mini life update, starting (& struggling with) Act II, & random writing and creativity questions 🐈‍⬛ 

This video is being sponsored by Skillshare! ☀️ The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/katecavanaugh06211

First off; 10/10 kitten, she is perfect as all cats are. Tip from a cat dad, to prevent her from laying on your laptop as you write- which she will do- get a cheap heating pad and place it beside you. It's cute when she lays on your laptop now but you'll appreciate it once she gets big enough to cover your whole dang keyboard. Second; Your hair in those little buns is pure 90's girl magic. Finally; I have been working on art commissions to pay my bills so I haven't had time to write but watching your videos always gives me a little boost of energy and positive affirmations

A good line for me when it comes to "sharing too much" is to ask myself if I want multiple strangers opinions on that subject. So I don't share my kids, relationship, heath issues etc. I do share my art work and I am happy to receive all the opinions and suggestions on that. That line will be different for everyone. The new kitty is a cutie!

Me the entire video: "KITTYYYY!!! kittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykittykityykittykittykittykittykttykittykitty" I mean, I know you were there too Kate, but that is not where my attention lay XD For real tho, this was a great video. Your vids are so great for inspiring me into a creative mindset!

"What level of success are you looking for?" Stephen King. On almost any adult shelf, a name people who don't even read know, and who grows more popular with people the older they get (not the older I get, the older the readers get)

Level of success: I just want to hold my book in my hands. I don't really want to go into it to make money, it's a hobby, but I would like to hold my book 😊

Zelda and the kitten! My heart is melting.

"Im trying to get an artfull shot" 😂❤

kate, your videos make me feel so safe. They comfort me and you motivate me to keep writing (I'm in a massive writing slump right now)! Thank you so much, lots of love

We overestimate what to do in one day and underestimate the to do for the month (don’t remember who said it)

I love black cats, I've had 2 in the past and both have passed. I would love another but I have a cat who has abandonment issues so I'm trying to figure out when the best time to get a new addition that won't make her feel like she's being replaced. I realized in film school that when my creative pursuits become work, I need a creative outlet that is for me. No one in my family understood why I suddenly wanted to paint when I was writing and filming all the time. I'm horrible at painting unless it's one of those wine and paint classes. In the last couple months I've tried to balance my creative leanings, so I don't feel like I'm working all the time. It also gives my brain a break from my toddlers and potty training. Over sharing is really what the person and their people. When I taught pre-canna classes we had a section on social media and what to share. And it comes down to you are comfortable with.

My cat always perks up when he hears you praising your pets. :)

HAPPY PRIDE!!!

Vin is such a cutie!!! And that name is perfect for her 😂💕

the hairstyle at the end? *chef's kiss* I love listening to you and your opinions - thanks for sharing! edit: even more thanks for taking the time to add timestamps! It is the most helpful thing - even if I watch the whole thing anyways

Level of success... once upon a time my goal was to have a fandom for my work with fanfiction and fanart... then my goal was to just get published... now it's just to finish *anything*. A novel, a short story, a multi-chap fanfic. Something. Honestly, my dream of being a published author feels extremely unrealistic. I've been struggling to finish any type of work for yeeaars. I don't have any faith anymore so naturally my definition of "success" has gotten smaller and smaller as time goes by.

Level of success I want: While I want to be able to support myself with my writing, I don’t want fame.

I'm sure you've said this somewhere, but I know you were reading Mistborn a few months ago: Did you name the kitty after the Mistborn character? So cute! Great video :)

oh my gosh! what a cute hairstyle! i LOVE it!

I'm so sorry kate, I tried to focus, but your little void cat stole the show :D On another note: Congratulations on 3000 subscribers over on twitch! What an accomplishment! 🎉

17:19 I love the way you play with the camera like that and I like seeing these more creative shots/ ways of playing around with shots and various edits.

Absolutely adore the experimental camera shots! And happy Pride! ☺️🌸

First I want to say I love this video and more importantly I am in love with your new fur baby lol. Vin is so adorable (I still love Zelda and Buffy of course lol) and seeing them get along so well is just wonderful, makes my heart happy! I think my idea of success would be when my books are out there and people are loving them as much as I do and when I can reach a point of financial stability that will allow me to just be able to create the art and pay others to do all of the marketing and promoting and the business side of things because frankly, I just want to write. Also I don't ever feel one way or another about whether someone shares everything about themselves or share just the writing or creative parts of their lives because that's whatever they feel comfortable with. I will say that with the vlogs that I watch where the individual shares more I always find that I feel more connected to those vloggers as if I know them on a level which realistically I know that I don't. It makes me feel like they are the friend I haven't talked to in a while rather than just someone on TV that I'll never have any kind of connection with but I think that's also because the vlogs I watch here on AuthorTube are of people that I actually get to connect with on their streams in the comments. I guess that long winded answer was to say that I love when someone shares a lot but I don't mind it either if they don't feel comfortable sharing everything because it's their life to share however way they feel comfortable. I know that was long but I haven't commented on your videos in a while so I felt I had some making up to do lol. Take care of yourself Kate! ❤❤❤

For the first question, I don't have any friends but one, and I know my family isn't really into the whole writing thing so I mostly keep it a secret. As for the friend we don't really talk even though we both write. We do have a story we are planning on writing together but we haven't worked on it since early 2020 I believe. Also I really love your videos and they make my day (and cup of tea) better. Thank you for putting out such awesome and inspiring content that actually got me back into writing!

Vlogs are my fav! Hope you’re doing good love x

Kitten content!!! I'm here for it haha Finding a network of people to share work with is the bane of my existence! I get pretty rotten anxiety which, paired with the vulnerability of sharing something you put your heart into, makes it super hard to reach out. The curse of the chronically introverted lol. I also knew practically nobody in the community before I started making my own videos (though I haven't been able to post in quite a while...whoops) but doing so definitely made it easier to feel involved! I totall agree that most people probably have that same experience starting out.

You got a kitten! I have a black cat and a German Shepherd and they've been the best of buddies for five years now.

First comment!! Love your videos! I have as of late had some trouble with writing motivation, but after watching a few of my favorites of your episodes I put 500 words into a story the other day! Your awesome, keep up the good work

From hearing about your story through your writing vlogs, I would absolutely be interested in the buying your books :)

My brain was just going kitten!!!!! The whole time! So cute 😍 My thought on oversharing too much is, if someone from my 'real' life/day job was to watch my videos would I be okay with them knowing that info?

ooh i’m loving the hair in the video!

Happy Pride! I loved the adorable animal cuddle puddle. The new kitty is too cute!

I always love hearing your answers to these questions! 1. Usually friends who are also writers because they know a first/early draft is a WIP and not the final product lol 2. Unsure as I haven't monetized my writing yet but do plan on it. I think there will be an element of limitation but limitation isn't always bad. I think those limits will help me refine my craft and flourish :) 3. I write what I want and figure out how to make it marketable 4. Agree with what you said. I just stared uploading and commenting/engaging! 5. I usually am vague about my WIP & talk in generalities/describe what I'm working on based on the beat or conflict. Other than that I don't share much about my non writing life unless it affects my writing directly (like I've shared when my anxiety has got in the way of writing etc.) 6. I want to make a livable income on being a full time, publishing author. Fame would be great but my biggest goal is to share my stories 7. I never let anyone read my 0 drafts & will send stuff to friends after a "story" revision even if the character/grammar/setting details aren't perfect 8. Doesn't apply to me rn :) 9. Even for non artists our worldview will always affect what we do/how we act. But in general I just don't talk about inflammatory stuff or pick fights for the sake of my mental health XD

OH MY GOODNESS A KITTY!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

I already subbed to Skillshare, but thanks for the reminder! :D I should visit the site more often. Re: sharing...I think your balance is perfect. You are positive, upbeat, and even when things go wrong, you shield us from the worst suffering. Which is nice because we all suffer, and when I'm super sad, I know I can count on Kate to be looking on the bright side. (Yes, there is someone on RU-vid I won't watch, a couple actually, because of their morose or grating content.) Love you! Going to your stream today!!! Weeeeeee!!!!!!

She sure is a mini! 😍😭😸❤️

happy pride kate

Love the questions, your answers, and all the pets! 1. Normally my mom as I bounce ideas off her in the writing process, but if you mean a full draft: my alpha readers 2. No. I don't get paid that much for my writing yet but I think if I started making a lot, I might feel writing is more of a "job" and that might dampen it a little? Not sure though. 3. I'm self-publishing and most of my stories are pretty commercial anyway that the few that aren't are more than "balanced out" 4. Watch the pros, figure out your intro/outro, start filming, be okay with not being a pro immediately, start making connections via livestreams 5. I personally only vlogged writing/pet content so I just exclude people in my life (same as Kate excluding The Boyfriend) 6. Making money off my writing and being able to write and publish for the rest of my life 7. I use my alpha readers right after I've written a chapter, but that's only a recent development. I used to do 1-2 rounds of personal editing before sharing anything 8. There's a lot of money that goes into bumping a hobby into a job because the greater investment leads to a greater potential reward. But it can take a while to earn back and you have to balance not losing hope/being reasonable about when a venture is just a financial sinkhole and considering leaving it behind for something else 9. I kind of put them into my characters but often glaring political issues don't appear in my stories that would turn off readers (but I'm very vocal on social media when issues come up and I'm unashamed of that)

Love the hair!

Your hair at the start is super cute!

just woke up, time to watch Kate!

Oooh that mug makes me want a Voodoo Doughnut! Think I'll be visiting Portland in two weeks and gonna make it happen :D

Yeah... I'm working on 6 books (1 is a children's book), a children's coloring book, a planner to launch for next year, and a self development journal. I also just outlined another book that I'll be writing in November during Nano, and prepping for my next fantasy series because it's going to be huge and I need all the early prep I can get with it. I overlap all of my projects so none get neglected. I thought of making a video about how I do it, but I'm not sure yet. Good luck on your projects!

I love your hairstyle!

About 11:10 my local (Secaucus) Walmart and a Walmart in Reston, Va had easy to miss SD card sales the week before Labor Day weekend. If it’s National, it’s always worth keeping on your Radar.

In a writing group, I posted about diversity and how I think we could all be more conscious about the many walks of life that exist; after all, we are writing people, and they come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, ethnicities, sexuality, etc. That it isn't about throwing it in your book for the sake of it or making the story about that thing -- unless that is an important part of it -- but giving a non-stereotypical voice to a wide variety of humans. You can be gay, pansexual, or asexual without hounding on about it. You can be anywhere on the spectrum of colour, race, disability, mental and physical health, education, personality, and not make it the focus of your tale. It's about casting roles to all the people that exist; because they are not hiding in caves. Whatever your world, there will realistically be diversity. I haven’t been seeing much range or representation in the media I’ve been consuming so wanted to start a healthy discussion. Many of the responses point blank refused and didn’t want to be inclusive, they didn’t think it was important. Some were afraid of being accused of appropriation and used that as an excuse as to why they never write “POC” as they termed it. Others used the “I write what comes to me” and “I can do what I want” lines, as if anyone was telling them what they HAD to do; and if that meant all their characters were a white, straight cast with no diversity, they were exempt from even trying. I saw minorities coined as “other” and was accused of racism, white-knighting, and even had racism used against me for simply encouraging a wider representation. It has greatly saddened me how so many people silenced me for trying to explain that no matter who you are, representation is to show all as normal, strong people, who are no different than anyone else. That’s the whole point. WE ARE ALL HUMAN. WE ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER AND DESERVE TO BE SHOWN THAT WAY. I know a wide variety of trans, non-binary, black, native American, gay, asexual people who would love more representation (just a few examples), and I’ve seen the horrible treatment of so many minorities. As a gay man, I can relate, and it hurts my heart. I will never stop encouraging diversity and am more than open to learning ways to speak of it better and improve how I speak. It can be hard to use the right words. Diversity isn’t just race or sexuality either; it is so much more. I decided to post this on my three top Booktubers as I know you will be more eloquently able to word this.

My first novel is finally done and in the hand of beta readers while I'm searching for an editor. I have also struggled with adding on new project ideas, but then I realized I usually need to find a balance... If my main protect is serious and dark (which so far they have been) then I end up wanting to write or draw a comedy/cute story to refresh my brain. The other thing I learned this year is that I work better on 2 week schedules rather than a full month, which is why the first half of NANO goes well and then I burn out, so I've incorporated that idea to help balance all my crazy projects :)

Vin is adorable! My senior kitty, also micropanther/void, has a bed in the top shelf of a rolling cart from Ikea. I keep it next to my desk, so she has somewhere to sleep that isn't directly on my workspace. I also have a plexiglass "bridge" that goes over my keyboard so that when she does get on my desk and demand attention, at least she can't walk on the keyboard. There used to be a computer program called Pawsense, which could detect "catlike typing" and stop any further input until unlocked by a human, but they seem to have gone out of business. I'm a queer writer who is working on a romance between a woman and an enby, so there's no reason for me to pretend to be apolitical. The Venn diagram between people who would be offended by my subject matter and people who would be offended by my politics is very nearly a circle. I have a job with really good benefits and a couple of chronic health conditions, so quitting to write isn't in the cards. I'm going to stay in my current public sector union job until I can retire, an about another 23 years. My goal with my writing is to start earning a little extra money and, long-term, to build a backlist that will continue to be an additional source of income to supplement my retirement.

Completely unrelated but I LOVE this hairstyle on you

FINALLY UPDATE ON THE CATTO!!

I actually decided to pick up a project I haven't touched in almost a year this Camp. And questions, oooh I love questions. I actually share my writing with family and strangers more readily than I do with friends, oddly enough. There is one family member that I really value the writing opinion of and i share with her a lot. I usually let them read the first draft, if I'm being honest. But I also write fairly cleanly. As for monetization, I don't feel like that affects my creativity much. It used to, I would become so fearful I would get almost paralyzed but I figure that's far enough in the future I don't have to worry about it just yet. As far as publishing, I don't really take marketability into account lmao. Maybe that's foolish of me, but I really just write what I want to write. For Authortube, I tried starting a channel but I got so self-conscious about my speech impediment that I stopped. Maybe I'll try again someday. Level of success is a tough question. I want to be able to keep creating like you do. That doesn't mean I expect to support myself solely with writing, though that would be nice.

Vin is so cute 😭❤️

The music artist and RU-vidr Dodie has talked about her experiences sharing too much on the internet and I witnessed that period for her. She talked about her depression a bit to openly like the specifics about how she felt and couldn't sleep, but would tell her irl friends that she was fine and everything was good. I think the balance is if you aren't willing to tell your friends in real life then don't tell the internet because you're still kind of telling them but just also the entire internet. I personally think that line is crossed when you bring up sensitive subjects for yourself that you're not yet strong enough to be criticized about or is something you wouldn't feel comfortable telling a stranger. I think oversharing can also be bringing up things that just aren't relevant. Like personal stories that don't go with or aren't relevant to your internet personal. Like an Instagram story here and there is fine but spending half a vlog talking about a childhood experience that isn't relevant to the vlog is defiantly over sharing.

this is irrelevant but your hair looks so so cute!!!!

That's the same carrier my kitty's have! lol So cute!

Happy Pride! A lot of really great thoughts in here, as always, but also: that k i t t e n T.T

"Do you feel that monetization of writing dampens your passion or creativity?" In my case, yes, or at least the thought of it does. Pressuring myself to get the book done and published always brought my ability to create to a screeching halt. Which is why my co-author and I agreed to abandon the idea of publishing our series for profit, at least until we're really ready to take that plunge. Until then, we're just going to have fun writing what we want and posting it on Wattpad for readers to enjoy. We spent way too long trying to be "professional writers" and "proving" to the world that we were serious about our writing careers. Now, we're getting back to doing what we love and enjoying the process. I've discovered that getting lost in the story and simply enjoying it is the key to actually getting the words out of my head and onto the page. It's funny you mentioned making changes to your story that you now regret and are reverting to your previous ideas. Jaime and I are in a similar situation. We are in the process of removing a character who was created for the sole purpose of being a secondary antagonist. At the time, we thought we wanted to avoid placing our protags in a love triangle because so many readers are sick of that trope. However, the extra character was just too extra, and we realized the story will actually be more gripping with the love triangle because one of our existing characters has the potential of becoming an antagonist as the story arc progresses. Which will be a lot more gut-wrenching than a guy who just swoops in out of nowhere and immediately causes trouble. So, yeah. There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing for yourself. I personally believe that's the best way to actually get words on the page! It's what's working for me, anyway! PS--That kitten is cuteness overload 😻 I want a kitty so bad!!!! I'm about ready to sneak one into my apartment and risk a lease violation! lol

great video! I personally wouldn't share alot of my life or the struggles I go through mentally.I feel that I would want my writing to take people away from bad situations for a moment and I don't need to add to their sadness by showing them mine.I think the writer/review space is just going to be what it is.We didn't have comment sections a long time ago when people did magazine reviews,now we do and anyone can comment. it's a hard topic for me cause I can see both sides but hard for me to lean one way or the other

"For those that let others read their work, how do you determine WHEN is the right time to share?" I just pass the word orthographic tool and then send it to the friends that want to read it lol sometimes I don't even reread it, I'm a mess, but considering that I hate rereading and editing it makes sense(?

I came here for the writer content but I can't lie I only focused on the pets 🤣

Kitty! She's so cute!! Ahh

When it comes to my beliefs and politics, I believe that those things can’t be separated from my creations. At the very least, I temper my views by treating them as norms in my worlds. I had begun this activity on my own, but it definitely gained traction after seeing how Steven Erickson did such things for his Malazan books. However, I’m aware that some authors may have taken things further than some may agree with. For example, Terry Goodkind (R.I.P) was constantly thought to be pushing his Objectivist beliefs upon people through his books. I disagree with that, but as someone who’s read his entire Sword of Truth Series, I certainly can see why some feel that way. Brandon Sanderson, in contrast uses his books to stretch his depictions of things that he may have personal opinions about that would be contrary to those within his books. Mary Robinette Kuwal famously chastised Patrick Rothfuss for what she felt was sexist thinking in his books on Writing Excuses. Again, an opinion I disagree with (As well as how she came at him over it, but I digress), but his feelings came through clear as a bell in his writing and as he spoke. Her left-leaning feminist viewpoint has become more apparent as I’ve been exposed to her writing as well, though I’m not against that in the least. I don’t think an author can separate their beliefs/politics from their writings. No one shuts off their brain while creating anything. But we can be more deliberate in how much of us is on display in the process.

My mom is the first person I will show my work to.

I am personally not comfortable becoming a public figure. If I have to make a caricature of my "author self" online using my pen name, I may be okay with that.

I want to answer all of these questions, but I know myself well enough to know I'll get long winded about them so I think I might make a response video where I answer them instead of posting here. Thank you for your answers. It was really interesting to hear your views, especially on things I hadn't thought about before.

I am going to use July camp to try and get my youtube channel up and running properly and only write for the November NaNo.

My characters often think very differently than I do on many important things such as world view and morality and I often worry that readers will conflate my characters actions with actions I condone or encourage when it is very much not true.

15:04 Did a dog run past you? I was listening with headphones and it felt like it was in the room next to me and I almost jumped out of my skin! : DD great q&a by the way, really enjoyed it

1. I first share my writing with my sister. She is also a writer and she also shares her writing with me. 2. I do not get paid for my writing, but as someone who would like to, I do not think so. I see this as something that will help me live a better life, which takes money to pay for. 3. At this time I am just focusing on writing the story at hand. I don't ever pay attention to marketability consciously. I'm sure I've picked some things up just from being a reader though. 4. As someone with a small authortube channel, I do what Kate suggested. I watch and make comments on other small authortubers. It's fun because we have more time to talk to one another as well. 5. A question I have so am learning from all of you. 6. Success for me would to be able to lead a comfortable life. I'm not someone who needs a lot of things anyway, so as long as my bills are paid so I can write and do the things when I want it important. I really want TIME FREEDOM from a 9 to 5 job. 7. It depends on why I want someone to read it. Normally it is for feedback, but recently I shared a story with my sister and I just wanted to know if it had potential. 8. I'm still in the process of doing this so.... 9. I first balanced what social media I want to be on. And then I made clear boundaries of when I would and would not be on it. At this time I am not talking about personal opinions unless they relate to books or writing. I'm more of "an artist is separate from their work", but that's only because I'm had to take enough film theory for my BA where I understand we all bring our life and experiences to the works we consume, so it doesn't always matter what the artist had in mind. You might not experience it in that way. So I don't consume art looking for hidden subtext.

On Marketability 11:20 I think the effort playing with making the story in from of you is always better than chasing some unknown goal that can always be a moving target. Lucy is holding the 🏈 & we know how that goes. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein

I love the question: How do you balance how much of your own political/philosophical/etc. opinions to share online? I also love your answer. For me, I feel like my political views are obvious in the scripts I write. My channel is filled with short movies and vlogs emphasizing my outlook. Which is why I have been FLOORED the past few weeks by my new subscribers. (The ones who aren't set to private, so I can view their own channels.) I've found an overwhelming amount of my new subscribers are conservatives! WTF?! Perhaps I come across as conservative? Maybe I'm someone who can bridge the liberal/conservative gap? I find it kind of hilarious, and I'm definitely going to try to analyze it. I guess it's a good problem to have.

I actually have a writing buddy who I think I'll be giving my writing project to first out of everyone who will see it; I think I'm pushing off giving it to family simply because I consider them to be my sort of 'last line of defence': they'll find anything that there is to find that I need to change 😂

OMG I have a little girl cat named Vin! Sooo cute!

The Boyfriend has a nice voice. 😉

I am debating about self-publishing or going traditional with publishing...I've done one self-published novella and that was a lot of work! I'm curious as to people who have been rejected by traditional publishing and if they go to self-publishing anyway after that. I want to try querying and see what happens, but might go to self-publishing if that doesn't work.

Kitty!!

"What level of success are you looking for?" I've been thinking about this a lot lately because a month ago, I said that my idea of success was being able to hold a physical, published copy of a book I wrote and adored writing. That's changed a little since now I'm trying to cater to the historical romance genre under a pen name and make money with those, since I'm fairly certain they'll sell much better than my personal books. It's almost like I have two different success goals. I want to get my darlings published but I also want to make it big under the pen name 😅

the way i'm approaching it: if i have to write to a niche audience where only a small fraction of whatever the number of sales is that's gonna make me "a living" is gonna buy my shit, then so be it. i DO have aspirations to make a living off this stuff, but i'm NOT compromising a n y t h i n g to get there. so if i make money (which is ultimately the goal) but not enough to live off of, then so be it. i have fallback mechanisms in place, anyway, should i need them. (TO BE CLEAR: even if i didn't, i would still do this; i can't imagine writing anything less than what is in my heart, what my passion is. and all of my written words are my passion project.)

Do you have any advice for writing Contemporary Novels?

This might sound selfish, but I am not afraid to tell my story of having VCFS and dealing with trauma after surgeries. But I understand why ppl want to keep it secret. 🤷‍♀️

Such a cute kitten! For me my main boundry is does everyone involved get a say in if they are on the internet (so my daughter generally stays off) and would I welcome others opinions on this subject. Success for me is bringing in a part-time income while staying home with my children. Part time income for part time work.

It sounds like we want a similar amount of success. Like you, I would *love* if somebody wrote fanfiction of something I wrote. But really, I just want to be able to write as my career. I don't need to be famous(I would probably hate that) or rich, just comfortable.

I believe a person is "sharing too much" when their channel feels like a couple channel than on the subject I initially started following.

For the oversharing question, I always feel uncomfortable telling other people what I think is too much because it's so personal and subjective what one would consider over sharing. Like for some people anything personal is oversharing because to them they came to your channel to 'learn' or for some other reason content-wise so any amount of portrayal or discussion of your personal life past a sentence or two seems arbitrary or excessive. Some people are obviously interested, but maybe wouldn't want to see anything overly negative. Some people like both negative and positive experiences, but not anything graphic or intrusive. I'm in the camp of being fine with positive and negative, in that I don't really feel someone is oversharing if they share good things and bad things, especially if that's a boundary they've decided is right for them. Vulnerability and openess can be constructive if that's the point of the video, and if you've put thought into it before you've done it (e.g. you've thought about the consequences, the purpose, know you're sharing this for a healthy reason, etc.) then it's all good. Oversharing only makes me feel weird when people are sharing intensely private things with seemingly no thought or consideration of consequence, when they're sharing info that isn't theirs without consent (about a friend, family member) or when it involves them sharing a lot about some one who can't really consent (like a child - looking at you, family channels). Sharing immediate relationship issues in detail or at all without much of a purpose or treating the vlog like it's therapy, or intense trauma dumping with no warning is also a big no for me. A lot of this is contextual, because to me there is nothing wrong with having a segment or a dedicated video where you talk about mental health, which you've hopefully mentioned in the title if you're going into it for some time, and done so in a way that protects your privacy and has information you have decided after thought you are comfortable with sharing. And in these videos sensitive topics may be discussed but it's for the sake of helping others and telling your story. So for example talking about past abusive relationships and warning signs, familial trauma, etc. In that context sharing more personal info is justified to me, as long as you've thought about it, know your purpose, know what information aligns with that, maintain privacy, and have done the adequate mental health personal assessment to know can handle talking about it and recieving opinions, and have self care in place to cope with that. I personally think it's also best to share these thing when you have distance from them, meaning they didn't just happen, and if you are recieving or have recieved support for them. But randomly dropping it in with no context, purpose, or seeming thought worries me, because maybe the creator has forgotten that this is a public channel and not a friend, and I worry for them. I think it's really about boundaries and you can only construct those by reflecting on what you want and feel comfortable talking about. And also considering that you can't take something back once you've shared it. I think the advice about whether or not you would tell your friends is good, though it also depends on what exactly you're talking about and the closeness of the friends. I think it'd be more accurate to only say things you're _close_ friends know or you don't mind less close friends and family finding out about in this way. Sole people share personal info in this way on purpose because ther can be utility - maybe your close friends and family know you're Pansexual, but you don't want to have awkward conversations and tell everyone else, so you come out publicly as a way of indirectly telling them without having to have a talk (very circumstantial, depends on the relatives). And definitely don't share things you know you can't cope with being scrutinised and judged about at least to some degree upset you (some degree of upset is unavoidable) because people tend to feel entitled to having an opinion. Keep in mind parasocial relationships as well.

Why you aren't using scrivener anymore?

I'm so confused, what's the life update, is it the cat??

22:46 Your cat needs a tiny laptop to play

Are you still doing Milwordy?

Is that a cat or a tiny soot-ghost!?

OMG the kitten! IT's so cute! I love black cats. You're still doing awesome Kate! Wooty woot! D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S : 1. Who do you share your writing with first? Probably friends, then family, then strangers. 2. Do you feel that monetization of writing dampens your passion or creativity?? I haven't written for money so no 3. For those of you who currently (and want to) publish, how do you balance marketability with just writing what you want? I don't worry about it. I write for me first and foremost, and if it sells, it sells. I think this will be more of a problem I'll face if I ever become published, because then the Publisher will want me to write something that sells, especially if my first one with them was big. That being said, it would be a nice problem to have ;) 4. How do you start up an authortube channel without knowing anyone in the community? If I wanted to, I'd just start. I've thought about it, but I don't think it's for me. At least not for writing. Maybe for my art journey or just D&D fun? 5. I want to start vlogging, but I'm worried about sharing too much. How do I keep the lines from becoming blurred?? I have no advice. 6. What level of success are you looking for? I want to be satisfied with myself. 7. For those that let others read their work, how do you determine WHEN is the right time to share? Usually I share because I realize my editing is ineffective because I can't "see" the story clearly anymore. Other eye's help me find the obvious problems again. I didn't have an advice on the last two. I'll be on the stream tomorrow Kate! Looking forward to seeing you and getting some isht done.

I don’t share my mental health struggles on my channel.

wait, you have your own business? or were you talking about youtube? 😅 sorry, Im confused

Dear Kate, i'm not going to answer all your questions just about who I share my writing with. I don't share my writing with family until I've gone through the critique process and everything has been fixed and I've finished my first round of edits. So, my sharing looks like this. Critique partner friends, family, and then beta readers paid editors beta readers and then the public. Also, just as an aside I'd love it if you have a minute to stop by my channel RU-vid@BillieDaddario.

I'm extremely surprised people told you you share too much of you stories?? I always found it to be the opposite, that you share barely anything. It's honestly SO frustrating watching certain authortubes for months on end and only knowing what their working on as "project X"! It completely alienates the audience and we can't really share on any happiness or hardships because we have zero clue about what the project is about. "Ohh, I'm working on chapter 2 of project X!" "Yay I got 2k words today on project X!" Nice... I guess? 🙄 We have no clue what you're talking about. This is why I stopped followed some of the most popular authortubers, it's unbelievably frustrating.