I recently finished reading your book Writing Compelling Fiction and found it more helpful than many other craft books I had read this year. So many highlights! :) That said -- I had no idea you had a YT channel and was delighted to find it yesterday. I love your energy and concise information (not a convoluted, bloated 55 minutes -- I have a family to juggle, I can't manage those all the time when I want to also write). Great content and I hope you go up in subs, you definitely deserve them!
Awww, thank you so much! I’m thrilled the book was helpful! The channel is only a few months old so I’m thrilled with the number who have subscribed. 😊 Ha ha on the time. That’s because I talk too fast 😉. Thank you so much for watching!
It takes me about max ten minutes to decide if I'm going to read further or not. If an opening chapter and next few pages are about explaining too much little unnecessary, or tmi, about the scene descriptions, I give that book away. I like reading a book that gets to the point within ten minutes. I've seen some authors writing too many pages about unimportant stupid little things. I don't care about how many blades of grass there are on the lawn. Just tell me what happened on the lawn, that's it. Get to the interaction between the main characters as quickly as possible. 😅
I really appreciated what you had to say here, it was very helpful. How do I become one of the masterminds, so I can get advice on my pages as you suggested?
Right? So tough to write. It's all about learning to be super vulnerable and let go yourself in order to get that emotion on the page, and we all have a tough time doing that :)
I'm beginning an ongoing comic book series and I started the first comic book with a flash-forward of my main character and then transitions to him as a child for the rest of the first issue. Thoughts on this?
Is the entire first issue about his childhood and getting his powers? If that's the case, I'd start with that day, like Spiderman, then show him as an adult later.
@WritingCompellingFiction yes, the entire first issue is him as a child so you'll learn about what drives him to become a superhero. The following issues will be him learning more about his powers and how he can help others.
@@theonlyuncleben I think the cool journey is him discovering and learning. The structure of the movie Shazam, for instance, is setting him up as a kid, then getting the powers. The reader bonds with him as a kid because he's an orphan, and that makes the reader care even more about him as an adult. Maybe start with him experiencing life as a kid who is bullied or alone or whatever so readers bond. Start with his Catalyst so the reader is hooked right away.
@WritingCompellingFiction that's great advice, thank you. This will be a comic book so the pages will turn pretty quickly. There is a four page scene with him as an adult fighting some bad guys and then it transitions to him as a child. The issue will be about 24 pages.
Nice speed for native speakers, but you are preaching to the choir. Why? Because to understand what you mean, one has to already know these things. You say show, don't tell. Fine, but then the example you give at 4:57 is between those two, but far closer to telling. Showing would be to have her stand before the door and show the thoughts going through her head. She is not thinking ' Something does not look right; I don't think I should go through that door.' That is what she tells her friends afterwards. At the time, she noticed the door was open; she remembered the door. That door made an impression on her. Showing that event would be to subtly draw attention to the door by overdescribing it compared to the rest of the surroundings, which is closer to what she was thinking. She likely paused before she went through it as its openness caught her by surprise and that should be mentioned. But the description could also be as simple as just a separate paragraph: 'The door was open.' This is what sort of text you need for novices to the subject: concise, concrete examples illustrating your meaning. You are going to say that you gave references to other postings, but without an understanding of your intention, why should I move on to them. The viewer wants answers now. A more detailed answer can certainly be given elsewhere, but the viewer needs to understand that he or she needs it before doing that.
Thank you for your comments. There are videos for all levels of writers here, because not everyone who subscribes is a beginner. We will be adding a "what is" series to the channel soon.
Mistake #2 Have you seen Frozen or Frozen 2? They start with backstory. Mistake #6 Have you read Game of Thrones? It starts with a character that dies in the next chapter. So why does you say both mistakes are mistakes because they work in the story.
Yes, I’ve seen those. Those particular deaths are what sets off the plot. They’re the trouble that starts, which forces the main characters to act. I was talking more about gratuitous deaths that don’t have an impact on the plot.
So, you agree with me. Right They aren't mistakes because I have given examples to prove you wrong. By the way plot isn't the right thing to say it's the character devolvement.@@WritingCompellingFiction
Also, at the end of the video I say that any of those Mistakes can work if you tie emotion into it. GOT and Frozen have an emotional component with the deaths, which make that work with the plot. It increases the emotional stakes for the characters.
Wonderful job getting straight to the point
Thank you!
I recently finished reading your book Writing Compelling Fiction and found it more helpful than many other craft books I had read this year. So many highlights! :) That said -- I had no idea you had a YT channel and was delighted to find it yesterday. I love your energy and concise information (not a convoluted, bloated 55 minutes -- I have a family to juggle, I can't manage those all the time when I want to also write). Great content and I hope you go up in subs, you definitely deserve them!
Awww, thank you so much! I’m thrilled the book was helpful! The channel is only a few months old so I’m thrilled with the number who have subscribed. 😊
Ha ha on the time. That’s because I talk too fast 😉. Thank you so much for watching!
This was very helpful, made me rethink my first paragraph 👍🏼
You're so welcome!
It takes me about max ten minutes to decide if I'm going to read further or not. If an opening chapter and next few pages are about explaining too much little unnecessary, or tmi, about the scene descriptions, I give that book away. I like reading a book that gets to the point within ten minutes. I've seen some authors writing too many pages about unimportant stupid little things. I don't care about how many blades of grass there are on the lawn. Just tell me what happened on the lawn, that's it. Get to the interaction between the main characters as quickly as possible. 😅
Ten minutes is a good rule of thumb. I completely agree on the endless descriptions. LOL at every blade of grass :-) Thank you for watching!
Good tips! Thank you
You're so welcome! If you have a writing question, be sure to ask it and I can answer on the channel!
I really appreciated what you had to say here, it was very helpful. How do I become one of the masterminds, so I can get advice on my pages as you suggested?
Thank you so much! The waitlist is here (click the green button): writingcompellingfiction.com/
Emotions are hard! 😂❤😊
Right? So tough to write. It's all about learning to be super vulnerable and let go yourself in order to get that emotion on the page, and we all have a tough time doing that :)
put that in
is what she said
put that in
That's why I drop most of the anime, lol.
3:27 what show or movie is this? I saw a clip and have been looking for it for so long now.
It's The Newsroom with Jeff Daniels, and on HBO: www.imdb.com/title/tt1870479/
wow, i did so much better than i thought i would
That's great!
I'm beginning an ongoing comic book series and I started the first comic book with a flash-forward of my main character and then transitions to him as a child for the rest of the first issue. Thoughts on this?
Is the entire first issue about his childhood and getting his powers? If that's the case, I'd start with that day, like Spiderman, then show him as an adult later.
@WritingCompellingFiction yes, the entire first issue is him as a child so you'll learn about what drives him to become a superhero. The following issues will be him learning more about his powers and how he can help others.
@@theonlyuncleben I think the cool journey is him discovering and learning. The structure of the movie Shazam, for instance, is setting him up as a kid, then getting the powers. The reader bonds with him as a kid because he's an orphan, and that makes the reader care even more about him as an adult. Maybe start with him experiencing life as a kid who is bullied or alone or whatever so readers bond. Start with his Catalyst so the reader is hooked right away.
@WritingCompellingFiction that's great advice, thank you. This will be a comic book so the pages will turn pretty quickly. There is a four page scene with him as an adult fighting some bad guys and then it transitions to him as a child. The issue will be about 24 pages.
Nice speed for native speakers, but you are preaching to the choir. Why? Because to understand what you mean, one has to already know these things. You say show, don't tell. Fine, but then the example you give at 4:57 is between those two, but far closer to telling. Showing would be to have her stand before the door and show the thoughts going through her head. She is not thinking ' Something does not look right; I don't think I should go through that door.' That is what she tells her friends afterwards. At the time, she noticed the door was open; she remembered the door. That door made an impression on her. Showing that event would be to subtly draw attention to the door by overdescribing it compared to the rest of the surroundings, which is closer to what she was thinking. She likely paused before she went through it as its openness caught her by surprise and that should be mentioned. But the description could also be as simple as just a separate paragraph: 'The door was open.' This is what sort of text you need for novices to the subject: concise, concrete examples illustrating your meaning.
You are going to say that you gave references to other postings, but without an understanding of your intention, why should I move on to them. The viewer wants answers now. A more detailed answer can certainly be given elsewhere, but the viewer needs to understand that he or she needs it before doing that.
Thank you for your comments. There are videos for all levels of writers here, because not everyone who subscribes is a beginner. We will be adding a "what is" series to the channel soon.
Mistake #2
Have you seen Frozen or Frozen 2?
They start with backstory.
Mistake #6
Have you read Game of Thrones?
It starts with a character that dies in the next chapter.
So why does you say both mistakes are mistakes because they work in the story.
Yes, I’ve seen those. Those particular deaths are what sets off the plot. They’re the trouble that starts, which forces the main characters to act. I was talking more about gratuitous deaths that don’t have an impact on the plot.
So, you agree with me. Right
They aren't mistakes because I have given examples to prove you wrong.
By the way plot isn't the right thing to say it's the character devolvement.@@WritingCompellingFiction
@@k.christopherpfeiffer5302 Thanks for watching!
Also, at the end of the video I say that any of those Mistakes can work if you tie emotion into it. GOT and Frozen have an emotional component with the deaths, which make that work with the plot. It increases the emotional stakes for the characters.
I don't care about Will or Bran at all.@@WritingCompellingFiction