Years ago I had a good friend who was an editor at The New Yorker magazine. She showed me a stack of original manuscripts side-by-side what actually got printed. Famous names, all. Hilarious. Incontrovertible proof that most good writers can't write either! Editors are the heroes of the writing world. You might wonder (as I did) why they don't just skip the writers and let the editors produce the articles. Apparently apparently it's two very different skills. Moreover, just because a writer can successfully edit another person's work doesn't mean they can look at their own dispassionately. Maybe we'd all be better writers if we worked in teams with each person editing the other's work.
"This is what happens when you read too much and don't talk enough." LOL... That was great phrase to which I can relate. When I'm not at work I'm quiet and to myself. I spend a lot of time either in meditation or reading or writing about it. Then I meet a random person in the grocery store on the weekend and feel like I forgot how to talk. Watching this video has me thinking, "I just might be, not just a writer, but a good writer?" Lol... I don't even consider myself a writer. I just like doing it. (I read once that every writer has a word that they overuse and must delete and I'm sure you just realized mine, lol.) Thank you for doing what you do! Jason from Denver
You can definitely call yourself a writer! I think many people do it too late because they undersell themselves when, in reality, they're a much better writer than they think they are. It sounds like you're on the right way to be a great writer. You got this!
i never really liked writing nor reading when i was younger. but recently i’ve been daydreaming often and now i’m just compiling it all into one story because i don’t want to forget it😭 so i wrote down everything that i’ve been daydreaming and i finalized all the characters, plot, settings, chapters in like less than 2 days. so now i’m just writing it all in as much detail as possible, idk why. i honestly see it as more of a movie/ tv show because it’s all just too movie-like to be wrote down because it just doesn’t hit the same on a book than imagining the scene, and all the dramatic plots. but oh well, i really like writing it overall, it’s very calming and i like giving the characters so much detail that you could physically see them in front of you. i still don’t like reading that much, but i absolutely love writing😭
I've slowed down more this year (last year I was going for 40-50 posts a month) and felt frustrated why I couldn't do that this year. I used to shame myself for being lazy and also not good enough to write, period. But point 9 is really spot on and helped me think that maybe this is actually a sign that I am carefully considering what to do next and what I should do differently, even if other people still seem to be mass-producing effortlessly and bragging about it on highlight reels. Thanks for another awesome video!
It's definitely a good sign. You should never stress yourself to churn out content when it doesn't feel right. So take your time and don't feel pressured by others!
Thanks, Zulie. Powerful, positive video! These all make sense, and #8 especially sparked some inspiration for a blog - I'm a word hoarder/lifelong learner/thesaurus wannabe.
#nailedit 😂 I have every single sign 😂 Side Note: your reference to reading the encyclopedia helps me feel younger - thank you from this middle aged mama! ❤
hey zulie thanks to your encouragement in your videos to beginners i finally had the courage to published my first Article on medium the other day After months of procrastination and it was so scary and hard because i knew my writing skills are just Awful , despite this video of yours is telling me i could be good ...but to be honest it felt So good hitting that publish button
Congrats! Publishing your first story is such a big milestone. And doubting your work shows your on the right track. Keep going, and you'll get better!
Zulie, another great post from you. I enjoyed watching your nine signs. Recently, a former lover of mine told me she does not like how I play with words all the time. This includes my dropping in elements of other languages. Like how the Brits say, "Ama-zin," as opposed to the across the pond pronunciation of 'ama-zonn." That really cut deep. I've been bungling up words on pourpose, (intended) since I was a wee child. Being punny is also something I take pride in. Double-meaning words, too. She is brilliant at math, me, eh, not so much. So yes, I am definitely a word hoarder. I have my Mac versions of a Dictionary and another for a Thesaurus. But I also keep one less than 2' feet way from my writing desk. A printed dictionary, too. Next to those books is my Bible, and Barret's Familiar Quotations. And you are hillarious about journals. My daughters have come to know that dear old Dad enjoying journaling in composition note books. There is a stack of some 30 notebooks for my Morning Pages (see Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way), and while looking at this screen, I can turn my eyes slightly to the left and see a stack of yet to be filled composition notebooks. To keep which one is the active one, I bought a leather cover (brown) for my Morning Pages and now, some Bullet Journaling. But I also have a black leather cover for the notebook that contains my current writing ideas and notes. Thank again you for this post. It's good to hear from other writers who share some of the same experiences and tendancies that one very dear to me, simply does not understand.
I don’t hoard journals and I don’t have itchy fingers, but other than that you got me pegged. Have you read Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris? A series of short articles about the author’s love of books. It has a chapter about discovering new words which you reminded me of. Another favorite of mine is Daniel Pennac’s Reads Like a Novel.
You mitigated some of my self-doubts with the points :) I can relate to soo many, wow, the itchy hands and word hoarding. Totally "guilty" of that! Still, each time I read a story, blog post that's really well written, even a fanfic, I feel so impressed and I feel I could never craft something like that..
I was just second guessing myself after having some horrible Medium views- then my first NewsBreak article got 300,000 in 24 hours. I’m excited to watch this video and see what you have to say! Personally, I put too much value in views & the algorithm- if the numbers flop, I think the content must be awful. But it isn’t always true!
I think what makes you a really great writer it's just not about the grammar and punctuation, but it's really about let's say okay I'm a black woman that was raised in proverty but I can write a book or screenplay about a white man white woman, Hispanic man, Hispanic woman besides writing about a black woman or black man. I notice I'm a black woman but I can write a story about a Latino guy, white guy and etc. If I can do all that stereo type then now that makes me a really great writer because I read some books and they only write caucasian characters because the author is caucasian but they will never write black characters, or Spanish characters. Like with me I'm a black woman so writing a story about a black woman will be more easier because I'm black and know how black people act so that really want make me a good writer only a good story teller. Another example is I'm a grown black woman but I can write a book about a black little girl, white little girl, and a Hispanic little girl and boy. I am a writer and I write about all types of people besides just black people
Idk why I thought blogs and sites I read didn’t qualify me as someone who likes to read. I don’t have a million books so I thought. Hmm I must not be one who likes to read 😅 if i have an interest in wanting to learn a specific topic, I google, and read research read and so on.
Years ago I had a good friend who was an editor at The New Yorker magazine. She showed me a stack of original manuscripts side-by-side what actually got printed. Famous names, all. Hilarious. Incontrovertible proof that most good writers can't write either! Editors are the heroes of the writing world. You might wonder (as I did) why they don't just skip the writers and let the editors produce the articles. Apparently apparently it's two very different skills. Moreover, just because a writer can successfully edit another person's work doesn't mean they can look at their own dispassionately. Maybe we'd all be better writers if we worked in teams with each person editing the other's work.
Such an encouraging story, thanks for sharing! Just goes to show that it's always a good idea to get another pair of eyeballs on your work!
"This is what happens when you read too much and don't talk enough." LOL... That was great phrase to which I can relate. When I'm not at work I'm quiet and to myself. I spend a lot of time either in meditation or reading or writing about it. Then I meet a random person in the grocery store on the weekend and feel like I forgot how to talk.
Watching this video has me thinking, "I just might be, not just a writer, but a good writer?" Lol... I don't even consider myself a writer. I just like doing it. (I read once that every writer has a word that they overuse and must delete and I'm sure you just realized mine, lol.)
Thank you for doing what you do!
Jason from Denver
You can definitely call yourself a writer! I think many people do it too late because they undersell themselves when, in reality, they're a much better writer than they think they are. It sounds like you're on the right way to be a great writer. You got this!
i never really liked writing nor reading when i was younger. but recently i’ve been daydreaming often and now i’m just compiling it all into one story because i don’t want to forget it😭 so i wrote down everything that i’ve been daydreaming and i finalized all the characters, plot, settings, chapters in like less than 2 days. so now i’m just writing it all in as much detail as possible, idk why. i honestly see it as more of a movie/ tv show because it’s all just too movie-like to be wrote down because it just doesn’t hit the same on a book than imagining the scene, and all the dramatic plots. but oh well, i really like writing it overall, it’s very calming and i like giving the characters so much detail that you could physically see them in front of you. i still don’t like reading that much, but i absolutely love writing😭
I've slowed down more this year (last year I was going for 40-50 posts a month) and felt frustrated why I couldn't do that this year. I used to shame myself for being lazy and also not good enough to write, period. But point 9 is really spot on and helped me think that maybe this is actually a sign that I am carefully considering what to do next and what I should do differently, even if other people still seem to be mass-producing effortlessly and bragging about it on highlight reels. Thanks for another awesome video!
It's definitely a good sign. You should never stress yourself to churn out content when it doesn't feel right. So take your time and don't feel pressured by others!
Thanks, Zulie. Powerful, positive video! These all make sense, and #8 especially sparked some inspiration for a blog - I'm a word hoarder/lifelong learner/thesaurus wannabe.
Glad it was helpful! Keep on hoarding those words!
#nailedit 😂 I have every single sign 😂 Side Note: your reference to reading the encyclopedia helps me feel younger - thank you from this middle aged mama! ❤
hey zulie thanks to your encouragement in your videos to beginners i finally had the courage to published my first Article on medium the other day After months of procrastination
and it was so scary and hard because i knew my writing skills are just Awful , despite this video of yours is telling me i could be good
...but to be honest it felt So good hitting that publish button
Congrats! Publishing your first story is such a big milestone. And doubting your work shows your on the right track. Keep going, and you'll get better!
I am sooo assuaged! Yay for you. I've been so antsy over the time I'm taking on my current novel efforts. So Thanks!
Zulie, another great post from you. I enjoyed watching your nine signs. Recently, a former lover of mine told me she does not like how I play with words all the time. This includes my dropping in elements of other languages. Like how the Brits say, "Ama-zin," as opposed to the across the pond pronunciation of 'ama-zonn." That really cut deep. I've been bungling up words on pourpose, (intended) since I was a wee child. Being punny is also something I take pride in. Double-meaning words, too. She is brilliant at math, me, eh, not so much. So yes, I am definitely a word hoarder. I have my Mac versions of a Dictionary and another for a Thesaurus. But I also keep one less than 2' feet way from my writing desk. A printed dictionary, too. Next to those books is my Bible, and Barret's Familiar Quotations. And you are hillarious about journals. My daughters have come to know that dear old Dad enjoying journaling in composition note books. There is a stack of some 30 notebooks for my Morning Pages (see Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way), and while looking at this screen, I can turn my eyes slightly to the left and see a stack of yet to be filled composition notebooks. To keep which one is the active one, I bought a leather cover (brown) for my Morning Pages and now, some Bullet Journaling. But I also have a black leather cover for the notebook that contains my current writing ideas and notes. Thank again you for this post. It's good to hear from other writers who share some of the same experiences and tendancies that one very dear to me, simply does not understand.
Wow, you're the perfect role model for any journal or word hoarder! Love your journal collection. Thank you so much for sharing!
Again, I enjoyed the video. Some points were quite relatable. I definitely need to read more :)
Thanks again for assuaging my doubts 😄
Glad you found it serendipitous!
@@ZulieWrites 🙂
Love the bloopers at the end. Unique touch ;)
Haha, glad you liked them!
Thank you Zulie!!!
I don’t hoard journals and I don’t have itchy fingers, but other than that you got me pegged.
Have you read Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris? A series of short articles about the author’s love of books. It has a chapter about discovering new words which you reminded me of. Another favorite of mine is Daniel Pennac’s Reads Like a Novel.
I feel much better now, thanks ;)
Glad I could help!
You mitigated some of my self-doubts with the points :) I can relate to soo many, wow, the itchy hands and word hoarding. Totally "guilty" of that! Still, each time I read a story, blog post that's really well written, even a fanfic, I feel so impressed and I feel I could never craft something like that..
Thank you for a well presented video with valid useful tips and suggestions...I also loved your bloopers!!! Well done!!! Thanks for sharing!!! 😊
Dear God, if I hear Without Further Ado one more time on CZcams today, I'm gonna lose it!!
9/9. Encouraging.
Uh-oh, Zulie. I hope being way off with #5 sometimes doesn't disqualify me! Or maybe I could just re-write things with MY failed plot twists... 😂
Haha, not at all. Maybe this is your writing superpower!
I was just second guessing myself after having some horrible Medium views- then my first NewsBreak article got 300,000 in 24 hours.
I’m excited to watch this video and see what you have to say! Personally, I put too much value in views & the algorithm- if the numbers flop, I think the content must be awful. But it isn’t always true!
Wow what a great 👍 Content!
Now this video can help me to start my Blog. Thank you so much for this Amazing and great 👍 Content.
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
I think what makes you a really great writer it's just not about the grammar and punctuation, but it's really about let's say okay I'm a black woman that was raised in proverty but I can write a book or screenplay about a white man white woman, Hispanic man, Hispanic woman besides writing about a black woman or black man. I notice I'm a black woman but I can write a story about a Latino guy, white guy and etc. If I can do all that stereo type then now that makes me a really great writer because I read some books and they only write caucasian characters because the author is caucasian but they will never write black characters, or Spanish characters. Like with me I'm a black woman so writing a story about a black woman will be more easier because I'm black and know how black people act so that really want make me a good writer only a good story teller. Another example is I'm a grown black woman but I can write a book about a black little girl, white little girl, and a Hispanic little girl and boy. I am a writer and I write about all types of people besides just black people
Soul Warming ;)
first 6 yes, last 3 no .......awesome video........
Great score, thanks for watching!
🙏
Idk why I thought blogs and sites I read didn’t qualify me as someone who likes to read. I don’t have a million books so I thought. Hmm I must not be one who likes to read 😅 if i have an interest in wanting to learn a specific topic, I google, and read research read and so on.
Plot twist: I only have first sign, so I am definitely a bad writer.
My writing is genuinely bad tho lmao.