WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID ABOUT THE "STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER" One of the biggest downfalls of writers when portrayed "strong female characters" is that they pluck out the best traits of both men and women and place them into this character. She can kick ass AND she's hot. She can swordfight AND look good while doing it. The flaws you give her have to be chosen carefully because most of the time they end up being something super cliche like 'she hates romantic, cheesy movies' because the general "man" does not like them. They become a dream girl over a "strong" character. Treat her like a person, don't oversexualize her and don't be afraid to give her REAL flaws.
@Domagoj Čović There's nothing wrong with strong and sexy women. Of course, they can be. But the problem lies in how they're portrayed. As untouchable and like a 'perfect' 'flawless' person to the point of being unrealistic. And in most books I've read that do this, the women are fetishized every chance the writer gets. Not only that but just because they're strong and sexy doesn't mean that they don't do unsexy or not strong stuff. The concept of them being strong while still being sexy is beaten to death and that's what's wrong.
I completely agree. A flawed female hero should have feminine traits, and her flaws should line up with her specific personality. And she does NOT have to be sexualized, I hate it when they do that. Not every woman is promiscuous or ridiculously hot and she shouldn’t have to be. As Charlotte Bronte said, women feel as men feel- they have anger, insecurities, emotions, trauma, frustration and I’d like to see more of those struggles as opposed to what I usually get with the allegedly strong empowered woman.
Yes and I think far too much attention is given to the woman’s appearance when we should really be concerned about how we empathize with the character. She can be attractive, Emma Swan is a super humanly fit woman (who’s probably buffer than the men on that show). But the reason we care about her is because of her abandonment issues, her fear she’s not the hero or will never be loved etc. Those fears give her commitment issues but make her flawed and relatable.
I think that a woman can be strong and relatable, but she does have to have realistic weaknesses. They just have to be specific to the character: you don’t want to write a woman who resembles more of a strong man than a woman. She needs to have feminine traits, whether that’s being more sensitive, more emotionally driven (which are not bad t hi nfs we rely on women to be more sensitive). But making her have flaws and overcome them, as well as overcoming insecurities etc. makes her stronger. If a woman is written as beautiful, naturally powerful, and without flaws I don’t relate to her because true strength is accomplishing things and pushing forward despite fears and human weakness. Strength isn’t a fake ideal of a character without weaknesses because that doesn’t inspire
For the one who wants to make their lead characters clearly platonic friends, I suggest having them use a lot of nicknames for each other that are more like siblings. Words like, Dude and Brat, or Sis and Bro help make it clear that they see each other as so close as to be brother and sister, and keep it as terms of endearment without any sense of romance.
“A lot of drama between my characters. They’re all really upset at each other. It’s great.” Ah yes... the common occurrence of one character’s internal conflict seeping out of themselves and onto others and therefor causing drama. It is an amazing thing, isn’t it. Don’t worry about not spoiling you’re book. Just hearing you talk about how to write makes me know that anything you come up with will end up great! How do you write so quickly though?! I’ve been sitting around with writers block and procrastination since right after nanowrimo. I don’t even think I’ve written 5 full chapters (aside from writing loose ship scenes) since then. At least I’ve done a slight bit of outlining.
The only advice I can give you is to dig deep, you can’t sit around. Try setting goals for yourself, for example: Today I’m going to write 2k words or I’m going to complete that chapter. Fanfics are a great way to help with procrastination, it can be the shittiest, cheesiest fanfic ever but that’s the best thing about it, it helps relax your brain and keep your mind working. Anyways I hoped this helped and I wish you well on your writing journey x
I read once “purpose makes inspiration” or something to that effect, basically if you sit down with a goal to “work”, and say to yourself “I have to finish this chapter,” for better or worse you WILL knock out a chapter. It’s like writing an essay, you know you have to finish because there’s a deadline. Authors who write for a living have to write on a deadline so it helps to get in the practice now. The editing, and changes can come later. But if you dedicate yourself to working on chapters like your completing a work more than coming up with a story, it helps a lot.
Re: "strong female characters." I do think considering gender is important in character development, because who can honestly say that their gender isn't part of their identity, or something that has impacted their life? Now gender may not be the main theme of the story, but it will play an impact on the character nevertheless. I like to use Katniss Everdeen as an example of a "strong female character." She has qualities that are seen as more masculine (fighter, provider) but also has very feminine qualities (protective and caring). Also, she's being primped and dressed up and is never like "Ugh, I hate dresses! I hate make-up!" In fact, with Cinna getting how fashion can be used to enhance her likelihood of winning/rebelling, she loves being pretty and powerful. I could write even more on her, but this will already be long, lol. So to male writers out there, obviously see your female characters as human, but don't shy away from any feminine qualities either! Feminine qualities can be just as impactful and important as masculine ones! Also, consider: how does being female play into how she interacts with the world/how people respond to her? Does she change who she is to fit into what is expected of a woman of her culture? What backlash does she face for areas where she doesn't reach the expectations of her gender? I highly recommend the movie Little Women (2019) to explore this type of theme and ways it can play into your story (especially Jo and Amy's stories). In speculative fiction this may not be as relevant, and again it may not be a main theme anyway, but it is something in the real world. And please have a woman read your manuscript. I once critiqued a male writer's manuscript where a teenage girl straight up not only forgave, but befriended some guards who were about to @ssault her like two minutes after she karate chopped them away. I don't care how kind your protagonist is, no woman will be friends with a stranger who just tried to @ssault her.
I have to main girl characters in my current novel I'm working on. One of them is disgusted by dresses and makeup because they feel they hinder her ability to fight. When she is introduced to the second female character, the second female character (named arissa) loves to be gorgeous. She wears clothes and makeup that may make her less physically able but she recognizes that having a stunning appearance is a powerful asset in more phycological ways (being able to charm, feeling more powerful to yourself, looking stronger) and she truly tries to explain that it makes her feel good and she finds her strength in her inventions other things- not in her muscles. I really respect and agree with what you said in your comment and i feel like this is a good way to show it. Or etleast I hope ^^
I'm fifteen and your videos have changed my life! I love your book too! It made me cry! I write Romantic Suspense with comedy and drama. I learned the 3 Act Story Structure from you so I'm using it for this book series. I'll be published because of your awesome teachings. Thank you!!! ❤😍😍😍
What, Abbie? You tease us with the mention of a writing project that was SUPER fast for you and Special, but you can't tell us anything about it for a long time? Well, thank you for killing my butterflies. For real though, good luck :)
Love the piece of advice about knowing WHY something matters to the protagonist in the opening pages! When I'm editing a novel, this is one of the biggest things I look for. Super helpful Q&A, thanks for another great video Abbie!
Right now I’m writing a action adventure story about a 17 year old boy learning how to be a hero. He needs to kill this tyrant who overthrew his brother who was the king and now my MC has to stop him. I’m on chapter 5 (out of 10), which is a character development chapter. It’s working on my main character and his friend Jake’s relationship and how he and Jake grow to be more than friends and eventually be in love. My main character also is having interactions with his fathers old arch nemisis who turned good. It’s interesting to see his motives and point of view of being a villain and my MCs thoughts on it. The old arch nemesis has a daughter who is very snarky and makes a lot of jokes about the characters. Characters like that aren’t common in my books, so I enjoy writing them when I have the chance. I plan on ending the chapter with my MC and Jakes relationship growing, and my MC making his next move against the villain.
@benjamin ramsey That’s interesting. After my book, I’m writing another book about a 16 year old boy who watches over a city and fights crime. After that, I’m writing a book with two MCs: one is about one of my older characters, Garod who is a ninja who has this badge that allows him to not age, and gives him extra strength. My second MC is a man named Savage who is the son of the Roman Emperor, but he wants to rebel against him because Savage hates his fathers methods of ruling. Their stories intercross and they become friends that try to take down the Roman Empire and Monorou, a character Garod is trying to face. It’s called Handsom Savage, after the two main characters
Great advice, really loved it. One thing, if I might add, to help a platonic friendship be less shippable is to give one or both characters a love interest, which sounds like it’s already been done. If that romance is shippable, the platonic friendship will be less shipped.
That is really helpful!! The main boy's character arch/the plot wouldn't really be enhanced by adding a love interest so hopefully the main girls love interest will be enough lol
It depends on how you want to deliver it I suppose, and both are good when executed properly. In my novel, my main character has dreams about her late parents, as if she was there with them in the past, they could be considered flashbacks, but they're more like "past-premonitions" of things back then that tend to materialize in the present. Readers learn about her parents, what the world was like back then and how it affects the main character in the present. However, I have so much source material of her parents that to tell their full story, it would have to be a prequel and not just flashbacks, because what they did in the past has had a major impact on the future (present) and not just for the main character, but for many other people.
I have wayyyyyy too much "plot" that happens Before the events of my novel(s) (it's a complex companion trilogy)...so I'm almost certain that years down the line I will need a prequel, if not two. One would likely focus mostly on the antagonist and my protagonist's mentor when my protagonist is a very, very young child. Another possible one would be a prequel that takes place over a century before, but I haven't thought all that much about that idea yet.
Ok so i just checked out your channel page- newer subscriber here- and was so surprised to see that you had a new upload. I love the content I've seen from you so far - specifically your one for helping with inspiration for writing from a couple of years ago. it's helped me a lot so far on my current writing project.
I think flashbacks and adverbs have something in common. Unskilled or struggling writers overuse them and use them as crutches -- to which many writers have overreacted by declaring that you should NEVER use them. But both flashbacks and adverbs have their place. In my novel, my 1st and 2nd characters are respectively 26 and 45, and in the three harrowing days they spend together they'll find theirs destinies. So I start the story by showing who they are the day before they meet, get their three-day adventure going, and I slip in several timely relevant flashbacks of pivotal events of their lives that made them who they are now. Then halfway through the novel, the flashbacks finish and the today story hits a massive plot twist. This had wonderful effect, because the whole second half of the book feels fast-paced and you're aware of the high stakes in every scene. I've gotten a lot of "in the second half I couldn't put it down" comments on Amazon. So I'm an advocate of well-chosen flashbacks. And adverbs.
Your editing in this video is so entertaining!!! Writing Update: Eagerly waiting for my finals to get over so I can write throughout the summer! ALSOOOO can't wait for 100 K!! YOU DESERVE IT!
Ohmygosh my heart skipped a beat when I heard Abbie say my name lol. Thanks so much for answering my question! Yeah I kinda figured shipping is inevitable 🤣😜
@The Light Chaser Studio Shipping is so inevitable that you should be happy that they AREN’T siblings (I still don’t know why, even though few in amount, some people ship siblings. Makes me nervous to write siblings that are super close). But yeah, I hate the thought that my OTP may not be shipped, or the character(s) will be shipped with another character before I bring in said pairing. But sometimes it is hard to help but not ship characters who are super close friends....
@@taytaythehufflepuff8532 some people will ship the grossest stuff 😓 But yeah, I guess it's fine if they ship the best friends cause I mean that even happens in real life lol. But hopefully I'll be able to minimize it as much as possible!
I related so much to the prequel or flashbacks question. I have about 8 characters. My main character goes into the story with no recollection of the past but a death. Meeting these characters as if they were strangers with somewhat new personalities and roles chosen for them in this world, but they had pasts in other worlds/dimensions that they were not allowed to remember and moments that tie into the new world they all share. AND I TELL YA, IT'S HARD ORGANIZING WHEN TO DIVE INTO THE PASTS THEY SHARED IF THE CHARACTERS DON'T REMEMBER THIS STUFF YET..... *i'm fine*
I never know how to do writer updates, but I'm working on a project that I've been working on for a few years (it has changed names so many times). It has 3 POV characters and I just started outlining the third character's arc using the 3 Act Structure. I've been having writer's block, but your videos always motivate me to start writing. I finally feel like I know what I'm doing because of you. I spent all of last year studying your videos on the 3 Act Structure. It has helped me so much, I never thought I'd understand the structure so well because everyone else explains it in such a confusing way. Thank you so much for your help and keep up the great work you do here.
I’m currently working on a new project where I’ve been debating on using flashbacks. After reading 100 days of sunlight a second time and watching your video I feel more confident about using them. Thank you Abbie😊
I'm 37,058 words into my dark science fiction! So I think that's almost 11 chapters so far. I've had the idea for over 10 years, but I started to rework it in November 2020. I'm super distractible and all over the place so I have probably a ten thousand word amount of planning documents. But I'm so happy with how it's going. :)
Fellow pantser, also writing a sci-fi series; recently completed a 75k word novel, and almost finished another at 65k. In the process of keeping my world coherent, I began a world bible, the last word count was closing on 40k, I have 3k words tied up in time and measurements alone. Don't change your measuring system unless you strongly feel the desire to; the frustration for this bit of insignificant world lore is barely worth it. The time, while more of a necessity, wasn't any less stressful. During the course of working out my world's time, I realized I needed to learn the stages of pregnancy gestation. The later population as a whole doesn't really think about the time so I don't "really" have to think about time in the grand scheme of things. But my second book is about the original colonists, it kinda matters... a lot! The military section of my bible takes up the better part of 20k words. I'm still puttering around on the religions, about 2k words so far. Timelines!!! I'm writing a series, and my world's time is different from Earth time, so keeping track of timelines within and without of the written works, I've found to be incredibly important. 2k words of bullet points. FUN!!! ruclips.net/video/JBE_2zPELfY/видео.html
I sometimes start my storys early and usually it has nothing to do with the protagonist since the first chapters are never about the protagonist but rather some information on an important side character that ends becoming the reason the protagonist ends up on a journey. Writing one chapter on the side character at the beginning means I don't have to find a way to share that information later without the protagonist knowing.
Loved the editing at the beginning 😆 Anytime I work on stories with characters who are friends, my friends end up shipping them. It's pretty much unavoidable. 😂
Yay! I self-published my first novel on 6 March, The Scarring of the Roshanra with the pen name Kara SB Brown. I'm 1/3 of the way through my first draft of book 2, The Crystal of Shamala in the series, which was inspired by true events and PTSD healing in my life.
This video really helped! I was just writing a story with flashbacks, and it was great, how you compared it to writing a prequel which I don't think I'm going to do. I'm on 15k words right now-just starting :)
Katreina is also where I am with writing. Wondering about prequels or flashbacks. A longer prologue maybe? I’ve been re reading your novel and love how you did it. Also, the way Kandi Steiner wrote a past in ‘Make Me Hate You’ was great too. Trying to find a middle ground for both of your writing styles.
Don't know about anyone else, but I don't read books with many flashbacks. I don't particularly mind short ones (1-2 pages), but often I see books with flashbacks 3-4 chapters long. This, I will drop immediately. An author should put himself into the position of a reader: when I start reading a new book/series, I have to put a lot of effort, in the beginning, to learn characters, understand worldbuilding and generally adapt to his/her writing style. Because I don't read books sentence by sentence, I read page by page. To do this, I have put myself in a certain state of mind and go with the flow. Flashbacks break this flow, and reading starts to be work.
Hi, Abbie!!! Love this video so much! I'm super excited for your new project to be announced. I have a request/suggestion/thingy but you don't have to take it if you don't want to. So, when I started reading 100 Days of Sunlight, I was probably in chapter 4ish, (I know it was Weston's POV chapter) and I was having a really hard time getting through it because of Weston's language. I understand that he is a little more explicit as part of his character voice but I was really determined to enjoy the book, and that just kinda ruined it for me. Do you think you might be able to cut back on the language in future books? As I said, you can ignore this if you want. All I'm saying is that I would love to be able to read your books without having to blot out some of the words. ;) Hope that bit of rambling made sense. XD Have a blessed day!!! You're amazing!
That way you used the words about the stereotype strong female differently than the first video really pushed me to understand what my character was lacking in order to both protect the prince and not be a flawless man in a woman's body.
Writings going great Abbie! I'm almost done with the first rough draft of my second book of my series, I'm planning on editing both my first and second book this year then starting my third book with you in Preptober and Nanorimo. This video was super insightful for me, especially about the strong female character. I have a female as my main character and what you said really helped, (and encouraged) me. I also really liked what you said about how to show, not tell, internal conflict. I was having a super hard time with that because my MC doesn't think that she's good enough to make smart decisions on her own, and I didn't know how to show that, now I do thanks to you! You rock! Keep making awesome content, AND STOP KILLING ME WITH THE SUSPENSE OF YOUR NEXT BOOK!!!!! About your next book, are you going to publish that one too??????
I really likes this video! And it was relevant to me as the story I'm working on has 4 pov characters and for 2 of the characters I have a lot of flashbacks and I've been wondering if should or shouldn't add flashbacks to a third. I could add them to showcase the character more but I don't feel I need it.
This video came out in the right time!! I was about to start my novel at long last and was thinking if I should put her traumatized experience as the prologue or as flashbacks instead!
Here early! I'm in a different time zone (IST) so I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier... But I woke up first thing in the morning andd here I am! P.S. I had the same question about the flashbacks! It's like the person who asked the question AND you read my mind!
My Writing Update is that I am writing my first book! I'm obviously going to need a laptop and that will be arriving Tomorrow so that means I could start my Outline! I'm so excited and will try to write as much as I can
Honestly as a reader I *despise* flashbacks 99% of the time. I feel like lots of stories do non-linear narratives badly! I often end up skimming or skipping flashbacks completely because I am much more interested to see what happens next in the main plot. Prequels are also not usually very interesting to me, especially the kind that involve the same characters or which end at the start of the original work, because the fixed end point doesn't leave any room for a resolution, or forces an unhappy ending to the prequel.
Hi Abbie! This is the first time I've been this early so I'm hoping to get a reply. I need to ask: How do you add in little detailed things? I feel like I really struggle with that. Do you have any tips for not just focusing on the main parts of the plot, but including things that seem like they don't matter but really do? Thanks!
I'm writing a middle grade novella inspired by Bridge to Teribithia. I'm trying to get to 100 pages as a starting point, and I have 3 pages left. But I do need to add more to the story because it will feel like a very bad ending!
My book I quess its going great until now I wrote about 2332 words and of course the book I just finished and really I couldn't do it without your advice BTW the book I finished is about 7300 words P.s: it was my first book ever so ya 😊 Thanks so much for the beautiful advice
How do you write original prose? I’m afraid about writing a line someone else already wrote and a reader cringing and thinking I’m copying someone else.
I am really sorry I can't press "JOIN" or become a member. I'm broke. But I do have a question for anyone who is willing to answer. In my book, their are several character. My main character, at the very end of the duology, is the only one who survives. Their are four main side character. My question is, if I want the reader to feel for these other characters, and ultimately feel for their deaths. should I have less characters? Or, in other words, would my reader/readers become connected to more than one or two side characters? Or I four too much? Thanks in advance!! ♥️
Hello Abbie! New to the writing world here. I was going to buy scrivener and use your code but it gives an error code saying its been used too many times. I hope you get credit for anyone who may want to sign up with it 🙌 maybe they can fix it
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WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID ABOUT THE "STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER"
One of the biggest downfalls of writers when portrayed "strong female characters" is that they pluck out the best traits of both men and women and place them into this character. She can kick ass AND she's hot. She can swordfight AND look good while doing it. The flaws you give her have to be chosen carefully because most of the time they end up being something super cliche like 'she hates romantic, cheesy movies' because the general "man" does not like them. They become a dream girl over a "strong" character. Treat her like a person, don't oversexualize her and don't be afraid to give her REAL flaws.
@Domagoj Čović There's nothing wrong with strong and sexy women. Of course, they can be. But the problem lies in how they're portrayed. As untouchable and like a 'perfect' 'flawless' person to the point of being unrealistic. And in most books I've read that do this, the women are fetishized every chance the writer gets. Not only that but just because they're strong and sexy doesn't mean that they don't do unsexy or not strong stuff. The concept of them being strong while still being sexy is beaten to death and that's what's wrong.
I completely agree. A flawed female hero should have feminine traits, and her flaws should line up with her specific personality. And she does NOT have to be sexualized, I hate it when they do that. Not every woman is promiscuous or ridiculously hot and she shouldn’t have to be. As Charlotte Bronte said, women feel as men feel- they have anger, insecurities, emotions, trauma, frustration and I’d like to see more of those struggles as opposed to what I usually get with the allegedly strong empowered woman.
Yes and I think far too much attention is given to the woman’s appearance when we should really be concerned about how we empathize with the character. She can be attractive, Emma Swan is a super humanly fit woman (who’s probably buffer than the men on that show). But the reason we care about her is because of her abandonment issues, her fear she’s not the hero or will never be loved etc. Those fears give her commitment issues but make her flawed and relatable.
I think that a woman can be strong and relatable, but she does have to have realistic weaknesses. They just have to be specific to the character: you don’t want to write a woman who resembles more of a strong man than a woman. She needs to have feminine traits, whether that’s being more sensitive, more emotionally driven (which are not bad t hi nfs we rely on women to be more sensitive). But making her have flaws and overcome them, as well as overcoming insecurities etc. makes her stronger. If a woman is written as beautiful, naturally powerful, and without flaws I don’t relate to her because true strength is accomplishing things and pushing forward despite fears and human weakness. Strength isn’t a fake ideal of a character without weaknesses because that doesn’t inspire
This.👆🏼
For the one who wants to make their lead characters clearly platonic friends, I suggest having them use a lot of nicknames for each other that are more like siblings. Words like, Dude and Brat, or Sis and Bro help make it clear that they see each other as so close as to be brother and sister, and keep it as terms of endearment without any sense of romance.
“A lot of drama between my characters. They’re all really upset at each other. It’s great.”
Ah yes... the common occurrence of one character’s internal conflict seeping out of themselves and onto others and therefor causing drama. It is an amazing thing, isn’t it.
Don’t worry about not spoiling you’re book. Just hearing you talk about how to write makes me know that anything you come up with will end up great!
How do you write so quickly though?! I’ve been sitting around with writers block and procrastination since right after nanowrimo. I don’t even think I’ve written 5 full chapters (aside from writing loose ship scenes) since then. At least I’ve done a slight bit of outlining.
The only advice I can give you is to dig deep, you can’t sit around. Try setting goals for yourself, for example: Today I’m going to write 2k words or I’m going to complete that chapter. Fanfics are a great way to help with procrastination, it can be the shittiest, cheesiest fanfic ever but that’s the best thing about it, it helps relax your brain and keep your mind working. Anyways I hoped this helped and I wish you well on your writing journey x
I read once “purpose makes inspiration” or something to that effect, basically if you sit down with a goal to “work”, and say to yourself “I have to finish this chapter,” for better or worse you WILL knock out a chapter.
It’s like writing an essay, you know you have to finish because there’s a deadline. Authors who write for a living have to write on a deadline so it helps to get in the practice now. The editing, and changes can come later. But if you dedicate yourself to working on chapters like your completing a work more than coming up with a story, it helps a lot.
My book is going pretty good. I hit 31k words the other day with 58 pages so pretty good
Nice!!! That's a lot of words wow!!
good going!
@SilkBunni it’s coming alone really well. I have 27 chapters around 75k words and I think 129 or 130 pages.
@@Sydney-un3cu And now?
That’s neat that you can keep your word count down to 75k, I always have trouble making mine way too long. What genre is your book?
Re: "strong female characters." I do think considering gender is important in character development, because who can honestly say that their gender isn't part of their identity, or something that has impacted their life? Now gender may not be the main theme of the story, but it will play an impact on the character nevertheless. I like to use Katniss Everdeen as an example of a "strong female character." She has qualities that are seen as more masculine (fighter, provider) but also has very feminine qualities (protective and caring). Also, she's being primped and dressed up and is never like "Ugh, I hate dresses! I hate make-up!" In fact, with Cinna getting how fashion can be used to enhance her likelihood of winning/rebelling, she loves being pretty and powerful. I could write even more on her, but this will already be long, lol. So to male writers out there, obviously see your female characters as human, but don't shy away from any feminine qualities either! Feminine qualities can be just as impactful and important as masculine ones! Also, consider: how does being female play into how she interacts with the world/how people respond to her? Does she change who she is to fit into what is expected of a woman of her culture? What backlash does she face for areas where she doesn't reach the expectations of her gender? I highly recommend the movie Little Women (2019) to explore this type of theme and ways it can play into your story (especially Jo and Amy's stories). In speculative fiction this may not be as relevant, and again it may not be a main theme anyway, but it is something in the real world. And please have a woman read your manuscript. I once critiqued a male writer's manuscript where a teenage girl straight up not only forgave, but befriended some guards who were about to @ssault her like two minutes after she karate chopped them away. I don't care how kind your protagonist is, no woman will be friends with a stranger who just tried to @ssault her.
I have to main girl characters in my current novel I'm working on. One of them is disgusted by dresses and makeup because they feel they hinder her ability to fight. When she is introduced to the second female character, the second female character (named arissa) loves to be gorgeous. She wears clothes and makeup that may make her less physically able but she recognizes that having a stunning appearance is a powerful asset in more phycological ways (being able to charm, feeling more powerful to yourself, looking stronger) and she truly tries to explain that it makes her feel good and she finds her strength in her inventions other things- not in her muscles. I really respect and agree with what you said in your comment and i feel like this is a good way to show it. Or etleast I hope ^^
I'm fifteen and your videos have changed my life! I love your book too! It made me cry!
I write Romantic Suspense with comedy and drama. I learned the 3 Act Story Structure from you so I'm using it for this book series. I'll be published because of your awesome teachings. Thank you!!! ❤😍😍😍
I always appreciate platonic friendships
You should do another writing livestream! Love the editing! Can't wait to read what you have! I hope to publish my book this year!
You're absolutely right! Her writing livestreams are AMAZING!
What, Abbie? You tease us with the mention of a writing project that was SUPER fast for you and Special, but you can't tell us anything about it for a long time? Well, thank you for killing my butterflies. For real though, good luck :)
Love the piece of advice about knowing WHY something matters to the protagonist in the opening pages! When I'm editing a novel, this is one of the biggest things I look for. Super helpful Q&A, thanks for another great video Abbie!
Right now I’m writing a action adventure story about a 17 year old boy learning how to be a hero. He needs to kill this tyrant who overthrew his brother who was the king and now my MC has to stop him. I’m on chapter 5 (out of 10), which is a character development chapter. It’s working on my main character and his friend Jake’s relationship and how he and Jake grow to be more than friends and eventually be in love. My main character also is having interactions with his fathers old arch nemisis who turned good. It’s interesting to see his motives and point of view of being a villain and my MCs thoughts on it. The old arch nemesis has a daughter who is very snarky and makes a lot of jokes about the characters. Characters like that aren’t common in my books, so I enjoy writing them when I have the chance. I plan on ending the chapter with my MC and Jakes relationship growing, and my MC making his next move against the villain.
@benjamin ramsey That’s interesting. After my book, I’m writing another book about a 16 year old boy who watches over a city and fights crime. After that, I’m writing a book with two MCs: one is about one of my older characters, Garod who is a ninja who has this badge that allows him to not age, and gives him extra strength. My second MC is a man named Savage who is the son of the Roman Emperor, but he wants to rebel against him because Savage hates his fathers methods of ruling. Their stories intercross and they become friends that try to take down the Roman Empire and Monorou, a character Garod is trying to face. It’s called Handsom Savage, after the two main characters
Great advice, really loved it. One thing, if I might add, to help a platonic friendship be less shippable is to give one or both characters a love interest, which sounds like it’s already been done. If that romance is shippable, the platonic friendship will be less shipped.
That is really helpful!! The main boy's character arch/the plot wouldn't really be enhanced by adding a love interest so hopefully the main girls love interest will be enough lol
@@sarahanncools960 if the love interest is a well done and compelling character, I can see you pulling it off!
@@sarahanncools960
I'm gonna ship the boy with the girl's love interest! Stop me!
It depends on how you want to deliver it I suppose, and both are good when executed properly.
In my novel, my main character has dreams about her late parents, as if she was there with them in the past, they could be considered flashbacks, but they're more like "past-premonitions" of things back then that tend to materialize in the present. Readers learn about her parents, what the world was like back then and how it affects the main character in the present.
However, I have so much source material of her parents that to tell their full story, it would have to be a prequel and not just flashbacks, because what they did in the past has had a major impact on the future (present) and not just for the main character, but for many other people.
I really liked the little text pop ups at the start there 😊 great video as always Abbie! 🥰
Abbie has been making her editing very meme-ified
I have wayyyyyy too much "plot" that happens Before the events of my novel(s) (it's a complex companion trilogy)...so I'm almost certain that years down the line I will need a prequel, if not two. One would likely focus mostly on the antagonist and my protagonist's mentor when my protagonist is a very, very young child. Another possible one would be a prequel that takes place over a century before, but I haven't thought all that much about that idea yet.
I have the same problem too. I hope you’re doing well now.
Ok so i just checked out your channel page- newer subscriber here- and was so surprised to see that you had a new upload. I love the content I've seen from you so far - specifically your one for helping with inspiration for writing from a couple of years ago. it's helped me a lot so far on my current writing project.
I'm currently writing a book about overcoming a massive fear, and you've made me motivated enough to start it. Thank you so much.
I think flashbacks and adverbs have something in common. Unskilled or struggling writers overuse them and use them as crutches -- to which many writers have overreacted by declaring that you should NEVER use them. But both flashbacks and adverbs have their place.
In my novel, my 1st and 2nd characters are respectively 26 and 45, and in the three harrowing days they spend together they'll find theirs destinies. So I start the story by showing who they are the day before they meet, get their three-day adventure going, and I slip in several timely relevant flashbacks of pivotal events of their lives that made them who they are now. Then halfway through the novel, the flashbacks finish and the today story hits a massive plot twist. This had wonderful effect, because the whole second half of the book feels fast-paced and you're aware of the high stakes in every scene. I've gotten a lot of "in the second half I couldn't put it down" comments on Amazon.
So I'm an advocate of well-chosen flashbacks. And adverbs.
HOODIE 🥺✨👑
Your editing in this video is so entertaining!!!
Writing Update: Eagerly waiting for my finals to get over so I can write throughout the summer!
ALSOOOO can't wait for 100 K!! YOU DESERVE IT!
OMG I love your content!
I just finished reading 100 Days of Sunlight and absolutely loved it!
I’m on 2350 words on my sci-fi space opera romance.
Ohmygosh my heart skipped a beat when I heard Abbie say my name lol. Thanks so much for answering my question! Yeah I kinda figured shipping is inevitable 🤣😜
@The Light Chaser Studio Shipping is so inevitable that you should be happy that they AREN’T siblings (I still don’t know why, even though few in amount, some people ship siblings. Makes me nervous to write siblings that are super close).
But yeah, I hate the thought that my OTP may not be shipped, or the character(s) will be shipped with another character before I bring in said pairing. But sometimes it is hard to help but not ship characters who are super close friends....
@@taytaythehufflepuff8532 some people will ship the grossest stuff 😓 But yeah, I guess it's fine if they ship the best friends cause I mean that even happens in real life lol. But hopefully I'll be able to minimize it as much as possible!
Hey! I’m just finishing editing my first draft. I hate editing but I’m so close to being done
I related so much to the prequel or flashbacks question. I have about 8 characters. My main character goes into the story with no recollection of the past but a death. Meeting these characters as if they were strangers with somewhat new personalities and roles chosen for them in this world, but they had pasts in other worlds/dimensions that they were not allowed to remember and moments that tie into the new world they all share. AND I TELL YA, IT'S HARD ORGANIZING WHEN TO DIVE INTO THE PASTS THEY SHARED IF THE CHARACTERS DON'T REMEMBER THIS STUFF YET..... *i'm fine*
I never know how to do writer updates, but I'm working on a project that I've been working on for a few years (it has changed names so many times). It has 3 POV characters and I just started outlining the third character's arc using the 3 Act Structure. I've been having writer's block, but your videos always motivate me to start writing.
I finally feel like I know what I'm doing because of you. I spent all of last year studying your videos on the 3 Act Structure. It has helped me so much, I never thought I'd understand the structure so well because everyone else explains it in such a confusing way. Thank you so much for your help and keep up the great work you do here.
Can’t believe I’m actually early !! Also thanks for the video , I really needed it , and it helped a lot .
Not sure about anyone else
But I still feel sad for the guy who was brother-zoned
He'll be fine 😉
Yeah, I haven’t read it yet but I already ship them
Love you Abbie!
Definitely both depending on story 🥰❤️
I’m currently working on a new project where I’ve been debating on using flashbacks. After reading 100 days of sunlight a second time and watching your video I feel more confident about using them. Thank you Abbie😊
I'm 37,058 words into my dark science fiction! So I think that's almost 11 chapters so far. I've had the idea for over 10 years, but I started to rework it in November 2020. I'm super distractible and all over the place so I have probably a ten thousand word amount of planning documents. But I'm so happy with how it's going. :)
Fellow pantser, also writing a sci-fi series; recently completed a 75k word novel, and almost finished another at 65k.
In the process of keeping my world coherent, I began a world bible, the last word count was closing on 40k, I have 3k words tied up in time and measurements alone. Don't change your measuring system unless you strongly feel the desire to; the frustration for this bit of insignificant world lore is barely worth it.
The time, while more of a necessity, wasn't any less stressful. During the course of working out my world's time, I realized I needed to learn the stages of pregnancy gestation. The later population as a whole doesn't really think about the time so I don't "really" have to think about time in the grand scheme of things. But my second book is about the original colonists, it kinda matters... a lot!
The military section of my bible takes up the better part of 20k words.
I'm still puttering around on the religions, about 2k words so far.
Timelines!!! I'm writing a series, and my world's time is different from Earth time, so keeping track of timelines within and without of the written works, I've found to be incredibly important. 2k words of bullet points.
FUN!!!
ruclips.net/video/JBE_2zPELfY/видео.html
I sometimes start my storys early and usually it has nothing to do with the protagonist since the first chapters are never about the protagonist but rather some information on an important side character that ends becoming the reason the protagonist ends up on a journey. Writing one chapter on the side character at the beginning means I don't have to find a way to share that information later without the protagonist knowing.
Loved the editing at the beginning 😆
Anytime I work on stories with characters who are friends, my friends end up shipping them. It's pretty much unavoidable. 😂
Yay! I self-published my first novel on 6 March, The Scarring of the Roshanra with the pen name Kara SB Brown. I'm 1/3 of the way through my first draft of book 2, The Crystal of Shamala in the series, which was inspired by true events and PTSD healing in my life.
Congrats! And good luck with the second book!
Love Your Perspective, I use to write for Fox Studios on Redford and your advice is Professional and Spot-Fucking-On!!!
LOVE YA ABBY!
Thanks again Abbie!
This video really helped! I was just writing a story with flashbacks, and it was great, how you compared it to writing a prequel which I don't think I'm going to do. I'm on 15k words right now-just starting :)
Katreina is also where I am with writing. Wondering about prequels or flashbacks. A longer prologue maybe? I’ve been re reading your novel and love how you did it. Also, the way Kandi Steiner wrote a past in ‘Make Me Hate You’ was great too. Trying to find a middle ground for both of your writing styles.
Lovve it! Wednesday’s always my favorite day of the week :)
AAAAH!!! I can't wait for the literary! This was just the auto-play after today's #AskAbbie
love and best wishes for fleet edits :D
Awesome video as usual. Thank you Abbie!!!☺️♥️
Don't know about anyone else, but I don't read books with many flashbacks. I don't particularly mind short ones (1-2 pages), but often I see books with flashbacks 3-4 chapters long. This, I will drop immediately. An author should put himself into the position of a reader: when I start reading a new book/series, I have to put a lot of effort, in the beginning, to learn characters, understand worldbuilding and generally adapt to his/her writing style. Because I don't read books sentence by sentence, I read page by page. To do this, I have put myself in a certain state of mind and go with the flow. Flashbacks break this flow, and reading starts to be work.
YAYYY MORE CONTENT FROM ABBIE!!! 😍
Best internal conflict that I have ever seen in a tv show is Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender animated series, season 2 a few episodes from the end
Hi, Abbie!!! Love this video so much! I'm super excited for your new project to be announced. I have a request/suggestion/thingy but you don't have to take it if you don't want to. So, when I started reading 100 Days of Sunlight, I was probably in chapter 4ish, (I know it was Weston's POV chapter) and I was having a really hard time getting through it because of Weston's language. I understand that he is a little more explicit as part of his character voice but I was really determined to enjoy the book, and that just kinda ruined it for me. Do you think you might be able to cut back on the language in future books? As I said, you can ignore this if you want. All I'm saying is that I would love to be able to read your books without having to blot out some of the words. ;) Hope that bit of rambling made sense. XD
Have a blessed day!!!
You're amazing!
That way you used the words about the stereotype strong female differently than the first video really pushed me to understand what my character was lacking in order to both protect the prince and not be a flawless man in a woman's body.
I read your book and loved it!☺️
Writings going great Abbie! I'm almost done with the first rough draft of my second book of my series, I'm planning on editing both my first and second book this year then starting my third book with you in Preptober and Nanorimo. This video was super insightful for me, especially about the strong female character. I have a female as my main character and what you said really helped, (and encouraged) me. I also really liked what you said about how to show, not tell, internal conflict. I was having a super hard time with that because my MC doesn't think that she's good enough to make smart decisions on her own, and I didn't know how to show that, now I do thanks to you! You rock! Keep making awesome content, AND STOP KILLING ME WITH THE SUSPENSE OF YOUR NEXT BOOK!!!!! About your next book, are you going to publish that one too??????
I really likes this video!
And it was relevant to me as the story I'm working on has 4 pov characters and for 2 of the characters I have a lot of flashbacks and I've been wondering if should or shouldn't add flashbacks to a third.
I could add them to showcase the character more but I don't feel I need it.
Currently attempting to draft my first novel. YA mystery/thriller
This video came out in the right time!! I was about to start my novel at long last and was thinking if I should put her traumatized experience as the prologue or as flashbacks instead!
Thank you for this. I've been thinking about this topic for my current project.
I'm on mission to finally plot my YA sci-fi/dystopian novel. I've written like several scenes, but need to really get down to plotting it.
Hey Abbie, please make a video on writing an argument and writing emotions like pain and stress
Thanks, Abby 👍🏾
Thank you for this blessing.
Here early! I'm in a different time zone (IST) so I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier... But I woke up first thing in the morning andd here I am!
P.S. I had the same question about the flashbacks! It's like the person who asked the question AND you read my mind!
Outlining the 5th book now😭 This one is the hardest to conceptualize bro
My Writing Update is that I am writing my first book! I'm obviously going to need a laptop and that will be arriving Tomorrow so that means I could start my Outline! I'm so excited and will try to write as much as I can
Writing update. Restarting for the 5th time cause I liked a previous idea more than the current one. Making some great progress there. xD
The Light Chaser Studio: how do i make readers not ship my protagonists?
Me: make the girl taller than the boy
I love the editing 😂
Finishing up the outline on a new YA Fantasy
Thank you so much Abbie I got things clear
Yaaasss!!
I need to get this book. It's 6pm as well, so hopefully you won't keep me up at 4 o'clock in the morning reading it. See you 😄
Great job!
Honestly as a reader I *despise* flashbacks 99% of the time. I feel like lots of stories do non-linear narratives badly! I often end up skimming or skipping flashbacks completely because I am much more interested to see what happens next in the main plot.
Prequels are also not usually very interesting to me, especially the kind that involve the same characters or which end at the start of the original work, because the fixed end point doesn't leave any room for a resolution, or forces an unhappy ending to the prequel.
What about flashback in manga or anime? Like, say, the Ishval War or Hohenheim's backstory in FMA Brotherhood?
I’m going to write everyday this month.
Hi Abbie! This is the first time I've been this early so I'm hoping to get a reply. I need to ask: How do you add in little detailed things? I feel like I really struggle with that. Do you have any tips for not just focusing on the main parts of the plot, but including things that seem like they don't matter but really do?
Thanks!
I realise (after ACTUALLY watching the video) that I'm supposed to ask this in other places! Ignore it and have a good day!
I’m still doing character mapping.
I'm writing a middle grade novella inspired by Bridge to Teribithia. I'm trying to get to 100 pages as a starting point, and I have 3 pages left. But I do need to add more to the story because it will feel like a very bad ending!
Just write it. Even if it’s bad, because what you might think may be the worst scenes might become best scene.
@@kennedypatton7874 will keep that in mind, thanks!
What’s your reasoning for reading chronologically? I’m fervently in the Release Order camp.
Thank you so much you are great
☺️✨
My book I quess its going great until now I wrote about 2332 words and of course the book I just finished and really I couldn't do it without your advice BTW the book I finished is about 7300 words
P.s: it was my first book ever so ya 😊
Thanks so much for the beautiful advice
It’s a sequel to 100DOS I can bet it lol but I AM SO EXCITED
Talk about MARKETING PLEASE
Henlo Abbie!
How do you write original prose? I’m afraid about writing a line someone else already wrote and a reader cringing and thinking I’m copying someone else.
Are hard copies of 100 days of sunlight available in the Philippines?
Where can I buy A Hundred Days of Sunlight? I don't have Amazon. Is there anywhere else?
I think maybe you can find it at Barnes and Noble because it was on their website, I’m not sure if it’s available in all their stores though.
@@riyadondapati2369 Thanks, I'll check
Should I make one of my characters have PTSD or something for a short period of time, even if it’s a middle grade book?
abbie! you probably won't see this, but i was wondering, is it possible to write in present tense when writing in third person? thanks!
I am really sorry I can't press "JOIN" or become a member. I'm broke.
But I do have a question for anyone who is willing to answer.
In my book, their are several character. My main character, at the very end of the duology, is the only one who survives. Their are four main side character.
My question is, if I want the reader to feel for these other characters, and ultimately feel for their deaths. should I have less characters? Or, in other words, would my reader/readers become connected to more than one or two side characters? Or I four too much?
Thanks in advance!! ♥️
What about time travel?
Is this the light house book?
💜
If there is enough story for a whole novel rather than just flashback chapter, go ahead.
Hello Abbie! New to the writing world here. I was going to buy scrivener and use your code but it gives an error code saying its been used too many times. I hope you get credit for anyone who may want to sign up with it 🙌 maybe they can fix it
I like your nails 💅🏻
how many words make up a novel can you please tell me
was this about the otherworld???
Can you read minds?
To be fair, even if the two main characters were both female or both male or any other gender combo, people would still ship them 😜💕
100th like 😂
It’s a sequel to 100DOS I can bet it lol but I AM SO EXCITED