I tried Octavia E. Butler's 2AM writing routine 🌙🖋️
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2023
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Let's try Octavia E. Butler's 2AM writing routine~ We're back again with another author routine attempt! So far, we've done the routines of Haruki Murakami, Virginia Woolf, Neil Gaiman, Donna Tartt, Brandon Sanderson and NOW we're onto Octavia E Bulter. This is a SUPER early morning routine. 2AM. Omg when I realised what I had signed up to, I just about fainted. BUT despite how challenging this 2am writing routine was to attempt, I did get a little bit of writing done (Although I am so tired hahahaha)
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I am in awe of Octavia Butler. It's so impressive how she took out time for writing despite having such a tough and tiring job. And admire you Christy for pushing through!
She was amazing! And thank you 💛💛
I wish more creators, writers, artists, etc. were willing to have an honest discussion about money. I grew up working class as well and it's unreal how many "full-time" creative people are supported by spouses, parents or generational wealth. The determination and tenacity of Octavia E. Butler is astounding. If I'm remembering correctly, Maya Angelou's writing routine involves checking into a hotel room and pouring a drink. Sounds like a good candidate for your next routine!
I agree! I work and go to college full-time and honestly Octavia E. Butler's routine inspired me to not give up on my creative pursuits
This is so true. Many writers can rely on their spouses to the extent they don’t have an additional job or are able to be self employed with no expectation of working or earning a certain amount. Example- my writer friend is a dog walker but she does it when she wants basically. She is able to do this solely because her husband works in a well paid corporate role. Alexa Donne is one of the few writers I’ve seen speak up about this. I kind of switch off when I hear someone works full-time as an author when I know they have a partner because 9/10 they’re being propped up significantly by their partner.
I totally back this. Most creatives come from wealth and it's too embarrassing for them to discuss (the world of interior design is almost ENTIRELY populated by rich kids who all went to public school and this is NEVER talked about). Their pontificating about the working class is of limited interest to me, their little parochial academic bubbleland and socially homogenous cultural vantagepoint is genuinely problematic for me in so many creative disciplines, certainly ones with socio-political resonance). I sniff out certain types very quickly, which is partly why authors like Hanya Yanagihara and other indulged rich kid authors overreaching offend and irritate me enormously.
i work at a warehouse and funnily enough have ended up with a similar routine! it kind of just happens 😅 warehouse work is extremely exhausting, i can't imagine doing anything else after work besides crying in the shower and sleep LOL. the wee night hours before having to go into work are the most peaceful, octavia & i also share similar birthdays which is interesting! love her work
Another video of Christy suffering by waking up far too early 😂 Honestly your determination to see these routines through is admirable. I would absolutely have slept through my alarm on the first morning of the challenge and given up.
Thank you hahah 😅💛💛
Your next writing routine video should be trying your personal dream writing routine for a week and combing what you enjoyed from past writing routines to create Christy's perfect routine!
This is a very good video idea😍
So much respect for those of us who sttrugle to keep the dream alive. To wake up 2am everyday because you believe in your dream, against all circunstances… that’s a force of nature! ❤
My public library has a lab dedicated to her! It's called the Octavia Lab, it is for artists to come and work. Recording studios, 3D printers, engravers, sewing machines, Adobe Creative suite, large-scale art prints, etc. completely free. I feel this is a perfect way to honor her, making creative tools available to everyone and anyone!
Is it the one in Los Angeles? I love that library!
This is one of the examples that shows writing is a hard work and how passionate writers are with their work. I love you do that and show the ones that aren't economically privileged.
Now, completely out of context, which is the brand and colour of your lipstick? I'm obsessed.
She linked her lipstick in the notes 👍
@@everausten Thanks!!!!!
Ohhhh I love Butler’s work! She was such a genius and pioneer. So glad you’re highlighting her work and doing her routine.
I think VE Schwab and Charles Dickens both have really realistic and fun writing routines!!
I get up at 1.30am for work and the most important thing I've found is going to bed early enough to allow my brain to wind down in case I can't fall asleep straight away. 6pm bed time and the hour before spent reading, relaxing helps a lot.
Octavia E Butler is a writer I greatly admire, fantastic in her talents and a born storyteller; but her having to make the sacrifices of a woman working full time and writing so early in the day because those are the only hours she could do so uninterrupted. I could never do it, but as someone who works and studies full time, you give up so much to work. I go long periods where I haven’t written a word and try to carve a routine out of myself but it never works. So I am grateful to snatch any free hours to scribble when I can. Life gets in the way of the art. And that’s how it is for all writers who work full-time and have other full-time commitments. Thank you for this video. You have brought a lot to the attention of viewers and a someone who adores looking into other’s writing routines, these videos are a treasure trove! ❤
Wow, I can't imagine getting up at 2 a.m. to write then go to a factory job! I've never heard of Octavia E. Butler until this video and I feel like I want to know more about her work. Kudos to you for keeping up with this challenge! 😊
The only work of hers I have read so far is her novel "Kindred". It was amazing and single-handedly got me back into reading after a years-long slump.
I applaud her for waking up that early to do what she loved, knowing that with her job and after her job she wouldn’t be able to do so. It’s inspiring. Even though 2am doesn’t work for many of us it just shows that we can figure it out too and work at times that do work for us.
"too full of other people." That sounds like me, for sure! Even if I love those people, it's hard to think sometimes.
In Bertolt Brecht's house there are desks and little tables everywhere which the steward explained was because 'he liked to write everywhere and circulate all around the space, wherever he felt inspired to sit and concentrate afresh'. I found that charming. I hope you'll give that 'musical desks' routine of sorts a try too. 😄
His house must have been huge!
@@darnitthelma4247 No! And you know what I found the most startling yet totally charming? The tiny, poky little kitchen! Apparently his missus and he loved to entertain. She LOVED to cook for the cast of theatrical productions huge groups of rowdy hungry peers so post theatre show/after rehearsals etc, she'd cook for the entire boisterous gang late at night. I felt totally chastened when I stuck my head around the corner and saw how cramped her excuse for a working kitchen was; if she can churn out huge dinners from that sort of space entirely on her own, then none of us need spacious kitchens with all the latest gadgets and have no excuse not to cook and entertain more! I found it very inspiring and felt stresses melt off. Such fun. Wouldn't you have loved to have gone to one of these crowded, lively, atmospheric literary 'midnight dinner parties'? 😋🕛🍷🍝🥂🍽
Love this series! You put so much effort into these videos. 👍👍
So glad you like them!! I love making them 💛
I'm so overwelmed with positive emotions from this video.😄 You're such a brave experimentator Christy! And the hand gestures in the end was cute for som reason😁
brave experimenter?
These are some of my favorite videos to watch. It really makes me want to figure out a routine for myself to do more writing and reading in my daily life.
Your positivity is beautiful, Christy. Even when you're exhausted you still manage to smile. You're an inspiration.
It's incredibly insane how Octavia Butler was able to juggle up time to write at such a sleepy time. i wake up 2am to write and DAMN it's working. Thank you Octavia Butler. A Legend you are!
Love this series! Well done! I've gotten up at 2 am to feed babies in the night, and you just don't get used to it 😅 Olivia E. Butler was a beast, such determination!
That is a mad routine, so impressive that Octavia managed this.
I don't blame you for finding this hard, I couldn't do it
I think the reason it worked for her is she had a book she needed to write and there was no other way to do it. The motivation plays a part in it working. I worked in a factory and your mind goes numb. Her way of surviving it might have been through writing. I think it would be fairer on the routines if you work on writing when they write rather than editing when they write. There's no sense of urgency to editing. When there is a book you need to get out of you it's more like escapism. Editing is more like knitting or painting..., you apply a method and yes it's got some rewriting involved, but not the same firey passion as getting words of a story onto the page when it's first unfolding
I do not at all blame you for not liking that routine, 2am wake ups would be absolutely brutal 😭
Octavia E. Butler IS a fenomena, I love her work. Great video
I feel really inspired by the fact that you're self employed and have a consistently routine. I struggle so much with that. I would love to see a video of your own writing and working routine 💖
i really appreciate the seasonal energy of this video! i live in north america where we're currently in the midst of sweltering hot summer which is my least favorite season. i am LONGING for shorter days and rainy skies and colorful leaves, so i am definitely living vicariously through this video 🍁🍂🍁🍂
I love this series! And you're giving me the inspiration to start my own channel 😁
I'm so glad!! And go for it 😊💛✨
this was so good to see. the level of sacrifice and dedication to see your dreams through is so powerful
i enjoyed your comment at the end about it being okay this routine wasn't "successful". finding that something doesn't work for you personally is just as helpful to find what aspects of a routine would actually work out!
I accidentally stay up till 2am all the time because I just forget to go to bed earlier lol, but the idea of waking up at that point?! And then using any kind of brain power?! 😳
lol saaaaaaaaaaaaaame. I'm much more of a night owl than an early bird
➡️ I am so sorry…i didn’t know what kind of writing schedule she had when you asked for novelists who had full time jobs, Octavia Butler instantly popped into my head along with Toni Morrison. Thank you so much for doing this one!
I was waiting for this one!! A writer with a full-time job on the side! Thanks for the awesome video!
That thing with the rice paper and egg in the frying pan. Teach me your sorcery!
I found the recipe through an instagram reel! It's honestly just an egg cracked on rice paper, but it's so good
Wow I've never been this early. And 2 am? Wow that sounds super intense😂
Thank you for being here!! It was a little intense, this one 😅😅
OMG! I just finished reading Xenogenesis Trilogy and then I saw my favourite CZcamsr uploaded this video! I am so happy right now^o^
It's still fun and engaging. These videos calm me. You did a good job. Keep'em coming.
I hope you feel like you have caught up on sleep! I'm impressed you stuck with this after realizing it was 2:AM.
I absolutely adore this series and your writing videos really inspire me to pick up my own writing. Can't wait to see where Project Teacup goes now that it's off to agents and editors!
Hi Christy!
I love your videos and always look forward to my youtube notifications. This video is amazing and amusing too. I wish you a good day and more videos to come
2 a.m. IS A ROUGH TIME time to wake up! When I moved from Japan to Seattle during the pandemic, I started teaching English online to kids in China to make some kind of living during that crazy time. Due to the time zone difference between Seattle and Beijing, I was teaching 5-year-olds at 2, 3, 4, and 5 a.m. I was glad to make a bit of $$$ and work from home, but it was SOOO tough on my brain and body and I only lasted a total of 5 months. 😂Serious kudos to Octavia E. Butler. I had no idea she had this insane routine! 😱loving this series, Christy Anne!
Been looking for this thank you for doing this
I absolutely love this series thank you for sharing these sweet and inspiring videos! I also live in Adelaide so it was really bizarre but cool to see Adelaide Uni and other common places in some of your other videos too, it's always lovely to see places you get used to through a different lense such as a video camera especially when it's edited into beautiful videos such as these... I'm loving the content!!
Christy, I really like your videos (they keep me motivated - and I'm a published author, so it matters a lot to me XD) and I absolutely LOVE your writing routine series - but it was hard to see how tired and devastated you were on the second morning T_T I hope you got some serious rest after that, because I was honestly worried about your health :D
But I have to say that Octavia Bulter's routine was absolutely amazing! I don't know this author (I see her books haven't even been translated into my language, so maybe that's a reason), but I'm really impressed that she managed to write a stories in one of the most demanding genres like science fiction 🤯
Ms. Butler used a typewriter, manual, and long hand as well. Brilliant writer, gone too soon. Glad you're following her routine. But, I have to say I cannot imagine looking at a monitor at 2am. Good video.
Ohno not the Samsung alarm again 😭
At least it wasn't as loud this time hahaha
Love your stuff Christy! You make Mondays worth waking up to 💜
Thank you for the video❤
Great video, as usual!
I love this series and I waited for you to do the Butler routine for many weeks! I knew her routine would be hard and wanted to see how it really feels to try it out. I wonder if it might have been more conducive for free writing than editing which needs your logical brain to be alert, more than the creative brain.
haha 2am is also my writing routine because THAT'S WHEN I GO TO BED
(and I often write when I have insomnia)
you have so much strength! i would probably stop at day 1😭
Love this series! If i remember correctly Rainer Maria Rilke described his routine in Letters to a young poet, maybe that would be fun? Hope i'm not misremembering haha
Sleepy talks from you are so funny and cute at the same time 😂 I feel you. 2am.....I could never
Love your videos especially your writing experiments. Just joined your patreon. ❤
thank you so much 💛💛
Octavia is just like me. I am a chronic night owl so the whole 2AM writing schedule looks like it would be best for me. My best work has been produced during moonlight hours. Also she's one of my favorite authors lol
I'm a writer I don't wake up at 2. I wake up at 3:30 am i have time after my job i just like the extra alone quiet writing. There is some very easy ways to wake up. If you wanna do something like this.
1. Force yourself out of bed after the alarm (no avoiding that)
2. Take a cold shower and fully bathe in it. At any point you get "too cold" and get away from the water. Restart the process and rewash everything.
3. After that visceral hell eat very hard to digest foods. (Pizza,donuts,cereal,etc,)
4. Go for a morning walk
Go back inside(at this point for me it's usually 3:45)and get writing until whenever you decide (I stop at 6:30 ish)
I've kinda done this. Get up at six or seven for work, get home, take a nap, get some creative work done, maybe get some more sleep
Thanks for doing this routine. Octavia E. Butler is one of my literary mamas and one of the 3 my studio/office is named after.
this is absolutely out of context but i adore what you did to your eyes with the make up. i really really love it. it reminds me of how a lady fox would wear make up if she turned into a human for some reason
It's 1 AM where I am, perfect timing to watch this
Could you talk more about your journey with burnout, your symptoms and how you have managed to rest enough? ❤
You have inspired me to try the 2 AM routine lol I imagine it’s going to be as bad as my 3 AM routine. 😂
I can't imagine this would be an easy routine to follow! I doubt I'd convince myself to get out of bed at 2am!
I used to get up at 3am, walk three miles to be at work by 5am. I was done by 1pm and by 2pm I was at the library, writing from 2-6. Rinse. Repeat.
Hi Christy,
I've wanted to write you for awhile with an idea for an adaptafor this series. I think that you, and most of us, realize that trying someone's routine, one that they undoubtedly developed slowly, for a short time, especially if it involves time variations at great odds to your natural rythym, are bound to fail. Still interesting of course but not terribly helpful. But what if you tried to find the heart of their routine instead? In this case it would be trying to fit writing into a life that includes a full time job. Factory work is sometimes but not always physically exhausting. Your work is I believe, mentally demanding. What might speak to the heart of her routine and the facts of your life would be to work from 6 to 10 on your novel, refresh with a walk, and some reading, then work from noon until six. I was writing in the early hours but different parts of the process call for different energies. Now I just make sure I sit down to write daily.
Thank you so much for your gung-ho crazzoo approach!
This one wouldn't have worked for me either. My ideal sleep-time is about 3am -- 11am.
Hello Christy! I was wondering if you can in the future make a video about how to use Excel or Google Sheets to plan or organize a story!
Oh my goodness!
You said something that sparked my interest: which famous authors were born into money, leaving them free to write without having to work, and which writers were born poor or working class and had to work twice as hard? What effect did this have on the quality or subject matter of their stories?
Honestly, and I told my mama this, I wouldn't be able to get up at 2 am just to write because it would be too much for me, but I am in awe and shock that Octavia would get up that early just to write. Thank you for this video (I really enjoyed it!) and I enjoy your experimentation of this writing routine :)
She was amazing. And you're so welcome!! 💛
I've worked in a candy factory. It's really hard on the body and really tiring if you're not used to it. If you're working on an assembly line, the work is repetitive and your muscles don't have a chance to really rest until you get home. Once you're used to it, it's okay, but it's still hard on the body and I always found it rather painful. I was hired in August '20, so some of the shifts were staggered due to the need to social distance, and one part of the factory started the day shift at 6:55AM Atlantic Time (7:25PM Adelaide time). That meant a 4:30AM alarm! I hated it and I never got used to it. Normal start-time is 7:55AM, and a year or more ago they switched to having all parts of the factory start the day shift at 7:55.
I can literally feel the pain of that 2am alarm.. it also wouldn’t work for me. Thanks for the video 😊
Very prolific author Robert Silverberg was independently wealthy by 30 thanks to some brilliant investing, so he could just write for 60 or 70 hours a week. Edward Plunkett (aka Lord Dunsany) was a wealthy British aristocrat. On the other hand, Stephen King had a variety of jobs, often more than one at a time, while he tried to write. Erle Stanley Gardner worked full-time in the early years but still managed to write over 1,000,000 words some years. Jerry Jenkins would get up at 4 or 5 and write on a typewriter set on a board set on two chairs.
I don't know how you (or Octavia E Butler) do it! I hope it didn't take too long to recover your own routine. Very interesting! ✨🌙✨
I have a hard time even getting time to read and get extra exercise outside of my factory job! Granted im second shift so my free time gets split between both before and after work, but thats some determination!
This is an interesting routine to try! I wake up at 3am to go to work in a bakery, so I'm thinking i could try getting up an hour earlier to give myself time to write before work-- after work I'm too tired and have chores and stuff to do!
2AM! 😮 I am in shock and awe. I must say I couldn't do it. I had to start work at 7am once and I all but fell asleep in my chair! 😂
I also worked retail in a clothing store, but I did not last long because I could not fold the clothes properly and even improperly I could not fold them fast enough. I did do some factory work too. I worked in a factory that made roach and rat traps. It was not grueling work. I was just concerned when one day I saw a rat in the factory, not the kind of irony you want.
It sounds like you need to work on your sleep cycle. A sleep cycle comes in 90m waves. If you want to wake up at 2am without feeling extremely tired, plan your sleep so that you wake up after a 90 minute cycle
Have you tried Stephen King's writing routine? He describes it in his writing memoir, ON WRITING. I think you'll find his routine much more agreeable! 😄
Woot! You have Suburbia! I do, too - it's one of my favorite games.
I have a lot of respect for you for doing this - I am sure I couldn't do a full day of work after getting up at 2am to write. I think I could do Stephen King's routine better - write until noon, then goof around the rest of the day 😁
Loved that video just as much as all the others even though you seemed to suffer more. Waking up at 2 am? Not for me. I guess it wasn't easy for Octavia E. Butler either for the first few weeks until it became her routine. But she was strong to do both. Have a nice week and get some rest.😴 💙
Oh gosh this is hard i don't know how Octavia did for SO long mucho respect to her and to You for doing it for this video 😅 i wouldnt do it jaja .
What was that egg thing. That’s fascinating and want to try it.
What was the egg and avocado lunch you prepared, specifically the clear outer shell that looked like it made the omelette foldable and crunchy?
It was rice paper :) the kind you use for cold rolls (sometimes spring rolls)
so cute when your sleepy, just take it easy
you did a good job
As an educator, this might work for me. Have to be at school by 7:30 am and finished around 4:30 ish pm.
I can totally relate to everything she says about trying to find time to write while working full time. I get up at 4:30am to hopefully write for an hour before my regular life begins. Maybe I should start earlier, haha. Also, what was the thing you cooked the egg on to make the taco shell???
I think it was a rice paper sheet
@@aishwaryagadgil2836 thank you
Yep! Just rice paper (like the kind you use for cold rolls) and an egg cracked on top 😊
I looked her up for more details on her life and work. She was probably crashing hard when she got home and got up at 2 a.m. Then she'd take No-Doz to get through the day. I admire her dedication and grit. However, I am not surprised that she sadly died young at 58. I guess the importance of sleep has been on my brain since I read Why We Sleep.
I am thinking to have the same methods habits of writers and find what suits me for my writing could you please make a video about the researched that you found to attempt those writers habits please ? Thank you 😊
Octavia the goddess.
if you've ever read Daisy Jones & the Six.. you look just how I imagined Daisy in the book. random thought but I thought it might make you smile.
I suspect every significant author you can point at started their writing career while working a full-time job. Not all of them (probably only a minority of them) had a spouse or parent subsidizing their life until they got off the ground.
Can you just do a video in making your lunch - that looked healthy and delish!😋
What does your normal routine look like?
It's all over the place! I'm actually really bad with routines 😅
12:44 could someone tell me what this is, please? 😲 Must be handy!
I think it is rice paper :)
If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has a writing routine public, I hope you do that one! ❤️🙏🏻
Yes, a woman of color!