Congrats! I would love to have a masters in creative writing too, but I'm thinking about waiting at least another decade, just to work through my trauma related to school first and you've inspired me to just wait until I'm actually ready.
“I hope this doesn’t sound conceited, but I do kind of like it.” It is never conceited to be proud of your work. There is a bad kind of pride, and there is a completely different thing: the fulfillment of what drove you to create the story in the first place! You’re an amazing storyteller. The way you simply recounted how you wrote your novel was inspiring and had me enthralled. Thank you for the encouragement.
On writing while at work, I wholeheartedly endorse it to whatever extent is possible and comfortable for the individual. Maybe you finish your tasks at an office job by lunch and can pull up Word and start cranking out finished prose. Maybe an idea for a plot thread, a new character, or a line of dialogue comes to mind and you scribble it down for processing and integration when you get home to sit down to write properly. For me, I work in a factory doing repetitive work and frequently have 20-30 seconds between units, so I step away to my phone and tap tap tap a few words or a line of poetry, and then I'm thinking about the piece while I do the next work task, and repeat. Wherever you are on the spectrum of the downtime and focus you can give to writing on the clock, when the choice is between something and nothing, wouldn't you rather have something?
I may add : embrace these limitations into your writing. short form poetry tells something about factory work under and through what you write. don't try to force "bourgeois without money problems" form into your writing work. you are you,, it makes it richer.
@A.V.Lucero I work in a retail furniture store, which means I have someone in my face at all times with a want or a need. There are moments of downtime, but I find it impossible to disengage my mind long enough to write. I do alike your idea about taking a few minutes to jot down a plot thread or a character profile. I don't have to be in full writer mode to scribble a line of dialog. Good advice.
I just finished my first novel at age 60; I had to wait until I retired from teaching in order to have enough time to write. It took me a year to research and plan my novel and about six months to write it, although I definitely wasn't writing every day. Nor did I strive for a certain number of hours or words each time I sat down to write. I hope to streamline my process with the sequel. Congratulations on finishing your novel!
I've wanted to write a great book since I was a kid. It was one of my biggest goals growing up, and I even did this kind of exercise when I was in high school, managing to write about 1000 words a day for a couple of months. I still love writing but I feel my priorities are changing. I want to put my time into activism, into community aid, into real-world action to help others. I work a full time job with leaves me with a small resource of energy and free time to dedicate to friends, family, self care, and whatever I choose. I wish I felt free enough to let myself commit to building a story, but I don't. But even so, writing is the one surefire way for me to process my emotions and the world. The stories I read and watch are a pure source of inspiration, catharsis, hope. Creating stories is important work too.
Sometimes, writing is the best thing one can do, while sometimes one should prioritize on other things. I'm firmly convinced that books are far more important than people may actually think. If someone actually puts their whole heart and soul into a story, with the aim of giving it real meaning, I am absolutely sure it can change lives. Not only things giving inspiration and hope, but indeed, things that can change lives. I believe the bottom-line is this: some people can make a much bigger difference with things such as writing stories, and some can make a much bigger difference with more physical activities like said activism and community aid. We need both kinds of people in this world. Personally, my book is at 70k words, and I'm firmly aiming to make my novels deep enough to change entire lives. Of course, I believe writing is my purpose, so I'm aiming to be a professional writer
Being able to say you enjoyed reading it, even if it’s just small parts of it, is something you should be proud of! I remember when I spent a few hours over a few days on a single scene until it sounded good and being able to like that scene still fills me up inside.
in my creative writing capstone class i have friends who have spent all semester planning, but little time writing. I think its easy to get caught up in planning the perfect story, and i envy their dedication to research and prep, but at the end of the day you just gotta put those fingers to work!! Great video as always.
I've wanted to write novels for a few years now but haven't been able to push through to finish any of them. Stuck with paralysis by analysis, my writing has suffered a lot. I used to write much more when I wrote in a gardening style and now I realize how much time has been wasted. I'm going to try my hand at writing a fantasy novel and just let it take me so I break free from this paralysis. By the way, such a coincidence that you enjoy writing to instrumental video game covers 30:31. I make video game covers so feel free to listen to my music when writing and I'll try doing the same to see how my writing improves. Thank you for this video that inspired me to write much more
I just got done reading the novel a couple of hours ago, and I have some thoughts on it. I’m no professional, but I took creative writing all four years in highschool so take my advice with a grain of salt. I’ll start off with things I liked. Firstly, I absolutely loved the concept of the artist and the model. Imogen’s character arc was super well done, and I love how easy it is to see that these two characters fit each other perfectly, mainly through their support of each other. I was beginning to get concerned that there wouldn’t be a real climax to the story (not always a bad thing-allows characters to shine, but still) so when it arrived and Imogen finally got to see the drawing, I was both relieved and even more invested. Overall, if there is one thing I think you did excellently, it is storytelling. The plot of this story is original and surprisingly well executed. I found myself rooting for these two right off the bat and I found myself smiling during the car scene after the exhibit. Even the short film was super creative and might even be applicable to Grayson’s and Imogen’s lives as well. This part of your novel went above and beyond my expectations. Then I have some suggestions. I actually don’t think that your novel is particularly wordy, but I do think that you’re not using your full potential with the amount of words you use. In your second draft (if you make one) I would try to include more sensory details and imagery. Thinking back, there was a detail about a car horn or something like that “lulling” the characters, and details like that are always immersive so I would appreciate more, since it was difficult for me to forget that I was just looking at words on a screen. Another thing is figurative language. It isn’t always needed, but I think that it would benefit you here. I noticed a simile or a metaphor here and there, and I really enjoyed them. Putting some time into each individual sentence, something normally done during the first draft, would help a lot. The last thing: head hopping. I noticed that you changed perspectives during either chapter breaks or page breaks; however, the narrator still remained somewhat omniscient. The chapter would start off with one character’s point of view, then insert the other’s thoughts, usually in a dialogue tag. While this isn’t always a bad thing, it takes away from the reading experience. A large part of reading as a whole is the ability to wonder, to infer. To embrace the ambiguity. However, head hopping-straight up telling the reader what they otherwise would have had to root around for instead-takes that away and grossly simplifies the experience. If this was intentional and this was what you wanted, go for it. Just noting what I saw. Overall, I was really impressed by your work, especially considering that it’s only a rough draft and it’s your first full-length novel. I almost found myself wanting to google things about it, forgetting that it wasn’t even published 😅 but yeah. If this is where you are now, I can only imagine where you’ll be in the future. You should be so proud of yourself!!
Totally! Another thing that Klinkenborg mentions in Several Short Sentences About Writing is that an author's voice is, more than anything, a byproduct of clarity. Klinkenborg encourages writers to just focus on making the writing as best as it can be, and voice will occur as a side effect. Personally, I thought that was great advice.
Nice video man, congrats on making it. Wish you the best, you gotta keep going now! I do not remember who it was, but an author on youtube aswell, one with many published stories since decades if i am not mistaken, made this video about a 6 steps program on how to write your first book and i wanted to share it, maybe it could help you, maybe someone else. 1 Write every day, 2 write a "bad" book first to learn how to finish, 3 once finished put the "bad" book away for six months (do not look into it, do not talk about it with anyone), 4 start writing your "good" book / the book you have always wanted to write. 5 After six months, get out the "bad" book again, read it, learn where you are weak and what mistakes you made, edit and adress those areas; 6 repeat. Also just a fun detail, in my life generally and also in writing, i avoid the word "but" as often as i can. While sometimes talking i may say it from time to time, i think there is not a single "but" so far in my writings, which i think it's hilarious. The word just feels ugly to me :p
Congratulations on starting the creative writing program! And on finished your draft without going completely nuts along the way! I really enjoyed this video, the combination of Gardner quotes, storytelling and personal experiences.
Wow!! That was such a fun read! I literally read it all in one sitting, save a break for dinner. My jaw DROPPED on page 184! If you ever choose to continue it, you have an amazing foundation! And if not, you have a great story nonetheless :) It's not a bad first draft at all, you have a lot of good things laid out, and of course it's a first draft so it does have things that can be fixed, but I'm IN LOVE with the idea of a makeup artist and his muse. It was an instant hook and I don't know, it hit just the right area of contemporary romance for me. Your story is cozy and fun and artsy and super authentic and I can tell how much work you've put into this novel! Thank you SO much for sharing your work, even thought it's a first draft! That takes a lot of courage, and I think it's important to realize that there is beauty in unfinished works, and your novel is a testimony to that!
i really like what you shared about drive, even beyond writing but our other life projects and journeys and queries. this was a really great and insightful video about the process! i look forward to checking out your novel!
Great video, and congrats on finishing a novel--as many others have said, that's no small feat! I did NaNo (long before their terrible takes on AI) for about an eight-year streak with about a dozen novels under my belt and a few hundred short stories, and I really feel the struggles of this video to this day. You brought up Brandon Sanderson, and I remember being a wee writer and listening to the podcast he used to do (still does? I'm really far out of the publishing loop nowadays lol) and something that always stuck with me is BICHOK: butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Get that word vomit of a first draft out of the way since most of your work and learning will be in editing anyway, in my experience. And NaNo might be awful now, but getting that community spirit and accountability still helps a ton!
Bro. This is awesome! The great algorithm has brought me here. I heard that sweet chocolatey voice and was like, say whaaaaat?! I had no idea about this channel! This is so awesome!
Excellent video, man. I always prefer my inspiration with practical advice. I'm in the query trenches, getting my manuscript rejected on a daily basis has really put the crimp on my second novel. "Why carry on with this lonely exercise in futility?" I ask myself every time I sit to write. Hearing your story has given me a sorely needed shot in the arm. Oh, and bring your head up on this business of over- using the conjunctions 'but' and 'just.' I'm guilty of the same thing. That's fixed by revisions. Thanks again for the video. You're a good kid!
thanks for this; I've been working on a project since 2019 and even though it's over 75k and I can see the finish line, I've been struggling to wrap it up, no matter how much I want it. it was nice to have your perspective and input to help me get out of my head about it. congrats on your work and successes! I'm gonna go do my damndest bc in the end, I just love writing 💕
Listening to this video made me really curious about the novel, so I just went and read the whole thing. (Super cool that you actually shared it, by the way--it's interesting to be given the privilege of reading something that is actually, *genuinely* a first draft from another writer and it was cool to be able to satisfy that curiosity.) And I thought I'd give you a little reassurance over it because I DID go so far as to read the entire thing, lol. It definitely has first draft energy and a bit of that 'unfinished' feel to it, don't get me wrong, but having read it with that in mind I enjoyed it to a surprising extent. I usually get bored or put off by contemporary romance, but this one just felt... Idunno, cozy I guess? The general setting/milieu was fun and managed to add a lot of texture to the story and characters that a lot of romances are missing for me. I love your male makeup artist lead and his influencer sister and little extra bit of wonder that comes from working on the alien short film. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a painter and I'm dating someone very Concetta-like who is also always running around driving himself into a frenzy over writing and directing short films, which made it feel a lot more familiar than it probably would for most readers, but it added a lot for me, and I liked that the story was able to touch on all of that in a way that enhanced the story and created and atmosphere and place for the characters that they felt grounded in without getting too bogged down in the negative sides of any of it. There was also something refreshing about the characters in this and the way they were all written. They don't all feel completely "finished," but pretty much everyone at least has moments of good characterization that sparkle and make me want to like them, and I can see them all making really solid characters when refined and given a bit more consistency. I liked them all even in this version, despite the fact that most of them aren't archetypes that I tend to instantly latch onto. They're just all genuinely nice people who are mostly mature and respectful to each other, and responsible and accountable about fixing things when they're not, without it feeling bland or boring, and that's just REALLY nice to read. I think Grayson is especially strong as the male lead for a romance novel because he manages to keep a lot of the flaws that are popular with readers of the genre while also being non-toxic about it and still feeling like a real human being. Anyway, he has life energy and I like him. Imogen felt a little rougher to me, and I don't feel like I quite connected with her deeper issues, but she was likeable anyway somehow. EVERY character in this story is so inexplicably likeable for some reason (except for that one guy who got punched in the face. but like literally EVERYONE else, including those who were really minor. If I sound slightly baffled it's because I am. Usually I'm more apathetic and picky about other people's characters.) I also think you did better than you think with the romance/chemistry between the two lead characters. I was all ready to root for them to end up with their alternate love interests as soon as they showed up, partially because neither Alice nor Ambrose are trashbags but also because I'm just generally prone to rebel against designated love interests (another reason I'm not a good romance reader)-but by the end of the book I was convinced that he was the best one for her. I think it was the believability of the scenes where she opens up to him, and also the ones where they're just together in the studio or something. I think there was a scene somewhere in there where she told him about her insecurities growing up shortly after one of the Ambrose scenes where I just thought "yeah, this exchange never would have happened with him," and that really sold it for me. It feels like they do just feel really comfortable with each other in a way that is uniquely because of the qualities of the person, and that works. I think why Grayson liked Imogene was a little less strong--him being surprised and somewhat unwillingly entranced by the way she defies his expectations for actresses at the beginning of the novel--being kind, remembering his name, not being as privileged as everyone around her--was compelling--but that sort of fell off fairly early on, and by the end it kind of felt like he was mostly pursuing her because he was a loving person who was already infatuated with her, and because she was really, really beautiful. By the time of the Alice choice, it wasn't really clear why he was choosing her over Alice other than that he liked her first and had already developed a crush. I could totally believe they would be happy together and have a great relationship, but from the "I'm a reader invested in Grayson, what would make him happy?" perspective, they were both nice girls who seemed like they had a good dynamic with him and "got him" when it came to his insecurities and general personality. I also liked in general how the romance was pretty much entirely built on character stuff and does not use "oh, I liked him/her because they're attractive" AT ALL, especially not in the beginning. It feels a lot more effective and easier to root for than just a bunch of gratuitous descriptions of how pretty/handsome they find each other. This book was not afraid to rely solely on interpersonal reaction to make the love story believable. In fact, I don't think the characters get described *at all*, except for like 1 scene that goes really in depth on them looking at each other's eyes. (Which they both do, like. Independently. in the same chapter. At separate times. That made me laugh, lol. Def one of the more first drafty things but I could see you were having fun with it.) It just does a lot to make the whole book feel really anti-objectifying. Even with Ambrose, I don't think he gets any physical description, and it has the effect of emphasizing the "starstruck" side of how enamoured everyone is with him over the "he's just really good looking" side. Anyway! I know this was pretty long, but you seemed like you were really in that "Wondering SO MUCH how well this is actually working but I have no sense of objectivity anymore???" so I just thought I'd do my best to give you my clearest idea of what I thought of it as an impartial observer, having enjoyed your videos a lot over the last couple days and wanting to pay it forward. It may not be the most serious story, but it is the bones of a *good* one, and I think it was worth telling. Up to you to decide to continue with it, or whether it fits the brand you want to have as an author in the future, but don't be too hard on it either way. Not everything has to be serious--there is real value in a well-executed, fluffy tale that can genuinely bring people happiness and comfort as well.
Not OP obviously, but thank you taking the time and effort to write all that. That's exactly the kind of detailed feedback I dream of getting on any of my odd bits of writing (but never really do lol). Thank god for people like you!
Oh my goodness, wow! Thank you! I'm not sure I expected much feedback at all on the novel itself, and certainly not on the first day, haha. This was extremely gratifying to read for so many reasons. Like, just the fact that you would read it at all means a lot, and even more so that you would leave all this feedback. Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it. I was definitely hoping to avoid cliches, and that was certainly part of the reason I avoided character descriptions. I also wanted anyone to be able to insert themselves into the characters' positions. I'm glad it worked for you! Yes, it's evidently still a first draft, haha. But a comment like this really encourages me to edit it further. Thank you again!
I don’t write novels, but I write. I love what you’ve done with this video enough to subscribe to your channel without checking anything else. I look forward to reading what you go on to write.
Developing one's own writing voice was one of the hardest but most rewarding endeavors I have done. It snuck up on me and sometimes I wonder if I m just holding onto an idea of originality. Loved the video. Brought back so many memories and ideas about writing for me. It's been more than a decade since reading Gardener. Now I think I need to reread him as a more experienced writer.
The algorithm did right by both of us today-subscribed! 😊 As someone whose own --verbose setting is perpetually on, I appreciate your candor about your own experiences, and the emotional journey that ensued with your advisor's critiques. Facing a potential fourth(!) career change in my mid-forties, you've inspired me to reconsider this as at least an outlet, and perhaps a path. Please continue to share your triumphs, trials, and tribulations.
Congrats on finishing your novel! I'll have to check it out. It's not often that writing content creators upload their writing (at least not that I've seen), so this is really cool. I definitely agree that if you can write on the job, you should. I used to work night shifts on a hotel. I didn't have as much free time as Brandon Sanderson seemed to have (sometimes I didn't), but that time helped me finish the first draft of a 300k novel without needing to sacrifice my other time. Sadly, I can't do that at my current job. But if a job allows it, I think the potential benefits are definitely worth trying it out! Also, new subscriber here. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your journey!
Congrats on finishing, and that's amazing to me that you're brave enough to post it! Appreciate the book reqs too and hope we'll see more of your face in future vids. Keep up the great work!
First comment (1:33): By all means, you 100% got me with the Malvolio detail Comment that *actually* made me type (4:30): Oh my God, we used the same guy taking note b-roll footage! Guess the catch of the day is that identification beats admiration? Anyway, great vid, glad RUclips sent you my way o/
I went to school for film hoping to be a screenwriter, graduated in 2021. Haven't written much of anything substantial at all in the years since. I've gotten lazy and my poor mental health has made any sort of creativity difficult, it's like I have forgotten the rules and/or what even makes writing fun to me in the first place. Out of everything I've watched on the topic over these years, this video clicked with me. Specifically the conversations between you and your advisor and the story he told you about writing childhood memories finally helped me understand the steps I think I should take. This video rocks, thank you so much for it
congratulations on completing a full draft, that’s really impressive! and thanks for sharing your advice the way you do, i find your tone and approach to be quite inspiring
For me, it's about the story rather than sitting down and just writing. I can "just write" but it will be shit. What takes so long is not knowing what to write and not knowing where I want the story to progress towards . . . T.T
I guess something you could try doing is thinking on a concept for a story, and writing the concept down in a sentence, then you have to try to explain it in 2 sentences, then you could do a paragraf, then 2, and you can continue like that to get a sence of a story you could tell, that way you can figure out early on where you would want your story to finish and also you could see what kind of characters would fit it. I did that and now i have like 6 pages written on how i think my story could go and there is also a whole section that has who the characters are as people, so i hope i was able to help you even if its a little bit.
Congrats on finishing your novel! With those kind writing speeds, you're the kind of person that with practice can write a novel in a week if you want. You just need mileage. Keep writing and finishing stuff. It's a muscle, you'll train it and you'll learn to do stuff as you go. Well done, not everybody can complete a novel in a month.
Thank you for this! Haha my characters are laughing all the time too, and I'm still figuring out each's characters voice. I'm doing the November writing month right now, it's going pretty well. Definitely haven't written enough to be on track for the 50,000 words, but it's going well none the less.
Great video! I'm a full-time author and try to shoot for a book a month. My books vary around 80k words, 250-300 pages, and as long I hit 3-3.5k words a day, I'm well on track. It's far easier said than done, however. I'm starting my 9th book today, and getting the ball rolling is always the part I struggle the hardest with. I follow a barebones outline because I lean more toward being a pantser, and that's a monster in and of itself. I highly recommend dipping your toes into writing if you have the desire. Short stories, novellas, novels--put your heart into it and get those words down!
This is honestly an awesome video. Only thing I’ll say is that the literal four second music track towards the second half of the video began to drive me insane
I think the two most important characteristics to have are humility and confidence combined. You must be confident enough to believe you can do it and you must be humble enough to edit your book to be of high quality before putting it out into the world. A combined phrase of "I can do it" and "I can do better" at the same time.
Your voice reminds me of Stefan Rudnicki, actor and audiobook narrator. Nice video. I've been trying to start a novel about some cartoon monster I drew. Really struggling to find an outline or angle that feels right. TBH, I know I should just commit to writing a first draft and just see what works and what doesn't.
Congratulations! I'm also on the same journey, trying to write a book for the first time. Definitely got to the same conclusion that if I plot too much I loose interest. I've written the 1st draft and now I hate a lot of it and am replotting to get all the good parts and changing out the bad. I'm still plotting, which for the 2nd time feels a lot more focused and like I know where I'm going. It's like I'm making a lot of changes on the 2nd draft. But hey, first time I ever finish a first draft, so it's already a win. And the technique I used helped way more than lose myself outlining to hell before putting the 1st draft all down on paper.
I've yet to try this challenge. I did have a few portions of my life where I was nonstop writing, and others when I would blank out completely. This seems like something cool to try with an idea I have where I'm like, "eh I'll make something short this time." (I never do.) I do appreciate this angle because too many writers who make RUclips videos forget that people have lives. I write when I want to, or when I'm able to. While I've had time recently, not all of that time was spent writing. I appreciate you going over those moments where the enjoyment of writing waxes and wanes. On top of you treating it as a fun hobby and possible career rather than... to quote way too many authortube brats "a small business." I find that analogy both frustrating and depressing because writing is something people do for a variety of reasons. Money is definitely in that pile, but to encourage people to treat it like a "small business" it tells me you should treat it either like a mom-and-pop cafe always on the brink of shutdown or a Subway. Both of those sound like hell. The former is more wholesome, but keeping the lights on for those places is a battle, where keeping a Subway alive is a joke. To me, writing is something I do as an extension of myself. I enjoy doing it. I enjoy seeing people talk about it. I appreciate this video for being about writing and the skill of it, and reflecting on it. A lot. I'm gonna get back to work. Also, I thought you'd have puffy hair, but I guess that's projection.
face reveal!! you look very similar to how i imagined you :] thanks for the great video (also, i noticed your beatles poster!! no way you're a beatles fan, that's so awesome)
I had been a professional screenwriter for several years when I decided to write a novel. So, I sat down and started writing. Unlike screenplays, which are fairly rigid in structure, I loved the freedom of novel writing. Wow, I really enjoyed myself! The novel ended up being around 77K words, and I self-published it. People seemed to like it. A few years later, I wrote my second novel, which was about 75K words, and also self-published. I have a third completed novel, but I'm not sure if I'll publish it. All I can say is: No matter what you're writing-screenplays or novels-you really have to love the story you want to tell. If you love it, you'll find the time-you'll MAKE the time-to sit down and write each day. Even if you only write a page a day, or just a few paragraphs, you'll eventually reach your goal. For those of you who have never written a novel before, I hope you have as much fun as I did writing mine!
I've just finished medical school and a month ago started my lifelong dream of writing a book. Not only everything you said makes a lot of sense to me, but also the theory you bring is fundamental to accomplishing my goal. I loved the paradox between writing anything that comes to mind just to generate words versus advancing the narrative carefully, in ways that would minimize editing time. I personally caught myself doing both things in a proportion of 1:2; I would spend 3 hours writing freely, with less time to consider if the choices I made on the go were the best possible to get to my book's message. Hell, I dont even know if my book has a message yet; then I'd spend another 6h in 3 sessions of 2 hours each, creating a more careful version of the text. With less script like dialogue, and more meaningful action. I'm not saying this is the answer. I'm just sharing how I feel, being 30 days in on my first work of fiction. Also, sorry for any typos, English is not my mother tongue. The content you created couldnt be found anywhere else. Keep up the great work. And if you do know anything about how to market the final book on amazon KDP, how much, and how often (300 bucks monthly? Every two months? For a semester? A year?), I would be very interested in hearing.
this is very impressive. i wrote every day for the month of november as well, but i'm a very slow writer, so 500 words is what i aimed for. even still, it took me anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours to finish on any given day. writing 2500 words in a single day just sounds impossible, especially if you don't do it fulltime. i don't know how some can people do it.
21:43 This is true for creative endeavors generally. Designing software or games or books or otherwise inventing anything; inevitably the creator will ask themselves if their work is original or if someone else already made something that performs or exhibits the qualities of the creation they are imagining or planning.
Damn RUclips is spying on me so much that it's started giving me METAPHORICAL recommendations (I'm not even a writer but still "needed" to see this video)
You can remove words that include a word by following with a space writing down the number and then. backspaceing and putting in a period. So for the example of but [but ] and then [but.] Would be what you want to type in. It usually takes care of any words that contain the word you're looking for.
I did this same thing but didn't give myself a deadline. I started in August and needed a way to keep myself accountable since I want to spend the rest of my life writing. I thought I'd be more productive this way. And really I was. I hit 60k words but then stopped at the beginning of this month, when the editing was set to begin. I'm upset that I didn't keep up the momentum but I feel like I can do it now. Unfortunately I'm also bogged down by new ideas so I'm hoping that I'll get to the point that I can put out three novels a year and be able to explore all the avenues I want to travel.
I wrote 2 books which were too bad for publishing. Started a third. Stopped writing it to work on the master thesis instead. When the thesis is done, I will continue with writing the book. Having written the books feels great. Not many people can say they did it. I think it is the greatest achievement of my life even though I am not one of those losers who achieved nothing of substance. Now I am not working on my thesis because I am writing this comment. I wanted it written till the end of the month which is the day after tomorrow. I think I will just write an email to my mentor explaining her where I am at. I will send her pictures I think would look good inside, tell her how much do I still need to write and about planning some self revision before sending it... I can't wait until my thesis is over. Then, I will just have to make a PowerPoint presentation about it, stand in front of the commission and talk. When it is done I can go around telling people I am a pseudo intellectual and get a better job than I would with just the bachelor's. Then, I will be back at writing my book. When this one is over I plan to rewrite it and revise it until it is a nicely cut gem. Then I will let it into the wild and start working on another book. Can't wait until I am over with this thesis. ah...
Authors can draft a novel in a month because it's their full-time job. If you already have another full time job - and a family to support - you won't be able to draft a novel that quickly unless you deprive yourself of sleep. There will also be several rewrites, a number of editing passes, and final reviews before printing even gets scheduled. All in, even professional writers need about a year to fully complete a novel from start to distribution.
Beautifully constructed. (Soft piano bed unnecessary). Great voice too! Write a short novel and get voiceover work? Assuming you already haven't. Edit: (50,000 words is a chapter for me, in all my unfinished novels.) Edit 2: Write what you know about. If you're writing about another genre, situation, subvert that to what you know. (Will come back to this later. Have to go do stuff.) Interesting. Thanks.
I'm not feeling good about my own attempts. I'm not limiting myself to just one month because I didn't feel confident in that, so I've been setting myself up for 1000 words per day including weekends. This takes me upwards of four hours every day and I always feel exhausted and sick at the end of it. I don't know if I'm cut out for this but it I've always been a creative type, so I'm doing the best I can, but I'm not having fun and I'm not satisfied with the quality of what I'm creating. I'm desperately hoping I can keep this up, but I'm not looking forward to it.
Going through Nanowrimo right now for the second time. I barely scratched 10k the first time. This time around I'm trying to just write everyday and not feel bad about hitting 2k words. Ive written so far 14/16 days of Nov and am really proud of staying consistent. Any advice on how to self study as someone who is in college as a different major?
@@jimmyburlapsack Good job! Way to go! Keep it up! As far as self study, I’d honestly recommend starting with the John Gardner book I quoted a million times in this video, haha. He has a section about being a writer for those who haven’t studied writing. I remember for certain his advice started with getting a freshman composition book, but there were many other useful tips in there. Keep on! I believe in you!
I have done nanowrimo twice now - or rather, I have written 50000 words in November twice now - and it turns out I’m incapable of fitting a novel length story in that number. Last year my „draft“ ended up at around 100k in the end, this year I got I’ll at 35000 words, nowhere near a conclusion to the story, and filled up the rest of the word count with short stories that are entirely unserious and for fun, just to have met the word count and don’t feel like I failed completely. I’m also still sick and the „real“ story is just too difficult to write at the moment. Ah well. Also I have 0 writing education, I just do the thing. Consistency is really key.
I wrote a book in 7 months, writing mostly on weekends only. This fact becomes something to talk about when I say it was a 240,000 words. It becomes even more significant once one realizes a novel becomes a novel when it hits 80,000 words. The question: is it any good? My editor thought so. Proofer said she won’t do books over 200K, but my sample was good enough.
LET ME TELL YOU HOW ANYONE CAN FINISH A NOVEL NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, BY THE WAY, 15 MINUTES INTO THE VIDEO, I FORGOT TO MENTION MY GRUELING WORK I DO IS ACTUALLY A CREATIVE WRITING COURSE! A MASTERS IN IT TOO! WOW! SO YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU """""""""""""""""""""WRITE""""""""""""""""""""" FOR STUDY HM I WONDER WHERE YOU'D EVER FIND THE TIME TO WRITE!
As soon as you mentioned NaNoWriMo, I was terrified that you were sponsored by them and I was about to leave. Thankfully, you don’t support them. I shall stay 😊
Congrats! But what's the secret for writing 2500 words a day? Because after two years of writing a novel I don't think I've ever managed 2500 words in one day, even if I set aside an entire day for writing. Hitting that in under two hours on average is crazy!
I think a big portion is having no filter. Read the last passage you wrote, start thinking of what would happen next, and build off of it. Don’t flower anything. Just describe what’s happening as you would tell something to a friend. “Clara was walking to her apartment door. When she turned the corner, she spotted her boyfriend leaning against the wall. His presence was imposing, the size of his frame taking up the the entire way through to her home. Her heart sank and she felt the familiar strike of panic settle in to her fingers. At the sound of her footsteps, Tom looked up to find Clara white as a ghost - and for good reason “. I dunno, just going. Perhaps it’s not that simple for everyone, but I find I can sit down and just start on a less and go. Keep following it until you’ve exhausted the entirety of the scene. Now that the context has been laid out, things will happen. Will Clara speak with Tom? Will she walk away, try to pass him, be pushed into an argument? Why does Tom make Clara anxious? What happens after that? Does she have s roommate? Did the roommate hear the couple’s conversation? Prose and good writing is for after, haha. And I’ve found that the longer the session, the more your brain gets into prose mode. So that by the time you’re 20 minutes in you’re starting to seek ways to make sentences different from your last, and set the stage for what’s playing out in your imagination. So that’s my advice. No filter. Editing is for later.
I want to give you at least a little encouragement about your supposed wordiness. At just over 60k words, that's not very many in terms of any contemporary genre, even the contemporary romance you wrote this story in. It's your biggest, continuous, self-critique, but I think you may be too harsh. Take it from someone genuinely much more verbose than you, a story finished in 61k words as a novel is just brief enough. For complete transparency, the draft of my last finished romance was *160k* words. So trust me when I say, you're doing much better than you think. I took a brief look at the opening two pages, and your wordiness, such that it exists, is a tendency towards repetition. If there is any advice to give, it's that you can have all the words you want, as long as they are describing something new. Else, there's an earnest charm to your writing that feels bubbly and warm. It radiates off the page, this enthusiasm you have for making the attempt, and it bleeds through every word. If it's any comfort, take heart from someone much wordier than you, that it could be worse, deadly even. Congratulations on the finished draft, and best of luck in your graduate studies.
Fair perspective! But personally, I think it's good to have time-related goals. With writing, I think either a time goal, page count goal, or word count goal is very helpful. It doesn't have to be the final due date, but just among the hurdles to jump, if that makes sense :)
Perhaps not for the finished novel but the draft, why not? They're meant to be bad after all. Write like you're drunk, edit like you're sober. Can't remember who said it but it's good advice still.
Well, in a way, it doesn't exactly matter. While everyone may not be able to write a good book, everyone can improve by writing to be able to write a good book. There's never empty progress.
congratulations! seriously, simply finishing a novel is a huge accomplishment imo!
Thanks so much! 😄
I’m 45 years old and recently finished my masters in creative writing. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. ❤️
Congratulations!! I wish you the best of luck and I hope you find your story ❤
Congrats! I would love to have a masters in creative writing too, but I'm thinking about waiting at least another decade, just to work through my trauma related to school first and you've inspired me to just wait until I'm actually ready.
Congratulations! I wish the you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do after this 👍
“I hope this doesn’t sound conceited, but I do kind of like it.”
It is never conceited to be proud of your work. There is a bad kind of pride, and there is a completely different thing: the fulfillment of what drove you to create the story in the first place!
You’re an amazing storyteller. The way you simply recounted how you wrote your novel was inspiring and had me enthralled. Thank you for the encouragement.
On writing while at work, I wholeheartedly endorse it to whatever extent is possible and comfortable for the individual. Maybe you finish your tasks at an office job by lunch and can pull up Word and start cranking out finished prose. Maybe an idea for a plot thread, a new character, or a line of dialogue comes to mind and you scribble it down for processing and integration when you get home to sit down to write properly. For me, I work in a factory doing repetitive work and frequently have 20-30 seconds between units, so I step away to my phone and tap tap tap a few words or a line of poetry, and then I'm thinking about the piece while I do the next work task, and repeat. Wherever you are on the spectrum of the downtime and focus you can give to writing on the clock, when the choice is between something and nothing, wouldn't you rather have something?
Definitely, I always write down ideas when they come to me. I'm the most forgetful person I know, haha.
I may add : embrace these limitations into your writing. short form poetry tells something about factory work under and through what you write. don't try to force "bourgeois without money problems" form into your writing work. you are you,, it makes it richer.
kafka wrote masterpieces about bureaucracy because he worked in one
@A.V.Lucero I work in a retail furniture store, which means I have someone in my face at all times with a want or a need. There are moments of downtime, but I find it impossible to disengage my mind long enough to write.
I do alike your idea about taking a few minutes to jot down a plot thread or a character profile. I don't have to be in full writer mode to scribble a line of dialog.
Good advice.
I just finished my first novel at age 60; I had to wait until I retired from teaching in order to have enough time to write. It took me a year to research and plan my novel and about six months to write it, although I definitely wasn't writing every day. Nor did I strive for a certain number of hours or words each time I sat down to write. I hope to streamline my process with the sequel. Congratulations on finishing your novel!
I've wanted to write a great book since I was a kid. It was one of my biggest goals growing up, and I even did this kind of exercise when I was in high school, managing to write about 1000 words a day for a couple of months. I still love writing but I feel my priorities are changing. I want to put my time into activism, into community aid, into real-world action to help others. I work a full time job with leaves me with a small resource of energy and free time to dedicate to friends, family, self care, and whatever I choose. I wish I felt free enough to let myself commit to building a story, but I don't. But even so, writing is the one surefire way for me to process my emotions and the world. The stories I read and watch are a pure source of inspiration, catharsis, hope.
Creating stories is important work too.
you can help community with your ability to tell compelling stories and help ppl cope, engage, Hope, revolt etc :)
Smart man. Writing is fun, but activism feels more rewarding. Your making a small impact instead of hiding behind a desk.
If it helps any, I hope you write about your activism and community building one day. These are stories we desperatelyneed more of.
@@ceciliethorsen4966 Maybe it's been a long night but that made me tear up a little. Thank you. I hope so too
Sometimes, writing is the best thing one can do, while sometimes one should prioritize on other things. I'm firmly convinced that books are far more important than people may actually think. If someone actually puts their whole heart and soul into a story, with the aim of giving it real meaning, I am absolutely sure it can change lives. Not only things giving inspiration and hope, but indeed, things that can change lives.
I believe the bottom-line is this: some people can make a much bigger difference with things such as writing stories, and some can make a much bigger difference with more physical activities like said activism and community aid. We need both kinds of people in this world.
Personally, my book is at 70k words, and I'm firmly aiming to make my novels deep enough to change entire lives. Of course, I believe writing is my purpose, so I'm aiming to be a professional writer
Being able to say you enjoyed reading it, even if it’s just small parts of it, is something you should be proud of! I remember when I spent a few hours over a few days on a single scene until it sounded good and being able to like that scene still fills me up inside.
woah face reveal
😳 Woah! It's me!
that's Jim Carrey
@@chapstixxx-n3s😂
That’s what I said!
in my creative writing capstone class i have friends who have spent all semester planning, but little time writing. I think its easy to get caught up in planning the perfect story, and i envy their dedication to research and prep, but at the end of the day you just gotta put those fingers to work!!
Great video as always.
I've wanted to write novels for a few years now but haven't been able to push through to finish any of them. Stuck with paralysis by analysis, my writing has suffered a lot. I used to write much more when I wrote in a gardening style and now I realize how much time has been wasted. I'm going to try my hand at writing a fantasy novel and just let it take me so I break free from this paralysis. By the way, such a coincidence that you enjoy writing to instrumental video game covers 30:31. I make video game covers so feel free to listen to my music when writing and I'll try doing the same to see how my writing improves. Thank you for this video that inspired me to write much more
I just got done reading the novel a couple of hours ago, and I have some thoughts on it. I’m no professional, but I took creative writing all four years in highschool so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I’ll start off with things I liked. Firstly, I absolutely loved the concept of the artist and the model. Imogen’s character arc was super well done, and I love how easy it is to see that these two characters fit each other perfectly, mainly through their support of each other. I was beginning to get concerned that there wouldn’t be a real climax to the story (not always a bad thing-allows characters to shine, but still) so when it arrived and Imogen finally got to see the drawing, I was both relieved and even more invested. Overall, if there is one thing I think you did excellently, it is storytelling. The plot of this story is original and surprisingly well executed. I found myself rooting for these two right off the bat and I found myself smiling during the car scene after the exhibit. Even the short film was super creative and might even be applicable to Grayson’s and Imogen’s lives as well. This part of your novel went above and beyond my expectations.
Then I have some suggestions.
I actually don’t think that your novel is particularly wordy, but I do think that you’re not using your full potential with the amount of words you use. In your second draft (if you make one) I would try to include more sensory details and imagery. Thinking back, there was a detail about a car horn or something like that “lulling” the characters, and details like that are always immersive so I would appreciate more, since it was difficult for me to forget that I was just looking at words on a screen. Another thing is figurative language. It isn’t always needed, but I think that it would benefit you here. I noticed a simile or a metaphor here and there, and I really enjoyed them. Putting some time into each individual sentence, something normally done during the first draft, would help a lot.
The last thing: head hopping.
I noticed that you changed perspectives during either chapter breaks or page breaks; however, the narrator still remained somewhat omniscient. The chapter would start off with one character’s point of view, then insert the other’s thoughts, usually in a dialogue tag. While this isn’t always a bad thing, it takes away from the reading experience. A large part of reading as a whole is the ability to wonder, to infer. To embrace the ambiguity. However, head hopping-straight up telling the reader what they otherwise would have had to root around for instead-takes that away and grossly simplifies the experience. If this was intentional and this was what you wanted, go for it. Just noting what I saw.
Overall, I was really impressed by your work, especially considering that it’s only a rough draft and it’s your first full-length novel. I almost found myself wanting to google things about it, forgetting that it wasn’t even published 😅 but yeah. If this is where you are now, I can only imagine where you’ll be in the future. You should be so proud of yourself!!
Your advisor's feedback is very incisive! It can be a fine line between having your own voice and "being a barrier between the reader and the story."
Totally! Another thing that Klinkenborg mentions in Several Short Sentences About Writing is that an author's voice is, more than anything, a byproduct of clarity. Klinkenborg encourages writers to just focus on making the writing as best as it can be, and voice will occur as a side effect. Personally, I thought that was great advice.
Nice video man, congrats on making it. Wish you the best, you gotta keep going now!
I do not remember who it was, but an author on youtube aswell, one with many published stories since decades if i am not mistaken, made this video about a 6 steps program on how to write your first book and i wanted to share it, maybe it could help you, maybe someone else.
1 Write every day, 2 write a "bad" book first to learn how to finish, 3 once finished put the "bad" book away for six months (do not look into it, do not talk about it with anyone), 4 start writing your "good" book / the book you have always wanted to write. 5 After six months, get out the "bad" book again, read it, learn where you are weak and what mistakes you made, edit and adress those areas; 6 repeat.
Also just a fun detail, in my life generally and also in writing, i avoid the word "but" as often as i can. While sometimes talking i may say it from time to time, i think there is not a single "but" so far in my writings, which i think it's hilarious. The word just feels ugly to me :p
Huge congrats on finishing a novel! I really appreciate the honesty and encouragement you've brought to this video. Onward!
Congratulations on starting the creative writing program! And on finished your draft without going completely nuts along the way! I really enjoyed this video, the combination of Gardner quotes, storytelling and personal experiences.
Wow!! That was such a fun read! I literally read it all in one sitting, save a break for dinner. My jaw DROPPED on page 184! If you ever choose to continue it, you have an amazing foundation! And if not, you have a great story nonetheless :) It's not a bad first draft at all, you have a lot of good things laid out, and of course it's a first draft so it does have things that can be fixed, but I'm IN LOVE with the idea of a makeup artist and his muse. It was an instant hook and I don't know, it hit just the right area of contemporary romance for me. Your story is cozy and fun and artsy and super authentic and I can tell how much work you've put into this novel! Thank you SO much for sharing your work, even thought it's a first draft! That takes a lot of courage, and I think it's important to realize that there is beauty in unfinished works, and your novel is a testimony to that!
Congratulations. And thank you for taking the time to make this video. I love seeing other writer's processes.
An amazing feat! You are now one of the small few that have written a book, and you are among good company. Congratulations!
i really like what you shared about drive, even beyond writing but our other life projects and journeys and queries. this was a really great and insightful video about the process! i look forward to checking out your novel!
Thanks you! 😄
Great video, and congrats on finishing a novel--as many others have said, that's no small feat! I did NaNo (long before their terrible takes on AI) for about an eight-year streak with about a dozen novels under my belt and a few hundred short stories, and I really feel the struggles of this video to this day. You brought up Brandon Sanderson, and I remember being a wee writer and listening to the podcast he used to do (still does? I'm really far out of the publishing loop nowadays lol) and something that always stuck with me is BICHOK: butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Get that word vomit of a first draft out of the way since most of your work and learning will be in editing anyway, in my experience. And NaNo might be awful now, but getting that community spirit and accountability still helps a ton!
Bro. This is awesome! The great algorithm has brought me here. I heard that sweet chocolatey voice and was like, say whaaaaat?! I had no idea about this channel! This is so awesome!
amazing video, and so inspiring! definitely one of the best videos about writing ive ever watched
This was inspiring to watch ! Thanks ! ❤️
Side-note: I like how you wore the same hoodie; the one in your channel profile pic. Thats was nice! ☺️
Excellent video, man. I always prefer my inspiration with practical advice. I'm in the query trenches, getting my manuscript rejected on a daily basis has really put the crimp on my second novel.
"Why carry on with this lonely exercise in futility?" I ask myself every time I sit to write. Hearing your story has given me a sorely needed shot in the arm.
Oh, and bring your head up on this business of over- using the conjunctions 'but' and 'just.'
I'm guilty of the same thing. That's fixed by revisions.
Thanks again for the video. You're a good kid!
thanks for this; I've been working on a project since 2019 and even though it's over 75k and I can see the finish line, I've been struggling to wrap it up, no matter how much I want it. it was nice to have your perspective and input to help me get out of my head about it. congrats on your work and successes! I'm gonna go do my damndest bc in the end, I just love writing 💕
I hope you keep writing! Sounds like it's doing you good :) It's always tough even coming to the end of a first draft, haha. You got this!
Listening to this video made me really curious about the novel, so I just went and read the whole thing. (Super cool that you actually shared it, by the way--it's interesting to be given the privilege of reading something that is actually, *genuinely* a first draft from another writer and it was cool to be able to satisfy that curiosity.) And I thought I'd give you a little reassurance over it because I DID go so far as to read the entire thing, lol.
It definitely has first draft energy and a bit of that 'unfinished' feel to it, don't get me wrong, but having read it with that in mind I enjoyed it to a surprising extent. I usually get bored or put off by contemporary romance, but this one just felt... Idunno, cozy I guess? The general setting/milieu was fun and managed to add a lot of texture to the story and characters that a lot of romances are missing for me. I love your male makeup artist lead and his influencer sister and little extra bit of wonder that comes from working on the alien short film. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a painter and I'm dating someone very Concetta-like who is also always running around driving himself into a frenzy over writing and directing short films, which made it feel a lot more familiar than it probably would for most readers, but it added a lot for me, and I liked that the story was able to touch on all of that in a way that enhanced the story and created and atmosphere and place for the characters that they felt grounded in without getting too bogged down in the negative sides of any of it.
There was also something refreshing about the characters in this and the way they were all written. They don't all feel completely "finished," but pretty much everyone at least has moments of good characterization that sparkle and make me want to like them, and I can see them all making really solid characters when refined and given a bit more consistency. I liked them all even in this version, despite the fact that most of them aren't archetypes that I tend to instantly latch onto. They're just all genuinely nice people who are mostly mature and respectful to each other, and responsible and accountable about fixing things when they're not, without it feeling bland or boring, and that's just REALLY nice to read.
I think Grayson is especially strong as the male lead for a romance novel because he manages to keep a lot of the flaws that are popular with readers of the genre while also being non-toxic about it and still feeling like a real human being. Anyway, he has life energy and I like him. Imogen felt a little rougher to me, and I don't feel like I quite connected with her deeper issues, but she was likeable anyway somehow. EVERY character in this story is so inexplicably likeable for some reason (except for that one guy who got punched in the face. but like literally EVERYONE else, including those who were really minor. If I sound slightly baffled it's because I am. Usually I'm more apathetic and picky about other people's characters.)
I also think you did better than you think with the romance/chemistry between the two lead characters. I was all ready to root for them to end up with their alternate love interests as soon as they showed up, partially because neither Alice nor Ambrose are trashbags but also because I'm just generally prone to rebel against designated love interests (another reason I'm not a good romance reader)-but by the end of the book I was convinced that he was the best one for her. I think it was the believability of the scenes where she opens up to him, and also the ones where they're just together in the studio or something. I think there was a scene somewhere in there where she told him about her insecurities growing up shortly after one of the Ambrose scenes where I just thought "yeah, this exchange never would have happened with him," and that really sold it for me. It feels like they do just feel really comfortable with each other in a way that is uniquely because of the qualities of the person, and that works.
I think why Grayson liked Imogene was a little less strong--him being surprised and somewhat unwillingly entranced by the way she defies his expectations for actresses at the beginning of the novel--being kind, remembering his name, not being as privileged as everyone around her--was compelling--but that sort of fell off fairly early on, and by the end it kind of felt like he was mostly pursuing her because he was a loving person who was already infatuated with her, and because she was really, really beautiful. By the time of the Alice choice, it wasn't really clear why he was choosing her over Alice other than that he liked her first and had already developed a crush. I could totally believe they would be happy together and have a great relationship, but from the "I'm a reader invested in Grayson, what would make him happy?" perspective, they were both nice girls who seemed like they had a good dynamic with him and "got him" when it came to his insecurities and general personality.
I also liked in general how the romance was pretty much entirely built on character stuff and does not use "oh, I liked him/her because they're attractive" AT ALL, especially not in the beginning. It feels a lot more effective and easier to root for than just a bunch of gratuitous descriptions of how pretty/handsome they find each other. This book was not afraid to rely solely on interpersonal reaction to make the love story believable. In fact, I don't think the characters get described *at all*, except for like 1 scene that goes really in depth on them looking at each other's eyes. (Which they both do, like. Independently. in the same chapter. At separate times. That made me laugh, lol. Def one of the more first drafty things but I could see you were having fun with it.) It just does a lot to make the whole book feel really anti-objectifying. Even with Ambrose, I don't think he gets any physical description, and it has the effect of emphasizing the "starstruck" side of how enamoured everyone is with him over the "he's just really good looking" side.
Anyway! I know this was pretty long, but you seemed like you were really in that "Wondering SO MUCH how well this is actually working but I have no sense of objectivity anymore???" so I just thought I'd do my best to give you my clearest idea of what I thought of it as an impartial observer, having enjoyed your videos a lot over the last couple days and wanting to pay it forward. It may not be the most serious story, but it is the bones of a *good* one, and I think it was worth telling. Up to you to decide to continue with it, or whether it fits the brand you want to have as an author in the future, but don't be too hard on it either way. Not everything has to be serious--there is real value in a well-executed, fluffy tale that can genuinely bring people happiness and comfort as well.
There aren't nearly enough compelling pictures of optimism! Your review makes me want to read it too
Not OP obviously, but thank you taking the time and effort to write all that. That's exactly the kind of detailed feedback I dream of getting on any of my odd bits of writing (but never really do lol). Thank god for people like you!
Oh my goodness, wow! Thank you! I'm not sure I expected much feedback at all on the novel itself, and certainly not on the first day, haha. This was extremely gratifying to read for so many reasons. Like, just the fact that you would read it at all means a lot, and even more so that you would leave all this feedback. Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it. I was definitely hoping to avoid cliches, and that was certainly part of the reason I avoided character descriptions. I also wanted anyone to be able to insert themselves into the characters' positions. I'm glad it worked for you! Yes, it's evidently still a first draft, haha. But a comment like this really encourages me to edit it further. Thank you again!
As a published author, I loved hearing about your writing journey. I hope it brings you joy.
I don’t write novels, but I write. I love what you’ve done with this video enough to subscribe to your channel without checking anything else. I look forward to reading what you go on to write.
Developing one's own writing voice was one of the hardest but most rewarding endeavors I have done. It snuck up on me and sometimes I wonder if I m just holding onto an idea of originality. Loved the video. Brought back so many memories and ideas about writing for me. It's been more than a decade since reading Gardener. Now I think I need to reread him as a more experienced writer.
The algorithm did right by both of us today-subscribed! 😊
As someone whose own --verbose setting is perpetually on, I appreciate your candor about your own experiences, and the emotional journey that ensued with your advisor's critiques.
Facing a potential fourth(!) career change in my mid-forties, you've inspired me to reconsider this as at least an outlet, and perhaps a path.
Please continue to share your triumphs, trials, and tribulations.
Congrats on finishing your novel! I'll have to check it out. It's not often that writing content creators upload their writing (at least not that I've seen), so this is really cool.
I definitely agree that if you can write on the job, you should. I used to work night shifts on a hotel. I didn't have as much free time as Brandon Sanderson seemed to have (sometimes I didn't), but that time helped me finish the first draft of a 300k novel without needing to sacrifice my other time. Sadly, I can't do that at my current job. But if a job allows it, I think the potential benefits are definitely worth trying it out!
Also, new subscriber here. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your journey!
Congrats on finishing, and that's amazing to me that you're brave enough to post it! Appreciate the book reqs too and hope we'll see more of your face in future vids. Keep up the great work!
A well paced, inspiring video. Thank you for sharing the cool experience 😊
Keep making videos, good shit.
First comment (1:33): By all means, you 100% got me with the Malvolio detail
Comment that *actually* made me type (4:30): Oh my God, we used the same guy taking note b-roll footage!
Guess the catch of the day is that identification beats admiration? Anyway, great vid, glad RUclips sent you my way o/
I went to school for film hoping to be a screenwriter, graduated in 2021. Haven't written much of anything substantial at all in the years since. I've gotten lazy and my poor mental health has made any sort of creativity difficult, it's like I have forgotten the rules and/or what even makes writing fun to me in the first place. Out of everything I've watched on the topic over these years, this video clicked with me. Specifically the conversations between you and your advisor and the story he told you about writing childhood memories finally helped me understand the steps I think I should take. This video rocks, thank you so much for it
congratulations on completing a full draft, that’s really impressive! and thanks for sharing your advice the way you do, i find your tone and approach to be quite inspiring
Congratulations! Completing your first NaNoWriMo is such a great experience.
For me, it's about the story rather than sitting down and just writing. I can "just write" but it will be shit. What takes so long is not knowing what to write and not knowing where I want the story to progress towards . . . T.T
I guess something you could try doing is thinking on a concept for a story, and writing the concept down in a sentence, then you have to try to explain it in 2 sentences, then you could do a paragraf, then 2, and you can continue like that to get a sence of a story you could tell, that way you can figure out early on where you would want your story to finish and also you could see what kind of characters would fit it.
I did that and now i have like 6 pages written on how i think my story could go and there is also a whole section that has who the characters are as people, so i hope i was able to help you even if its a little bit.
@aidinhere what do you do when you get stuck?
Congrats on finishing your novel! With those kind writing speeds, you're the kind of person that with practice can write a novel in a week if you want. You just need mileage. Keep writing and finishing stuff. It's a muscle, you'll train it and you'll learn to do stuff as you go.
Well done, not everybody can complete a novel in a month.
Thank you for this! Haha my characters are laughing all the time too, and I'm still figuring out each's characters voice. I'm doing the November writing month right now, it's going pretty well. Definitely haven't written enough to be on track for the 50,000 words, but it's going well none the less.
Great video! I'm a full-time author and try to shoot for a book a month. My books vary around 80k words, 250-300 pages, and as long I hit 3-3.5k words a day, I'm well on track. It's far easier said than done, however. I'm starting my 9th book today, and getting the ball rolling is always the part I struggle the hardest with. I follow a barebones outline because I lean more toward being a pantser, and that's a monster in and of itself. I highly recommend dipping your toes into writing if you have the desire. Short stories, novellas, novels--put your heart into it and get those words down!
Inspiring video, in a genuine way that is hard to come by
This is honestly an awesome video. Only thing I’ll say is that the literal four second music track towards the second half of the video began to drive me insane
First video I’ve watch of yours, really good ! I want to be able to say I’ve written 25k words or more!
I think the two most important characteristics to have are humility and confidence combined. You must be confident enough to believe you can do it and you must be humble enough to edit your book to be of high quality before putting it out into the world.
A combined phrase of "I can do it" and "I can do better" at the same time.
Your voice reminds me of Stefan Rudnicki, actor and audiobook narrator.
Nice video. I've been trying to start a novel about some cartoon monster I drew. Really struggling to find an outline or angle that feels right. TBH, I know I should just commit to writing a first draft and just see what works and what doesn't.
Congratulations! I'm also on the same journey, trying to write a book for the first time.
Definitely got to the same conclusion that if I plot too much I loose interest.
I've written the 1st draft and now I hate a lot of it and am replotting to get all the good parts and changing out the bad. I'm still plotting, which for the 2nd time feels a lot more focused and like I know where I'm going. It's like I'm making a lot of changes on the 2nd draft.
But hey, first time I ever finish a first draft, so it's already a win. And the technique I used helped way more than lose myself outlining to hell before putting the 1st draft all down on paper.
I've yet to try this challenge. I did have a few portions of my life where I was nonstop writing, and others when I would blank out completely. This seems like something cool to try with an idea I have where I'm like, "eh I'll make something short this time." (I never do.) I do appreciate this angle because too many writers who make RUclips videos forget that people have lives. I write when I want to, or when I'm able to. While I've had time recently, not all of that time was spent writing. I appreciate you going over those moments where the enjoyment of writing waxes and wanes. On top of you treating it as a fun hobby and possible career rather than... to quote way too many authortube brats "a small business." I find that analogy both frustrating and depressing because writing is something people do for a variety of reasons. Money is definitely in that pile, but to encourage people to treat it like a "small business" it tells me you should treat it either like a mom-and-pop cafe always on the brink of shutdown or a Subway. Both of those sound like hell. The former is more wholesome, but keeping the lights on for those places is a battle, where keeping a Subway alive is a joke. To me, writing is something I do as an extension of myself. I enjoy doing it. I enjoy seeing people talk about it. I appreciate this video for being about writing and the skill of it, and reflecting on it. A lot. I'm gonna get back to work. Also, I thought you'd have puffy hair, but I guess that's projection.
face reveal!! you look very similar to how i imagined you :] thanks for the great video (also, i noticed your beatles poster!! no way you're a beatles fan, that's so awesome)
I had been a professional screenwriter for several years when I decided to write a novel. So, I sat down and started writing. Unlike screenplays, which are fairly rigid in structure, I loved the freedom of novel writing. Wow, I really enjoyed myself! The novel ended up being around 77K words, and I self-published it. People seemed to like it. A few years later, I wrote my second novel, which was about 75K words, and also self-published. I have a third completed novel, but I'm not sure if I'll publish it. All I can say is: No matter what you're writing-screenplays or novels-you really have to love the story you want to tell. If you love it, you'll find the time-you'll MAKE the time-to sit down and write each day. Even if you only write a page a day, or just a few paragraphs, you'll eventually reach your goal. For those of you who have never written a novel before, I hope you have as much fun as I did writing mine!
this is so cool! really holistic and inspiring
Don't forget about Theodor Fontane who started publishing in his sixties, although he had been a journalist beforehand
I've just finished medical school and a month ago started my lifelong dream of writing a book. Not only everything you said makes a lot of sense to me, but also the theory you bring is fundamental to accomplishing my goal. I loved the paradox between writing anything that comes to mind just to generate words versus advancing the narrative carefully, in ways that would minimize editing time. I personally caught myself doing both things in a proportion of 1:2; I would spend 3 hours writing freely, with less time to consider if the choices I made on the go were the best possible to get to my book's message. Hell, I dont even know if my book has a message yet; then I'd spend another 6h in 3 sessions of 2 hours each, creating a more careful version of the text. With less script like dialogue, and more meaningful action.
I'm not saying this is the answer. I'm just sharing how I feel, being 30 days in on my first work of fiction. Also, sorry for any typos, English is not my mother tongue.
The content you created couldnt be found anywhere else. Keep up the great work. And if you do know anything about how to market the final book on amazon KDP, how much, and how often (300 bucks monthly? Every two months? For a semester? A year?), I would be very interested in hearing.
this is very impressive. i wrote every day for the month of november as well, but i'm a very slow writer, so 500 words is what i aimed for. even still, it took me anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours to finish on any given day. writing 2500 words in a single day just sounds impossible, especially if you don't do it fulltime. i don't know how some can people do it.
21:43 This is true for creative endeavors generally. Designing software or games or books or otherwise inventing anything; inevitably the creator will ask themselves if their work is original or if someone else already made something that performs or exhibits the qualities of the creation they are imagining or planning.
THANK YOU I needed this.
Damn RUclips is spying on me so much that it's started giving me METAPHORICAL recommendations (I'm not even a writer but still "needed" to see this video)
You can remove words that include a word by following with a space writing down the number and then. backspaceing and putting in a period. So for the example of but [but ] and then [but.] Would be what you want to type in. It usually takes care of any words that contain the word you're looking for.
I did this same thing but didn't give myself a deadline. I started in August and needed a way to keep myself accountable since I want to spend the rest of my life writing. I thought I'd be more productive this way. And really I was. I hit 60k words but then stopped at the beginning of this month, when the editing was set to begin. I'm upset that I didn't keep up the momentum but I feel like I can do it now. Unfortunately I'm also bogged down by new ideas so I'm hoping that I'll get to the point that I can put out three novels a year and be able to explore all the avenues I want to travel.
I wrote 2 books which were too bad for publishing. Started a third. Stopped writing it to work on the master thesis instead. When the thesis is done, I will continue with writing the book.
Having written the books feels great. Not many people can say they did it. I think it is the greatest achievement of my life even though I am not one of those losers who achieved nothing of substance.
Now I am not working on my thesis because I am writing this comment. I wanted it written till the end of the month which is the day after tomorrow. I think I will just write an email to my mentor explaining her where I am at. I will send her pictures I think would look good inside, tell her how much do I still need to write and about planning some self revision before sending it...
I can't wait until my thesis is over. Then, I will just have to make a PowerPoint presentation about it, stand in front of the commission and talk. When it is done I can go around telling people I am a pseudo intellectual and get a better job than I would with just the bachelor's. Then, I will be back at writing my book. When this one is over I plan to rewrite it and revise it until it is a nicely cut gem. Then I will let it into the wild and start working on another book. Can't wait until I am over with this thesis. ah...
And so can I, in an alternative universe where writing one day doesn’t make me swear off the hobby for a month.
An inspiring video! Thank you for sharing!
This was awesome ❤
Yeah I remmeber listening to Brando talking about the worst job for a writer (programmer) which happens to be my job. Always makes me laugh xD
Wake up babe, roughest drafts just dropped
Thank you for sharing.
Authors can draft a novel in a month because it's their full-time job. If you already have another full time job - and a family to support - you won't be able to draft a novel that quickly unless you deprive yourself of sleep. There will also be several rewrites, a number of editing passes, and final reviews before printing even gets scheduled. All in, even professional writers need about a year to fully complete a novel from start to distribution.
Beautifully constructed. (Soft piano bed unnecessary). Great voice too! Write a short novel and get voiceover work? Assuming you already haven't. Edit: (50,000 words is a chapter for me, in all my unfinished novels.) Edit 2: Write what you know about. If you're writing about another genre, situation, subvert that to what you know. (Will come back to this later. Have to go do stuff.) Interesting. Thanks.
Thank you!
I'm not feeling good about my own attempts. I'm not limiting myself to just one month because I didn't feel confident in that, so I've been setting myself up for 1000 words per day including weekends. This takes me upwards of four hours every day and I always feel exhausted and sick at the end of it.
I don't know if I'm cut out for this but it I've always been a creative type, so I'm doing the best I can, but I'm not having fun and I'm not satisfied with the quality of what I'm creating.
I'm desperately hoping I can keep this up, but I'm not looking forward to it.
What's the opposite of purple prose? I guess I'm a super orange writer. Hope there's a market for that...
Brandon Sanderson writes with basically no prose, and he's biggest author in modern fantasy right now.
"So am I" and almost a year later still fixin' it.
Going through Nanowrimo right now for the second time. I barely scratched 10k the first time. This time around I'm trying to just write everyday and not feel bad about hitting 2k words. Ive written so far 14/16 days of Nov and am really proud of staying consistent. Any advice on how to self study as someone who is in college as a different major?
@@jimmyburlapsack Good job! Way to go! Keep it up! As far as self study, I’d honestly recommend starting with the John Gardner book I quoted a million times in this video, haha. He has a section about being a writer for those who haven’t studied writing. I remember for certain his advice started with getting a freshman composition book, but there were many other useful tips in there. Keep on! I believe in you!
What kind of laptop do you use for writing? I am in undergrad for playwriting and would appreciate a better laptop recommendation!
I have done nanowrimo twice now - or rather, I have written 50000 words in November twice now - and it turns out I’m incapable of fitting a novel length story in that number. Last year my „draft“ ended up at around 100k in the end, this year I got I’ll at 35000 words, nowhere near a conclusion to the story, and filled up the rest of the word count with short stories that are entirely unserious and for fun, just to have met the word count and don’t feel like I failed completely. I’m also still sick and the „real“ story is just too difficult to write at the moment. Ah well. Also I have 0 writing education, I just do the thing. Consistency is really key.
Wow we need to show GRRM this video
@@arksy8703 😂
Good vid :)
Hahaha get it?
"Let him cook!"
Burger King Foot Lettuce
Wow congratulations.
Encouraging.
Small bit of boosting
:D it’s a good video 😊😊🪱🙌
I wrote a book in 7 months, writing mostly on weekends only. This fact becomes something to talk about when I say it was a 240,000 words. It becomes even more significant once one realizes a novel becomes a novel when it hits 80,000 words. The question: is it any good? My editor thought so. Proofer said she won’t do books over 200K, but my sample was good enough.
LET ME TELL YOU HOW ANYONE CAN FINISH A NOVEL NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, BY THE WAY, 15 MINUTES INTO THE VIDEO, I FORGOT TO MENTION MY GRUELING WORK I DO IS ACTUALLY A CREATIVE WRITING COURSE! A MASTERS IN IT TOO! WOW! SO YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU """""""""""""""""""""WRITE""""""""""""""""""""" FOR STUDY HM I WONDER WHERE YOU'D EVER FIND THE TIME TO WRITE!
As soon as you mentioned NaNoWriMo, I was terrified that you were sponsored by them and I was about to leave. Thankfully, you don’t support them. I shall stay 😊
Congrats! But what's the secret for writing 2500 words a day? Because after two years of writing a novel I don't think I've ever managed 2500 words in one day, even if I set aside an entire day for writing. Hitting that in under two hours on average is crazy!
I think a big portion is having no filter. Read the last passage you wrote, start thinking of what would happen next, and build off of it. Don’t flower anything. Just describe what’s happening as you would tell something to a friend.
“Clara was walking to her apartment door. When she turned the corner, she spotted her boyfriend leaning against the wall. His presence was imposing, the size of his frame taking up the the entire way through to her home. Her heart sank and she felt the familiar strike of panic settle in to her fingers.
At the sound of her footsteps, Tom looked up to find Clara white as a ghost - and for good reason “.
I dunno, just going. Perhaps it’s not that simple for everyone, but I find I can sit down and just start on a less and go. Keep following it until you’ve exhausted the entirety of the scene. Now that the context has been laid out, things will happen. Will Clara speak with Tom? Will she walk away, try to pass him, be pushed into an argument? Why does Tom make Clara anxious? What happens after that? Does she have s roommate? Did the roommate hear the couple’s conversation?
Prose and good writing is for after, haha.
And I’ve found that the longer the session, the more your brain gets into prose mode. So that by the time you’re 20 minutes in you’re starting to seek ways to make sentences different from your last, and set the stage for what’s playing out in your imagination.
So that’s my advice. No filter. Editing is for later.
374 out of 50K isn't that bad
Can someone send this video to George R R Martin please
I want to give you at least a little encouragement about your supposed wordiness. At just over 60k words, that's not very many in terms of any contemporary genre, even the contemporary romance you wrote this story in.
It's your biggest, continuous, self-critique, but I think you may be too harsh. Take it from someone genuinely much more verbose than you, a story finished in 61k words as a novel is just brief enough.
For complete transparency, the draft of my last finished romance was *160k* words. So trust me when I say, you're doing much better than you think. I took a brief look at the opening two pages, and your wordiness, such that it exists, is a tendency towards repetition. If there is any advice to give, it's that you can have all the words you want, as long as they are describing something new.
Else, there's an earnest charm to your writing that feels bubbly and warm. It radiates off the page, this enthusiasm you have for making the attempt, and it bleeds through every word. If it's any comfort, take heart from someone much wordier than you, that it could be worse, deadly even.
Congratulations on the finished draft, and best of luck in your graduate studies.
You should not set a time constraint
Fair perspective! But personally, I think it's good to have time-related goals. With writing, I think either a time goal, page count goal, or word count goal is very helpful. It doesn't have to be the final due date, but just among the hurdles to jump, if that makes sense :)
Perhaps not for the finished novel but the draft, why not? They're meant to be bad after all. Write like you're drunk, edit like you're sober. Can't remember who said it but it's good advice still.
Quite a long video just to get to "touch grass" as the best way to improve one's writing 🎉
Problem is that now I'm imagining all the writers who have said some version of "everyone has a story in them and in them is where it should stay"
FACE REVEAL
can someone send this to George R.R. Martin pls?
By not having a day-job that drains you physically and metally?
off topic but OH MY GOD HOWD YOU GET THAT DEEP VOICE?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?! im ftm and i need that
It’s genetic. You could take testosterone, but I hear that the side effects of that are really unpleasant.
To be honest, his deep rasp grates on my ears; but, different strokes, I guess.
U can write a draft in a month but not a novel. A draft is not a novel.
With pedantry like that, you'll fit right in around here.
That's .. am entirely arbitrary and personal definition lol
Oh, relax. We still consider you a human even when you act like only half of one.
Well you probably can’t.
Yeah, but are they _good_ books?
Well, in a way, it doesn't exactly matter. While everyone may not be able to write a good book, everyone can improve by writing to be able to write a good book. There's never empty progress.
a finished book is a better written piece than an empty page with ideas floating around your head