last video of the year!!! hope you had a lovely 2023, or if you didn't (same lmao), I hope you were able to find some moments of gentleness & that more of those moments come to you in 2024! happy new year :) TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Intro 0:23 - January 2:23 - February 4:35 - March 7:41 - April 7:48 - May 7:59 - June 12:46 - July 12:56 - August 13:38 - September 14:14 - October 14:19 - November 14:56 - What I’m currently writing 16:56 - Submissions 17:38 - Awards 17:47 - Overall stats 18:01 - How did I develop? 19:05 - Drafting anxiety (& the link to "productivity") 21:16 - Personal writing (& the impacts of autism) 23:10 - How I'm shifting my process in 2024 24:30 - Novella heaven 25:29 - My total word count for the year 26:31 - Why I'm unhappy about my progress this year 27:01 - Writing "goals" for 2024 29:02 - Outro
Incredible journey in 2023! Your authenticity in balancing struggles and triumphs in writing deeply resonates with me and I can truly relate so much to this journey! Excited for your novella adventure and I myself am diving into those self-care efforts that I need to do more of in 2024. Here's to more growth and riveting tales in 2024! Cheers :)
Congratulations on all you achieved in 2023! Your word count is absolutely incredible! I love that you’re in your fantasy novel era and your novella era! That’s so exciting! I spent a lot of time writing novellas many years ago (2014-2018) and I even queried some of them (2020-early 2023)-although they never went anywhere I’d been writing in that world since 2012 (like you with FOSTERED). So, I get it. I also think I’m probably autistic and the way you talked about writing and your relationship with your autism really resonated with me. 💜 2023 things I’m most proud of: - short story in a traditionally published YA anthology - Earned my PhD - Finished my PhD dissertation (12 drafts of a pilot script written from 2021-2023; 3 drafts of the fantasy novel adaptation written in 2023) - Wrote a horror pilot and wrote 2 chapters of its YA novel adaptation - Read 89 books
Continued writing at a steady pace throughout the year and physically felt I had leveled up in my skills. So we're going to continue the ambling walk in doing.
This year, I've been procrastinating on my writing a lot, but this video really helped me realize that I should find my own routine and not be pressured to adapt on a successful process, that may have worked for someone else (but not me). Thank you so much for this video, I am really excited to see what 2024 brings for everyone as a writer! Also, love your videos, they always motivate me to strive for my "goals", have a wonderful day!! ^^
Yessss, it’s sooo important to find a balanced routine. I’m gonna work on that too lol! I’m happy the vids have been helpful, thank you for being here!
Honestly, I feel you so much about writing being a coping mechanism but also at the same time, the source of anxiety. I feel like my output this year was also a lot - if I had to guesstimate, it would probably be over 200,000 words which sounds like a lot, but also I think that led me to a point of being so stuck every time I opened a document with feeling the need to draft and just being so paralysed about word count. I feel like my goal for the new year is also to just take a chill and give myself a break so I can start to love writing again. That being said, your videos have helped me so much in the process, and I love hearing your excerpts from your projects - I just finished watching your last video and that got me so excited to go back to my own novel. I feel like I know Harrison and Lonan and Reeve so well at this point and I look forward to hearing more about them! I hope you have an amazing new year and continue thriving in your writing journey!
Omggg sounds like we had a similar writing year 😭 I definitely felt that anxious drive to be productive 24/7 even when I tried to stop that 😭 so you’re not alone! & I hope we both can find some rest in the new year! Also ahhh I’m so happy you like my work & that you feel you know the characters hehe, that’s so sweet!
Congratulations on all you've achieved this year!🎉 I hit my first high word count in my graduation year too lol. The "this is your only shot" anxiety is real! But hey, if finishing books was easy, everyone would do it. I have yet to meet any prolific writer that doesn't have to employ routine and systems to finish stuff. I think that is just the price of achieving valuable things. Happy New Year and best wishes 🎉
It's rough looking back and seeing that pattern of anxiety dominate so much time, but I'm glad you're able to recognize it and start working on getting better! Here's hoping for a new year of less stress-writing! I mostly worked on my illustrated blog this year, with a few written pieces thrown in (and a ton of image descriptions haha). I got way more done than I expected, so much so that we're coming up on what'll probably be the last two months of the project! Truthfully I've probably kind of gotten in the same habit as you did with pushing myself a little too hard, because yeah, being unemployed does set you up for that feeling of 'gotta use this time to be Productive.' I'm so close, it's tempting to keep sprinting, but it'd be worse to burn out right before the finish line!
100% hoping to stress write less lol, just the 5 week break I've taken so far has helped (still stressed but yanno, working on it!). Congrats on getting so much work done for your blog, that's so cool! I hope getting to the finish line is a fulfilling, relaxing experience for you with your project :)
I relate a lot to a lot of the things you were saying, some that ive been experiencing this year and others that ive been through before that have gotten easier with time. I started watching your channel this year and i love how earnestly you are committed to the characters that you love, it's like a breath of fresh air, it reminded me of how i used to see my writing before i got "serious" about it. This year ive slowly accepted my disillusionment/burnout with published books - pretty much all i read at the moment is fanfic bc thats where i find the most heart. I think its mostly a "me" thing, not saying that all tradpub is trash or anything, but accepting that after a lifetime of books being such a part of my identity has taken some time. This year im going to try and shift my storytelling to other mediums (video games? 👀) to take some heat off of my relationship with book writing, to let it heal and tell me what it wants to be in my life instead of the other way around. This has been scary since it's tied to my career/financial future so i feel you there! But ultimately i cant push my writing into anything it doesnt want to be. It just stops. Ramble-y but just know i appreciate your vulnerability! Thanks for the journey!!🎉
ahh thank you for this comment! I feel you so much with publishing burnout and hope we can both find ways to fill our cups this year! tysm for the support!
I'm a writer who recently got a diagnosis for autism, and I was wondering if you could talk about how autism impacts your writing (or if you already have)
I actually haven’t talked about it bc I’m not sure of most ways it does (but when I figure it out I can make a video)! Really the most obvious right now is that writing is a special interest, particularly my ongoing series, so it means I will write a lot in this world for the rest of my life. It can also mean though that writing is needed for comfort and therefore if I’m not writing (connecting with my special interest) I could feel sad or anxious (like I mentioned in the vid!). Really it’s the attachment and intensity for me!
Thanks so much for the reply! It's interesting to see how the special interest aspect interacts with your writing process. I don't know if you relate at all, but for me I get worried that I won't be able to write strong characters that are relatable and realistic to neurotypical people. I hope you're able to learn more about yourself by thinking about it, even if you don't end up making a video. Good luck in the new year and happy writing :)@@rachelwritesbooks
would you be interested in talking about your decision to keep your fostered literary fic novel regimented to personal work and not ever pursuing publishing them? i know you’ve spoken about it before, and your thoughts have really helped me view my own projects differently years back when i first heard you speak on it. since then being open to working and investing in a project that will remain personal has nourished me greatly! but i wonder if maybe your feelings have progressed about it since the last you did talk about it. i’m in a similar place in that i would like to publish a novel but idk that i’ll ever find the same investment in that novel vs a personal project with my cast of characters, and so it’s caused me to think that perhaps the only way i can bridge that gap Is if i publish something with them. very anxiety inducing lol because i don’t want that pressure, but i also know how much i’ll have to devote to a novel for publication and fear overextending myself. are you more or less committed to keeping them unpublished? or would you revise a personal project to suit publication like you did for that reeve chapter and workshop? i’ve also done that for workshop lol anyway, i’d love to hear your thoughts if you ever were interested! happy new year rachel :)
This is such a good q! Really they don’t work as books for anyone else. Like not to discredit them but if I’m referring to Moth Work & Feeding Habits, they’re just not really projects that can stand alone. That’s because MW is an offshoot of the original series so a lot of the lore is actually still in there (the plot literally begins midway through the last book of the Fostered series). I wouldn’t rewrite these books either-I don’t actually think they’re compelling to a commercial audience lol (which sounds self-deprecating but really that’s how I feel, they’re very fun for me & the people interested in them but don’t really have a publishing spark to me). Houses With Teeth is a novel I do hope to publish (if I can figure out what it is lol) & that would follow Reeve, but very divorced from the series, just her as a character. I might do spin-off stories I could publish but never with the intention that they’re part of the series. Anything written with these characters for publication needs to be different in vibe. Writing the novellas and spin-offs has been helpful for me to exercise being in different stories in different POVs. But I genuinely find 100% satisfaction in having the projects unpublished-publishing them would ruin the joy for me, so I don’t do it. But other projects that are related (like cousins lol) but not direct offshoots could potentially be published. But even the novellas are too attached to be published-if I wrote offshoot short stories of the novellas however I may be able to publish those. Trying to figure this out has been a fine balance and I just try to take it day by day bc like I mentioned it’s caused me a lot of grief! But I know that if I can love these characters and stories so much I have that capacity in me for anything. Hope that helps!!!! :))))
Hi I’ve just ran across your account and I enjoy what you post and your views on life. Also this is random but you really remind me of twilight sparkle from Mlp, you sound like her also :)
Rachel are you ever going to write plays other than just poems, short stories, and novels? Try the medium out? And you're only like what... 22 years old. You still have time to do whatever it is you are doing now. I mean look at me... I'm 32. Lmao.
Probably not, I’m not super interested in the medium (I’ve tried it for school a couple times), but never say never-I’m always opening to writing in new mediums :)
last video of the year!!! hope you had a lovely 2023, or if you didn't (same lmao), I hope you were able to find some moments of gentleness & that more of those moments come to you in 2024! happy new year :)
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - January
2:23 - February
4:35 - March
7:41 - April
7:48 - May
7:59 - June
12:46 - July
12:56 - August
13:38 - September
14:14 - October
14:19 - November
14:56 - What I’m currently writing
16:56 - Submissions
17:38 - Awards
17:47 - Overall stats
18:01 - How did I develop?
19:05 - Drafting anxiety (& the link to "productivity")
21:16 - Personal writing (& the impacts of autism)
23:10 - How I'm shifting my process in 2024
24:30 - Novella heaven
25:29 - My total word count for the year
26:31 - Why I'm unhappy about my progress this year
27:01 - Writing "goals" for 2024
29:02 - Outro
loved listening to u ramble rachel. ur so well spoken and deadpan humour makes me giggle. adore u!
hehe thanks ana!!
Incredible journey in 2023! Your authenticity in balancing struggles and triumphs in writing deeply resonates with me and I can truly relate so much to this journey!
Excited for your novella adventure and I myself am diving into those self-care efforts that I need to do more of in 2024. Here's to more growth and riveting tales in 2024! Cheers :)
Thank you so much! I hope your year is fabulous and that you get some much needed rest too! 🤍
Congratulations on all you achieved in 2023! Your word count is absolutely incredible! I love that you’re in your fantasy novel era and your novella era! That’s so exciting! I spent a lot of time writing novellas many years ago (2014-2018) and I even queried some of them (2020-early 2023)-although they never went anywhere I’d been writing in that world since 2012 (like you with FOSTERED). So, I get it. I also think I’m probably autistic and the way you talked about writing and your relationship with your autism really resonated with me. 💜
2023 things I’m most proud of:
- short story in a traditionally published YA anthology
- Earned my PhD
- Finished my PhD dissertation (12 drafts of a pilot script written from 2021-2023; 3 drafts of the fantasy novel adaptation written in 2023)
- Wrote a horror pilot and wrote 2 chapters of its YA novel adaptation
- Read 89 books
ahhh CONGRATS Lara, you achieved sooo much! I'm so happy the vid resonated with you :) hope you have a great 2024!
Wow, I love the enthusiasm! I hope you find the balance you're looking for.
Thank you! :)))
Continued writing at a steady pace throughout the year and physically felt I had leveled up in my skills. So we're going to continue the ambling walk in doing.
yesssss that's so good to hear!!!
This year, I've been procrastinating on my writing a lot, but this video really helped me realize that I should find my own routine and not be pressured to adapt on a successful process, that may have worked for someone else (but not me). Thank you so much for this video, I am really excited to see what 2024 brings for everyone as a writer! Also, love your videos, they always motivate me to strive for my "goals", have a wonderful day!! ^^
Yessss, it’s sooo important to find a balanced routine. I’m gonna work on that too lol! I’m happy the vids have been helpful, thank you for being here!
Honestly, I feel you so much about writing being a coping mechanism but also at the same time, the source of anxiety. I feel like my output this year was also a lot - if I had to guesstimate, it would probably be over 200,000 words which sounds like a lot, but also I think that led me to a point of being so stuck every time I opened a document with feeling the need to draft and just being so paralysed about word count. I feel like my goal for the new year is also to just take a chill and give myself a break so I can start to love writing again.
That being said, your videos have helped me so much in the process, and I love hearing your excerpts from your projects - I just finished watching your last video and that got me so excited to go back to my own novel. I feel like I know Harrison and Lonan and Reeve so well at this point and I look forward to hearing more about them!
I hope you have an amazing new year and continue thriving in your writing journey!
Omggg sounds like we had a similar writing year 😭 I definitely felt that anxious drive to be productive 24/7 even when I tried to stop that 😭 so you’re not alone! & I hope we both can find some rest in the new year! Also ahhh I’m so happy you like my work & that you feel you know the characters hehe, that’s so sweet!
@@rachelwritesbooks Forgot to mention Jeremiah! I’m so glad he got his own novella! Definitely a part of the Jeremiah fanclub 😂
Congratulations on all you've achieved this year!🎉
I hit my first high word count in my graduation year too lol. The "this is your only shot" anxiety is real! But hey, if finishing books was easy, everyone would do it.
I have yet to meet any prolific writer that doesn't have to employ routine and systems to finish stuff. I think that is just the price of achieving valuable things.
Happy New Year and best wishes 🎉
tysm! and yes lol the anxiety was totally a driving force! happy new year to you too :)))
It's rough looking back and seeing that pattern of anxiety dominate so much time, but I'm glad you're able to recognize it and start working on getting better! Here's hoping for a new year of less stress-writing!
I mostly worked on my illustrated blog this year, with a few written pieces thrown in (and a ton of image descriptions haha). I got way more done than I expected, so much so that we're coming up on what'll probably be the last two months of the project! Truthfully I've probably kind of gotten in the same habit as you did with pushing myself a little too hard, because yeah, being unemployed does set you up for that feeling of 'gotta use this time to be Productive.' I'm so close, it's tempting to keep sprinting, but it'd be worse to burn out right before the finish line!
100% hoping to stress write less lol, just the 5 week break I've taken so far has helped (still stressed but yanno, working on it!). Congrats on getting so much work done for your blog, that's so cool! I hope getting to the finish line is a fulfilling, relaxing experience for you with your project :)
You are SLAYING. SLAYING. SLAYING. SLAYING
THANK YOU!!!
This video is a good starter of the year, for my writer self
I love this already because just honest goods and bads is something refreshing! ❤ I hope you have an amazing year ahead!
❤️❤️❤️❤️ ty for watching and likewise!
I relate a lot to a lot of the things you were saying, some that ive been experiencing this year and others that ive been through before that have gotten easier with time. I started watching your channel this year and i love how earnestly you are committed to the characters that you love, it's like a breath of fresh air, it reminded me of how i used to see my writing before i got "serious" about it. This year ive slowly accepted my disillusionment/burnout with published books - pretty much all i read at the moment is fanfic bc thats where i find the most heart. I think its mostly a "me" thing, not saying that all tradpub is trash or anything, but accepting that after a lifetime of books being such a part of my identity has taken some time. This year im going to try and shift my storytelling to other mediums (video games? 👀) to take some heat off of my relationship with book writing, to let it heal and tell me what it wants to be in my life instead of the other way around. This has been scary since it's tied to my career/financial future so i feel you there! But ultimately i cant push my writing into anything it doesnt want to be. It just stops.
Ramble-y but just know i appreciate your vulnerability! Thanks for the journey!!🎉
ahh thank you for this comment! I feel you so much with publishing burnout and hope we can both find ways to fill our cups this year! tysm for the support!
I'm a writer who recently got a diagnosis for autism, and I was wondering if you could talk about how autism impacts your writing (or if you already have)
I actually haven’t talked about it bc I’m not sure of most ways it does (but when I figure it out I can make a video)! Really the most obvious right now is that writing is a special interest, particularly my ongoing series, so it means I will write a lot in this world for the rest of my life. It can also mean though that writing is needed for comfort and therefore if I’m not writing (connecting with my special interest) I could feel sad or anxious (like I mentioned in the vid!). Really it’s the attachment and intensity for me!
Thanks so much for the reply! It's interesting to see how the special interest aspect interacts with your writing process. I don't know if you relate at all, but for me I get worried that I won't be able to write strong characters that are relatable and realistic to neurotypical people. I hope you're able to learn more about yourself by thinking about it, even if you don't end up making a video. Good luck in the new year and happy writing :)@@rachelwritesbooks
would you be interested in talking about your decision to keep your fostered literary fic novel regimented to personal work and not ever pursuing publishing them? i know you’ve spoken about it before, and your thoughts have really helped me view my own projects differently years back when i first heard you speak on it. since then being open to working and investing in a project that will remain personal has nourished me greatly! but i wonder if maybe your feelings have progressed about it since the last you did talk about it. i’m in a similar place in that i would like to publish a novel but idk that i’ll ever find the same investment in that novel vs a personal project with my cast of characters, and so it’s caused me to think that perhaps the only way i can bridge that gap Is if i publish something with them. very anxiety inducing lol because i don’t want that pressure, but i also know how much i’ll have to devote to a novel for publication and fear overextending myself. are you more or less committed to keeping them unpublished? or would you revise a personal project to suit publication like you did for that reeve chapter and workshop? i’ve also done that for workshop lol anyway, i’d love to hear your thoughts if you ever were interested! happy new year rachel :)
This is such a good q! Really they don’t work as books for anyone else. Like not to discredit them but if I’m referring to Moth Work & Feeding Habits, they’re just not really projects that can stand alone. That’s because MW is an offshoot of the original series so a lot of the lore is actually still in there (the plot literally begins midway through the last book of the Fostered series). I wouldn’t rewrite these books either-I don’t actually think they’re compelling to a commercial audience lol (which sounds self-deprecating but really that’s how I feel, they’re very fun for me & the people interested in them but don’t really have a publishing spark to me). Houses With Teeth is a novel I do hope to publish (if I can figure out what it is lol) & that would follow Reeve, but very divorced from the series, just her as a character. I might do spin-off stories I could publish but never with the intention that they’re part of the series. Anything written with these characters for publication needs to be different in vibe. Writing the novellas and spin-offs has been helpful for me to exercise being in different stories in different POVs. But I genuinely find 100% satisfaction in having the projects unpublished-publishing them would ruin the joy for me, so I don’t do it. But other projects that are related (like cousins lol) but not direct offshoots could potentially be published. But even the novellas are too attached to be published-if I wrote offshoot short stories of the novellas however I may be able to publish those.
Trying to figure this out has been a fine balance and I just try to take it day by day bc like I mentioned it’s caused me a lot of grief! But I know that if I can love these characters and stories so much I have that capacity in me for anything. Hope that helps!!!! :))))
2024 is your year of rest and relaxation?
Thank you for sharing your struggles from last year!
🎉🎉🎉🎉
Lol 100% trying to make it that! ty for watching!
Hi I’ve just ran across your account and I enjoy what you post and your views on life. Also this is random but you really remind me of twilight sparkle from Mlp, you sound like her also :)
Omg ahh hello! And also that’s so sweet 😭😭😭 I DO kind of sound like her, the vibe is 100% right too!!!
Rachel are you ever going to write plays other than just poems, short stories, and novels? Try the medium out? And you're only like what... 22 years old. You still have time to do whatever it is you are doing now. I mean look at me... I'm 32. Lmao.
Probably not, I’m not super interested in the medium (I’ve tried it for school a couple times), but never say never-I’m always opening to writing in new mediums :)