How to Edit Chapters & Stories FAST (Writing Advice)

Подписаться 154 тыс.

Просмотров 14 тыс.

50% 1

Learn how to edit your chapters and short stories quickly with this simple three-step strategy.
Get Brandon's horror/thriller novel BAD PARTS:
AMAZON (USA): amzn.to/3esTFYC
AMAZON (UK): www.amazon.co....
AMAZON (CAN): www.amazon.ca/...
AMAZON (INDIA): www.amazon.in/...
AMAZON (AUS): www.amazon.com...
BARNES & NOBLE: tinyurl.com/Ba...
AUDIBLE: www.audible.co...
OTHER RETAILERS: books2read.com...
Get Brandon's supernatural thriller novel ENTRY WOUNDS:
AMAZON (USA): amzn.to/2XL737v
AMAZON (UK): www.amazon.co....
AMAZON (CAN): www.amazon.ca/...
AMAZON (INDIA): www.amazon.in/...
AMAZON (AUS): www.amazon.com...
BARNES & NOBLE: tinyurl.com/En...
AUDIBLE: tinyurl.com/EW...
OTHER RETAILERS: books2read.com...
Follow Brandon McNulty:
WEBSITE (Join my mailing list!) - brandonmcnulty...
TWITTER - / mcnultyfiction
FACEBOOK - / mcnultyfiction
SUBSCRIBE to Writer Brandon McNulty here: / @writerbrandonmcnulty
DISCLAIMER: Some of my videos and/or descriptions contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. This does not affect my review of products. All opinions are my own. Thank you for the support!
#WritingAdvice #WritingTips #Writing #author #betterstories #authortube #booktube #authortuber #howtowrite #BrandonMcNulty #WriterBrandonMcNulty #BadParts #WritingCommunity
=======================================
CHECK OUT MY OTHER VIDEOS:
Mastering Scene Structure:
• Mastering Scene Struct...
Writing Scenes that Flow:
• Writing Scenes That Fl...
5 Fatal Mistakes that New Writers Make
• 5 Fatal Mistakes that ...
5 Time-Saving Tips for Writers (And Readers!)
• 5 Time-Saving Tips for...
5 Scientific Inaccuracies in Movies, TV, & Books
• 5 Scientific Inaccurac...
Query Letter Survival Tips
• Query Letter Survival ...
The BEST Writing Exercise Out There
• The BEST Writing Exerc...
How to Write a Book Pitch
• How to Write a Book Pitch
Writing Villains #1 - Start with Your Hero
• Writing Villains #1 - ...
Writing Villains #2 - Goals
• Writing Villains #2 - ...
Writing Villains #3 - Motivation
• Writing Villains #3 - ...
Writing Villains #4 - When to Introduce Your Villain
• Writing Villains #4 - ...
Writing Villains #5 - Plot Points for Villains
• Writing Villains #5 - ...
Writing Villains #6 - Impacting the Hero
• Writing Villains #6 - ...
The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:
• The Anatomy of Story R...
Save the Cat Writes a Novel REVIEW:
• Save the Cat Writes a ...
=======================================

Опубликовано:

14 окт 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 63

@henrikc3 9 месяцев назад

1. Read through it, and make necessary cuts. 2. Read through, and make sure all the big picture parts work. 3. Read through one more time, and focus on line editing.

@alexbadeau5027 Год назад

I polished my original first chapter early on several times over only to realize it was superfluous. it taught me a chapter has to have several functions before I even consider including it in the story, bc as you state, polishing takes time and it’s inefficient to polish something that will ultimately end up on the cutting room floor

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Absolutely. A chapter has to do a lot of work, so it’s critical to make sure the major pieces are in place before polishing

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

How you ever spent hours polishing something that had to be cut or revised later on? Let us know!

@Auburn_Zero Год назад

I used to start writing from the beginning, thinking the story would evolve on its own as I went. This became a trap of constant retconning and revising. Now I outline ahead of time so I can catch many problems when they're only a few sentences long. And I live by the adage that real art is never finished, it's only abandoned at some point. Because no artist is ever fully satisfied with their art, but always wanting to tinker forever.

@johnchastain7890 3 месяца назад

Probably, since I've been working (or not) on my masterpiece for a long time. I'm now in at least the third rewrite, and nearly all the previous verbiage is gone. The upside, however, is that now the story makes sense. 😅

@ellennewth6305 Месяц назад

My first manuscript was over 100K words and included material that was well-written but did nothing to move the plot along. A Christmas scene was filled with fun moments, carol singing, gift-giving and a holiday feast. Charles Dickens would have loved it. But despite all my "editing" and "polishing," it detracted from the story. It was totally unnecessary. So after hours and hours of fine-tuning, it had to go. 🙁

@johnchastain7890 Месяц назад

@@ellennewth6305 I've killed many of my darlings, but I save them all. You never know when you'll find something in there to "repurpose."

@AnaMcGinnis 23 дня назад

I'm writing my first novel, a science fiction book called Glitch, and this along with many other videos are helping me on this journey. I'm about to revise my first chapter after months of planning and restarting and planning and restarting. I'm definitely going to take your advice, along with dozens of other people's and wanted to thank you for posting this video that helps a new writer like me out.

@christianrosenquist8939 3 дня назад

Best of luck with Glitch! Fingers crossed, it makes it to the shelves over here in Sweden. I'll pick it up when I see it. :)

@davidabbott9105 5 месяцев назад

This is really helpful. I’ve been trying to do all 3 at the same time and it’s too much. Thank you!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 5 месяцев назад

Happy to help. Best of luck with your stuff!

@didutasev4427 Год назад

Right. Thought I always keep those discarded scenes in a folder called Recycle, and I sometimes manage to recycle parts of the in another project, a description o whatsoever. Regards.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Thanks for watching!

@thakiusmuckfeather1103 Год назад

Great video, Brandon. Happened to me quite often that I had to cut scenes on which I worked many hours. Makes sense not to waste time like this.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Yeah, nothing worse than wasted time

@tomlewis4748 Год назад

What escapes me here is how this technique might 'save time and effort'. These are all things that absolutely must be done pretty much in all fictional writing/revising/editing, and I don't see how what order you might do them in has much effect on that, other than some processes are easier for some writers than for others. Not that this isn't an absolutely legit approach. It can work. It does, for many. I think it's good to find a process that works for you, and whatever one settles on is likely to be the most effective. Some of us can jump from drafting to editing and revising on any one of half a dozen levels on the fly, even during a first draft with zero plotting, possibly dozens of times in a single drafting session or revision pass, quite effectively. No getting distracted, no getting lost. It's one more legit option. If you might be capable of that, why not try that? Brandon is of course innocent of this, but far too often I've heard 'guru's moaning, 'oh no! That will never work! You absolutely should never do that! You're undermining the process and it will only lead to failure!' And I am not being hyperbolic when I report this. Believe it or don't. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason they chirp like that is because it does not work-for them. Fine. Just maybe don't proselytize to the rest of us. We are not you. But it can and does work, and I am living proof of that, and I'm not the only one who can use that process successfully … "I don't do anything like that. I just flail away at the goddam thing!" That's a direct quote from a writer you may have heard of named Stephen King. That process appears to not have held him back, not even a little bit. It's just one option, among many, and Brandon's suggestion is just as legit. Many will find that helpful. A friend in a writing group tells me she can only revise by doing a pass on the narrative only, followed by a pass on the action only, followed by a pass on the dialogue only, followed by a pass on all three. It works for her. She brilliantly found her own process. Bottom line, what works for you, works for you, and what doesn't, doesn't, implying that the thing to do is try things until you find your process. And finding that will indeed save time and effort.

@abhinavbohra3539 4 месяца назад

Tried these strategies to meet the deadlines and make my work effective as I'm working as an editorial coordinator intern at a publishing house and guess what? It actually helped!

@Morrell-uw3vn Год назад

Very helpful advice concerning revising and editing. Thank you.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Thanks!

@Songwritersbehindthecurtain Год назад

You agreed 👍 chapters in a book yes taking taking the different song sections and compiling them building out a story is like a mini book with different chapters and uh adding in those details to make the song really shine . Chapters of the book are very detailed and some people say instead of track one they say chapter one yeah . so with the different uh uh the analogy to storytelling is is maybe not even an analogy it might even be like exactly the same because the song lyrics are in essence telling a story um other people who said the music of the words uh or the music of the words then the Rhythm then the bass then the basic Baseline Melody then tweak the words then detail of the melody harmonies then transitions then tweak the harmonies then recycle ♻. Song title plus numbers equals 🟰 chapters lyrics equals 🟰 details. And album 💿 title equals 🟰 book 📕 📖 📚 title. And we got chapter book 📕 📖 📚 aka full book 📕 📖 aka book 📕 📖 📚. It is a cohesive collection of songs used to tell a bigger theme or project an overall vibe. Think of an album as a book. And your songs as chapters. Every book has chapters. Every album has songs. Each chapter is different. Each song is different. But the collection of chapters (the collection of songs) is what tells the full story of the book (of the album). 💿 Mini book 📕 📖 📚 chapter book 📕 📖 📚 full book 📕 📖 📚 are the same but in general albums 💿 are a book 📕 📖 📚📕 📖 📚. Chapters definition is a main division of a book, typically with a number or title. And studio albums and book 📕 📖 are the same. Usually the songs on an album are the result of an artist’s creations during a season of life. This means the songs can all speak to a similar set of themes, ideas and topics. So the aim of an album name is to try and sum up the big story/concept that all the songs pull from when they were written. It’s not always like these, especially today. But traditionally, an album is like a “book” with the songs inside being like “chapters.” Usually the songs on an album are the result of an artist’s creations during a season of life. This means the songs can all speak to a similar set of themes, ideas and topics. So the aim of an album name is to try and sum up the big story/concept that all the songs pull from when they were written. It’s not always like these, especially today. But traditionally, an album is like a “book” with the songs inside being like “chapters.”

@randye3264 Год назад

Good video. Thanks! I can't count the number of times I've polished what was later cut. Fiction is easy for me to write, but non-fiction is torture to edit because of my creative bent. 'Killing darlings', or the cutting phase you mention is an old writing adage and can be painful. You certainly don't want to waste time nurturing a tree that will never produce fruit. And the scene building and leading of the melody plot wise is no different in good prose and non-fiction. Everyone wants a story and a curated experience from points A to Z. I like to think I'm a tour guide giving a general sweep of our time together in the introduction and moving along from set piece to set piece in each section. Finally we have a group dinner to discuss what we've seen in the final chapter and maybe even the afterword.

@Auburn_Zero Год назад

I'm appreciating all the videos: very good food for thought and constructive advice. One thing I've wondered and haven't seen you address is outlining for story building. This is how I write, and I've found it very useful for overcoming writer's block, but I'm curious if it's commonly useful or unique to me. What I mean by story building is that I start with a simple concept, maybe a sentence or a paragraph. That's my "first draft", of sorts. Then I rewrite this concept, expanding on some themes, maybe deciding on settings or even specific scenes or characters I want to include: second draft. I continue this method of expanding and adding deeper and deeper levels of detail until my outline is several pages (maybe even dozens of pages) long, with clearly identified characters, scenes, and conversational flows. What it doesn't include (in most cases) is exact dialogue verbiage and finished descriptions. That's the last draft of the outline and all that's left is to follow it as I write the narrative. This approach keeps me on target and enables me to identify and rectify plot holes or character inconsistencies early. It's like adding layers of flesh to a skeleton. So, is this a common technique? If not, how would you recommend someone go from initial concept (long-haul truckers are sidetracked by a curious discovery that leads to death and the uncovering of company corruption) to a finished product (the movie Alien)?

@lauraroberts2250 Год назад

Absolutely I have spent hours polishing only to have to cut it! Agony! I fall in love with the delightful elegance of my prose way too often! 😂 Really hurts to scrub those precious perfect phrases. Please, if you have any more advice on the subject of 'murdering your darlings' it would be very helpful. Thanks for all the guidance, Brandon, I really appreciate it. And I have bought Bad Parts. Looking forward to diving in.

@Cute-Cowboy 4 месяца назад

Great videos! Thanks I look forward to reading your books soon!

@TimRG Год назад

This process seems interesting. I think it would be good but after a full read-through of the book. I've always approached editing the first draft as Stephen King says in his Stephen King on Writing. Finish the first draft put it away for a while then come back and read it all the way through while taking notes. After a full read-through, the process could be constructive.

@rheaelise4540 Год назад

Yeah, I find when I pick up a draft after a couple of months or couple of weeks one of two things happen. Either the plot and writing is so bad I start wondering what the hell I was thinking. Or I rediscover my excitement for the story but start to see where I can edit things.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

I see the value in King’s method but I’m way too impatient to wait 6 weeks between drafts

@gamewriteeye769 Год назад

Or, don't finish the first draft if you know the storyline isn't there. I'm serious. If it takes you multiple drafts and you can't get somewhere with a story, then you can always try another or something else. If you're dedicated to making it work, then you better have your creative battery ready because it's about to run dry, and then maybe your internal editor can knock on the door and be like, “Hey. What's taking so long?” When the first draft _is_ finished, mark your calender for when you return to it, because I guarantee you'll forget more than half of it. Yet the surprising thing is, you'll be coming back as an audience, as a reader, as an _editor_. My advice? Take notes as you're in the creative phase in case you need to go back and change something you don't like. A full read-through to become a potentially constructive process the way Brando said it meant, “If you were paying attention.” Were you paying attention?

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

I used to abandon first drafts, but now I like to tough things out because something the right ingredients pop up while I'm powering toward the end. Granted, sometimes they don't, but when I start with an interesting idea, I like to chase it to the end.

@sarahsander785 Год назад

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty That's why I always have a second project to draft. It takes me around three to four weeks to finish a draft, and then I can come back to the original piece to edit. It also helps to distract me from the work I've previously written, so I can look at it with fresh eyes.

@miramari732 Год назад

I usually find myself in situation where scenes and fragments of scenes are not redundand, but put in wrong place, so I ususally start editing process by making detailed outline (I'm plantser, so one I'm beggining with is as rough as it can be). Then I sort scenes and chapters so they fall in right places and then check word count for each. I try keep them in range around 1500 (+/- 500) words, if they are too long or too short I check for possible problem with chapter separation (it's often reason). Then I make nescessary cuts (or rather ctrl-x ctrl-v them to separate file), revise and finaly make line edits (last one multiple times until I'm sure that scene feels right and serves it's purpose) 😁

@ArtemHahauz-nm7bk 4 месяца назад

One. "CUT" Two. "REVISION" Three. "polish" Thank you! Regards from Ukraine! Keep it up, mr. McNulty!

@Writing4Jesus247 3 месяца назад

Yep, this is so true! My first book, I worked sooo hard on my climax only to completely change it later on😂

@who-ny5oe Год назад

I'm a fanfiction writer and I am writing my Dipcifica fanfiction sequel and your tipes are helping me a lot.

@crowsguard Год назад

thanks your videos always help me out!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Thrilled to hear it! Thanks

@aprilboden7219 Год назад

Oh yes... I have polished entire chapters several times, only to end up cutting them completely.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Maddening, isn't it?

@lauraroberts2250 Год назад

So bad. My husband told me my chapter about the hero's girlfriend was boring. I so wanted to give her side of things! He was right. It's gone.

@sarahsander785 Год назад

Not so much polishing, but in the past I did lots of re-writes. I still do re-writes, they are an intrinsic part of my editing process, I normally write every story twice. But in the past I re-wrote three, four or even five times and when I pieced all the versions together there was so much stuff I had to cut. And not cut and save for a later time, but delete alltogether. Mostly because I had four versions of the same scene, but of course there was only one I could keep.

@sbtb1883a15 Год назад

Great advise!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Thanks!

@arumshii 16 дней назад

1. Cut necessarily 2. Revise in big picture 3. Polish in details

@bobcornwell403 Год назад

My advice is to write the whole novel or short story, but do it in the most rudimentary fashion. Pay no mind to spelling, grammar, or style. Just pound the story out. Then, read through it and outline it. If it suddenly moves in an enexpected direction, welcome it. By the time you have this done, you will have a much better idea of where the story is going. The second draft is for getting the story to be consistent from the beginning to end. Here, scenes, characters, and even chapters may have to be added (or removed). After this, it's time to find some critique readers. Those can be had by you agreeing to critique their work in return.

@Dark_Peace Год назад

I wish I had seen this video when I was editing mine. It just took so much time and I fell in every pitfall. At least I know it for next time. 👍

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Yeah it happens to us all. Best of luck!

@nicholerichardson9732 3 месяца назад

Hey Brandon. Thank you for sharing this editing strategy. I wish I had come across it when I was writing and revising my first work. I was wondering, if maybe any of you out there who reads this, at what stage do you write in show, not tell style or apply the principle? Do you try implementing this straight into the first draft, or change it during the revision process? Sometimes when my creativity is in it's power, worrying about show not tell is annoying me and making me delay things

@mocarlock97 Год назад

I just watched your "Casting Your Characters" video. Do you have other videos that dive deeper into conflict or plot, such as the various types of conflict, good vs bad conflict/plots, or more tips for adding the right conflict to your story? My creative writing students struggle with strengthening their plots or feeling confident that they are using conflict well.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

I've done some plot videos (I'll paste links below), but never a video focused explicitly on Conflict. What specific things would you like to see in such a video? Plot vs. Story: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8v5NXlgBOwQ.html How to Structure Your Short Story: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-STVF_EhRopI.html

@mocarlock97 Год назад

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you! Here are a few ideas: -Internal vs external conflict -Choosing the right conflict for your story (character vs character, character vs society, character vs self, etc.) -Reasons to add more conflict to your story. Or do you have too much conflict, if there is such a thing? -How to make conflict compelling and believable -Consider the phrase "The plot thickens." As a writer, how do I actually "thicken" the plot I created? How do I extend the plot without making it feel forced?

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

@@mocarlock97 These are great ideas. I can get multiple videos out of these. Thank you and stay tuned

@itookthetardis2liveaid Месяц назад

This was some much needed advice lmao

@tearstoneactual9773 11 месяцев назад

That'sall well and good, but how do you know *what* to cut?

@CRose777 7 месяцев назад

I literally watched this video because i just spent hours editing a scene that i eventually decided to cut lol🤦🏽‍♀️. Thank you.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 7 месяцев назад

Ouch. Best of luck going forward

@FidinaQuery 4 месяца назад

Subbb❤❤ solid advice

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 4 месяца назад

Glad it helped!

@reptiliannoizezz.413 Год назад

This also works for screenplays and comic scripts, right? At least the first two steps

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Год назад

Absolutely. It applies to storytelling mediums in general

@dobanator4501 Год назад

Read through a chapter 3 times, me here reteading 1000000 times haha

@johnylitalo4163 9 месяцев назад

How do you fix Disney's Wish?

@dragonchr15 4 месяца назад

Makes logical sense to me. Cut out the crap. Revise the areas you keep to make sense story wise. Then do the final line edit. Saves time in editing a line that may get cut anyway!