I know this video is old. But I love your point for new writers " write your ending" this gives you something to look forward too and the good and bad days. Thank you for this. Sometimes I catch myself in a rut....this advice is golden. Will work on my ending soon!
I'll just say that one of my life goals is to have bookshelves like yours (also, thank you for these videos - I find them tremendously inspiring and helpful. Last week I finished reading A Darker Shade of Magic and I'm about the start the next book and I'm super excited. Thanks again for being great xx)
Honestly, thank you so much for these RUclips videos, its so damn helpful! I'm sure its not easy, and you have a billion other things you need to be doing, but I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate this.
Thank you for the video. It's comforting to know that someone else writes by "connecting the dots." I always feel like I'm doing it wrong because I'm not writing linearly.
I plan the initial outline but leave the getting from A to B to C for open exploration. Some of the best parts of my story so far are the ones I didn't plan.
Coming back on this video and feeling invigorated to continue writing. I have an outline and ideas but motivation keeps stalling as it’s been a while but this motivates immensely. Thank you so much. Also LOVE the fencing shirt.
That's a really good way to think of writing the ending first and having a few nodes. Bite size goals and an anchor at the end both sound really useful.
I began writing a novel as a plotter and ended up facing just the problem you describe -- boredom with the story I basically already knew. Overcorrecting, I became a pantser and, in the rewrite, ended up facing just the problem you describe -- venturing way out in the wrong direction (by ~60,000 words). Finally, I became a connect-the-dotser like you and rewrote the book to a successful conclusion (if it still has the problem of a too-high word count). Thank you for the advice about writing the ending first. That intuitively feels like a good way to do it.
I’ve never written the end before the end because I feel like I need to earn it, I need to have that journey with my characters and story before I have the right to that end. But I LOVE the idea of writing the end as a motivation to keep going on the bad days, I never thought of it that way before! I think I might take your advice and do it!
Thanks for sharing. I like the connecting the dots method. Wonder what those beats look like. Are they key points? Big changes in the plot or character arch? Jumping cat! Love it! It helps. Did enjoy the Oliver sighting. :)
I think I am similar to you. I generally have plot points I want to get to, but no idea of how to get there. The thing that I get hung up on is the fear of not being able to get from place to place, or that I won't be able to figure it out. It can make me really freeze up if I'm like "I know where they're going but I can't! get! them! there!!!" :P I know this gets a little better in drafts, but still. Makes my anxiety go nuts (although plotting is not something I can do either so I mostly throw my hands in the air and hope for a good brain day). This was a really nice discussion, though, thank you! Also Oliver is the most dapper of cats. I love him.
The first time I heard somebody talk about this way of writing was when I went to your book event for This Savage Song in Edinburgh; you literally changed my life, because up till then, that is pretty much how I wrote too... and none of my friends write like that (most being plotters, some being pantsers). I'm the only one of them all who has never managed to reach the ending of a story, and I used to think it was because my way of writing was screwed up. Thank you so much - you are awesome and nailed it on the head with this talk about being a connect-the-dotser. And Oliver.
It's so amazing you take the time to do these videos. It's so helpful to hear someone who has already had success with their writing discuss the process/writing in general. So glad you're doing this!
This is what I'm trying to do with my next novel! On my first story I wandered about 50k in the wrong direction. I didn't start the novel out with any guides and that really made it hard to know where I was going. This time around, I'm not trying to over plan, because I know I'll get bored and if I have no plan it won't get done. And the ending is definitely one of the first things I'm working on. Thanks for your writing wisdom!
These videos are so great! I believe that most people are some combination of pantser/plotter. I don't really believe you can be 100% one or the other. Maybe you'll get to this in a later video, but I would love to know what your editing process is like. I've finished the first draft of my first book recently and have been going through writing the second draft. I would love to know how you begin the editing process, how much you edit from first draft to final (in terms of changes, draft count, etc.), and what kinds of changes you make, if there are specific things you do with each round of edits. Thank you again for these videos!
Your advice has been so helpful for me on this new journey I am taking. I could never get in to plotting for the exact reason you stated. Pantsing just had me sloshing through my book basically in the dark. I'm glad there is a third option. I will give it a try.
You have no idea how helpful this is and actually I would love to hear more (particularly about reverse engineering the characters and at what point you do worldbuilding -before or after a character appears in your head-). It's so amazing to hear about another connect-the-dots writer because there is a lot of material out there for plotters but not so much for pantsers and I have seen bear to nothing on connecting the dots (which I recently found out makes the difference between a finished draft and a sad pile of half written scenes for me!). I'm going to try the writing the ending advice because I know my ending but haven't written it because I don't know exactly how everyone gets to that point. But my characters know so why not?! Oh please keep making these and keep writing because you and your gift for words are most certainly made of magic!
Always late to the party but - yeeey I love this seriers! Really appreciate your transparency, it’s so generous. Would love to see more material! All the best from Sweden :)
I listen to and read a LOT of books, articles, interviews, etc about craft and I have never heard your tip about writing the end. It makes so much sense! Thank you so much for this unique insight! Can't wait to try it 😊 (also love: "at least you got an Oliver in there" haha)
Oliver is adorable. I will take ten. I plan on writing the ending first for my next book. I know it will feel strange at first, but if writing queen V. E. Schwab does it, then it must be worth a try. :D
As always so interested to hear more about your writing process! I find I have so many notes on the worlds I am writing but I write a vague outline based on the events I want to build up to (which also changes as I am writing but it works as a nice enough guide) It gives me a nice balance of remaining commited and at the same time not pantsing (which I tried at the start and would always quit a few chapters in.) Writing from the end sounds so interesting and reverse engineering your characters is something I can definetely see from your books. How does writing the end work in a series? Do you write the end of the book you are working on or have you also written the end of the series? Personally I find that wanting to write the end is what keeps me writing, it is like climbing a mountain and wanting to get to the top. Oliver's surprise appearance was the best plot twist I have ever witnessed!
Oliver!!!! For my first draft, I knew my beginning and ending and just word-vomited the whole story. For my second draft, which I stopped halfway through, I connected the dots (which I think is my favorite.) For my third draft, I changed basically everything and made an outline. I'm probably going to be like 99 when the book is done, but whatever!
I really appreciated this video. It's just what I needed to help with my current project which is definitely taking shape in a connect-the-dots kind of way. I found what you said about the importance of knowing who your characters are at the end very insightful (and reassuring, as I'm still trying to figure out who mine are at the beginning). Thank you! I'm looking forward to more of this series :)
Thank you for this. I don't know if the ending thing will work for me, but I might try it. And I love the idea of connecting the dots. I'm going to try that with my current WIP now.
I start by pantsing. Once I'm a couple thousand words in and getting stuck, I start thinking "ok, so what are some interesting scenes that could be included in the later parts of the novel?" That's when I start adding, for example, a 'moment of despair', 'moment of joy', the ending etc... So I guess that in a way I'm also a 'connect the dots' type of writer. I'm pretty much all over my novel. In the early phases it's just a bunch of interesting moments and descriptions.
I've always loved going to see you on tour because your advice has always really resonated with me and I absolutely LOVE that now I have videos where I can listen to your excellent advice right when I need it! I love these videos
I love your shirt! (And the bookshelves, always.) I seem to hear the advice of combining pantsing and plotting from a lot of authors in different ways. Brandon Sanderson, for example, says he outlines his plot thoroughly before writing so he can plan powerful endings but discovery writes characters to make them feel more authentic. I admit when I first learned these different writing approaches I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out which one worked better for me--am I an outliner or a discovery writer???--before I saw them as tools that I need to find my own way to incorporate together. (Still working on that.) Writing the ending first sounds like an idea I'd like to try! Thanks for these videos; they are super helpful to motivate me in writing. You also uploaded this in the middle of my Sunday evening writing group, so I shared it and now my friend is upset because you made him want to write a novel :) Hehe. (P.S. This comment is brought to you by procrastination and the pretense that I'm working on something productive while in fact I'm just typing this. Sorry it's a bit long; as soon as I hit "Comment" I have to go back to actually writing.)
These videos are perfect, even if it's just validating something I've been doing already, it's nice to see a pro doing the same! Thank you so much for these videos
These videos are so freakin amazing. I love seeing you on Instagram and twitter, but I really feel like we are getting to know you with these videos! and I love it!!! :}
I am finding these videos very helpful as I used to write but then let life get in the way. How you do decide how many pieces of plot will make a fleshed out story. I used to have this problem. I would loosely outlined plot points but then when I wrote the story, it was just too short, and I had problems fully fleshing it out.
About 6 years late to this party. I'm still trying to come up with a system and I've never finished a book (I have about three ongoing). I tend to think of a character, setting, and a "what if" statement....I never know the ending and I think it's killing my chances of finishing. How do you commit to an ending? I keep coming up with several ways something can end and so I basically get stuck around 50K because I don't know the path to the end. Do you just commit to one and hope that works out?
I tried full outlining once and I wrote so much that I got bored of the story. Lol. But not outlining at all just means I quit too easily. This new WIP I'm on, I did similar to what you suggested, though it was more bullet points set in acts. So I have Act 1 and 2 sort of pointed out but act 3 with the end is none existent at the moment. I'm thinking I'm going to have to come up with some sort of ending. It doesn't matter if that ending changes along the way, does it? Lol. I don't deal with pressure even pressure of my own making. Ugh. Gonna have to get over that. Thanks so much with these videos. XD p.s. Were your bookshelves in the previous videos? I don't remember them. But now I noticed them I can't tear my eyes away. Ohhh so pretty!
You say you write the ending first. Is it the same with the ending of the end of a series? Or the end of each book in a series? Also, I really like the concept of connecting the dots--would love to see how that actually looks like on paper. An example. Thank you so much for these videos. You are helping me more than you know! :-)
I know this video is old. But I love your point for new writers " write your ending" this gives you something to look forward too and the good and bad days. Thank you for this. Sometimes I catch myself in a rut....this advice is golden. Will work on my ending soon!
I'll just say that one of my life goals is to have bookshelves like yours (also, thank you for these videos - I find them tremendously inspiring and helpful. Last week I finished reading A Darker Shade of Magic and I'm about the start the next book and I'm super excited. Thanks again for being great xx)
Honestly, thank you so much for these RUclips videos, its so damn helpful! I'm sure its not easy, and you have a billion other things you need to be doing, but I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate this.
Thank you for the video. It's comforting to know that someone else writes by "connecting the dots." I always feel like I'm doing it wrong because I'm not writing linearly.
I plan the initial outline but leave the getting from A to B to C for open exploration. Some of the best parts of my story so far are the ones I didn't plan.
Coming back on this video and feeling invigorated to continue writing. I have an outline and ideas but motivation keeps stalling as it’s been a while but this motivates immensely. Thank you so much. Also LOVE the fencing shirt.
That's a really good way to think of writing the ending first and having a few nodes. Bite size goals and an anchor at the end both sound really useful.
I began writing a novel as a plotter and ended up facing just the problem you describe -- boredom with the story I basically already knew. Overcorrecting, I became a pantser and, in the rewrite, ended up facing just the problem you describe -- venturing way out in the wrong direction (by ~60,000 words). Finally, I became a connect-the-dotser like you and rewrote the book to a successful conclusion (if it still has the problem of a too-high word count). Thank you for the advice about writing the ending first. That intuitively feels like a good way to do it.
Lol.
THE V.E Schwab? Unbelievable.
Glad to know that there are other people who write the ending first!
I like the connecting the dots method, thank you for sharing it with us
I agree, there needs to be a balance between pantser and plotter. I will try your strategy! :)
I’ve never written the end before the end because I feel like I need to earn it, I need to have that journey with my characters and story before I have the right to that end. But I LOVE the idea of writing the end as a motivation to keep going on the bad days, I never thought of it that way before! I think I might take your advice and do it!
It's been a month since I came to know about u & your books, & trust me I have fallen n love with your work
Super early 😊😊😊
I can never get over your book shelves~ ❤️
Thanks for sharing. I like the connecting the dots method. Wonder what those beats look like. Are they key points? Big changes in the plot or character arch? Jumping cat! Love it! It helps. Did enjoy the Oliver sighting. :)
I think I am similar to you. I generally have plot points I want to get to, but no idea of how to get there. The thing that I get hung up on is the fear of not being able to get from place to place, or that I won't be able to figure it out. It can make me really freeze up if I'm like "I know where they're going but I can't! get! them! there!!!" :P I know this gets a little better in drafts, but still. Makes my anxiety go nuts (although plotting is not something I can do either so I mostly throw my hands in the air and hope for a good brain day). This was a really nice discussion, though, thank you! Also Oliver is the most dapper of cats. I love him.
I am living for these videos right now! Thank you and say hello to Oliver - he is legendary!
The first time I heard somebody talk about this way of writing was when I went to your book event for This Savage Song in Edinburgh; you literally changed my life, because up till then, that is pretty much how I wrote too... and none of my friends write like that (most being plotters, some being pantsers). I'm the only one of them all who has never managed to reach the ending of a story, and I used to think it was because my way of writing was screwed up. Thank you so much - you are awesome and nailed it on the head with this talk about being a connect-the-dotser.
And Oliver.
It's so amazing you take the time to do these videos. It's so helpful to hear someone who has already had success with their writing discuss the process/writing in general. So glad you're doing this!
This is what I'm trying to do with my next novel! On my first story I wandered about 50k in the wrong direction. I didn't start the novel out with any guides and that really made it hard to know where I was going. This time around, I'm not trying to over plan, because I know I'll get bored and if I have no plan it won't get done. And the ending is definitely one of the first things I'm working on. Thanks for your writing wisdom!
These videos are so great! I believe that most people are some combination of pantser/plotter. I don't really believe you can be 100% one or the other. Maybe you'll get to this in a later video, but I would love to know what your editing process is like. I've finished the first draft of my first book recently and have been going through writing the second draft. I would love to know how you begin the editing process, how much you edit from first draft to final (in terms of changes, draft count, etc.), and what kinds of changes you make, if there are specific things you do with each round of edits. Thank you again for these videos!
Your advice has been so helpful for me on this new journey I am taking. I could never get in to plotting for the exact reason you stated. Pantsing just had me sloshing through my book basically in the dark. I'm glad there is a third option. I will give it a try.
You have no idea how helpful this is and actually I would love to hear more (particularly about reverse engineering the characters and at what point you do worldbuilding -before or after a character appears in your head-). It's so amazing to hear about another connect-the-dots writer because there is a lot of material out there for plotters but not so much for pantsers and I have seen bear to nothing on connecting the dots (which I recently found out makes the difference between a finished draft and a sad pile of half written scenes for me!). I'm going to try the writing the ending advice because I know my ending but haven't written it because I don't know exactly how everyone gets to that point. But my characters know so why not?! Oh please keep making these and keep writing because you and your gift for words are most certainly made of magic!
Always late to the party but - yeeey I love this seriers! Really appreciate your transparency, it’s so generous. Would love to see more material! All the best from Sweden :)
I listen to and read a LOT of books, articles, interviews, etc about craft and I have never heard your tip about writing the end. It makes so much sense! Thank you so much for this unique insight! Can't wait to try it 😊 (also love: "at least you got an Oliver in there" haha)
I love this advice.
Oliver is adorable. I will take ten.
I plan on writing the ending first for my next book. I know it will feel strange at first, but if writing queen V. E. Schwab does it, then it must be worth a try. :D
Thank you for these! These videos are one of my favorite things. You inspire me so much.
As always so interested to hear more about your writing process! I find I have so many notes on the worlds I am writing but I write a vague outline based on the events I want to build up to (which also changes as I am writing but it works as a nice enough guide) It gives me a nice balance of remaining commited and at the same time not pantsing (which I tried at the start and would always quit a few chapters in.) Writing from the end sounds so interesting and reverse engineering your characters is something I can definetely see from your books. How does writing the end work in a series? Do you write the end of the book you are working on or have you also written the end of the series?
Personally I find that wanting to write the end is what keeps me writing, it is like climbing a mountain and wanting to get to the top.
Oliver's surprise appearance was the best plot twist I have ever witnessed!
Oliver!!!!
For my first draft, I knew my beginning and ending and just word-vomited the whole story. For my second draft, which I stopped halfway through, I connected the dots (which I think is my favorite.) For my third draft, I changed basically everything and made an outline.
I'm probably going to be like 99 when the book is done, but whatever!
thank you so much for these videos they help me so much when i write.
I really appreciated this video. It's just what I needed to help with my current project which is definitely taking shape in a connect-the-dots kind of way. I found what you said about the importance of knowing who your characters are at the end very insightful (and reassuring, as I'm still trying to figure out who mine are at the beginning). Thank you! I'm looking forward to more of this series :)
Thank you for this. I don't know if the ending thing will work for me, but I might try it. And I love the idea of connecting the dots. I'm going to try that with my current WIP now.
great advice from a great author
I start by pantsing. Once I'm a couple thousand words in and getting stuck, I start thinking "ok, so what are some interesting scenes that could be included in the later parts of the novel?" That's when I start adding, for example, a 'moment of despair', 'moment of joy', the ending etc... So I guess that in a way I'm also a 'connect the dots' type of writer. I'm pretty much all over my novel. In the early phases it's just a bunch of interesting moments and descriptions.
THANKS A LOT VICTORIA!! i have never thought about the endings, maybe thats why i got stucked.very helpful advice thanks!!
I've always loved going to see you on tour because your advice has always really resonated with me and I absolutely LOVE that now I have videos where I can listen to your excellent advice right when I need it! I love these videos
This video was everything that I needed to hear today. Thank you for everything! This are so amazing and helpful and I love them so much.
I love your shirt! (And the bookshelves, always.)
I seem to hear the advice of combining pantsing and plotting from a lot of authors in different ways. Brandon Sanderson, for example, says he outlines his plot thoroughly before writing so he can plan powerful endings but discovery writes characters to make them feel more authentic. I admit when I first learned these different writing approaches I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out which one worked better for me--am I an outliner or a discovery writer???--before I saw them as tools that I need to find my own way to incorporate together. (Still working on that.) Writing the ending first sounds like an idea I'd like to try!
Thanks for these videos; they are super helpful to motivate me in writing. You also uploaded this in the middle of my Sunday evening writing group, so I shared it and now my friend is upset because you made him want to write a novel :) Hehe.
(P.S. This comment is brought to you by procrastination and the pretense that I'm working on something productive while in fact I'm just typing this. Sorry it's a bit long; as soon as I hit "Comment" I have to go back to actually writing.)
These videos are perfect, even if it's just validating something I've been doing already, it's nice to see a pro doing the same! Thank you so much for these videos
These videos are so freakin amazing. I love seeing you on Instagram and twitter, but I really feel like we are getting to know you with these videos! and I love it!!! :}
This video was my salvation lol Thanks for sharing your method with us!
I am finding these videos very helpful as I used to write but then let life get in the way. How you do decide how many pieces of plot will make a fleshed out story. I used to have this problem. I would loosely outlined plot points but then when I wrote the story, it was just too short, and I had problems fully fleshing it out.
This is so helpful, thank you so much! (And Oliver too!!!~)
I need a video of you talking about how you wrote vicious
OH I do this exact same thing! Connect the dots er. Love that. And you.
I'm a definitive pantser. I can't plan worth a damn 😂
About 6 years late to this party. I'm still trying to come up with a system and I've never finished a book (I have about three ongoing). I tend to think of a character, setting, and a "what if" statement....I never know the ending and I think it's killing my chances of finishing. How do you commit to an ending? I keep coming up with several ways something can end and so I basically get stuck around 50K because I don't know the path to the end. Do you just commit to one and hope that works out?
I tried full outlining once and I wrote so much that I got bored of the story. Lol. But not outlining at all just means I quit too easily. This new WIP I'm on, I did similar to what you suggested, though it was more bullet points set in acts. So I have Act 1 and 2 sort of pointed out but act 3 with the end is none existent at the moment. I'm thinking I'm going to have to come up with some sort of ending. It doesn't matter if that ending changes along the way, does it? Lol. I don't deal with pressure even pressure of my own making. Ugh. Gonna have to get over that. Thanks so much with these videos. XD p.s. Were your bookshelves in the previous videos? I don't remember them. But now I noticed them I can't tear my eyes away. Ohhh so pretty!
You say you write the ending first. Is it the same with the ending of the end of a series? Or the end of each book in a series? Also, I really like the concept of connecting the dots--would love to see how that actually looks like on paper. An example. Thank you so much for these videos. You are helping me more than you know! :-)
I feel the write by the dots, but I have to ask, is your cat's name Oliver, like the cat from Oliver and company?
HOW DID I NOT KNOW V.E. SCHWAB WAS A RUclipsR
You’re the best
Athos disliked this
I was here first ❤Heyyy, I was waiting for this so hard ;;