10 STUPID Things Writers Say (Stop Telling on Yourself!)
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
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Sometimes writers are stupid. Today, I’m talking about the 10 stupid things writers say that reveal they may not be so good at their job. In other words, this is a list of how writers tell on themselves. You’ve probably heard stuff like “my book fits every genre,” “my book is for everyone,” or “my book isn’t a normal book, it’s dark and edgy.” I’m explaining why these statements (and others) are MAJORLY cringey. If you want to know how not to embarrass yourself as a writer, need to avoid the most ridiculous things authors say, or want a list of things never to say as a writer, I’ve got you covered! Be sure to stay tuned; the last statement is a whole bunch of YIKES. 🙄
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Развлечения
"I got my book right on the very first draft." I've NEVER heard any writer say this, usually it takes dozens of drafts and edits before it's "just right."
And if that ever did happen, the writer did a metric fuck ton of preparation for it. Doing the work out of order, more or less.
I heard that from a multipublished author ...
If I ever felt that way about my first draft I'd start panicking over what I must have missed 😂
I just finished my first draft, and boy is it the most incomprehensible mess of words.
Only time I've heard this was coming from pick-mes
Bad marketing is why the book isn’t selling, because bad books sell. They sell very well lol
Ultimately it’s why authors need a platform, through RUclips, TikTok, Instagram, etc.
This needs to be written in gold
yeah, it is absurdly up to chance if a book takes of or not, jkr got 13 tims rejected with harry potter and well, fifty shades of gray is increadably bad written in all categories I can think of, still it sells like hell
This I literally had a debate with someone on this in a wrting group i am in.
I am normally pretty self-critical, but your comment made me think about this romance novel i read recently. It was like 140 pages, the male lead threatened to spank the female lead the first time they met (during a job interview!), and POV changes were unannounced.
The book had a 4 star average on Goodreads, and more than a hundred reviews.
If you ever doubt yourself, don't. Just don't. 😂😂😂
@@picklethepirate sometimes I pause and appreciate reading these... things in the middle of rather well written stories. They let me know what a dumbass I am to question my art:)
"I'm not like other books" 😩🤭🥺
EVERY BOOK; "same."
I'm a passion project.
I am
“I’m not like other books” 😩
“I have morally grey characters” 🤯🤯✋👏✨
You're completely on point with number 8. I gave a book I was given free advance access to a negative review because frankly I didn't like it, it was really bad in my opinion, and the author really made a shocking scene on Goodreads arguing with me. It was so embarrassing.
Oh my gosh that is embarrassing… Hope they get well soon 😕❤️🩹
Also having a relative of the author reply to the negative review, by claiming they are a lawyer, demands the review be removed or they will personally sue you, also not a good look.
Especially when years later the review and reply are still publicly visible.
Edit) apologies for my bad grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I need breakfast and a brew.
@@carolinelabbott2451 yikes!
Ironically, this adversely effects writers as well. The best feedback about your work often comes from your most staunch critics. Narcissistic, over protective "Aut'ors" make critics defensive which makes intelligent conversation difficult. This is a problem I've personally seen in a lot of mediums. Even video games, sadly. 😕
that's insane. if I was to respond to a bad review it would be to clarify what they didn't like, and that's only if they weren't straightforward. if someone just posted "bad book don't read" I'd be like what didn't you like about it? can't improve if they don't give context. if they get confrontational I'd cut contact immediately.
A few years ago I met someone who didn’t read but thought he could write a book (sci-fi). He thought his book was cutting edge and exploring new ideas in a clever way. He thought because he hadn’t read then he could produce original ideas that weren’t derivative.
I read half of it. His “new” ideas were hackneyed tropes first explored in the 60s to 70s by pulp fiction writers (and some big names like Clarke, Bradbury, Asimov). Some of those tropes didn’t age well, and if he read sci-fi, he’d have recognized how badly dated his “cutting edge” work was-it’s been discussed, built upon, evolved to new levels, taken on much greater depth, subtly, and nuance, but sure, go with the original 60s trope instead.
Some of his stuff was even worse, reading like something from a 50s magazine with a cover that featured an alien carrying a half-undressed swooning woman. There was literally nothing new in what he wrote, and it felt like it had been written over 50 years ago (and yeah, male gaze was strong in that one).
Oh damn. That's horrible.
Tell him he should use a pseudonym, and suggest Dunning Kreuger. 😂
Life story on #6. I read a lot of comic books. When I went to write my novel, I felt the need to write every detail of the setting the first pages of my book, because when you read a comic book you see everything at once. Also, plot wise, comics tend to not rely on opening sentences and paragraphs to pull the reader into the story. Comics tend to rely in the art for that purpose. Long story short, the beginning of my novel is entire shit because I engaged too much in a medium that didn't include novels. My challenge now is to go into the beginning of my book and decide, "What's part of a "comic book" approach and what's part of a "novel" approach? A secondary positive in this story, other than learning my deficiency, is that I've begun to develop some storylines that I think would work well for comic books and I'm developing pitches for them...
Cut and paste ANY nonessential information into a separate document, so you wind up with almost a screenplay. Snap them to either side of the screen, then read through the pared down part. Decide where you need more information and splice it back in. And then if you get somewhere later on where a description that was too cluttery for the start of your book belongs, you get a nice little jolt from getting to put that hard work back into your book.
@@adde9506 I actually do something rather similar to avoid this problem, and I often refer to this problem as "Screen play writing". Its fine in a first draft, helps me dump all the information I want to get across in the scene but Its important that your aware of the problem so you can incorporate or cut it in a way that makes sense.
I'm guilty of this one myself... I read a fair amount once upon a time but since getting into writing that's really fallen off. I find myself more often finding inspiration from anime and other medias when I really need to get back into reading.
I learn something new every time I watch. #1, genre. I never know quite where my story fits. To the point, I write murder mysteries. But, my tales are populated by aliens, humans, and alien-human hybrids. You pointed the obvious answer out to me. Thank you for this. The characters and sub-plots and culture don't define genre, the main plot does. So obvious! Why couldn't I see it? "Market to your target audience." Simple logic, but Ray couldn't see it
From your description, it seems to me that your story would fit the fantasy/sci-fi genre first and the murder mystery genre second, but that's my opinion. For example, if you had the plot of Little Women, but with ant people living on Pluto, the story would be fantasy/sci-fi first and a family drama second. What do you all think?
From your description, you should probably label your genre as either scifi mystery or fantasy mystery (depending on whether the cultures of your world have futuristic elements like advanced technology or organized interstellar travel (then scifi mystery) or whether the aliens are just there (maybe warped there through some portal or something) and mingle with the humans in a society that is otherwise very much like the present day modern world or even the past (then fantasy mystery)). Just labeling it as murder mystery would probably be a bad move for marketing it, because the audience of the crime and murder mystery genre usually expect such stories to be set in the real world or a world very much like it and don't expect aliens or blatant fantasy elements. Jenna has made another video that specifically gives pointers in how to find out your genre. Combining two genres is OK, just don't step into the pitfall to think your book doesn't fit any genre or fits into a dozen genres at once just because singular elements or subplots would fit such genres. Like e.g. if your mystery novel with aliens happens to also have a romantic subplot and one of the good guys dies in your novel, that doesn't make it a sci fi mystery romance tragedy.
That sounds like Sci-fi mystery to me. Sci-fi is the setting, and mystery is the plot. Done. :)
When in doubt, speculative fiction it out. Speculative Fiction is that lovely catch all Genre that encompasses fantasy, horror, scifi, AU-earth (mundane but different), magical realism that doesn't quite realism or magic enough, and many other things including murder mysteries where the backdrop is scifi. Spec-Fic is rad, and murder mysteries with aliens sounds cool, so thumbs up to that! :D
@@purpleghost106 I've never heard of Speculative Fiction. :O And what is AU-earth?
I'm not a professional editor but I've been editing the works of many of my writer friends. Been doing it for over a decade, now. And still I'd never think my own works don't need editing from someone other than me.
As a writer you are the one who knows your plot, world and characters the best. You are the one who wrote the story. And that can make you blind for plotholes, repetitions, confusing information and so on. It's always easier to see the mistakes of others than it is to see your own, especially in writing.
I'm glad you said that because I had a professional editor try to convince me to change things about my non-human character because "humans rarely/ don't have that eye color" or "humans don't have hair that long". I just told them thank you for the example but I will not be using this company.
I finally got Milanote and paid for the whole thing, it was totally worth it and it's been such a great help for my organization style with ADHD so glad I heard about it from your videos
also with ADHD, I can confirm I agree
For the first time in 20 years Milanote actually helped me to manage my ADHD organization disasters, so also can confirm
ADHD and autistic, same
The 'what should I write about?' Is totally a wattpad issue. People will not stop blasting readers with shout-outs...had to mute it. I can't stop getting ideas. I have to carry my notebook around to catch them all 🤣
It happens a lot in Facebook groups too. Or a variation on that question, like 'This happened in my plot. Can someone help me with WHY it happened?' Or 'I want to write about a mother leaving her child. What are reasons why she would do that?' I've stopped eyerolling at those questions to avoid serious eye injuries LOL. I mean, in a way I get that you need input to get a solid plot, but why ask other writers? Isn't that the fun part of writing, getting the plot down to a tee and not having to rely on others to fill in the plot holes? I don't know. I just don't understand those type of questions.
@@NindeOronar yeah! It seems that if they keep having to ask, then the character isn't created strong enough
@@NindeOronar That sounds like people who are writing about things they don't understand and have no experience with. They just want someone to tell them in a few sentences instead of doing the research for themselves.
Right! I'm legitimately concerned I won't be able to tell all the stories in my head before I die and I'm in my twenties lol. Then I meet other "writers" and they're just like "I don't know what to write about" like, what?
@@NindeOronar agreed! I have had to seriously research so much and have spent weeks doing research before for a single aspect of my books. I've bought books and research materials, and even spent hours just trying to find the right name for a single character.
𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙭
3:14 • "My book fits every genre🤫"
4:07 • "Everyone will love my book😍❣️😍"
5:10 • "My book isn't normal..., it's EDGY🖤🥀😘😢✨"
6:05 • "No one has enough intelectual aptitude to appreciate my art...😒😒😒"
7:06 • "My book is as good as the classics😙😙😙"
8:14 • "I don't read🥰😘😘"
9:02 • "The world is going to exterminate my art😨😨😭😭"
9:49 • "You said you don't like my art?💅 I'ma kill ya"
10:45 • "Omg...😔😔 What should I write about?🥺🥺"
Love the sarcasm portrayed by the emojis lol
I would absolutely say these things but in an ironic fashion.
Ok, but let's talk about #3. I've beta read a few books by writers who first warned me about how "dark" and "disturbing" it supposedly is, and every single one of them was so disappointingly bland. Every single one, I swear.
I am beginning to wonder if these people were never exposed to any dark and disturbing stories, so that's why their work is not as impressively dark/disturbing as they personally think it is.
Some parents and/or communities do restrict what their youth can access to read.
It's a possibility to consider. Maybe ask them to name a book they have read that they thought was dark, that should help us to gauge their personal scale.
Yeah, that why I always make the distinction of it’s dark and disturbing FOR MY WRITING. I learned that when my best friend and I started beta reading each other’s books and I warned him that mine is dark and he said he didn’t think his was that dark.
My book had some abusers, decapitated guards, the gruesome death of a mugger, and family death in it; his book opened with literal mass genocide and got gorier from there. 😂
@@bi-indigenous-baker5865 I bet that was a shock lol
@@GaleForceKaif yeah, I knew one of his main characters was a genocide survivor; I just thought that it would be backstory. 😂
And it’s especially funny because he is normally the sweet and innocent one of us. 😂
I don't have any books with racial slurs in them, but the argument isn't exactly true that it means you wrote badly if there is one in your story... if it fits what you're writing about. Big case and point... Mark Twain. If you are insinuating that he was a racist or that he was a bad writer, I will... just laugh really hard. They sanitized Huckleberry Finn. I have to go to book sales and dig up older copies to get the way better, original story, and when my teacher got me into reading Mark Twain at the ripe old age of 10, I never thought I should emulate the racism portrayed in his stories. He was writing about what was real where he was in his time, and I learned that people should not be called those things, which should be the point.
Mark Twain is one thing. H.P. Lovecraft is another.
Number 9 baffles me. I've never asked someone what I should write in my whole life, and I've been writing seriously since I was a teenager and making up stories since I was like three...
When I was in the sixth grade, they seated us in the gym to listen to some writer that came to our school. I really wanted to ask him something technical I was interested in as a wannabe, but I was not able to. There were a lot of variants of the same question asked. "how do you get the ideas for the book". That day I learned how normal people view the people who are writing in the free time. Freaks of nature. No wonder I was bullied. The bullies did not know about my hobby, my wishes to become a real writer one day, but they did know about me being very imaginative. They all just left the place thinking to themselves that the writer must be some kind of weirdo just to be able to think of a story all by himself. That is how I learned I have superpowers. To normal person, the ability to come up with a story is a superpower. We, who can come up with one, we are weird. This may be weird for you to hear, but there are a lot of people who want to be writers, that have insufficient imagination to came up with the stories themselves. Some of them are unable to even copy one piece of fiction, just with different setting, genre and character names without people recognising that the book is a copy right away. They want other peoples ideas because they don't have their own.
Same here... I've got a backlog of ideas that'll last me a lifetime. Not to mention, writing a book is hard! I just cant imagine I could feel passionate enough about someone else's concept to see it through to the end.
I've joined several writing groups on Facebook and I've seen people asking this question. Some of them got the laughing emoji.
@@storiesfromsvijetko7284 damn, I relate heavily to that
I have for two reasons. 1. I'm being made to write for school or some other external reason. And 2. I'm having trouble coming up with an idea and am hoping someone else's weird brain will point me in a direction my weird brain hadn't considered yet. I don't seriously expect someone to drop a million-dollar idea in my lap. But that's a casual conversation kind of question, not an email-a-stranger type of question.
"Don't engage with your critics." Good policy all around. Read the comments if you dare. They may have a point. Or they could be hatin because you included some LGBTQ people. How about reading the 2 or 3 star reviews, the ones that aren't so extreme?
I think the 2-4 star reviews are probably the ones you can actually learn from as an author. They don’t just say “this book sucks” or “this book is perfect”, so they will most likely point out whatever it was that they didn’t vibe with. For the most honest and raw critique I would turn to the 2 or 3 star reviews. A lot of people use 4 stars for books they really like but save 5 stars for their all-time favorites so these might not contain as much information as the lower ones.
I read some bad reviews for books where people were complaining there wasn't any/enough of them.
Honestly, if that's the only complaint people have I'd consider my books a success.
No one's going to stifle my creativity with a bunch of check boxes.
Would it be okay to ask about a clarification if one does not get a point? Or is that too much engagement. I got some critics (by editors) where I had to ask what exactly their point was, because they did not express it very well.
If people have genuine critiques, I'm willing to listen. I'm not here to fight. In fact, if their criticism is helpful, I'll give them a big, fat thank you.
@@blauespony1013This is such s touchy subject, but I think if I'm ever in that situation once I'm published, I'd apologize for intruding in their space, and ask for clarification because I appreciate the time they took to read my book AND leave a review and I want to understand where they're coming from so I can continue to grow in my craft.
Edit: introducing → intruding
I actually have a family member who is trying to market my book as comparable to he greatest books ever written. There are just three problems with his claims:
1. He hasn't read my book (it isn't quite done yet...close, but not quite). I mean, I will let him read early drafts and all when it's done, but otherwise I have kept it under lock-and-key, so to speak.
2. He hasn't read any of the books he's comparing my book to. He is a die-hard Tom Clancy fan, which is great, but that is not really fantasy. In fact, it's kind of the opposite.
3. He has no idea of target audience or genre. My book(s) (I have plans, including character arcs etc., for another 6 if things go well) is a children's/middle school chapter book fantasy adventure in a completely new world. Why the hell is my family member bringing up the actual (not joking) Iliad, Shakespeare, and It? I mean, heady group, but none were really writing for my target audience or in my genre.
The bad news: It's false advertising and he's doing you no favors.
The good news: He loves you and is doing his best to help, as misguided as that 'help' is.
I obviously don't know you or your relationship with him, but it might be worth it to sit down with him and have a heart to heart talk. Explain that you appreciate what he's trying to do, but it's going to confuse people and draw the wrong readers, which will ultimately hurt your rating. That is, if they still buy it after seeing that the cover, title, and blurb don't match what he described.
And/or, you could say you appreciate his efforts, but you have some things you'd like him to say about the book instead. Then you can describe it how you'd like potential readers to view it.
In any case, I hope things work out for you. It is great you have family who is so supportive. There's lots of writers who don't.
Thanks for the list again. Thankfully I have avoided saying these things.
My ideal target addence is dark fantasy with a mix of high fantasy. My favorite series is Berserk and it has highly inspired me.
I met an author once who said that her first novel was better than American Gods. We were at a book discussion group...for American Gods. Unsurprising, her book was not good.
Ok, now I'm curious. What is her book about 🤔?
Better than American Gods? Wowie is that arrogant. I mean has she READ American Gods? It's a friggin masterpiece.
10:55 I am currently in highschool, wanting to become an animator, and I can tell you from my perspective, this is a problem that I still continue to struggle with when I'm out of ideas. Thank you Jenna Moreci !
my ego is as fragile as a pair of testicles LOL this needs to be put in a book, too funny!
Testicles seem to be more sensitive than fragile. Yes, they're a bit more tender than most other flesh (except the eyes) and getting them busted can be extremely painful and sometimes debilitating, but they usually don't actually break under the force or pressure.
"what should I write about?" Interesting characters in interesting situations.
I started using Milanote because of you and I LOVE IT
"Godyssey" is the name of a really dumb comic book from the '90s.
But Jenna ???!!
No way, you are too awesome😎
Huge fan!! I’ve followed your Chanel for years and I cannot thank you enough for being such a fucking awesome teacher!!! Thank you for all your wisdom and almost done with my m/m romance novel! All thanks to your guidance and honesty. Shout out to Cliff and Butterscotch aka Butters!!!
To be honest, I’m more excited about the story line I made up rather than actually writing books for a living. I hope this is normal, as I can’t think of any other book I would want to write. Once I finish this book, I guess I’ll brainstorm another, but I can’t just abandon this world I have created. I don’t want to stretch it out into a series either. I want to compress it all into one really good book.
Like this comment if you agree. Or not, this video is probably already outdated.
"You don't like my book because you aren't smart enough to get it." 💀. 😂
i hear the last one constantly, but only ever in the context of asking for a writing prompt or fanfiction requests. pretty sure thats not what youre talking about xD
I haven’t written my book yet, so I’ll be sure to follow all of these except one, the responding to negative reviews. Because nothing you say will convince me that responding to every negative review with “:(“ isn’t hilarious
Shitty author : "My book isn't like other books, it's dark and edgy..."
Reality : Your book is like MANY others books.
And authors who actually ask others what they should write about, that baffles me. I mean, it's literally the first question authors should ask to themselves and have the answer BEFORE starting the writing process. As an author, they should be the first to have the answer. Even fanfiction authors know that.
If even they don't know what they should write about, then 1) how do they expect others to know instead of themselves ? and 2) why are they writing to begin with ?
In other words, they're headed for being lousy writers.
I would say that it's best to not comment on any review, despite being good or bad. I know that saying thank you to a positive review looks good on the surface, but it shows reviewers that you can and will respond to reviews which could lead to reviewers ignoring your work. After all, nobody wants to deal with an author who takes a 4/5 personally (and some do).
Feel free to read your reviews. I know I do. There could be some really good points and tips within the constructive criticism, but read it and move on. Do not comment.
Depending on where the comments are posted, interacting with them can help to boost you in the algorithm. But you have to be very careful what you say and to whom. The best thing would be asking people to be more specific about technical errors or hanging threads you need to tie up in a future book. When they do, thank them. That's it. A bit like asking the umpire about balls and strikes. If they've got information you need, ask for it, but don't engage with opinions.
A remarkable number of these apply to Norman Boutin, who wrote "Empress Theresa," especially #8.
Every time I remember that novel exists I think "While my writing is shit, I at least am not as bad as Norman."
@@KhrZygarde how is it bad?
@@nether2152 Terrible pacing, flat characters, nonsensical plotlines, Theresa is the very definition of a Mary Sue, any message the book tries to get across is totally incoherent and often self-contradictory. The list goes on.
@@gongozar oh damn that’s sad
Guys what makes a good dark fantasy?
Milanote is a life saver, thank you 👌
In regards to genre: Abso-fucking-lutely! When someone asks me what I write I instantly say epic fantasy because it is epic fantasy. The dark themes, the politics, everything else is dressing to the epic stakes presented and I will DNF a book and an author 100% as fast as I can the instant they can't instantly answer a direct question as: what do you write?
You're honestly my favorite RUclipsr ever and I love watching your videos for tips and also sometimes for laughs!!
"In other words, my ego is as fragile as a pair of testicles."
Me: *literal spit-take* 🤣🤣🤣
Congratulations, you've released a draft to the masses 😂 Love that!
Great video as always. I appreciate your free advice.
4:16 and alien from outer space who is not familiar with the concept of free will could make a really good book.
Ive been wanting to support youtube creators for a while and Im finally doing it so stoked for the savior's champion
Absolutely love your humour and straight to the point attitude. 🤣
You have some interesting advice. Can you talk about middle grade writing and writing good for "tweens", not just adults?
Yes, please, I feel that would be very beneficial for a younger audience.
Yes
You're so real! That's refreshing!
To add onto I think #1 There’s a difference between asking someone what to write and asking someone about what you’re thinking of (plot wise) and asking if it makes sense from a non-author’s (anyone who isn’t writing your book) view. I came up with multiple idea on my own and so far only one of those ideas is making it’s way as an actual book and not a wattpad story that no one sees
The amount of backpedaling that happens from #7 is INSANE. So many of those authors have made excuses or just ignored their readers when they were called out for working until stereotypes or were just plain bigots, and it always surprises me how many people defend the author for "creative freedom"
It's terrible : I know an author for each of your point 😓
Number 9, the part with writers who ask strangers what to write about, is so irritating!!! As a writer I have a long list of story ideas. And I'm sure the vast majority of writers have this as well. How are you, a writer, so starved of inspiration that you have to turn to strangers to ask what to write? Good lord.
For me it is more: Strangers telling me to write about things (something happens and they are like "You should write about this"). Guys, I don't need ideas. I need time (and motivation) to write stuff down.
Such fabulous advice Jenna 💞✨💝
My book is really edgy, I get paper cuts all the time!
a book for everyone is less about "every single persone" and more "all kind of different people" instead of a clear and narrow target audiance. for exampe, a good childrens book should be written in a way it also engages the parent reading it to their child, holds reread vaue so the kid can still enjoy and finde new nuances in it when growing up. A good example of that is Momo, it is written targeting for children, but its massage is something everyone can profit from and it is writte in a sophisticated way instead of well, just winging it, for a kid will not notice bad writing anyway. It is a great read no matter your age. From my grandma, over my master/teacher, my aunt, my younger cousins and best friend, people from all different backgrounds and phases in their life love that book.
😅 I told myself before I won't hire an editor if I will publish because I can learn to proofread well and it would be expensive, but that's mainly because I had no idea what they do until I read a book with an editor character (23:11) and showed editors edit books. I thought editors re-write your book through editing! 😂 Idk where I got that, but that's what I thought.
I understand. I was thinking of Hiring an editor and they wanted to show me what they could do with my story so I sent them a small piece to edit as an example and they gave me a huge list of things to change that made no sense like changing character eye colors and crazy ridiculous things revolving around my characters because "humans don't have that eye color" or " the character's hair is too long to be natural, humans don't have hair that long." My character in question wasn't human... I simply chose another editor because that company was so ridiculous. I did find another company that I plan to hire when my manuscript is finished. but I advise others to be careful of editors and self publishing companies.
"My work is comparable to the Iliad." That's TOTALLY possible. I don't think The Iliad written today by a modern author would sell very well. It's a neat story written in a very basic style and a very old format. It was incredible when it was written 2,000 years ago and it had a long time to sell and become recognized... but the writing people buy changes over time. Don't be The Iliad of 2022. Be the 'your book' of 2022 and stop comparing your work to something people don't want to pay you to write.
Do people really say this...?
About the PC police, I guess it's poltically correct... I heard people say they don't feel like writing character in a certain group just to have a checklist. This makes a lot of sense.
If I'm being honest, this video made me realize I'm doing the labeling process wrong. I usually think "I want this genre, so I'll write it like this", but that usually doesn't work, I should pick the gente based on the final product instead, when I'm finished.
My most recent project is an example. It's technically urban fantasy, but the fantasy aspects aren't the main focus. It's romance, but the romance isn't the full reason why the plot happens. It's a mystery in the sense that the protagonist is an investigator who figures his way out of the conflict, but the main plot isn't him solving a crime or something. It's action but with few action scenes... I can't label it until I can finish the thing and read it to check which one of these elements is the most prevalent. You called me out on this one.
Actually, my writing CAN be compared to the Illiad, Odyssey, and Beowulf.
Granted, the comparison would be something like, "Three classics, one piece of garbage", but it still can be done.
😆
when i started writing this i was dealing with things i had never seen in fiction at that time. i did read a lot, and i've had much more time since to read more. i was writing about things that were not so widely in the public discourse and now that they are i hear how they weren't before. no one knows this or will know this, and it doesn't matter. i was actually very edgy back then. i'm not really less so now, but i've learned bit about nuance since
hearing the characters at the end of your videos is honestly my favourite part, and Brontes is my favourite!
Hell, even books and courses on screenwriting will tell you to read scripts in order to understand the dialogue and formatting. I could improve on reading more myself but at least I get that I need to read to write.
“modifying such a perfectly fine tag as “said” is like Pimp My Ride gone bad.”
I definitely need to read more books. I have a short attention span and get distracted easily so it's hard to stick to things. But, I can't wait till I start TSS.
More importantly than asking what to write, my question is: Where can I post an exert to get feedback from people?
Excellent vid today, as usual. Thanks, Jenna!
The only one I didn't agree with was only due to the wording. number 8. Engaging with your viewers is an entirely different thing from responding to reviews and review sniping. When I hear 'I believe in engaging with viewers' I imagine commenting on fan animatics and fan art and maybe even complimenting some fan fiction. I think of patting my fans on the back not attacking reviews
The word play on "literally" using milanote everyday lol! B/c you are actually using it daily for literary purposes. Oh Jenna... :-D
Honestly, if my book ever gets published, I'll be happy if even one person likes it. It's my baby and I just want it out in the world.
You leave my convoluted dumpster fire out of this
I once compared one of my paintings to the Mona Lisa... it was a study reproduction... THATS THE ONLY EXCUSE! 😆 lol
4:38 I have a big audience on Instagram, Twitter and FB and so far only 5 people dislike it. There could be more, but for now, only 5 people hate my Terrellium series. I know my work isn't for everyone, but so far, I am quite surprised.
I've sold 61,000 copies of my books without an editor. I was bankrupt, had no money for an editor. I've got some 400 5 star reviews, so sometimes you just got to to go with what you got.
The whole point of writing is editing and redoing all the shit you don't like/need. You're never happy with the first draft, and if you are, then chances are your writing is suffering.
What if I said that I wanted to use Shaft Manrod as a pen name? Would that be #11?
I dont wanna be growler, but "for everyone" is just equal term as "for general audience". There are many books that have some elements for both youth and mature audiences, and author that write with non-exact group in mind would say that in common in same way as game developers or series creators (in some spot about Foundation from Apple+ they stated too that its "for everyone"). Most realy good authors do not realy write with targeted age or sex audience in mind, thats often means that they did not originaly sell realy well ok, but that also in lot cases means that its more interesting to read their works even after decades for broad variety of people.
About number 6 (I don't read)
I remember listening to an episode of a rather famous writing and publishing podcast, where the guest was a rapid release kind of author and said they hadn't read it years😂💔
Actually, I don't read when I write, and I don't write, when I read. Stuff I read might slip into my writing, so I keep both activities separated (and to be fair: When I am in writing mode, I can't enjoy reading, I am much more critical of every word, sentence etc.)
@@blauespony1013 I know what you mean. But that dude was like "I don't read AT ALL" and was very proud he hadn't done so for years.
@@ShahrzadStories And now you have me sitting in a corner, crying about some people's lack of shame ... (I am on a writing page where we give each other reviews and one dude is still complaining about the length of a review I gave him. It was detailed and constructive and I could have gone way harder on the garbage he was publishing. But he is one of these authors that give self-published authors a bad reputation. No editor, no proof-reading, no self-reflection ...).
@@blauespony1013 ah... Those people... 🙄🤦🏻♀️
@@blauespony1013 About your first comment: I do the same thing. I only thought it was me. Thank you.
I’m glad I don’t even do any of this, I’ll take in all the same but I’m definitely going to have to work on genre labeling
Marketing. That would be exactly why terrifically minimal sales ... but then I wasn't expecting it to sell ... I just wanted to be able to say I actually put something out there. So, I'm not blaming anyone for this except my inability to do marketing.
I use a Text-to-speech program so I can hear my obvious errors before I send it off to my editor.
7:15 Some bad romance writers compare their books to the likes of Pride and Prejudice to seem like they're on the same level.
But, Jenna! My Space-Western Murder Mystery Romantic Thriller really *does* transcend genre and target audiences!! 😏
i'm not selling copies for a lot of reasons, we can start with the only thing i've felt as ready to publish i've been giving away for free. i guess i'll have to learn to cope with the rejection when i actually make an attempt to publish
“My book is comparable to the Iliad.”
So… there’s one chapter that’s just a giant list of names?
Me: makes a cat get run over by a train and get torn in half cutely
Me watching the video: 😬
Me making it through the video without anything applying to me: 😅
I enrolled in the National Lampoons on line "How To Write Good" course. You have to grab the reader's attention right with the first line! I always use "It was a dark and stormy night.".....Or "Ma! Ma! Come fast quick! Pa's been hurt terrible bad at the saw mill"!
7:11 "comparable to the Iliad, the Odyssey and Beowulf"
While my writing certainly _isn't_ that, if someone wrote an epic with a part of war and tragedy and a part of homecoming, and were entirely written in verse, that would probably qualify, so he'd have a right to say it. These are ingredients of the said epics.
7:25 "epic" doesn't mean "great" (and Tolkien has argued that Beowulf is more of an elegy than an epic in some ways) it means something written about serious things involving adventure (both war and voyages qualify as such) and written in verse.
Yep, you really are trying for that next list. It's good to have goals, I guess.
_If_ it follows the guidelines given, no, it doesn't show any arrogance.
It was also not arrogance on the part of Apollonius of Rhodes to take up a challenge and write an epic in Homeric style (see Argonautica).
And if you are portraying a woman comparably "more homely than sexy" with a comparable stroke brush, in a comparable chiaroscuro, the mention you made as a comparison would certainly pass too.
C. S. Lewis compared Tolkien to Tasso, even if he didn't write LotR in verse.
@@PaulRWorthington Getting on a list by Jenna seems very unreachable.
W a i t ... monumental has _two_ components.
In the case of literature - size. An epic and an epyllion differ by size.
If someone wrote a verse epic the length of the Odyssey, it would be an epic. If it were only the size of one of the twentyfour songs, it would be an epyllion.
But also great themes treated with success. That's indeed for the consumer to decide. However, even if a painter who had made a painting similar to the Mona Lisa had failed, or an epicist who had made a full length 12 000 lines versified story about war or homecoming through dangers had failed, he would not be fooling the consumers he wants.
The one may want such hardcore fans of Homer and the anonymous Beowulf poet that they are content with even a bad and bungled new story of the same types, the other may be very much in love with the elfin but not flashy beauty of Mona Lisa and how the painting kind of does it justice.
So, they may simply be making a clear "product description" without making themselves any claim about whether the challenge they set themselves was successfully met.
"I'm gonna write after dinner"
I enjoy your short to the point vids. Some people ramble on….
8:15 I remember that literature teacher in high school who thought I didn't like to read (and actually didn't believe me when I said I got books for Christmas), even though I was writing like 24/7, between classes, in class, at lunch, at night because I would rather write then sleep, etc. Obviously I read a lot, how else was I supposed to improve my style and get inspiration for the weak parts of my writing ?
It does shock me how many people actually claim to be writers and claim to not know what to write about... Like what?
i always have a difficult time figuring out what genre my book is. my books r always too chaotic to the point idfk what it is lol
YAY SO EXCITED!!! 😀❤️
Sometimes you just want to write something and don't know what, and that's okay. I would suggest, however, not asking youtubers to tell you what to write and instead going to our good friend google for some prompts. I recently thought up a new story to add to the WIP pile, and its plot was based on some pictures I found, a couple songs, and a random word generator. I also used the tactic that gave me the idea for the first book I ever finished: I asked cleverbot what to write about. So, yeah, for number 9, my advice is to go looking for inspiration and don't feel bad that the story didn't come to you in some prophetic vision. It's okay if a robot on the internet and that song you've been listening to on repeat told you to do it.
Our community is exactly what we need. We meet with others hopefully daily. We are honest, kind, warm and ready for success. We will bring you out! Become a supporting character and communicate with antagonists but remember you are making your leading character. Trophes need engagement too. Come up with your own plot.
I think the Mona Lisa is kind of a funny example. Like, it's a good painting and all, but is it really a technical masterpiece comparable to the Odyssey?
Well I don't have a plot but I want to write in this setting. (Telling on myself)
I go with a variant of Number 6 - "I write because I can't effing draw."
I took this video as '10 things that are the polar opposite of what I tell myself'.
I don't have a high opinion of my own works. Or even a medium opinion.
You should. Your works are readable and more than that probably better then some published books. Go to your local library and start reading. I'm 15 and have wrote better fanfic then some of the books I've read.
I'm sure your work is fantastic. Just keep keeping on. You've got this!
So about number 1, I'm still not sure if my story is fantasy or sci-fi, but I guess there is a lot of overlap between the two.
But my book is comparable to the Illiad or the Odyssey.
I mean it wouldn't be compared favorably but you could compare them if you really wanted to.
Number 9 is so so so so important
You tell them Jenna
I can honestly not comprehend how somebody who writes has 0 ideas for a book. I have like 3-4 ideas for books lined up but no time to write them.
Yes! This!