Why You Can't Finish Your Fantasy Novel
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- Here's the four main reasons why you might be struggling.
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00:00 - Introduction
01:01 - The wrong motivation
08:40 - Poor planning
17:09 - Relying on discipline, not systems
20:59 - No enjoyment practice
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Been writing the same novel for 10 years... it'll be great when it's done I swear
Mood
Bro, I was in the exact same boat, worse because the specific novel I was writing went through about twenty different major variations before I finally settled on the final version of the same book I’d been working on for 10+ years. Just keep at it cause it was great when I finally finished it.
I believe. Keep writing, comrade. Get that masterpiece finished!
Listen. Listen to me, Mikey. YOU WILL DO THIS. You GOT this because all of these internet strangers (11 at this point) believe in you.
Lots of successful authors take a very long time writing the first book in a series, or one of their first books generally. Sarah J. Maas, for instance, says it took over 10 years to write the first book in one of her series, Throne of Glass. It takes a long ass time to create something sometimes, and that's okay.
I've been struggling with continuing my draft, I'll take this video as a sign
Keep going!
A crazy man once said; Do it. Just do it. Make your dreams come true.
The struggle is real, and it’s tough, but persevering will be entirely worth it.
Keep up the work, and I’m sure that you’ll love how it turns out.
You got this!!!
Same
I think my biggest problem is that i overthink it. I tend to have a low level of confidence and am always going back and changing things or adding more details even if i really shouldn't.
Id say keep going with your original stories and those random insecurities either ignore them or make comments in your storieas about them and when you are done read the story to yourself or a friend and then see how you feel with or without those changes.
Sounds a lot like when I can't separate my writer brain and my editor brain. I love the advice, "Write like no one is watching, because no one is watching." First draft means you can throw paint on the canvas. After it's done is when you can be analytical and tear things a part to build back up. You've got this!
what helps me is to write all those little alterations i want to make in another document and then go through and reread the first draft when im done and look back at the notes.
Keep the notes, but work on finishing the story first and edit later with the notes. your ideas may change and some of the suggestions you made in the alterations may no longer be applicable.
Remember, story scaffolding first. flesh out once you have a general plot outline.
I'm exactly the same... although my writing is mostly passion projects
same here
When I do an outline, I end up never writing the story. Mainly it's because I get all the ideas out and I lose motivation to actually write.
Same. I wish I wrote my outlines. Doing outline is a guarantees I won’t write that book.
Do a looser outline then. You don't need to write the story in the outline, but getting a feel for your characters and a general idea of the plot (or even just the end goal of the story) helps a lot
@@TypicalDev5 you don't understand the way my mind works. I lose the plot if I don't write about the characters. I do character sheets or I forget. I might write the goal but I can't write more or I will never write the story.
I have severe mental health problems. You talk like it is just this easy. It is not just that easy for me. If I write too much about anything I mentally view it as done.
I have had simple outlines before and forgot what the idea was. Again it is because of my mental problems.
Not everyone can do this or that and make it work. If I write too little, I forget everything. If I write too much, I view it as done.
Outlines work for people who don't have my problem.
I have tried a lot of tricks. I'm far from being a newbie at writing. I have written stories on and off for almost 40 years now.
My process is just to put down simple details about the characters and maybe quotes if I’m in the mood. Anything else and I have major structural issues and a motivation level of 0%.
@@Tora-no-shiDescribing yourself like this makes it sound like you don't have what it takes to actually write a story. If I'm wrong than please tell me how you plan on being successful in writing if you can't write more than a simple outline without feeling drained.
And for those who are discovery writers, ignore all said in this video. Sometimes you need to think, sometimes you need to refill your well and sometimes you just need to start and forget about plot, word counts and outlines. Just write
Yeah this is definitely a video for planners. Though I've found even a super simple plan can go a long way
Oh my god, I didn't know there's a word for it. That's funny. Like, I would try outlines and everything, but when I do, it always ends up bad, the scenes feel forced and there's no natural flow, so I end up changing it after writing it because I get a better idea later. So trying to write according to a plan, or trying to think up a plan, actually is gets me stuck. The story seems to work better when I discover it as I write it, like I was a reader.
What's scaring me the most is that i might screw up a part of the story and regret it later.
If you fail at your first attempt, you can always rewrite it later.
You can polish a bad story. You can’t polish an unwritten one.
You and Brandon Sanderson make my writing days better. Greetings from Siberia, Russia 😊
I want to be like Brandon Sanderson
Happy to hear that!
I started writing my book “the Mage” over 3 years ago.
After realizing that my writing was dry and bland, I quit.
Just a few months ago, I decided to pick it back up again, and while I had written over 18 chapters before, I ended up scrapping it all because of how bad it actually was.
And then I lost my motivation. My whole book was trash, was the idea even good? And I let the idea sink for another month.
But just recently, I got my motivation back, and I sat down and wrote, and wrote, and wrote my book.
The first 4 chapters were still rather bland, but I fixed this with a single statement on psychology in chapter 6. He was overwhelmed, so he began just going through the motions as his mentor led him around. But chapter 6 is where his character really starts to come out and take its own shape.
And now, I am in the process of writing chapter 7, and my motivation has not declined at all.
I’m going to write this book, and I’m going to love it, even if I did forget to outline pretty much at all.
YES!!! YES!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!!!!! YOU GOT THIS!! Ilove your mage already!
Great job! You got guts.
I’d love to see a part two specifically for actually finishing the novel in its final form. Revisions and edits are so tough for me!
I made a video about my editing process here: czcams.com/video/UtsJAfnBzzc/video.htmlsi=wVE0hmXlU2yTD9tc
I'm always low on energy, and when it comes to putting down ideas, I tend to blow them way out of proportion. A simple writing exercise somehow turns into a whole novel because my imagination just won't quit-it keeps on going.
The thing is, my job eats up so much of my time and energy that I end up crawling through the writing process. Eventually, I lose interest in one idea because a new one pops up. It's a bit of a cycle haha
My first book had a pretty barebones outline, general plot points I wanted to get to, so I figured “hey,maybe I don’t need to plot at all!” Turns out, that barebones plotting goes a long way as I couldn’t even figure out how to end my second book. And then the entire beginning changed… Definitely plotting from here on out.
I started writing when I was 13 and the first „books“ I wrote were a mess to say the least. It took me around 9 years to start on the novel I think is good enough to have a chance at publishing. So yeah, if I had wanted to publish right away I would have been crushed as a teen since they obviously weren’t good yet.
Thanks this really helps I got back into writing and I don't know how how to write so I practice my writing by brainstorming my stories and writing them down on paper, once I get past all my brainstorming I usually have a really hard time writing actual chapters, this video is very encouraging thank you.
"What is a routine that the most tired version of myself could easily achieve?" That's really helpful advice! Usually I end up setting big goals (eg target dates to finish the book) but forgetting to break the project into smaller goals that I can tackle each day. But with only the 'big goal' to focus on, I get stressed when the target date flies by and the book isn't finished! This video really helped me to think about planning my day-to-day routine going forward - 'keep it easy but daily'. Great video, as always - thanks Jed, and happy new year!
I imagine myself as a director on a set. Where are the characters in relationship to each other? Where is the camera? Is what they are saying and doing making sense? I find this very motivating. And I know how the story ends, so it's just a matter of getting to a known destination.
Great way to think about it!
I have so many half finished notes and "random story opener" files in my house, maybe one day I can compile them all together as a really rough short story anthology lol
Thanks for the advice.
I was able to finish my book earlier this year after pushing through ongoing mental health issues.
I'm so torn here because I have definitely gone through with outlining, but it strips all motivation to actually write when I do that because I already know what I want to happen. I can write for hours without getting bored when I fly by the seat of my pants, but it's difficult to make a long form coherent story like that 😅
I have to out myself here, because you put so much emphasis on the joy of writing. I don't enjoy writing that much, most scenes I drag in my first draft, commonly the beginning and the end (I do love writing the middle most of the times). What I enjoy most is the editing afterwards, solving the puzzle I created with my first draft. I enjoy second and third drafts far more. As I do outlining. But to get to the fun part (for me at least) I have to force myself to finish the first draft. Those dreaded 30k to 70k words, so I can make a shining 70k to 120k novel out of it.
I say this to encourage fellow people who are like me. Sometimes your first draft is hard work and it's okay if your fun starts a bit later. As long as there is some fun in the process 😊
Also: Always start passion projects, especially if you don't know the market yet. I managed to land a publisher recently with one of my longest running ideas. But it was only possible because I loved the project so much that I put some tons of effort in it over the span of almost ten years.
Also, abandoning a project you don't feel anymore is okay. You can always come back later. Just don't get into the habit of abandoning projects because of a small obstacle. Learn to enjoy the frustration, too. It's possible. I had to learn this to be able to write a start and a finish for my novels and not just pop into the action and out of it, once the middle is over. Frustration tells you something about your work, always.
It took me 2+ years to get to the second chapter of my book. The way I eventually got there was by skipping the first chapter. That's all it took and then I wrote the book in 3 years. I did the same thing for the next one and it was even quicker. I think the root of the problem is perfectionism. You want your first chapter to be perfect, but it's a first draft, it doesn't have to be. If you can't accept that you can tackle a smaller challenge first, the second chapter, and write the first chapter last, when you truly understand your book for the first time. I think this probably works for the same reason the very helpful stop writing in the middle of a word trick works. Because when you start, it doesn't feel like starting, it feels like continuing. If you already have momentum, why stop?
I’ve barely started my fantasy novel and I’m still working on the world building…the only problem is that it is my first time going for a longer/bigger book. It is really making me consider and connect ideas that I normally wouldn’t care about.
I personally take a different approach, in that I write books from a character-centric standpoint, where they are almost like character studies
Gardener-type writers exist for a reason, and in this it really feels as though you don't understand why. Before I start, I just wanna say that your content is awesome. It's fantastic that you're making videos to help out writers because writing is such a difficult skill to learn with so many different approaches, and simply motivating yourself to write can be a huge issue for some people. However, while I think it's great that you're sharing your approach and what works for you, it feels as though you are presenting your method as a guaranteed way to improve anyone's writing experience, when the matter is a lot more nuanced than you seem to make it out to be.
What I specifically want to bring up here is gardener vs architect and your points about outlines. Gardeners don't resist the idea of writing an outline because they're "fearful" it will strip away their enjoyment, they KNOW it will strip away their enjoyment. People write for different reasons and enjoy it in different ways. For people like me, having an outline or a blueprint robs us of our motivation like nothing else. There is no point in writing a story if we already know everything that's going to happen. While I struggle with motivation from time to time, I truly love writing like everyone else here. More than that, I love the way I write, but it feels as though this video is encouraging me to approach it in a way that just doesn't work for me.
I am not the one who carves the path my story walks, but instead the traveler who trails it through the forest brush. I am not the architect nor am I the commander of my story, but instead I am its listener, its vessel. I write to see who my characters become, to see how the world of my story will change. I write for the journey, not the destination.
The feeling I get from writing this way is so significant and meaningful to me. Writing with an outline just doesn't evoke that same excitement, that same wonder or awe. So I've chosen to avoid it. Sure, gardening might leave me with a lot of editing to do, and sure, it might require me to move some scenes around or go back and change some things, but despite all that it's what I love. I think any good guide or piece of advice relating to an art-form should seek to at least acknowledge the different approaches to it, but it feels as though this video fails to do that. At the end of the day, having an outline will, in fact, lead to faster, more efficient, and more organized writing. But for me, there's no point in going faster or being more organized if I'm not having fun.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting or misunderstanding some things here and if that is the case I apologize. But, if there's anyone else out there with the same misinterpretations as me, just know that, so long as you're enjoying it, whichever way you write is valid.
Don't let it get to you, if you've got a way that helps you write and keep motivation, brilliant!
It's not a bad idea to have at least a few main plot points and goals in mind, but if it's not broke, don't fix it
The first point you made that honestly sound like me!
- Telling a lot of people about my ideas
- Having the thought in head to have first book published
- Get a book I did start done ASAP.
It makes so much sense.
Jed, I have been posting my first novel that I’m currently working on a site online. Though I am struggling and have a small amount of views, I’m almost finished with the first story arc!
Thank you for your vids, they are motivational and helpful
My most recent book, "Treasure Hoard," was both difficult to write and fun to write. I enjoyed having to figure out the plot, and it required a lot more writing by the seat of my pants than I was used to, but it was a fun challenge. But it is also hard to market due to the subject matter. So there is definite overlap in these categories. It was far from my first story, however. Of course, among us writers, there's a saying: Your mileage may vary.
The Wrong Motivation's really hit home for me
First one hits so hard as I did tell people about my story and do get dopamine from telling people. I edited it throughout the year and made it to a decent enough stopping point with 100k words, but that point is also not my favorite option. It feels like I'm cutting the book in half while keeping the two characters who were separated at the beginning from reuniting. But I listened to other people's opinions and most of them said "release what you have now" because this story would be a long running one that will have multiple volumes so releasing the book as it is first to start building a fanbase was the common opinion from those I asked.
Yet that second and fourth Wrong Motivation is exactly what sounds like is happening. Instead of continuing on, talking less about it and just make the rest of the rough draft, I stopped where a stopping point presented itself as I tell people about it and got their opinions on it despite it "not being done", shooting my motivation in the foot instead of working on reuniting the two for the half way point of the first volume.
This is a true passion project
My problem is: 1) Lack of Motivation/Environmental restraints.2) Introduce lore in in sequels of the story, that should have been introduced in book one as breadcrumbs/hints. Thusly having to restart the series... on my 5th rewrites. Been writing the same story for 20 years. As I started in Jr High.
This was really refreshing, I've fiddled a lot, started and restarted my book over and over again... for I'm a panster and outliner together... and having gone through that for 2 years, I know half of this already... but it's something about hearing it again... thinking about something you knew that you haven't thought about for a long while, it brings you back to what actually matters :)
Glad to help!
Aa of late, i have been struggling to write chapter 3 (out of 11 chapters in total) of my dark fantasy novel, where the goal of the chapter is to have my protagonist reunite with their childhood friend, and love interest, who they have not seen in ten years, and re-establish their relationship, and how its changed over time. In addition i have to write tje first major 'pinch point' of the narrative, where protagonist is forced in one way or another to leave their town and go on their adventure, which i am doing to achieve bu having a mercenary job go horribly wrong, and have them become a fugitive and must escape the town.
I am a pantser, and i have only done a rough outline, marking only the major, pivotal plot points in my seven point plot structure, but everything else in between i make up as i go along.
In addition i have recently been watching the old classic anime series Neon Genesis Evangeleon, and i want to make my book's plot and characters as excellent as that show, with my protagonist taking very loose inspiration from Rei Ayanami (albeit an antagonistic, much edgier and darker version of her)
Edit: i have actually written a document revolving around my books themes and core thematic questions, which helps guides the direction of my story
I personally can’t outline anything, and i certainly can’t follow a list of things as I ‘get in a zone’ and just write what is and feels right and continuing the story that churns in the back of my head.
My first draft wasn’t outlined, but I had an idea of where I wanted to go, what I had to include. I ended up writing a road map of scenes I wanted to include, how it begins and ends. Twists and how my characters are, their personalities and goals. From there I found it a lot easier to build a plot, a world, and I make notes next to my writing to keep track.
I guess what I’m trying to say, we are all different, and for those like me that can’t outline, don’t feel bad. Try to find your own way!
I have been literally wondering this. Writing can be sooooo painful sometimes. :/
Hi Jed! Love your videos and I have already watched several of them to help improve my writing skills! I am a self-taught author and have written several short stories as well as a full novel. I have gone through ALL of these issues when it comes to writing, but I have recently been struck with inspiration again. My main fear when it comes to making a new fantasy story isn't my writing skill as I have been told by several readers that I am talented. No. My main fear stems from the idea that my story telling is a little old fashioned and that many wouldn't appreciate my work. I love classic good vs evil stories with my two favorite book series of all time being J.R.R Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and Terry Brooks' Shannara books. I have read and watched many reviews that praised more recent stories for their morally complex characters and their ability to hammer in so many aspects of life while addressing real world issues. I'm not saying that stories like LOTR don't have morally complex characters. I love (and hate) characters like Boromir and Faramir's father, Lord Denethor, who, even though he was against Sauron, was still a greedy and ambitious man whose own selfish interests didn't align with Gandalf and the White Council, and eventually killed himself after being driven mad with despair after using the Palantir to look into the realm of Mordor and seeing the full might of Sauron's forces. But in the end those stories still had a clear-cut sense of morality. A dark and a light side, but it seems that modern audiences (I'm not saying this applies to everyone) don't seem to care as much for those kinds of tales anymore, and the thought of being "out of date" has discouraged me more than once. But I'm back! And I wish to put my own spin on the genre while also including some of the tropes I love most! Anyways thanks to anyone who took time out of their busy schedule to read about me ranting about my creative insecurities! Have a wonderful day!
I struggled writing my first draft of my first book, but then I found my groove and am so happy I finished it. When I pressed on this video, I got really nervous I was still struggling and then realized I've finished two books and I am so glad I found my motivation and passion to fulfill all that I have already. Writing really is amazing once you fully understand how your own mind works and how you can accomplish it without overworking your passion. I can't wait for other writers to find that and fall deeper in love with their stories. its life changing.
Absolutely. Awesome to hear about your journey!
Honestly Jed, this is a great video. As someone who has been writing their story for a long time, these things you mention are so true.
I'm not a fantasy writer, but I like your chanel, because most of the tips are applicable to other genres aswell. Thank you, Jed, keep posting😊
You're very welcome!
I’ll be finishing my first draft in less than a week, but I might try a stronger outline for the next one. I like all these points.
Well done!
What would you suggest to people who have a more 'discovery writer' approach for the outline? A more loose outline? An outline which looks like a work in progress? I struggle a lot with structure, but most of my ideas come in the moment when I am just going with the flow of what is coming to mind. Sometimes I am just doing house chores and some very good ideas come along, which I will then see if I can fit them into the story. In short terms, I feel that I am at my best when I am simply discovering and that I am very stale when planning ahead, although I really need to bring in some kind of direction and guiding thread to the story. Thank you if you take the time to answer, very good videos by the way!
I consider myself a pretty methodological person and normally I plan before I write. But last Nano I had an idea coming to me literally on November 1st and it wouldn't let go, so I had to wing it (alongside my planned novel 😅). What I learned from this - and past experiences with pantsing - you don't need an outline beforehand as long as you have a grasp of some part of your story (for me it's often a character). You can outline along the way, so to speak. Write what comes to you and afterwards think about what may comes next. Take a few notes to have a starting point for the next day and so on. Or what I've heard works for others: Start your writing day by revising what you've written the day before.
Finally, someone else who says not to publish your first novel. I rarely hear anyone on AuthorTube or the writing community talk about this.
Nonsense. I've been actively working on my "first novel" for over a year now, and it's likely going to be at least another before I'm satisfied with the degree of research and worldbuilding I've done to even finish the first draft of the first manuscript. With the requisite groundwork complete it takes me a couple of hours to write a chapter. Why would I throw that all away due to insecurity?
Then again, I'm absolutely confident in the quality of my writing- so perhaps this may be the case if one's book is actual hot garbage? I've had other authors, editors, and a variety of early readers call my prose "masterful" and praise the pacing and characterizations of literal first-draft content I typed out in an afternoon. It would be utterly foolish to not recognize that and to toss it all in the bin for some arbitrary reason.
If your first novel sucks, sure. Learn what you can from it and trash it.
If your first novel is great, don't shoot yourself in the foot and throw it in the bin due to insecurity.
I'm writing my book alongside a game. I don't even know if I want to publish it. Your first novel can take criticism and improve. You don't have to throw it out.
I have had this story in my head for 15 years and it's changed a lot.
@@benjii_boi "Then again, I'm absolutely confident in the quality of my writing- so perhaps this may be the case if one's book is actual hot garbage? I've had other authors, editors, and a variety of early readers call my prose "masterful" and praise the pacing and characterizations of literal first-draft content I typed out in an afternoon."
Words of the wise, everyone's first draft is hot garbage. Even the pros. Also, I've had people say the same thing about my first draft writing. It gave me a big head and caused me to make a lot more mistakes. Maybe they didn't say "Masteriful", but far better than most. If all those people only had good things to say, I wouldn't trust a word they said. Only good feedback is not helpful feedback.
I never said don't publish your first novel out of insecurity. I said it because when you're writing your first novel you're learning how to write a novel. The more novels you write the more you learn and the faster you'll grow. It is said it takes about a million words written before you're ready to write a novel. Trust me, it's true. Sometimes it's more. Also, I never said anything about giving up on your first novel. Don't publish your first novel means, publish it after you finish it. You can always come back when you're better and revise it.
@@lennysmileyface Who said you have to throw it out? I said don't publish it after you finish it. You can always come back and revise it after you've written a few more and a better writer.
@@TimRG I mean second and third drafts always improve the text, but to say "everyone's first draft is hot garbage" isn't necessarily true. Maybe in most cases, but there *are* exceptions.
There's always room for improvement, but not every first draft needs to be chucked on the cutting room floor in its entirety. Every word I write goes through several revisions, nobody is perfect. However it's nonsense to make the claim that every author writes literal trash on the first draft of anything they write.
I may not have a published novel yet, but I've been writing at a post-grad level since I was in grade 5 (determined by official assessments done in a medical context during the process of my autism diagnosis).
If a writer has the requisite experience and confidence in their abilities on top of receiving extremely positive genuine feedback from people actively meant to criticize your work, there's absolutely no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater under the mistaken impression that "all first drafts are trash".
For instance: this entire comment is a "first draft" that I typed out in about 5 minutes with absolutely zero attempt at revision. Will you read it and insist that it's impossible that I could write something the first time around that doesn't make the reader want to pull out their eyes?
Probably, considering this is the CZcams comment section. C'est la vie.
Personally, my issue is that once i have thr story in my head, writing it down seems like a tedious rerun.
Write the cool parts first then the lead up after. Makes the cool stuff more satisfying
@@shawnnbits unfortunately, my "cool stuff" tends to become power fantasy, it goes off the deep end and it ends up like some flashy anime fight 🤣🤣 thank you for your advice
@@lokdog257Nothing wrong with a good flashy anime fight. A lot of my action scenes in my book are like that
@@unicorntomboy9736 I'm a good idea guy. My daughter is in a creative writing class, and we will talk about her projects and bounce ideas off each other
Speaking on your writing process, could you actually do a video over that, or create a playlist that goes step by step with your process? I know you have a bunch of playlists, but as far as I can tell, it's all pieces of your process, or 'the' process. But specifics on *your* process, along with examples, would be great.
Hah my first novel has been in the first draft for nearly 6 years and only relatively recently have I changed my approach where I actually outline the novel and put some pre planning in place.
Before learning about this, I just thought you sat down and just wrote a novel through pure discipline. I now have a far better understanding of how to achieve my goals.
My ADHD had crippled my productivity and motivation but through purely approaching it as a passion project first and foremost with a structured and planned out method has helped me fall back in love with my creativity.
I hope George RR Martin sees this
Maybe you should write an epic fantasy of your own then write that comment.
Every time I feel like stopping, your videos just pop up on my feed. This time is no exception and I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped motivate me to continue
Thank you for such a great video. It helped me recognize that mistakes I have done earlier. For the longest time I thought I was a pantser when it came to writing but I've come to realize that outlining will help. Lately I've been liking the idea of writing than to actually do it. This video was the push I needed
Now I see my mistake. I don't shower every day.
I am on the 5th outline of my story. I am an aspiring author and I've watched many videos on outlining and beginning the writing journey over the past month. In many ways I have felt like I am doing something wrong by starting my outline again and again. So many people encourage you to just start writing and to me that makes me feel overwhelmed. I am so glad to have found your videos, and to know that it is okay to revise your outline until you feel you have the best version of your story or at least one that you feel is good enough to start writing, and that you believe in. Thank you. Creating an outline that shows me the big picture, the character arcs, the full circle moments has been so helpful for my motivation and has made this process so much fun! I have finally arrived at an outline that I feel confident in and I have started to write the first draft of my novel. Your videos have been immensely helpful in building my confidence with my writing, and I believe that having this solid foundation of knowledge and research, tips and advice even before I started to write will make my story better. 😀
Lovely video! Hope you have an awesome day and tons of writing inspiration.
I have been eating your videos up! I am probably not good enough for your outlining bootcamp, but I REALLY want to get my book written. Tempted to apply anyway, then just pout when I fail and continue writing xD
Appears appreciate that little boost of inspiration your videos give!
Thank you for this, hits right at home
What a great review, elegant yet suave 🎉
Sometimes if I am stuck I really enjoy watching author documentaries on where and how they write. Its very motivating to simply get to see where someone writes and their own process like stephen king or ken follett or JK rowling so many great documentaries out there. I'm back writing in no time.
Thanks for your good idea!
Your videos are fantastic man! Thanks for the help
I have sooo many partial WIP. Some have been completely pantzed. Some I tried to outline (but then as I am writing, I have to rewrite my outline 3x). I always get stuck at the 80-90% mark. I set everything up. But I can't get the climax and ending done. Then I go chase the shiney new idea instead of forcing out the end. Its so frustrating.. Right now, I am going through each one and replotting it to see if there is a way to salvage them.
Maybe I have heard some of this before because I am planning on finishing 3 fan-fiction stories before really working on my books. I have not spoiled my stories for anyone (and take great pains to ensure that I do not). I only write what I love, even the fan-fiction. I have probably said this before, but I tell myself the story I am thinking of writing before documenting the idea; I get rid of a lot of trash this way. I also tell the stories I like about 5 times, redoing order and specifics till it feels right. This is by no means a slog because if it has passed my initial run-through, I usually love it as I only try to tell stories I am on some level stoked about.
I think one of the best ways to explain something about your magic/power system is to explain things as they are happening, or directly after, oftentimes possibly with sideline characters speaking while a fight is happening. I actually have a few characters who, when not fighting themselves. This allows one to keep a good flow of interest while getting necessary information to the reader.
I finally want to write for me. Thank you.
That’s an excellent video. I can relate to a few of those failures in motivation, planning, and process.
You’re rekindling that desire in me to get back after the discipline of daily writing - I used to track word counts but gave it up for the last couple years. Time to get back to it.
Thanks for your awesome video!
Okay, agree with pretty much everything you're saying (I say this after publishing 7 novels, 1 self-help book, and an exceptionally boring dissertation). I heartily agree with your emphasis on outlining -- I whined and screeched about it till I got into my third novel and realized, having now gone through the pantsing approach, how much difficulty I would've saved myself. BUT!!! BUT...what's almost got me ready to start my own VLOG series is that EVERY published writer coaching newbies I've ever heard or read says something about "don't go into it expecting to be published" -- your "wrong motivation" slide, #2. That's true, but as a newbie I remember wondering "OK, so what the hell other reason would I do this?" It's kinda like a driving teacher telling someone that driving yourself to places isn't a good motivation for learning to drive -- without any other discussion of what MIGHT be another motivation. Yes, I'm past that hurdle and all those fury sessions now, and I get why a newbie might not want to write a work with the expectation of it being published. Once you've written that work and queried it (been there, done that, still have the massive tracking spreadsheet) you get it, but a newbie doesn't. Please, for the love of whatever is holy, don't tell newbies not to write for the purpose of being published without then continuing on to why that is not just possible, but preferable.
Thanks a lot, I think this will help me
Best writing advice i have ever had.
Often my favorite scenes are where people are explaining something very cool like magic
Jed, I am at 22 chapters in the first draft. (As Hemingway said, 'The first draft is shit') My desire fell off during the pandemic. I am touching this thing now like a curious cat, not attacking it like I should.
Hey Jed, I just want to thank you for your insights. My brother took his own life a couple weeks ago and I wanted to write the "biography" of his dnd character from our campagin, but I wasn't sure how to begin. Your videos have helped me a lot the past few days.
The best solution is to write for our self. Each has their own craft and journey.
I started drafting a story with drabbles (100 words). Like this, I write the best part/sentence while keeping essential plot/scene element. Next, it's to combine them, develop them in chapter and voilà. As an amateur, this is what I end up with. (And yes, this is for a fan-fiction)
I really appreciate these videos. I started in late October to write from a world I began building 2yrs ago. It’s the second major project I’ve undertook. (The first was a real-world coming of age story inspired by my teen years in the 90s. I’ve gotten to 400+ pages to tell less than half of the story before I realized my mistakes in outlining that one. It may be a great 2 season show if I converted it to a screenplay though.) But these videos have helped so much in giving insight and keeping me motivated.
I like this video. The poor planning is definitely where I fall into at the moment.
Between work, 2 kids and my wife I rarely have time to sit down and write 😢. But writing is where my heart is. It's where I get my happiness. I definitely have to plan better.
I’m Jayden. I’m 13 years old, I have about a good 20 unfinished novels, I’m currently writing one, I’m on chapter three stuck on how to keep going, this video has helped me a lot, thank you JD, you are truly awe inspiring!
My problem is I never actually get to the writing part. I world build and outline but never feel satisfied with the outline enough to write it
You just need to do it. You may like it, you may not, but you'll never know if you don't try.
I am writing a novel and I am motivated by the fact I am creating a whole new world and I can make it the way I want
I don't know if you are going to read this but anyway.
I started writing around 10 years ago and been strugling with my book from 2018-2021.
After 2021 I started writing basically from anew and I upgraded my worldbuilding. I finished a cool short story and least year I built up my outline docs.
A few weeks ago I started implementing a daily habbit of working on my novel and now I am quite sure that the book will be done this year.
Thanks for your videos, they are quite helpfull :)
Something that has helped me a lot, is to not take writing as seriously. For now I should not think about marketing, not think about sales. Just write the story I want to tell and get it finished, it actually helped me get my spark back recently and write for the first time again in weeks
I could think of more than four reasons: Always working so don’t have much to have time to do any significant amount of writing. Too tired to focus on writing when I’m not working. Taking care of my family takes up a lot of my time when I’m home. Playing video games and watching movies to relax takes up what little time is left. I’ve also had my PC completely crash twice, resulting in losing about half of my progress, resulting in having to start over almost from scratch because the secondary backup I had hadn’t been updated in a long time.
I have a book that I started 23 years ago that was originally going to be 8 novels and now will only be 3. I wish this would have been out there for me back then, because maybe it would be finished by now. Although I've already written a good amount of the first book, I think I'm going to back track and actually write out my plan for all 3 so that I don't lose track of things, or forget to foreshow certain elements, or just forget cool ideas I want to incorporate.
I wish I could overcome my "worldbuilder's sickness" and get past my first couple chapters x.x Hoping your vids help me get through the slog
Im writing to literally just get a few copies of a (hopefully) well written/interesting story, that the people I know who read fantasy, will enjoy 😊 and for my Father and my Niece. Any publishing options (extremely unlikely 😂) would just be an incredible, and very unexpected, bonus 😁
Fun video tho I'm a garnder so other than a general idea of where I want things to maybe be, the characters write the story, not me
I love when they take it in a new direction i hadnt planned.
One of the greatest book series of all time, A Song of Ice and Fire was written with almost no outline just an idea "A medieval family discover some dire wolves."
I remember the scene list
Holy, how can i forget? I tried doing it months ago because it clicked to my mind while writing. 'Why shouldn't i just write scenes and elaborate them further?'
Needless to say, you are right. My ideas and thoughst flow like water into words and i can just update the scene list if there are changes i want to add. It doesn’t and didn’t strip my freedom, instead it is like a scoped-out pantsing.
Pantsers write ideas as they go, so why not do it in outlining? Scene list is great for that because scene list is practically a shorter version of the story or chapter. Pantsers can write the ideas they have and then elaborate further, and after that they have a chapter done easier than if they didn't do a scene list.
Also, writers forget ideas, but they wouldn't forget if it is listed down.
Thanks. I been writing but and ended up quiting
I also found my biggest issue was getting through the 'this is trash, what's the point' stage. Had a really long break then just tried to FORCE myself to write at least 200 words a day. Just finish a chapter a month, and it's done, and the edit is why I fix all those mistakes I see.
Just passed the 75k mark and coming into the end game! I may actually do it!... 😬
I wish this video existed 18 years ago when I was 10 and started with my book lmao thank you!!
If I knew how my story would unfold, I would not need to write it. Writing is the process of emptying my brain content into paper (or a computer, these days) so there is room for the characters to tell me more. If I knew what would happen, I could just ask ChatGPT or Claude to write the actual novel. I hear that is increasingly popular these days.
Hey Jed, across your journey, have you come across many resources for ADHD writers that help? I personally struggle with this (and depression/anxiety as a result), so developing systems (and more importantly, sticking to them) is much harder. Because writing requires that dopamine regulation, and ADHD is a dopamine deficiency… it just makes it so hard to be consistent.
Anyway, this shouldn’t take away from your advice which, as always, is fantastic
Been struggling to continue my draft, I’m about halfway through
If I am locked, I either write a highlight scene which I am already longing to reach for or I change the scene in this very moment to something that I would love to read right now.
Hey man, thanks for the great work. Could you please make a video discussing the impact of AI on fantasy and writing in general? (I'm freaking out lol)
I think it is a useful tool for brainstorming ideas
I don't like doing something I am bad at. Most people are bad at something they haven't really done before.
Multiple of these points just say that he's an architect.
For those like me who feel like creating the outline is writing the book (gardeners, or discovery writers), it is okay to just sit down and write. Probably have some payoff/climax moments in mind, and research plot archetypes and story organization, but explore your way there. Let your story grow.
Edit: I meant Sanderson's definition of Architect. (likes outlines more than discovering as you write) I found out after that he has an architecture background.
Indeed it seems like most writers on youtube fall into Sanderson's definition of an architect in some way, so their advice never really helps for us discovery writers. Jed talks about sharing your ideas giving you that dopamine hit of writing and making your brain decide that writing the story isn't necessary, I think a similar thing happens for a discovery writer when they make an outline, at least for me. If I write an outline the story doesn't come to me anymore, because in my mind it's already been finished to some degree.
I've written seven rough drafts over the past seven years, including four for the first book in my fantasy series, and two for my second book in the same series. I just can't get past editing. I often find myself completely scrapping my books, and starting over. I think this has helped me build my worlds, allowing me to better understand how to write my characters well. The only problem is, even though I've written, quite literally, hundreds of thousands of words, I feel like I get nowhere closer toward a final draft. Any suggestions on how to get past that to a better, second draft?
That's the single most brilliant comment I've ever heard about the writing process:
If you're stuck writing a scene, think, "This is going to be someone's favorite scene. Then ask yourself why."
You, sir, qualify as a genius just for that one bit of inspiration.
Whenever I write an entire outline, I get excited for that day. Come the next day, I read through the outline created the day prior and suddenly I feel it's either cliché or bland, and I lose all the excitement I had the day prior. At the moment, I write 'stream of consciousness' outlines, which I guess they are similar to the 'blurbs' you mentioned, and then these blurbs individually are all scenes, and that way I create an entire scene list for an arc. This way I retain my excited the day after, and my outlines feel meaningfuller/less cliche, as they are essentially just scenes. This is obviously part of the writing process, but not really the 'prose' part of the writing. My question is, when do I start transforming the blurbs? after each arc? after the entire novel? or after a few sets of arcs?
All three for various reasons don't feel efficient. After the entire novel does not leave any room for discoveries made whilst transforming the blurbs, and after one arc makes it very susceptible for rewriting parts of it to accommodate new discoveries made in future arcs (which is really annoying, its like killing your darlings), and after a few arcs might also hinder the discoveries made. Does it even really matter...? I will just keep going with what feels right for now but if you have any answers that could enlighten me, then please.
I've been stuck in the "miserable success" quadrant for a long time now and I don't think it's possible to ever make it to the "dream zone".
I'm like sixteen books into my writing journey and I have made every single mistake that Jed listed in his video. Oops.
Can you do a video on how to edit?
How old do ya gotta be for the boot camp & when is it? 🤔
20:30 when I stop during the flow state and come back the day after that I usually just delete everything and start from scratch again cuz I don’t like the way story went anymore
Where do you buy your shirts, sir?
12:47 i like to draw, and a mjor thing in drawing is making "thumbnails" - just really mini concepts for a drawing that messes around with an idea that can be as broad as death or as narrow as girl with green hair and glasses picking strawberries, and the important part isnt really the first five, ten, twenty thumbnails, its when you reslly start pushing yourself to your creative kimit at hundreds of thumbnails that most people come up with the best stuff. i dont if this would be the same with writing, but i know a lot of drawing or writing tips are pretty easily transferrable, so this might be too :)
other ideas about how you can approach those those informative scenes, is by asking questions to yourself about the appeal of the story and write them down somewhere, every scene should progress the plot yes, but all dialog should also set up for cause and effect. to hit with a theme, while still progressing the plot without feeling like filler that the story could survive without.
this is hard,
themes, Plot, values, world view, character voice that supports all of that all the time, what here is happening that holds the audience on their seat? or in this case, the reader... is it danger, or is it emotional tension? it could also be comedy, or a human nature word like, "forgiveness" "empathy" "anger" "anxiety" "horny...(okay I don't know about this one but sure)" and like jed here said, look for other pieces in fiction that you liked and look for similar scenes that made themselves appealing in a creative way, and figure out why it was appealing, and see what elements that you can find in your reference material to think about in a new way, or evolve it further.
can you do any of this with your informative scene? because its all about coming up with ideas and fitting them into every part of your narrative. because there is plot yes, but can you support the narrative while feeding plot material at the same time?
i just found this channel, this is a sign lol