coming to Amazon in May 2025.
What’s the apocalypse about?
Congratulations!
That is a very good advice. Thanks for sharing. I have the struggle of having stored wayyy to many story ideas over the years, some I will never write/finish cause I don't relate to the anymore and can't stand behind the story. I still keep them tho, in case I want to incoporate some of those in other stories. But I don't know where to start, any advice on that xD...
You don’t have to be passionate about an idea. You have to learn to play in the boredom. So just treat three of your ideas like raw clay in a school art class. Now play. Smash them together and see if you can write a small story in a small knowable world and get it on paper
Glad it was helpful! I'm in a similar place right now, trying to decide what to sink a ton of hours into to write next. The way I'm deciding is by asking myself this: "Which of these stories am I most excited about?" Writing is hard. If I can pick the story idea I love the most, that I'm most excited about, that will help me get a good running start (until I inevitably get worn out in the middle, but by then, the thought of having a finished manuscript is usually enough to pull me all the way through to the end). I hope that helps!
I have been thinking this for a while because I care about my current book so much that even my first draft has to be carved really carefully - 4 years later and I am only in chapter 20 in first draft. I never give up on it because I do love it but maybe, I just have to write something and finish it without caring too much and just having fun with setting myself free through words.
The high of finishing your first novel is perhaps the most motivating thing in the world. It’s an _earned_ dopamine high of long term delayed gratification.
Chapter 20 is great! I would say writing something you love, even it it is slow, is probably better than trying to write something you don't love just to finish it. Keep at it!
Shrug. It may sound snobby to say, but I am writing that book, I will finish the first one next year and I havent gotten discouraged on it for more than a week at a time (not because of the book anyways, we all know life tends to happen). Im not planning on blowing anyone away with it, I'm writing characters I care about and set a reasonable scope for what features in the narrative. I know the KISS principle exists for a reason, but with a bit of education/experience on project management and media production, it's not impossible to start with a full on fantasy novel.
Its good advice, but personally I didnt feel like limiting myself in my hobby when I started turning my shoddy character building excercises into a novel. I dont regtet anything.
This works for any art form too! Drawing, filmmaking, game dev (I actually first heard it about game dev)
Put off my game idea for 6+ years for this reason, had an idea for a comic but I put it off bc it had too many characters, so I thought of a smaller story
Don't chase your dreams, walk towards them at a steady pace and enjoy the journey
Where did you hear this about game dev?
And yes, steady progress towards the mountain is sufficient. The work is the way
@LancelotSchaubert lots of places, forgot already
It's a really good tip thp
"Don't chase your dreams, walk towards them at a steady pace and enjoy the journey." is amazing advice. Thank you!
@@F.C.Shultz thank YOU for your videos!!
for a moment I thought you meant BellHammer was a story about a group of carpenters that fight an oil company by using practical jokes somehow, took me a while to realize you meant the story itself has great practical jokes not that it is part of the premise 😂😂
that aside, really solid advice, thank you, I will definitely try writing something smaller now!
You were right the first time - the carpenters DO fight the oil company with jokes!!
@@taraschaubert3990 how does that even work?!
Great video man!
I appreciate it!
I came up with an epic crime novel idea at the beginning of high school. I was too afraid to write it because I knew I wasn't ready in any way, so I wrote a science fantasy Tom Clancy rip off instead. I made it about 250 pages before I realized I was trying way too hard to force it. Fifteen years later I actually have real life experience to write short stories that make me proud. That original idea over time has inspired many other ideas, helping me form my ecology focused new weird fiction, and the characters and settings have coalesced into larger worlds/universes that feel naturally interconnected. I'm still not good enough to write that epic crime novel, but I'm closer than I ever thought I would get.
What are these books about?
I mean, this all sounds awesome. 15 years is a long time!
Yep, I've reached that conclusion after starting and abandoning a dozen 'books'. A simple, cliche story is difficult enough haha
Yeah do that and revisit for sure.
Wow I was writing my first novel, which has a lot of the elements you mentioned. And I have been thinking about it for years. I am 30,000 words in with lots of momentum, and I was feeling so good about it. Until I watched this video. Now I am completely discouraged. 😟
Don't be discouraged. Timing and momentum are very important, and not many people talk about it. In many cases, you can't control when ideas come to you, and you need to make the most of them when they do. For example, I found that, if I write down just the ideas for scenes rather the scenes themselves, I can't make them work as well when I come back to them. Even though you might want to adhere to this advice, you will find yourself unable to focus on the smaller, "less challenging" project, because the ideas for your first novel will itch you, so you will become frustrated and do a lousy job with both.
So, keep up the good work, because 30,000 words is fantastic. I'm in the same boat, btw. Been working on mine for the past 6 years, and I've relished every moment of it. I'm not in a hurry to have something published just for the sake of having my name on a book I don't particularly care about; I'd rather take my time and write something I love and am proud of.
30K words is amazing! I mean this sincerely, keep it up, I genuinely hope you prove me wrong!
Eh. Just finish that draft, then once you're done with it, start a first draft IMMEDIATELY of something simpler. Get a draft of a novel done - any novel - that'll help. But just sit on this one longer.
I wouldn’t feel discouraged, writing is a slow process as we all know. I’ve been working on my first novel for a year now and I have only 23k words. Everyone’s writing process is different and that’s okay. You don’t have to try to push this book out within the next 2 years. I was close to almost giving up the story and junking it completely when I had the first chapter but I didn’t because I knew there’s a story there somewhere despite it being a rough draft. But that’s exactly what it is, a ROUGH draft. So don’t be too hard on yourself, if you’re having trouble getting words down. Try writing a short story, it doesn’t have to be thousands of words. Then come back the your novel, I promise you you’ll get ideas. Realistically the story you have might not be bad as what you think. I’m writing a gothic romance (not dark romance) that follows a lot of those elements, it’s not about who wrote this first or anything. It’s how you execute the story.
Basically from what i learned from this video in video game perspective is to do the side quests and fight the beginner monsters first to gain more "experience" and to gain more level before trying to fight in the boss battle. If we dont do this and we instead go to the boss instantly without gaining the recommended xp, resources, and level, then we are expected to get crushed and fail. The only solution to this is to either gain more xp and resources first (recommended option) Or we continue to fight the boss without any preperation.. (second option)
If we do the second option, then we will have a harder time to beat it rather than the alternative option. Its gonna be more time consuming and more stressful with more failed attempts falling ontop of each other until its uncountable.
And once we finally beat the boss, we may have a sense of happiness at first, but we may feel sadness and nothingness later due to many "factors" coming into play later after beating the boss.
tldr: The long way is the best shortcut. (Dont use the philosophy of this quote too much in every situation as some situations may be more complex and hard to solve than others.)
Yes. Also this is what that top commenter meant by Rothfuss’s career verses Sanderson’s. Elantris, if nothing else, is an incredibly simple high concept story.
I think you're on to something here. You can still gain experience by going straight to the boss, but you don't get the small "wins" that the side quests (simpler stories) give you, which can help keep momentum. Writing is hard, so I try to find momentum wherever I can!
PS: this is not just about books and writing.
I'm a more entrepreneurial fella and my "space opera" is a specific type of business that I'd love to create one day, with an engaged community, some complex software, and a bunch more things that I'd have to figure out.
For a while I was completely stuck and incapable of moving forward in life. Eventually, I got unstuck by just deciding to aim lower and take smaller steps. After 7 years, now I'm finally drastically closer to that dream and I may only be a couple years away from finally being able to start "that business".
We all have our dreams and magnum opuses we want to create one day. But more often than not, our first few projects are not going to be a "facebook" that turns into an extremely successful thing. Almost always, our first projects will be pretty bad... and that's okay. The fool is the precursor to the saviour.
As long as you don't quit, you can't lose :) And then, eventually, you'll get to write "that book".
Thank you for sharing. I hadn't really thought of it like that, but that makes sense. Also, congratulations on getting closer to your goal. 7 years is a long time!
I mean even Facebook had a radically small start - Harvard students. And it had an early iteration he made at his high school. So even in that case, it started small.
My first book was my magnus opus. I havent writen the second 😂
Honestly part of me cares more about this specific story, more than any particular career I may or may not have in the field.
I would rather write this book a 100 times until it’s good, rather than a 100 books I don’t care about until I’m good.
Those are identical. And if that’s you, go for it. I think generally most people don’t possess that brand of long term perfectionism.
If you've got the drive and motivation to do that, 100% do it! That's incredible. Keep us updated in 2025!
Very helpful content!
Thank you!
You are exactly right! I too have several fantasy and Sci-fi epics in my head but I also right short stories and erotic content! Helps me learn the ropes.
You have anything between the two?
@@LancelotSchaubert I plead the fifth.
@@ElJorro Lol. I meant length-wise.
@@ElJorro Lol. I meant length-wise.
@@LancelotSchaubert It varies. Some are one shots. Others are multi-chapter.
I have to trick my mind too. I don't even call it a book. I say i'm writing a story. It seems less daunting. Thanks!
"I'm writing a 800-page commercial..."
Legit. Just finished my first novel. Could not have done it without solid groundwork on short fiction before. You'll run into so many unknowns you must have the practice and know characters and dialogue. These are mostly everything bc the sad truth is this: the world building means nothing. Only when people want to be back and revisit, then it'll come into play. But to get them there you have to tell your readers a story first. From beginning to end. So, don't get it right but get it written. Much more often than once.
Or to have a mechanic that is like Checkov’s gun or some backstory secret. But that’s generally not why people read and keep reading a book
Congratulations! Sounds like we have a similar writing journey. What are you planning next for your book?
Not a writer (but could become😈) but I had "that exact book" idea with me for years. Wanted to create this epic saga comicbook, with cosmos, mystery, monster fights, magic ect. Every few years i sit down and write down new ideas for it, but mainly try to understand what my plot is even about. Recently I started working on it yet again and what I discovered is upsetting. It seems like, I made up characters, their awesome powers, friendship and hardships but thats all I ever focused on. I have little bits of story or where it needs to go but generally my plot is very empty. My 2 first acts are literally "The characters wandered the magic realms jumping from one to another through mysterious portals; get new member; repeat"
but i realize, thats its not a story even, just a direction for it. Although, I was thinking at least for now, when I am stuck and dont know what to do with this empty husk of a story, I could take a different approach with it. I do have short stories withing this giant saga that are actually well thought off. And I could just write them and make little comics of them for now. Still thought. Even after writing dow a huuuge analyze of all my plot holes and trying to give them all sorts of questions to sort them out i am completely lost where to even begin with this project. But I guess if the answer is really to "do something else" for now, I ll try that and we'll see if it does help after all.
P.S. this vid's comment section is very helpful! Honestly I was familiar with this advice. I'm guilty, i even heard it few times before but its that kind of advice that you honestly should get to have on repeat before it either sinks in or you start applying it. Thing is I know i should start making short simple comics before i make the big one...but the urge to get closer to your dream is itchy. Anyway, this video popped up in the most right time, I started writing short plots and storyboarding ideas starting this fall. I should take this as call to make a short story.
Glad to hear this video was helpful! This sounds like a lot of fun, but yes, a very, very large scale book. Maybe you could go through your notes and pick one character and one monster that are most exciting to you, have the monster have a thing the character needs, and then write that short story. Very straight forward story, but could get you started (and maybe have a little fun along the way?)
Love this advice. It was smart. 😂
Thank you!
Bro, I'm like 60000 words into my fantasy space epic already; why did I not see this video like four months ago.
Because then you wouldn’t have gotten TWO novels out of the deal 😂 - just go full Sanderson and finish this one and start the next immediately
60000 words?! And in four months? Just finish it my guy lol, sounds like you're very close to doing that
@@AJSS5942 Unless it's 400k... but yes, still finish.
That's incredible! Keep going. You don't need this video. Keep us updated on your book in 2025!
I did start with that book and it somehow became a novel bigger than I anticipated. I'm 40k words in asking myself how I'm going to finish it within one single book.
Well as long as you don't go further than 400k, it's still bindable.
Maybe it could be split into a few books? Trilogy? What genre is it?
Well this sounds like me with my solarpunk transhumanist future story...
Guess I should start with the more familiar fantasy story first lol
What's that one about?
@@LancelotSchaubert I mentioned two, so which one? lol
@@MrBern-ex3wq either, but the fantasy thing.
I mean, that solarpunk transhumanist future story sounds pretty cool. Maybe keep worldbuilding on it, piecing the story together, while you write the first draft of the more familiar fantasy story?
@@F.C.Shultz Bro I day dream of it very often, I'll try to give as much of a quick rundown as I can, after all I don't wanna write the book here in this comment section.
It follows the idea of the transhumanist extinction event, which is the scenario where humanity goes extinct not because we all died, but because we've used science and technology to change ourselves so much we don't fit the homo sapiens description anymore. We'd be homo something-else in this future. The book would follow an optimistic take on this event (therefore leaning more towards solarpunk than cyberpunk), humanity has embraced augmentation both through cybernetics and genetics to solve its issues and adapt to the ever-changing world, so the number of homo sapiens humans is dwindling. It would follow one of these homo sapiens humans sharing a journey with two augmented humans as they get to know each other in an effort to ease the homo sapiens worries that they will be alienated or destroyed by the augmented humans. There are grounds for a sinister plot twist here, but I'm not taking it. This is a story about a better world, not a utopia or dystopia. It is by no means a perfect world, but we'd be better off than we were before.
Great advice, thanks
The best writing advice is "Don't write"
As I have been trying to write a novel for like 4 years and have almost nothing to show for it, I think I've got the "don't write" down to a science. I can take an amazing epic idea or a mediocre lame idea... and not write either.
I can out NOT write anyone on this site. COME AT ME BRO, you think you can write less than me, well let's do this, let's have a no write show down, my lack of writing will put your lack of writing to shame!
Real Talk: I will try to write a simple novel in 2025. Hopefully in the first few months.
Ah. In this scenario, read THE WAR OF ART by Stephen Pressfield.
Ha, love it. Best of luck to your writing in 2025. Keep us updated!
i mean you can still start with something big. its just that you'll learn things the hard way about how being too ambitions is dangerous.
That. Said in another way this is, “If you want to save time, don’t do what I did.”
100%. I've seen a lot of writers start with something big and then never finish it because they don't have the skills yet and it just crushes them. Trying to help people not get crushed and be able to write that big story someday.
Space Opera? Todd Chavez?
Are you calling me BoJack?
Start with writing a letter to a friend telling a real life event. Then write similar letters until you have a collection, and then you can start thinking about something bigger. Comments online work, too.
Back in the day frustrated authors were lost trying to complete their versions of War and Peace or Remebrances of Things Past. Existential sagas that collapsed under their own weight. Now we got wizards and goblins.
Your wizards and goblins aren’t collapsing under existential dread? Let me tell you the good news of will saves…
You can write that book, but "dont try to publish it, yet". At least that's what I did. I wrote down the story, the world and everything. I mean, I wrote like 600 pages in less then thee months. It was a fun to write, but it is nowhere near the quality that I would be statisfied with. So it definietly needs a few more draft.
What I would recommend you to do is to don't start the second draft, yet. You are finished with the first draft of your first novel, you are now aware of what skills you need to improve to be able to finish it. It's time to write a few short stories or novels. Personally, I went with "short" side-stories of the background characters in the same world. They are perfect for deepening your own understanding of your own world, it helps to see your work and your characters from an different perspective and such...
Me too.
I love this approach. Also, congratulations on the first draft. 600 pages in three months is incredible!
Yeah W video bro
Yes, this can be good advice, but on the other hand, sometimes the only reason someone is writing at all is to write that epic. Sure, they may not make it, give up half way, or have it sit there for a decade. However, the process of trying and failing is just as important as succeeding. I think it really depends on the person as to what they should do.
Trying, failing, iteration, motivation, creativity. If you have the kind of masochistic drive to finish it, then do. Few do, though. They give up, but they’re giving up because they went into the gym and tried to max benchpress 450 pounds. Very few humans can walk in off the street and do that. And maybe no one.
But also few people can have the drive to walk off the street and set up camp inside the gym with a tent, refusing to leave until they can.
But "That book" is all I care about and I am not interested in writing any other story as my first. That project literally consumes my mind.
Well then do that. If it’s that or nothing, then do that. But if it’s possible to do some small segment of that, perhaps “that book” is really “that world” or even “that career,” which isn’t the same thing. It’s just a mental model of everything mashing together
Right on! I've talked to a lot of writers who start with their big space opera, but don't have the skills to write it, so they get discouraged and stop writing (which was my story for awhile). This video is for those people . If you're all in on your idea, don't let anything stop you. Keep us updated on your book in 2025!
Never judge a video by it's title.
I am not going to follow this advice. I'm 100,000 words into my epic fantasy novel, and it's a very flawed first draft with a lot of problems. It's slow going and can be discouraging at times, but I don't care that it's hard. Because it's the only story I'm passionate about writing right now. I'm in no rush to publish it. I'm writing it out of love. And I'm learning by writing it, so I don't see any of it as wasted time. It will be the first novel draft I finish, because I've promised myself and my characters that it will be. In the meantime, when I need to feel the satisfaction of finishing something, I write a poem or a short story.
I mean strictly speaking, I didn't follow the advice either. I think if you're learning, if you're iterative, if you're willing to try something else when you fail. I think all of those indicate what you need long term: play, resilience, creativity, life learning, curiosity, etc.
Its a good advice for those who procrastinates dreaming of making a saga, but never really getting to it (like me). Everyone is different, that is right. But man am i happy for you! Your comment is inspiring, good luck with your work and keep it up, thats amazing!
@@Splat654 And you as well. Hang in there. Remember the things that lead to success are perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness (a scrupulous regard to the dictates of conscience, careful, diligence taking the task seriously), optimism (and by that, I actually mean hope in the fundamental reality of life and being in the teeth of death), and self-control.
And success isn't about money, fame, power, honor, pleasure. It's about truth, beauty, and goodness.
Practice those and the writing will take care of itself because ultimately you'll be a good human and good writers, fundamentally, are first good humans.
100K words is incredible. Yes, if you have the love and discipline to write 100K words definitely don't listen to this advice. How close are you to finishing the first draft?
If a book has everything, it'll be generic.
Fiction at its best has limitations and satisfying ways of going around them.
I think this is true. But "everything" isn't a genre - from whence we get "generic." It's more just everything that connects to a genre. One of the things that made Harry Potter interesting is it was simultaneously a generic gothic, generic boys school, generic magic / wonder awakening, generic mystery, generic talisman, generic alchemy, generic romance, generic orphaned hero's journey, and generic medieval Christian imagery story. You combine that many genres, something weird is bound to come out.
click-baity but i agree
Ha, thanks. Still new to youtube and trying to figure it all out. Appreciate it, though!
Huh, interesting
Practice and small steps
😡😪👎
Pushing forward without a clue to what you're doing
😎👌💪
That's a great advice, but how do you forbide your mind from making your simple story idea a whole new universe with made up languages and its own history of the past 200 centuries ? I was trying to write "that book" and had an other, more chill and simple, idea, but I think I thought about it too much and now my first idea is actually more simple than the second one 😭
That's a great question. Take this with a grain of salt, but I wonder if really focusing on the story would help? One character has a problem they need to solve. You'll still need to do some worldbuilding, of course. But when you're worldbuilding, maybe keep asking yourself, "How does this impact my main character?" That might help reign it in a bit? On the other hand, if building these vast worlds is what you like to do, keep going. As you're building, maybe just keep an eye out for an opportunity to tell a small story within it?
I am a writer with over 20 years of experience including 12 years of professionally writing. I've never publish any book and I decided to Write That Book or rather something bigger than that. So thanks for that advice, but no thanks.
Well, this advice seems to be for people without 20 years of writing experience. I'm sure you have the stamina and attention to detail to accomplish your goal just fine
@@joshbarnes2313 Yeah, although I am currently in a chapter that I don't like and it is second version of that chapter. It stopped my progress, because I can't skip it. Third version should work, but when I lost my momentum, so... funny thing that when you have time to write something like this you don't have enough experience, but when you have enough experience your time is very limited compare to time you have when you are in your 20s.
Cool! What are your novels?
@@LancelotSchaubert I wouldn't call them novels. I am currently writing something that you could call a novel.
I suppose I'm merely trying to understand the "thanks but no thanks" correlates to "20 years of experience."
Nice advice, but without music video would have been much better. Literally hard to listen. Extra work to make own creation worse.
Sorry about that. Was still figuring out things for this first one. I turned the track down on all the videos since this one came out.
Nah this only applies to fantasy or sci fiction.
War and Peace and Infinite Jest over here making eyes at this comment.
Fantasy and sci-fi were definitely on my mind when I made this video (it's what I write and read), but I think it has broader appeal. What genre do you write?