Thats actually mindblowing!! Like if the main theme of your character is family values, they could be adopted and learn to deal with that or maybe they were stolen or maybe their values are all wrong!!!
@@yessica5231 I have the theme of not judging people for what they are. You should judge them for WHO they are and what they’re like as a person. It’s in a fantasy setting in which mages were once integrated into society, but because a few of them abused their power, the people decided to hunt them down and kill them. One of my main characters’ parents have been killed by mages. Another main character is a mage herself and she’s trying to stay hidden. They both believe the all of the mages/humans are evil, generalising them.
@@jarmoliebrand2005 WILD CARD: Your (mage) main character's father was a mage. Your main character's mother was a mage hunter that found him out (after they were in a relationship obviously) and turned him in/killed him herself. Now the mother has a complex about it because she finds out she's pregnant and the kid ends up being born a mage. She can't bring herself to give up the child and parents them in hiding/exile. In order to save face, she made up a story about the father being hunted down and leaves out the part where she turned him in.
I love that you create a soundtrack. I get inspired to write characters and their plots when I'm randomly daydreaming while listening to music at work. Good to know I'm not alone in my music-noveling 😄
It's not necessarily something you're conscious of? Like what did you want to be before the world told you it wasn't possible? You're probably still longing to be that person, and find a way to make it work. Like if you wanted to be a superhero when you were a kid for example, you might still be trying to be a hero in ways that don't use superpowers, but not be so aware of doing this.
thank you so much. I know this video was released long ago but I still use it for every character profile I make. Im actually only ten years old and I aspire to make a book. I already have so much ideas.
Im an artist and I have this cool idea for my comic but I don't know how to start, thanks to your videos I can finally write it and bring my story to life^^
Abbie: I create a playlist that is what I imagine the soundtrack of my book to be My story: Has a comedic scene where the characters are trying to make a cake My brain: *YoU gOtTa Do ThE cOoKiNg By ThE bOoK*
The RU-vid started recommended your videos for me and I'm SO gratful for this. I started writing my first storie and your videos help a lot. Thank u so much for your work! My greentings from Brazil!
Thank you, I have been very much enjoying your videos. Especially this one, watched it a couple times. I am just a little confused. I get reverse engineering to create a lie. I don't understand how that helps with greatest fear. I have heard you mention the greatest fears in other videos, as well. Can you elaborate on the greatest fear part, please? Sorry for noob question, working on first novel.
In case this helps anyone...I cannot answer how the character is dissatisfied with her life in this particular story, because she isn't. Through hurt, she has decided that she is "happy" already. She isn't striving for anything. She has decided she is done with being hurt and is fine as a single woman who is focused on other aspects of her life. I tried to find something she was dissatisfied with and I had to make something up which had NOTHING to do with the theme or the hurt she has felt. Her inner conflict isn't about being dissatisfied and going after something to make her satisfied. It's about wanting to avoid something that hurts and her inciting incident comes, slaps her in the face and gives her no choice but to be vulnerable and to connect with somebody, which is her fear. Because of this...I cannot answer those two questions, yet she has inner conflict. If you dig deep into this woman who is determined she is happy...she's making her decisions based on her fears - NOT because it is what she is truly happy with. Later she will realize she wasn't satisfied when she made herself believe she was. I mean...am I right? Is this still inner conflict? I feel like it still IS.
It is, but ... hello again ... it sounds like this may be one of those stories where the character with a burning desire, the one who has a goal and puts in the effort and drives the plot, isn't the character who changes. Maybe your character's Lie is that she is happy? That she can be happy without ever connecting with others? As Abbie said, we all want to go after pleasure and avoid pain; usually the driving of the plot comes from going after pleasure, but maybe she is obliged to keep doing things in order to keep avoiding the pain. Rain Man's brother, who would prefer to pursue his business, is obliged to keep helping his brother in order to avoid the pain of whatever disaster would follow from his brother not getting the help he needs. The Inciting Incident rips the character out of the Normal World and launches or throws her into the Special World (Luke's family is killed so he joins the rebels; Dorothy leaves home to save Toto and ends up in Oz; Scrooge takes the spirit's hand and they pass through a wall to an open field; Wendy goes to Never Never Land; Meg tessers to wherever; Harry takes the magic train to Hogwarts; Frodo and Sam leave the Shire). A member of my writing group wrote a short story where the protag, on a cruise, discovers that her medicine has been frozen (therefore ruined) and now she has to make phone calls to the doctor and the insurance company; her physical surroundings remained unchanged but mentally she was transported to the Special World where her focus was on this new problem. Your character is dissatisfied with her life in the sense that she is afraid to connect with others? Why do we care about this question: in what was is she dissatisfied with her life? What do we do with the answer once we get it? We use that as the motivation for the character to put in the effort to drive the plot forward, right? Scrooge is dissatisfied with impending hellish doom; Frodo is dissatisfied with the Ring being available for the evil forces to come and get; Meg is dissatisfied with her father being gone; Dorothy is dissatisfied with her dog being Mrs. Gulch's target; Wendy is dissatisfied with being obliged to grow up, and curious about a boy who doesn't; Luke is dissatisfied leaving the princess (and the galaxy) in harm's way; Harry is dissatisfied with living in a closet. Or are we talking about a different dissatisfaction related to the character's need to change? See K. M. Weiland's episode about the character's Want vs. the character's Need. Maybe your character Wants to be alone, but Needs to connect? That change from fear-based decisions to desire-based decisions ("Later she realizes...") sounds like the Midpoint. What is your character's hurt?
Hello Thanks for your videos. Whether I agree or not thet are educational and great. Well done. What do you think of books like Foundation/Asimov, WorldWar Series/Turtledove and Game of Thrones (S1-S4)? LOTS of Main Chars, lots of POV's, lots of Cahr arcs.... not just one as you seem to be talking about.... how do your words on internal conflicts, etc fit with these? Or disaster stories with more than one MC, but the overriding concern is the End of the World?
I'm not sure I want to write about a truth. I understand the purpose of it and I do want to touch/make my readers feel something. But I don't want to limit my story to a final truth. Plus, I don't know if I'm experienced enough to teach people about the themes I wanna explore lol. But yes, there's many themes I want to explore in my story and I have many side characters (5 for now) that I want to develop. They're gonna have an impact on the protagonist, but not all the time. Like I want them to feel alive outside of the main story. Maybe I'm too invested in the side characters... I could make them protagonsits as well to explore their stories more (they're gonna have big roles anyway) but I fear writing with so many protagonist is gonna be hella difficult XD.
My story I’m doing for my first NaNoWriMo this year has also been brewing in my mind and on paper for years! Probably since 2014. It was a lot different then.
Hi Abbie ! First of all, your You Tube channel that I just discovered (where was I?) is a real gold mine for me. Thank you. My question: is it possible to have two main characters in a novel? If not, is it a matter of choice only? How do you make that choice when you don't know which one to choose?
How can I stop Scrivener from turning all my apostrophes into single curly quotes? 🤔 Maybe this is no problem on an English keyboard, but on my German one, there are only keys for regular quotes and apostrophes - which Scrivener can either turn into curly quotes, or use regular quotes throughout, but not both in an alternating manner.
How did you get those photos onto your corkboard? I have collected photos off the internet to help me visualize my characters, but I have no idea how to incorporate those images into my Scrivener document. I searched the Scrivener manual and haven't found the answer. (Of course, I have the PC version, not Apple, so maybe it's something I won't be able to do..)
You know, I used to watch writing videos and feel so discouraged, like I could never meet all these do's and don'ts and write a real story. I almost hesitate to click on these videos any more, but I am *so* drawn to them. BUT, whenever I watch yours, I feel so encouraged, motivated, and inspired... I feel like, "Yeah... Yeah, I think I can do that.... Ok! Ok." It's so disheartening to watch these, "stop doing all these things" style videos, and so encouraging to watch yours! Keep being amazing! Thankyou so much!!! ❤️
I know, I know! Shakespeare did not get told to tick off 23 points, or however many, when writing a story and he did fine. Yet there are vital pieces of advice among the too-too-many that are out there. Abbie does a good job. About the only things that I do not believe in 100% here are her eyebrows.
I’m 14, I wrote my first book at the age of eleven. It sucked, naturally, the world was a jumbled mess and boring, the characters were one dimensional and there was no internal conflict at all; it sucked. But, that was to be expected, I was eleven. Now thanks to your videos I understand writing so much better and my characters actually feel like real people. Thank you so much Abbie, I’m finally happy about writing again and I’m really excited about this new story!
Yo, pog. I had a similar experience but my sister was into writing and since I was a younger sibling and was eight, I wanted to be like her so I wrote my first story then. I’m now eleven and I understand writing much better than I did at eight. I will never get good at writing short stories. Like, someone explain to me how to make a story so short have as much effect as a long story with everything you can’t do?
I am just now trying to write a story. I’ve been working on the main characters for more than a year now and I’m glad to know it’s possible and I’m not the only one. I’m proud of you guys for continuing to write!
@@wisvai279 “A man woke up in the middle of the night because of an eerie feeling. His room was completely dark, but he remembered a flashlight lying on his nightstand. So he reached for it… but couldn’t touch it. Then the flashlight was put in his hand!”
I remember this one story I wrote in 4th grade, and W O W. You would not believe how cringe it is lol My characters had no internal conflict whatsoever, and probably the main reason why it sucked. Plus, I didn't have enough motivation to make it good because it was pretty much forced and rushed
I found it funny when I got to the "what is your character's misconception about the world?" because I'm writing from a petty criminal's PoV and funny enough, in my story he is actually proven right at every turn: People are stupid, check. People are low, check. People are gonna let you down, check. In the end, his downfall comes from not trusting anybody and putting everybody in the same sac, including the good people who could have stood up for him.
Is it bad that around the 20 minute mark when you started saying "This is a story about", my brain automatically went to "Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down" from the Fresh Prince? LOL It's after midnight...I need to finish making notes then go to bed or else my character profiles will make no sense whatsoever haha. Thanks so much for putting this together, Abbie!
I was just crying because everyone that I'm working with thinks my ideas are dumb and say that I don't know character development and sentiment, you just made my day!!
Here's one of my favorite quotes ever and hopefully it can help you gain some confidence: “If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don’t let some idiot talk you out of it.“ -Stan Lee
Almost every writer who wrote a popular great movie/book was told their work was not good. So don't worry about it. Also, if it's true, see it as a feedback to improve your writing. Okay so this is 3 years later, so you probably don't need this advice anymore haha!
I found your channel recently and have devoured your videos. I have made a massive amount of progress in outlining my novel from your videos. The way you explain each part of the story structure so in depth and so different from other videos I’ve seen. They usually just list the parts of structure with brief descriptions of what what each point means. But you really go in depth and give questions to tie the character motivations into it. It has been a game-changer for me. So thank you so very much for making such awesome videos! I can’t wait for the next one in the series!
I saw this video was up, yelled out “oh my god it’s time”, stopped everything I was doing, and am now watching. Obviously I’m very excited about this. 😂😂
Thank you for everything you do, where I study Creative Writing degrees arent really well structured and not enough funding goes into them to better the curriculum so you end up taking little workshops offered on campus that are amazing but you dont have enough time for everything there is to learn and the class size is 20 or more people so one on one feedback from the teachers is a very rare opportunity that is necessary. I'm so happy I was able to find your channel because here the face 2 face feedback is not necessary because of how well you explain the science behind writing stories that mean something. Your videos took me out of my writers "block", I hadn't written anything i was happy with for a long time and your advice made my own courses at college make soooo much more sense, and i was able to create stories that matter to me and that im proud of. Thank you so much for that. I know 5 buck will never cover how much you're helping aspiring writers, but it's what I can help with right now. Thank you so much for this, have the greatest success with your projects!!!
I’m fourteen and have been trying to write since I was like in sixth grade And it was always very difficult to dissect my own ideas like the theme After watching your videos, I now see how simple it can be and how I can improve my writing. Thank you so much Abbie! Keep up the good work! ❤️
Keep in mind internalised unquestioned beliefs don't need to be based on a single past event - they may have been drilled into a child's head like a constant drop on a stone, just like the "again and again" reinforcement you describe. The problem with the latter is: People no longer even realise at what moment in time they adopted this belief, because there is no single moment in time. This is how semantic memory works. When have you learned that London is the capital of the UK? 😉
If anyone is looking for a really good example of character backstory, I would read the first chapter of Renegades! I'm currently reading it now, and the opening flashback was not only written so well but also gave us so much information that we needed to understand why the protagonist is who they are. Not sure if anyone has any other examples, but lmk if you do!
It might just be me, but whenever I hear something about something I read or watched, I’m like “Oh my God, that exists??” I’d never heard of Renegades online or anything before… Good series! :)
i often make my side characters just a bit more interesting than the MC to show that everyone has their own problems and hardships not just the MC to make it more realistic, dunno if that really works but EH
That’s actually a really good idea especially if the side characters are friends or related. However the main goal is to make the main character(s) interesting.
I'm so glad I found your channel, it seems to have exactly what I need for this #NaNoWriMo season. Also, love your hair and makeup. I was hoping, just a little bit, that I would see a makeup tutorial in amongst your writing videos 🤣
I've been a subscriber for a while now. I'm amazed and impressed at how your production and content have improved. It was fun and good to begin with, but now, it's so jazzy and professional. It appears you even have (or are) a great stylist for yourself and the "set." I'm about 4/5 done with my current novel. I was already applying some of your principles (gotten elsewhere, though). When I finish this one, I'll apply more of what you suggest. I'll use your templates on the following novel & see how they evolve, adapting to my own style. Thanks!
Interesting, I never tink about the theme (or truth) of my story before I start writing it. I've tried, but it's not for me, I get bored, because I don't think of my stories that way. Considering theme makes me feel like I'm preaching, and there's nothing hat annoys me more than a preachy book 😅
Then don't preach - DISCOVER. Ask questions to FIND the truth. Confront different points of view in your story (represented by different characters), and let the reader decide whom to side with ;>
Thank you so much for your kind words! They mean so much to me, and I am thrilled that the content I make encourages you to chase your dreams and make your story MATTER!
I always interview my characters. I was surprised at how easy and revealing it was the first time I tried it just as an experiment. Even without knowing what I was going to talk about, the convo just zoomed straight into personality and emotional triggers. A lot of fun and revealing. Definitely recommend it.
I am SO glad I've recently discovered you, Abbie. You're amazing and helpful. Btw, off-topic but you are SO beautiful. You look like Natalia Dyer from Stranger Things, and Peyton List from Cobra Kai.
“A story is not about what happens; it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. You remember a story, not because of the stuff that happens-you remember a story because of the the journey that the characters went on internally and the truth that they learned about the world… It was actually invented to mean something, to impart truth to us, to help us avoid pain and danger, to enlighten us to better understand ourselves and others.” If you came up with that on your own, you need to coin that. I agree completely, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it like that.
Fellow writers. Ever had like 30 ideas? But you're currently writing one or two stories at a time and don't want to chop and change? You want to get them done so that you can transform your other ideas into reality but don't want to sacrifice the quality of your current stories? That's my problem right now and I think it's because I chose to write a really long book first over writing short stories that could later be expanded upon.
If you're writing a story with multiple POV's that don't all end up interacting and meeting do you need a 3 act story structure for all of them? Like of course there's the main main character but the rest are not really side characters?
In another video of yours, the order of priorities sounded like "characters > theme > plot"; you compared characters to "water" as opposed to food and shelter, i.e. the most "vital" thing. Here it sounds more like "theme above all else". I can relate to that, but whenever I make everything subservient to the theme, including the characters, it feels like I'm just writing propaganda for my personal views... 🤔
Hi Abbie! Just found your channel, and your videos are excellent! Your advice on backstory at 18:50 got a little muddy for me, so I'm hoping you might be able to clarify. In the "backstory scene that changed everything", is their "conclusion/new belief" the misbelief, or is it the truth? And for the three scenarios where the character acted on the misbelief, is it correct that the intent is for those scenarios to reinforce the character's belief that the misbelief is true? Thanks!
It's fun to hear how others are doing. I mean, I have a character in my first novel that I recently finished, and he was totally unplanned. But he became the leading reason why and how my MC made it. He is literally the most important character in the book apart from the MC. And he was just a fluke of the moment. I'm such a pantser. XD
I just want to say thank you so much Abbie for your amazingly detailed videos! I'm a new writer and so far I've been finding your methods super helpful! Loving it :)
Can the main character outline work in fanfictions, e.g. the character is already a developed canon character but say I use the main character outline to flesh out his storyline for my fanfic? Thanks for your outlines. They look helpful. 😊
im actually baffled that all of this information is free and on youtube. man as soon as i start publishing ill make sure to pay it back to you on your patreon! you r awesome abbie thank you for all your videos
Wonderful video! I'm loving the plotting along with you and getting so excited for November! As if you don't have enough to think about for your own novel, I'm having a hangup thinking about my character's lie/misbelief. Very vague synopsis: a woman goes through a life threatening illness and injury, and the story is about her struggle and journey. Her lie is about how she'll never be well enough to live the life she has always known and loved. How do I incorporate her lie in her backstory when its something that's recently happened to her that is driving the plot? I'd greatly appreciate your feedback or direction to a forum/space to converse about this more! Thanks and happy Preptober!!
One thing i dont understand it the whole «how has their fear kept them from taking this action and How does your protagonist feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear of the thing they are afraid of», like, if what they want to accomplish is what _they think_ will make them happy (not what actually would), and if they think that because of their misbelief and their deepest fear, then why would their fear kept them from going after that rather that being the engine that moves them precisely to seek that particuar thing???
Let me clear up this simply. Your character's misbelief drives your character's desire AND their fear. For example if your character's misbelief is "I need to be rich in order to be happy, because financial success means everything to me." Then your character would want to be rich since they think that's what matters, even when it doesn't. Their fear is also being fed by their misbelief, either they believe they will turn out just like their poor parents or that they don't have what it takes to be rich and successful. Perhaps they've been bullied in school, making them feel insignificant and unimportant. Think of it like this: misbelief creates desire and fear.
Ok, I am TOTALLY gonna start over now! My story that I currently have has 107 pages (I know, it's sad that I have to delete that), but I think because you just explained to me how to form my characters, I now understand that mine were a total mess. Thank you Abby, because my story just got an upgrade! :D P.S. I think I'm gonna buy your story when it's out! Sounds amazing! (Really)
I just found your channel and I just wanted to say thank you! I always tought that there was something "wrong" with my brains because my book ideas are always starting from themes and topics and I find it very difficult sometimes to then try to come up with plot and characters etc. Your videos have helped me so much and I'm so happy that my outlining isn't ongoing struggling anymore. Greetings from Finland and keep up the good work! :)
I am 15 and trying to write a story, mostly as practice for when I am older and actually ready to write my own stories and publish them. I am going to create the characters, the structure of the story and some parts of the world and see how it goes. It's mostly practice and I doubt it will be good enough to post anywhere but we all need to start somewhere. It will be a good way to practice my English too.
Abbie, you are so awesome wholesome. I want my little girl to be like you! God, I love your eyes and eyebrows and the spark you have to educate all wanna be writers like me. You'd make any mother proud!
The theme of A Series of Unfortunate Events is really interesting because it turns the 'truth' part upside down. The truth in that story is that most of the time everything won't work out, the lie that the characters believe is that everything will work out for them. And their journey is that through all the experiences they have they discover that people are willing to help but fail most of the time.
Can your characters goal be their misbelief? While watching this I was thinking up ways I could change their goal and lie. I decided that maybe their lie could be that they aren’t successful or worthy or anything like that if they don’t win the big basketball game. Their goal would be to win but then I plan on making them fall in love with the rivals team captain. I feel like that would be an interesting read.
One thing I recommend because it helps me is to make a music playlist of music that reminds you of your story. or do it with specific characters. it really helps me get in the writing mood! :)
If I'm prepping in June, is this my Prune? 🧐 Okay, this is completely irrelevant to the content of this video, but I just love the rainbow bookshelf organization so many RU-vidrs use! Alas, I could never use it myself cuz it'd mess up the author/series/genre organization I use, but I make up for it by cluttering all the space in front of the books with tiny knick knacks lol. I gotta dust that stuff…
For my WIP, I'm starting with a pre-existing series of conversations and trying to make them into a story. I'm not sure yet what the story Truth is. So, for each conversation, I must ask (of course): What does the character learn from this conversation? But also, now: What Truth does this conversation help the character to accept (or to avoid)? What Lie/Misbelief does this conversation help the character to reject (or to hang onto)? How does this conversation influence the character believing (or avoiding) the Truth and rejecting (or hanging onto) the Lie/Misbelief? And the same question, of course, for each Plot Point: How does this event influence the character believing (or avoiding) the Truth and rejecting (or hanging onto) the Lie/Misbelief?
Helppp im only 13 and I've been dreaming to be a writer but I don't know how, I don't have any motivation PLUS whenever I decided to write my idea in a piece of paper I JUST CAN'T DO IT I mean my Brain don't even work all I did is just imagine it....... It's like I'm living in fantasy..... If someone can give me some advice that would be really helpful!
Cherry Red ~ Protagonist, reluctant hero ~ Bright red vixen, Nearly the queen's twin ~ Young adult ~ ENFP ~ Not typical or acceptable behavior of her royal family ~ Her country going to war ~ That only one world is capable of war with her world and it's her prejudice ~ Her ancestors drilled it in to her ~ Call to adventure to learn the truth about all the worlds ~ Romance, Friendship, Trust. I couldn't wait to write it down.
Story was invented, at least by the Greeks, to purge people of bad crap that had accumulated as time progressed. It was actually a very religious ritual for them. The point of story for the Greeks was a thing called - here comes the Greek word - κάθαρση (kátharsi) or catharsis. And, as I recall, this was an annual religious ceremony for them. The actual Greek word used back then, around the time of Aristotle, may have been a bit different, but that was the idea. It did this by putting the audience through an emotional wringer, thus the Three Act Structure, as defined by Aristotle. Παρακαλώ (Parakaló). Transl: You are welcome. (Hey, I lived in Greece for three years, because I was in the Air Force. So, I know at least a few words of the language. :D ) Regarding “your story’s truth,” the venerable Lajos Egri used the term “theme,” and he taught that this is what your story seeks to prove. And any time any part of your story wanders from that, that’s when the story falters. Love his book THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING!
