Ghostwriter Talks About... Overcoming the Hardships of Writing
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- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- What hardships do you face as a writer? What are some serious challenges you will have to overcome? Whether you are a new writer or a veteran, some of these obstacles can really trip you up. Today, I want to go over 5 major writing challenges and how to overcome them with simple practical suggestions. This will provide a foundation for future, more detailed instructive videos. It starts here!
Study with Abao: / @abaointokyo
Twitter: / kurokumochieko
Pre writing is the best thing ever.
Regarding Procrastination, I have issues starting the writing process but once I do I have issues stopping. It gets late, my eyes and back hurts, and can't figure out where the time went.
I don't often find myself in the position of having writer's block, my issues are tied to not being able to add fluff to a story or scene. I write the events, the dialogue, the fight scenes, and then I look around and tell myself "Wait, I should really start talking about the trees".
The solution I found was to integrate the environmental description into the action and dialogue. "Yes, dear reader, there were in fact green trees around me, and I had the chance to know them better as they grabbed me by the ankle and tried to add me to their biomass."
I start by planning an overarching story, explaining the event and purpose of every chapter; Then I take every chapter and split it into scenes; Then I take every scene and split it into chunks of information delivered through 1 or 2 paragraphs of description at the front, an initial dialogue, a series of events combined with dialogue that's building up to something, followed by an apogee that turns the reader's expectation on it's head. In between I also add a few short descriptions of the moment (Fluff) and some inner dialogue if I feel the story needs it. I end the scenes with either a witty remark by one of the characters, a lesson learned in the form of information, or a hook in the form of a "discovery".
Wow. I feel like you wrote more... but RUclips whisked it away! >O.O<
I feel you about overwriting. I highly recommend leveraging the passion and interest now, but also do pace yourself a bit! Burnout can really happen, especially after long sustained work. After finishing the entire piece, I recommend a couple week's sabbatical away from the draft. :)
Your writing process sounds a lot like mine! When I do a video on the writing process, we can compare notes in more detail and see where we differ. :)
Good luck with the writing!
@@chiekokurokumo I did write more but I felt that I might have 'let out' to much of myself so I deleted it after feeling silly.
@@chiekokurokumo Luckily, I make copies of most things I write on my Windows sticky notes.
Repost 1: Regarding Indecision, I sometimes don't like how something sounds when I read it, but I found that by using the MS Word 'Read Aloud' feature I can hear it through the voice of a different person, and it somewhat helps when I am not the one re-re-re-reading it again and again. It also lets me figure out if my paragraphs make sense.
Regarding tone, theme, and style of writing, I search for authors that write similar stuff to what I am attempting. I read at least 1 work from 3 or 4 authors then I try to mimic 'The Feeling' of their genre. This helps set brackets around my thought processes and allows me to turn them into a thread. Of course, this is just one way I do it. We tend to use the same process in Game Design, it's how we're able to jump from one project to the other so fast. From 'Crysis 3' to 'Barbie's Island Adventure' to 'FIFA'.
I did not yet suffer burnout, probably due to drinking too many energy drinks and becoming super hyper or because I am currently at the beginning of my journey.
Regarding flow, I use music to start it. I finish 6 hours later after the energy drink wears off.
Regarding being discovered, it's the same with Game Development. You can create the best game in your career and, because the market is fluctuating, you end up with a flop. Then you spend no time on another game and it ends up a success.
@@chiekokurokumo
Repost 2: Regarding Revising & Editing, I usually fall into the trap of doing this after every paragraph, every scene, and every chapter I write, and I feel like I am losing too much time on it, but I can't move on to the next stage unless I am please with what I have. If it wasn't for this phase I would write 20-30 pages per day.
Ideas come easy to me, structuring stories, and world-building, are misdemeanors, but adding fluff, revising & editing are a hassle.
Regarding hyphens, I usually do the same but find that by adding the text that comes after them at the end of paragraphs I can usually replace them with a ',' or have them set up as a separate sentence, within the same paragraphs. But if the hyphens need to be in the middle of the idea, then I use them - as hyphens - or place the text (within brackets). In the Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien experiments with both methods in the first chapter, and the most recent edition - the one that you also showed in one of your videos - still has both methods.
As for Revising, I usually mark the revised text with red and then either read the section without it or try and re-write it. Here is some Game Design knowledge: Do not fall in love with a fix just because you placed a lot of effort into it, but fall in love with the problem and you will have many other fixes to choose from. The death of your ego opens the gates of creation. It is also best to fail fast, before you put too much effort into something than to try to make a bad idea work.
As for Beta readers, I either have people who don't want to upset me or people who flame me. Finding a 'balanced' beta reader is hard and the sites I use for this are hit and miss.
Regarding marketing, I am used to other people selling stuff.
Haha. That is so me! I also doubt my internet rants... and usually I also end up saving them (but in notepad). @@TheNigel01
Yeah. You mention "mimicking" authors in the genre you are targeting. This is exactly what I do as well. It's also helpful to know your competition ahead of time. Kind of like market research!
I figured that there is some overlap in terms of creative processing between writing a book and creating a game. Definitely you can come out with what you know to be your personal best, but as you say, the market is never certain!
I also love music. I have a massive "long music mix" where I collect various music mixes for various genres that I write for myself or clients. I lean toward tea and coffee for my drinks though.
Yeah, for revising and editing, I tend to only do basic proofreading as I go along. I only look it over after I'm done the entire book. :) This helps me just focus on getting the draft out. When I ghostwrite, the clients hire editors, so I don't usually worry about revising/editing. For my own books, I rely on a few good friends who have degrees in literature or teaching English. They get back to me about plot holes or weird quirks that come and go in my writing. Editing, I handle on my own. But yes. Good beta readers are hard to come by.
Marketing is a whole other beast. I agree that it's better to get help in that area, for sure!
Lali-ho, perfect to listen to and think about before bed time!
o/ Lali-ho! I hope you're doing well and enjoyed this laidback chat about writing.
@@chiekokurokumo I very much did and hope you are doing fine as well :)
I think copying /rewriting the methods of poets and writers makes the most sense....artists do it
100% agree. Something I learned from you! :)
I'm at the 'uhhhhhhhh' stage of my writing journey. Lol
Hahaha. Tough stage! Usually "uhhh..." is followed by "ahhh" or "ummm." :P
I think, if you don't like editing/revising, then you really aren't suitable for professional writing. Unless, of course, you can sell your not-fully-edited scripts. Because if you're commissioned to writing a piece, you should calculate the efforts and budgets of editing (revising the piece to suit your clients' demands).
Personally, I can edit for days, but I'm too lazy to do any meaningful marketing, so I know I would never make it as a professional writer. In my country, an editor's job includes marketing too, so I couldn't even work as a serious editor in some publisher company.
It depends, for me, on the writing, and, of course, as you note, industry standards vary from place to place. Generally, I believe that if you want to publish, self-publish, or write for an agency, you have to be ready to edit and revise ... or at least accept other people's edits and revisions with good grace. I know some people who wanted to publish but couldn't handle the smallest critique, so they wouldn't show their writing to the public. In which case, it's best if they don't push themselves to seek out editors and the like, keeping their own writing personal and sharing it only with family and friends. This is just fine. However, in my line of work (long form ghostwriting), editors of various types (line and substantive) come in and do the editing/revising for me. After writing a 90,000 word novel, I am in no state to edit or revise, so separate services are offered which handle that. While I am capable of editing and revising, it's always a bit more difficult when it's your own work. Furthermore, on the platform I work for, the client takes the final polished draft and seeks marketing help elsewhere. Editors in Canada aren't expected to market. But that's for long-form. Things might be different in terms of blogs or online zines.