'You're not writing *any* book, you're writing *you're* book' - love that. And it's so true. There is so much that goes into a good book outside of a checklist, template or method of how to plot a story
I discovered this channel a few days ago and subscribed because I think it's great. I think anyone is capable of writing a good first book, but anyone who does has to put in a lot of effort and time. Writing a novel can be a rewarding journey though. I am finishing my first novel right now. Three weeks ago, I sent the first draft to my publisher and received a rave response. Of course there will be some tinkering with it, but as the book launch is planned for mid-January next year, there is still time to improve it to a second or third draft. The book will be in Dutch (I'm Dutch, I live in The Netherlands). 1. My first advice to beginning writers: start with a good story. I've been a storyteller in my city since 2005 and I guide people around. As a storyteller, you have an audience and you get reactions. I'm not saying that as a writer, you should start as a tour guide, but it helps to figure out how to make people curious about the story you're going to tell during the walk from the beginning of your tour and how to keep the momentum going until the conclusion of your story. This experience helped me a lot when I was writing my story. 2. My second piece of advice is to stay true to yourself. You have probably experienced something that you do not dare to tell anyone about. Start there. Develop the experience you are too embarrassed to tell into a compelling story, it's probably a good story other people are interested in. Tell the essence of your story to other people, they are your first audience. Make someone else the protagonist, your audience doesn't need to know it was you. Telling your story is important because you need to gauge their reactions, to see if it is worth working on. If the reactions are lukewarm, your story is not working out. If they start asking questions as a result of what you have told them, you probably have something interesting up your sleeve. Then go work on it. To paraphrase Stephen King: write something that is forbidden, something that nobody else can write. 3. My third piece of advice is to consult books on writing. There are great books to buy or borrow from the library. A few names I thought were very useful for me: Story by Robert McKee, The Anatomy of Story by John Truby, and if you're polishing your first draft I can recommend Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Do that and start self-editing, your manuscript will become much better and has a better chance to be published. Some RUclips channels like this one by Kieren Westwood can also be helpful. Other useful channels to get information on story development are those of Reedsy and Film Courage. edit: Keep in mind that whatever people say, you are the writer of your story and you will develop your own writing style during the process. It may take many many years before you produce some decent writing (it took me about ten years, including the research about the subject of my historic novel, it is a true story), there is always room for improvement. The more effort you put in, the better your manuscript will be. Cheers!
Hey, thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts! I agree with what you've said for sure, especially the last bit. It does take a while, but it's worth it. Staying true to yourself is the path the your best writing, absolutely.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting We should thank you for the effort you put into your channel. There is so much to explain about the ways of telling stories, including writing novels, where on earth do you start? And shouldn't an aspiring writer just figure out how to do it him/herself? I certainly think the latter, and yet it's good to put people who want to develop a story on the right track. Kudos to you for doing that.
Definitely, me too. You've got to start somewhere and find your way. All the books and models and charts and advice can't help you until you're actually doing the thing I don't think. Happy new year Joey 🙂
The hardest lesson I had to learn as a new author was that I write for personal enjoyment, growth and (no matter what anyone else says) for myself. For me, the writing journey is not about crafting elaborate plots and grandiose character arcs to get to the eventual goal of fame and fortune. That's no fun at all. Hell, that sounds more like work. And I don't need a second tedious job. My personal process is about exploring my own ideas and seeing where they lead me. More often than not, I end up in a story I never expected. Are they always good? Probably not. But I'm OK with that as long as I have fun getting to the end. As a boy I wrote stories so I could be anyone, go anywhere and live in unimaginable worlds that span time and space. There are no limits and all boundaries fall away. I hope this doesn't sound over the top. But here goes. Being an author, writer, and story-teller is like being a God. Yep. I went there. But in some small way that's true. Everything in story, everything that happens to characters and to their worlds, happens because we want them too. We will those worlds into existence and those characters live because we make it so. As a result, they get to breath and we get to hone our craft and much more. By nature I'm a pantser. I love the process of discovery writing. It is cathartic and fulfilling and reveals as much about me as a person and writer as it does about my characters, their settings or their stories. That's the much more part. I get to know myself better. Great video by the way. It's nice to see someone willing to share their own journey of self-discovery. Keep it up. I just wanted to add one more thing. I watch a lot of RUclips/AuthorTube videos where the content creators critique and criticize the works of others with a keen analytical eye turned towards what went wrong and how to fix their rookie mistakes. You, on the other hand, seem to be the only one brave enough to do so with your own pieces. That speaks volumes about their unwillingness to shate their true abilities and even more about your transparency and credibility.
I couldn't agree more that it's a great idea to focus on your personal enjoyment and growth. That's the path to real satisfaction in writing I think. I'm a panster too, about 90% and it's that discovery that really feels like magic to me too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and happy new year to you 🙂
Yes, it's possible, but first you need to write some short stories and learn golden tips of writing and plot making. After that, you can write good novel. At least, my first novel is good and it happens because of hardworking :) Happy new year btw!
Happy new year! Hope it's a great one for you 🙂 Golden tips are golden for a reason I think, it's a sign of their value to an awful lot of writers and creatives. I'm not really one of them (at least right now) as I tend to feel constrained by needing to do certain things in certain places and that kind of thing, but that's the beauty of writing, we're all free to do it in entirely our own way. Even more so when (like me) your main reason to write is just for the enjoyment of it. Also, hard work - absolutely. There is no 'good' without that!
I think short stories and novels are very different animals. It's like a guitar teacher I had once who told me that acoustic and electric guitars are basically different instruments. (I am also thinking of a science fiction writer I quite like, Michael Swanwick, who said that some writers simply have ideas that need to be expressed at novel length.)
THANK YOU for telling us to have fun. You highlighted my predicament perfectly in a way I haven't seen any writing-based RUclipsr explain. I started when I was twelve, and it really took off when I was 14. I had an absolute blast and this lasted until I hit 15 (it was really bad but at least I was having fun and learning simultaneously, certainly writing more and more often than I have since), but between me overstressing on whether or not I'm doing it the "right way" and real life events getting in the way, I have barely been able to have fun and it's been really scaring me away from what used to be my favorite hobby. I'm gonna take this advice to heart and just type away today and see where it takes me. Thank you again!!
Having fun is a fundamental (no pun intended) part of writing for me. Without that, I'd really struggle to push myself to do it. Definitely jump back in and try to focus on what's interesting and exciting to write, following that is the key to good stories too I think! 🙂 Thank you so much for watching.
My first book had too much fluff at the beginning and was structurally unsound. But there's some good stuff in the second half I could have chucked it into the pit of doom but I didn't want to and now I am taking advice from an editor to see what can be improved and what needs to be cut. Like you said; we don't know what we're doing in our first book and it's all a learning curve. I have written and published my second book and because of the connections that the two books have, I can't throw the firsy= book away, nor do I want to. You're right Kieran about the value of things you have written along the way/ they're not rubbish but stepping stones to real greatness.
Thanks Kieran for the 'big picture' view on writing your first novel. And it was interesting meeting your alter ego next to your (his?) Guitars. "You must enjoy the process" it certainly makes it easier to slog it out if you do. Just a heads up, a great book about the creative process is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Cheers mate.
Hi Chris, thanks so much! I've had a few comments about my alter-ego now, so I suppose I'll let him into future videos :) They're my guitars, but I suppose he can play them if he wants... Thanks for the recommendation, I've not heard of that one.
Write the novel you want to read. That is how I got through my first novel. Once you get through the first novel, writing the second and third novels becomes easier because you know you can do it. The problem is that once you succeed and finish your novel, trying to get it in front of readers is another challenge. Marketing is by far the hardest part of writing for me.
You deserve more views, your content is really useful to me as I'm trying to recreate the old comics i made when i was younger into a rich fictional story with more logic and in depth worlds
I've watched a few of your videos about writing - I subscribed after the first one popped up - and you are a very generous person, which is rare and often overlooked. Sharing your experience takes time, and you do so with clear examples, a genuine tone, and no 'schamby pamby stuff'. Always interesting to hear your take on the various angles of the art. Thank you!
Well thank you! I really appreciate that. When I started my channel I wanted to be as honest as I could about my failings and my successes, that way if my channel grew it would grow for the right reasons. It's great to hear that anything I made has helped other writers in any way. Thanks so much for subscribing too!
I'm going to be honest, while a lot of people found this encouraging, I found it more discouraging than anything. I don't want to make a living as an author, I have no ideas for stories in mind I would like to write after this. I can see what you're saying, that all the experience will be priceless, but it just feels like I don't want to sacrifice this one story I actually care about and want to tell, so I can maybe down the line tell others. I like the story in my head, and I know that if I were to write it down, the cracks would show. But right now I like it, and I think it's going to stay there.
It's alright to feel different from other people, and it's definitely alright to feel discouraged by this, though of course that wasn't my intention for the video at all. These are all just my thoughts and experiences, if they don't feel right to you, you're not wrong, we're just different.
I stumbled upon your channel because of the Chuck Palahniuk video, and now this lesson in novel writing has given me a lot to think about. I once considered writing a novel, but dropped it. These breakdowns really make the methodology super approachable for such a monumental task, and you might have sparked my interest in writing again. Thank you, and man, I find your videos super insightful, keep doing this I love it!
Thank you so much for this. I'm in a little slump at the minute and a reminder of why I do this was very welcome. I'm so glad it could help you find your spark and I wish you all the best for it!
Happy New Year, Kieren! Glad to see you're settled in your new place 😊 When I started my first book, I didn't realize it, but I was trying to write it in the style and voice of other authors I loved. Looking back, that kind of imitation wasn't going to get me anywhere in the publishing world, but it did help me to finish the draft. I learned by imitating and slowly branching out into my own style. Totally agree with you about just having fun with those first attempts at novel writing! [I love alter ego Kieren, by the way 😂]
Hey Meredith, Happy New Year! Hope you're doing great 🙂 I did the exact same thing, my first book really was just my poor impersonation of other books I loved. I wouldn't change it now though, I'm fond of it 🙂 I kinda chuckle when I think back to it! I feel like alter ego Kieren might be hard to get rid of this year, he does pose some interesting counter arguments, even if he insists on wearing his cap backwards...
Ahhh! I love this! Focus on the FUN! Amazing video as always - so glad you’re back!! I’m thinking of making a video in response to this - it’s such a thought-provoking topic ! Thank you for this - also loving the Kieran alter ego 😂
I think this is great advice for young writers and experienced ones as well. I have been writing a long tiime and I recently came to the same conclusion with my fiction writing; i was spending lots of time on longer projects and seeing that I wasn’t having fun, I felt the pressure to produce something for all the time I put in and I wasn’t having fun. I try to focus more on the fun now & it’s helped. Thanks for the videos!
Thanks for watching! I agree with you, longer projects do tend to burn me out whereas shorter ones are energising. Longer stories just always seem to have a hold on me though!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Yeah bigger stories do take hold of me as well, and its like a long term committment, I guess like any relationship, time is the test if I stay with it or bail, if I love it I keep working on it. Thanks I enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!
Hi Kieran, thank you so much for your videos. They are a real help to me. I’m approaching the end of writing my 1st draft, it’s been 18 months , sitting at around 100k words. This is my very first attempt at writing a novel and watching your videos helps put me at ease lol. I say this because I am definitely not a planner but enjoy writing in the moment each day and seeing where the story takes me. I aim for 250-500 words a day if I can. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if you do a video on how to tackle a 2nd draft. Thanks mate. Callum
Hi Callum, thanks so much for watching and commenting. I always love hearing that the videos are useful! I'm not a planner either, I've tried and I just can't make it stick. I can plan ahead a certain way, but not an entire story. I think 250 to 500 is a great amount to write each day. I used to aim for 2000, and even though sometimes I'd hit it, I never felt that proud of what I'd written. Now, I'm mainly writing 100 word stories, and even if I only write one in a day, I'm so much happier. Weird how it works! I'm sure I'll cover second drafts at some point, it's a good subject to cover :)
@Kieren Westwood Firstly, Happy New Year 2022!! 😁🌈🎉Pls make a master class or a batch of videos dedicated to the "fiction writing stuff", it would be helpful for more writers like me...
Happy new year to you too! 🙂 I have a flash fiction course, which is linked in the video description, but I've been thinking about a wider course for a long time now and this year may be the year I finally tackle it!
Hei, man! Great video, as always! Discovering your channel was amazing and I'm devouring all the videos pretty fast. I've read Gold Fury recently and loved it. It was my first flash fiction ever, so I don't really have something else to compare it to, but awesome nonetheless. Can you recommend me another thing your wrote that I should read next? Thanks!
Wow, thank you so much for the support! 🙂 I really appreciate it. There are a few more stories on my website here: www.kierenwestwood.com/writing I've also had a couple of stories published recently: Here: www.fivesouth.net/post/kieren-westwood-reach-of-the-light and Here: freeflashfiction.com/fiction/empty-backyard-pool/ Again thanks so much for the support, comments like yours make the time I spend making videos feel so worthwhile!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I will read them as well! Thank you for this awesome channel. I'm in the process of editing my first novel (not in english tho) and I wish I had discovered your channel earlier. I'm sure a lot of people feel this way but very few actually take the time to comment. From what I've seen in your videos, you prefer short fiction and maybe get bored or loose the fun out of writing when you tackle a novel. So why not write a series of stories that put together create a novel? Like, all the stories take place in the same universe, and each adds up to it, slowly revealing more of it. Anyway, thanks a lot, and happy writing!
We're on the same page with that for sure, I've been working on exactly that, a longer piece of work with linked stories for a while now, just letting it go and seeing where it might lead me 🙂 I do love the idea of an unclear story that slowly comes in to focus, if I can manage something like that at some point, that would be cool!
Write your thing 🙌💯. I love this! Thanks for sharing! I needed to be reminded that I need to stop wondering if I'm doing it right and just have fun 😭. Not so much in my writing, but in my publishing journey ❤ it's been a rough year 😅 but on to 2022. I love your split personality 🤣. What is that green fuzz in the far left corner of some of your video? Plant?
It's definitely been a rough year again, maybe 2022 will be better! 🙂 My alter ego is good at calling me out on stuff 😄 He's useful for sure. Yeah, that green fuzz is just an out-of-focus plant in front of the lens, I was trying something artistic, will probably leave it out of future shoots! 😂
My best friend a while back suggested me an idea. He said I should go back and watch the films, tv shows, anime and cartoons that I really like. Then I should ask myself what did I like about each one? What drew me into watching these? Why did I choose these pieces of media as ones I liked over others? From there, I got a few answers. I already knew I loved Fantasy with superpowers, magic, mythology and fictional worlds but, I noticed a few other things like having the main character be the narrator and instead of being like an actual narrator (describing things in detail with metaphors or similes to make the imagery stand out) I would have my main character just talk to the reader as if they were friends. An example of this is the opening of How To Train Your Dragon where the main character Hiccup narrates his village, his people and what they do there: "This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death." That's another thing I really like. Humour. By having humour in my story through narration, it engages with people as it will cheer them up if they're ever feeling down or upset. By adding this humour with the narrator, it gives the reader comfort and lets them travel to this new world where they can escape from all the stress they have in their every day life. This is what My Hero Academia does for me as not only is is a fictional world with superheroes but there are a lot of funny moments that make me keep watching, which is what a story should do. There's 1 big thing i've really started liking when watching media and that's characters. It may sound silly but when I was younger, I would like watching films just because of the action. Like with Spider Man 2, I didn't really understand it much when I was younger and thought it was a fun Superhero film (Although that hospital scene did give me nightmares XD) But, after watching it as a grown up, I've grown to love it a lot. The characters and their struggles (Especially Peter Parker) is so engaging that it makes me want to root for them and hope things will get better. Having characters that could act like your friend is something I really like as for people who are potentially lonely, making characters likeable and have that personality where they could be your friend with how relatable they are to them is amazing, especially if the narrator is that character.
That approach of thinking about the experience your favourite stories bring you and trying to figure out why and how it works - I love that. That's what my Technique videos are really. Parts I love, turned into ways to learn. And you're absolutely right about characters. Stories are all about people, without them, there is no story. Giving readers someone to relate to and walk beside through a story is a sure fire way to reach them on an emotional level and make an impact I think. I agree with you on humour too, I think it's often overlooked and underappreciated. When you say 'humour' to people, they immediately assume you're writing comedy, and that doesn't have to be the case at all. Humour's a tool to make your story richer, your characters more human and your reader's experience even better. Sounds like you've got a real handle on what you want to write, that's a great advantage to have I think! 🙂
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thank you so much. I'm really happy you like the way I think when it comes to writing. I agree 100% on everything you've said. This video is probably one of the best videos you've made as for someone who's just starting to write their first novel, I needed this. Rephrasing the question from Can I? to Should I? is really important and I have noticed that when I tried writing my novel, I wasn't having fun because i'm too focused on following the structure, making sure the scene structure is right and how everything is objectively good at best, which is very tedious and frustrating because it sucks the soul out of the story for me. I love coming up with ideas but, when I focus too much on the objectivity, those ideas just become monochrome photos in my mind instead of the vibrant movie scenes I can envision in my head (If that last sentence made any sense. I hope it did)
'You're not writing *any* book, you're writing *you're* book' - love that. And it's so true. There is so much that goes into a good book outside of a checklist, template or method of how to plot a story
That's definitely how I look at it sweetpea 😍
I discovered this channel a few days ago and subscribed because I think it's great. I think anyone is capable of writing a good first book, but anyone who does has to put in a lot of effort and time. Writing a novel can be a rewarding journey though. I am finishing my first novel right now. Three weeks ago, I sent the first draft to my publisher and received a rave response. Of course there will be some tinkering with it, but as the book launch is planned for mid-January next year, there is still time to improve it to a second or third draft. The book will be in Dutch (I'm Dutch, I live in The Netherlands).
1. My first advice to beginning writers: start with a good story. I've been a storyteller in my city since 2005 and I guide people around. As a storyteller, you have an audience and you get reactions. I'm not saying that as a writer, you should start as a tour guide, but it helps to figure out how to make people curious about the story you're going to tell during the walk from the beginning of your tour and how to keep the momentum going until the conclusion of your story.
This experience helped me a lot when I was writing my story.
2. My second piece of advice is to stay true to yourself. You have probably experienced something that you do not dare to tell anyone about. Start there. Develop the experience you are too embarrassed to tell into a compelling story, it's probably a good story other people are interested in. Tell the essence of your story to other people, they are your first audience. Make someone else the protagonist, your audience doesn't need to know it was you. Telling your story is important because you need to gauge their reactions, to see if it is worth working on. If the reactions are lukewarm, your story is not working out. If they start asking questions as a result of what you have told them, you probably have something interesting up your sleeve. Then go work on it.
To paraphrase Stephen King: write something that is forbidden, something that nobody else can write.
3. My third piece of advice is to consult books on writing. There are great books to buy or borrow from the library. A few names I thought were very useful for me: Story by Robert McKee, The Anatomy of Story by John Truby, and if you're polishing your first draft I can recommend Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Do that and start self-editing, your manuscript will become much better and has a better chance to be published.
Some RUclips channels like this one by Kieren Westwood can also be helpful. Other useful channels to get information on story development are those of Reedsy and Film Courage.
edit: Keep in mind that whatever people say, you are the writer of your story and you will develop your own writing style during the process. It may take many many years before you produce some decent writing (it took me about ten years, including the research about the subject of my historic novel, it is a true story), there is always room for improvement. The more effort you put in, the better your manuscript will be.
Cheers!
Hey, thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts! I agree with what you've said for sure, especially the last bit. It does take a while, but it's worth it. Staying true to yourself is the path the your best writing, absolutely.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting We should thank you for the effort you put into your channel. There is so much to explain about the ways of telling stories, including writing novels, where on earth do you start? And shouldn't an aspiring writer just figure out how to do it him/herself? I certainly think the latter, and yet it's good to put people who want to develop a story on the right track. Kudos to you for doing that.
My first book was not good but I had a lot of fun writing it and working out how I worked as a writer, it was a learning curve for me!
Definitely, me too. You've got to start somewhere and find your way. All the books and models and charts and advice can't help you until you're actually doing the thing I don't think.
Happy new year Joey 🙂
The hardest lesson I had to learn as a new author was that I write for personal enjoyment, growth and (no matter what anyone else says) for myself. For me, the writing journey is not about crafting elaborate plots and grandiose character arcs to get to the eventual goal of fame and fortune. That's no fun at all. Hell, that sounds more like work. And I don't need a second tedious job.
My personal process is about exploring my own ideas and seeing where they lead me. More often than not, I end up in a story I never expected. Are they always good? Probably not. But I'm OK with that as long as I have fun getting to the end.
As a boy I wrote stories so I could be anyone, go anywhere and live in unimaginable worlds that span time and space. There are no limits and all boundaries fall away.
I hope this doesn't sound over the top. But here goes. Being an author, writer, and story-teller is like being a God. Yep. I went there. But in some small way that's true. Everything in story, everything that happens to characters and to their worlds, happens because we want them too. We will those worlds into existence and those characters live because we make it so. As a result, they get to breath and we get to hone our craft and much more.
By nature I'm a pantser. I love the process of discovery writing. It is cathartic and fulfilling and reveals as much about me as a person and writer as it does about my characters, their settings or their stories. That's the much more part. I get to know myself better.
Great video by the way. It's nice to see someone willing to share their own journey of self-discovery. Keep it up.
I just wanted to add one more thing.
I watch a lot of RUclips/AuthorTube videos where the content creators critique and criticize the works of others with a keen analytical eye turned towards what went wrong and how to fix their rookie mistakes. You, on the other hand, seem to be the only one brave enough to do so with your own pieces. That speaks volumes about their unwillingness to shate their true abilities and even more about your transparency and credibility.
Yes. This. Fully agree.
I couldn't agree more that it's a great idea to focus on your personal enjoyment and growth. That's the path to real satisfaction in writing I think.
I'm a panster too, about 90% and it's that discovery that really feels like magic to me too.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and happy new year to you 🙂
Me too!
Yes, it's possible, but first you need to write some short stories and learn golden tips of writing and plot making. After that, you can write good novel. At least, my first novel is good and it happens because of hardworking :) Happy new year btw!
Happy new year! Hope it's a great one for you 🙂
Golden tips are golden for a reason I think, it's a sign of their value to an awful lot of writers and creatives. I'm not really one of them (at least right now) as I tend to feel constrained by needing to do certain things in certain places and that kind of thing, but that's the beauty of writing, we're all free to do it in entirely our own way. Even more so when (like me) your main reason to write is just for the enjoyment of it.
Also, hard work - absolutely. There is no 'good' without that!
I think short stories and novels are very different animals. It's like a guitar teacher I had once who told me that acoustic and electric guitars are basically different instruments. (I am also thinking of a science fiction writer I quite like, Michael Swanwick, who said that some writers simply have ideas that need to be expressed at novel length.)
I really needed this. Thank you.
Really glad I could help, even if it's just in a small way, that's why I make these videos 🙂
Love your tips, advice and observation pal. Thank you.x
You certainly can write a good novel as your first. Altered Carbon is a testament to that.
Love this take. Thankee.
THANK YOU for telling us to have fun. You highlighted my predicament perfectly in a way I haven't seen any writing-based RUclipsr explain. I started when I was twelve, and it really took off when I was 14. I had an absolute blast and this lasted until I hit 15 (it was really bad but at least I was having fun and learning simultaneously, certainly writing more and more often than I have since), but between me overstressing on whether or not I'm doing it the "right way" and real life events getting in the way, I have barely been able to have fun and it's been really scaring me away from what used to be my favorite hobby. I'm gonna take this advice to heart and just type away today and see where it takes me. Thank you again!!
Having fun is a fundamental (no pun intended) part of writing for me. Without that, I'd really struggle to push myself to do it. Definitely jump back in and try to focus on what's interesting and exciting to write, following that is the key to good stories too I think! 🙂 Thank you so much for watching.
What a good solid video, sound advice man!
My first book had too much fluff at the beginning and was structurally unsound. But there's some good stuff in the second half
I could have chucked it into the pit of doom but I didn't want to and now I am taking advice from an editor to see what can be improved and what needs to be cut. Like you said; we don't know what we're doing in our first book and it's all a learning curve. I have written and published my second book and because of the connections that the two books have, I can't throw the firsy= book away, nor do I want to. You're right Kieran about the value of things you have written along the way/ they're not rubbish but stepping stones to real greatness.
Stepping stones to greatness is a good way to put it I think!
Thanks Kieran for the 'big picture' view on writing your first novel. And it was interesting meeting your alter ego next to your (his?) Guitars. "You must enjoy the process" it certainly makes it easier to slog it out if you do. Just a heads up, a great book about the creative process is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Cheers mate.
Hi Chris, thanks so much! I've had a few comments about my alter-ego now, so I suppose I'll let him into future videos :) They're my guitars, but I suppose he can play them if he wants...
Thanks for the recommendation, I've not heard of that one.
Thank you, Kieren! I've just started my first attempts at writing.
Write the novel you want to read. That is how I got through my first novel. Once you get through the first novel, writing the second and third novels becomes easier because you know you can do it. The problem is that once you succeed and finish your novel, trying to get it in front of readers is another challenge. Marketing is by far the hardest part of writing for me.
You deserve more views, your content is really useful to me as I'm trying to recreate the old comics i made when i was younger into a rich fictional story with more logic and in depth worlds
Thank you, I appreciate it, I'm really glad my videos could help!
I've watched a few of your videos about writing - I subscribed after the first one popped up - and you are a very generous person, which is rare and often overlooked. Sharing your experience takes time, and you do so with clear examples, a genuine tone, and no 'schamby pamby stuff'. Always interesting to hear your take on the various angles of the art. Thank you!
Well thank you! I really appreciate that. When I started my channel I wanted to be as honest as I could about my failings and my successes, that way if my channel grew it would grow for the right reasons. It's great to hear that anything I made has helped other writers in any way. Thanks so much for subscribing too!
There were some really good points in this video and you are so encouraging, as always.
Thanks Laura, happy new year! ☺️
I'm going to be honest, while a lot of people found this encouraging, I found it more discouraging than anything. I don't want to make a living as an author, I have no ideas for stories in mind I would like to write after this. I can see what you're saying, that all the experience will be priceless, but it just feels like I don't want to sacrifice this one story I actually care about and want to tell, so I can maybe down the line tell others. I like the story in my head, and I know that if I were to write it down, the cracks would show. But right now I like it, and I think it's going to stay there.
It's alright to feel different from other people, and it's definitely alright to feel discouraged by this, though of course that wasn't my intention for the video at all.
These are all just my thoughts and experiences, if they don't feel right to you, you're not wrong, we're just different.
I stumbled upon your channel because of the Chuck Palahniuk video, and now this lesson in novel writing has given me a lot to think about. I once considered writing a novel, but dropped it. These breakdowns really make the methodology super approachable for such a monumental task, and you might have sparked my interest in writing again. Thank you, and man, I find your videos super insightful, keep doing this I love it!
Thank you so much for this. I'm in a little slump at the minute and a reminder of why I do this was very welcome. I'm so glad it could help you find your spark and I wish you all the best for it!
And he’s back. So checking this out later on tomorrow. Happy New Year 🥳
Oh I'm back, big time back 😄
@@KierenWestwoodWriting 🥳
Happy New Year, Kieren! Glad to see you're settled in your new place 😊
When I started my first book, I didn't realize it, but I was trying to write it in the style and voice of other authors I loved. Looking back, that kind of imitation wasn't going to get me anywhere in the publishing world, but it did help me to finish the draft. I learned by imitating and slowly branching out into my own style.
Totally agree with you about just having fun with those first attempts at novel writing!
[I love alter ego Kieren, by the way 😂]
Hey Meredith, Happy New Year! Hope you're doing great 🙂
I did the exact same thing, my first book really was just my poor impersonation of other books I loved. I wouldn't change it now though, I'm fond of it 🙂 I kinda chuckle when I think back to it!
I feel like alter ego Kieren might be hard to get rid of this year, he does pose some interesting counter arguments, even if he insists on wearing his cap backwards...
Ahhh! I love this! Focus on the FUN! Amazing video as always - so glad you’re back!! I’m thinking of making a video in response to this - it’s such a thought-provoking topic ! Thank you for this - also loving the Kieran alter ego 😂
Awesome, go for it ☺️ so glad to be back!
Alter-ego Kieren seems to be a hit, I suppose I’ll have to let him interrupt me more often 😂
I think this is great advice for young writers and experienced ones as well. I have been writing a long tiime and I recently came to the same conclusion with my fiction writing; i was spending lots of time on longer projects and seeing that I wasn’t having fun, I felt the pressure to produce something for all the time I put in and I wasn’t having fun. I try to focus more on the fun now & it’s helped. Thanks for the videos!
Thanks for watching! I agree with you, longer projects do tend to burn me out whereas shorter ones are energising. Longer stories just always seem to have a hold on me though!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Yeah bigger stories do take hold of me as well, and its like a long term committment, I guess like any relationship, time is the test if I stay with it or bail, if I love it I keep working on it. Thanks I enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!
Hi Kieran, thank you so much for your videos. They are a real help to me. I’m approaching the end of writing my 1st draft, it’s been 18 months , sitting at around 100k words. This is my very first attempt at writing a novel and watching your videos helps put me at ease lol. I say this because I am definitely not a planner but enjoy writing in the moment each day and seeing where the story takes me. I aim for 250-500 words a day if I can. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if you do a video on how to tackle a 2nd draft. Thanks mate. Callum
Hi Callum, thanks so much for watching and commenting. I always love hearing that the videos are useful!
I'm not a planner either, I've tried and I just can't make it stick. I can plan ahead a certain way, but not an entire story.
I think 250 to 500 is a great amount to write each day. I used to aim for 2000, and even though sometimes I'd hit it, I never felt that proud of what I'd written. Now, I'm mainly writing 100 word stories, and even if I only write one in a day, I'm so much happier. Weird how it works!
I'm sure I'll cover second drafts at some point, it's a good subject to cover :)
@@KierenWestwoodWriting thank you Kieran!
@Kieren Westwood Firstly, Happy New Year 2022!! 😁🌈🎉Pls make a master class or a batch of videos dedicated to the "fiction writing stuff", it would be helpful for more writers like me...
Happy new year to you too! 🙂 I have a flash fiction course, which is linked in the video description, but I've been thinking about a wider course for a long time now and this year may be the year I finally tackle it!
Hei, man! Great video, as always! Discovering your channel was amazing and I'm devouring all the videos pretty fast. I've read Gold Fury recently and loved it. It was my first flash fiction ever, so I don't really have something else to compare it to, but awesome nonetheless. Can you recommend me another thing your wrote that I should read next? Thanks!
Wow, thank you so much for the support! 🙂 I really appreciate it.
There are a few more stories on my website here: www.kierenwestwood.com/writing
I've also had a couple of stories published recently:
Here: www.fivesouth.net/post/kieren-westwood-reach-of-the-light
and
Here: freeflashfiction.com/fiction/empty-backyard-pool/
Again thanks so much for the support, comments like yours make the time I spend making videos feel so worthwhile!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I will read them as well! Thank you for this awesome channel. I'm in the process of editing my first novel (not in english tho) and I wish I had discovered your channel earlier. I'm sure a lot of people feel this way but very few actually take the time to comment. From what I've seen in your videos, you prefer short fiction and maybe get bored or loose the fun out of writing when you tackle a novel. So why not write a series of stories that put together create a novel? Like, all the stories take place in the same universe, and each adds up to it, slowly revealing more of it. Anyway, thanks a lot, and happy writing!
We're on the same page with that for sure, I've been working on exactly that, a longer piece of work with linked stories for a while now, just letting it go and seeing where it might lead me 🙂
I do love the idea of an unclear story that slowly comes in to focus, if I can manage something like that at some point, that would be cool!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Well, you definitely have the talent for it. Good luck!
Write your thing 🙌💯. I love this! Thanks for sharing! I needed to be reminded that I need to stop wondering if I'm doing it right and just have fun 😭. Not so much in my writing, but in my publishing journey ❤ it's been a rough year 😅 but on to 2022.
I love your split personality 🤣.
What is that green fuzz in the far left corner of some of your video? Plant?
It's definitely been a rough year again, maybe 2022 will be better! 🙂
My alter ego is good at calling me out on stuff 😄 He's useful for sure.
Yeah, that green fuzz is just an out-of-focus plant in front of the lens, I was trying something artistic, will probably leave it out of future shoots! 😂
My best friend a while back suggested me an idea. He said I should go back and watch the films, tv shows, anime and cartoons that I really like. Then I should ask myself what did I like about each one? What drew me into watching these? Why did I choose these pieces of media as ones I liked over others?
From there, I got a few answers. I already knew I loved Fantasy with superpowers, magic, mythology and fictional worlds but, I noticed a few other things like having the main character be the narrator and instead of being like an actual narrator (describing things in detail with metaphors or similes to make the imagery stand out) I would have my main character just talk to the reader as if they were friends. An example of this is the opening of How To Train Your Dragon where the main character Hiccup narrates his village, his people and what they do there:
"This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death."
That's another thing I really like. Humour. By having humour in my story through narration, it engages with people as it will cheer them up if they're ever feeling down or upset. By adding this humour with the narrator, it gives the reader comfort and lets them travel to this new world where they can escape from all the stress they have in their every day life. This is what My Hero Academia does for me as not only is is a fictional world with superheroes but there are a lot of funny moments that make me keep watching, which is what a story should do.
There's 1 big thing i've really started liking when watching media and that's characters. It may sound silly but when I was younger, I would like watching films just because of the action. Like with Spider Man 2, I didn't really understand it much when I was younger and thought it was a fun Superhero film (Although that hospital scene did give me nightmares XD) But, after watching it as a grown up, I've grown to love it a lot. The characters and their struggles (Especially Peter Parker) is so engaging that it makes me want to root for them and hope things will get better. Having characters that could act like your friend is something I really like as for people who are potentially lonely, making characters likeable and have that personality where they could be your friend with how relatable they are to them is amazing, especially if the narrator is that character.
That approach of thinking about the experience your favourite stories bring you and trying to figure out why and how it works - I love that. That's what my Technique videos are really. Parts I love, turned into ways to learn.
And you're absolutely right about characters. Stories are all about people, without them, there is no story. Giving readers someone to relate to and walk beside through a story is a sure fire way to reach them on an emotional level and make an impact I think.
I agree with you on humour too, I think it's often overlooked and underappreciated. When you say 'humour' to people, they immediately assume you're writing comedy, and that doesn't have to be the case at all. Humour's a tool to make your story richer, your characters more human and your reader's experience even better.
Sounds like you've got a real handle on what you want to write, that's a great advantage to have I think! 🙂
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thank you so much. I'm really happy you like the way I think when it comes to writing. I agree 100% on everything you've said. This video is probably one of the best videos you've made as for someone who's just starting to write their first novel, I needed this. Rephrasing the question from Can I? to Should I? is really important and I have noticed that when I tried writing my novel, I wasn't having fun because i'm too focused on following the structure, making sure the scene structure is right and how everything is objectively good at best, which is very tedious and frustrating because it sucks the soul out of the story for me. I love coming up with ideas but, when I focus too much on the objectivity, those ideas just become monochrome photos in my mind instead of the vibrant movie scenes I can envision in my head (If that last sentence made any sense. I hope it did)
You can't edit what you haven't written -- so write.
For sure!
Do you watch anime