Adams was such a crazy writer. He wrote his books in like a week (first draft) instead of writing it the previous year when he was supposed to. Instead he just gathered notes and ideas
apparently hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy ends where it does is because douglas adams missed his final deadline, so his publisher said “just finish whatever page you’re on and sent it over”
He talked about writing his book for nine minutes and six seconds WITHOUT MENTIONING IT'S NAME!!! Where is John?! JOHN! Come plug your brother's book for him!
This reminds me of the "art is never finished only abandoned" (I can't rememeber who said that and I probably quoted it wrong but I didn't want to leave the video)
You ever read something you wrote so many times that the sentences stops making any sense whatsoever and the words stop being words and then you're convinced that your writing is absolute trash
@Kat The Nerdfighter then you have to force yourself to keep something consistent that you might want to change but cant because it would change too many other things down the line. But then that thing keeps sounding better and better so you do, and those edits take, ya know...weeks+? And then you've read it so many times at that point you hate it too and want to go back? ...not like this is a personal experience Edit: Lol I couldnt resist
There is a word for that more generally. Somatic Satiation is that sensation where you hear or say or read something repeated and it stops feeling like a word, or like it losses all meaning. Normally this only happens with one word or phrase but it can totally happen with larger chunks of text. Though not only am I not a writer, but my particular type of dyslexia means SS can happen at random without the repartition. So I am fully aware that my experience is not the norm.
loool ++ J.K. Rowling is now just a very well known Harry Potter fanfiction writer. It is funny that it is a testament to her world building that we no longer accept her authority
I kind liked it. So I spent about half a day making the extended version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wx6W16-WzdI.html (Most was spent in after effects and trying to render it >.
So, funny story. This is exactly why I started doing RU-vid. The CRUSHING lack of feedback during the months you're writing a book were literally starting to drive me mad. And being able to put together a RU-vid video and get responses THAT day, usually within minutes, was so incredibly liberating. It gave me some facsimile of interaction with my readers, not about the book they would eventually read, but about all of the mindwork that was happening that would eventually result in that book. So keep talking to us about the book. Talk about the thoughts you're still having that will never see the pages, now that they're locked and untouchable, even by you. We're listening, and we can't wait to talk to you about them. And FWIW, that was a pretty enjoyable line, even in isolation.
“A work of art is an artefact of the work you could do in the time that you had.” - Tim Minchin... Of course, knowing that doesn’t make letting go any easier - alas. Congratulations, Hank!
Hank, I feel like you’re in a bit of a unique position with your book where most of the people who read it, at least when it first comes out, are nerdfights! The same people that give you the feedback that you’re accustomed to on RU-vid. We are the ones who see it when it first gets locked. Don’t be scared. We are a pretty understanding group of people.
Skylor Andrews Same! Although comments like this are a good example of why the comments should be at the bottom of the screen. This was like the first thing I saw, before the video started.
Well, Tolkien changed The Hobbit significantly between the first and second editions. It originally wasn't really set in Middle Earth and the ring was just a magic ring, not the One Ring. His publisher wanted a sequel and wouldn't publish The Silmarillion so he was forced to go back and retcon. I feel like no one would be able to get away with that nowadays.
Stephen King has re-edited The Gunslinger and has made vague intimations that he wants to re-edit some of the other early books in his Dark Tower series. The Gunslinger was the most contradictory with future instalments in the series (and it also the worst, imo), so it makes sense that he’d revise Book #1.
I understand what you mean. It does make sense. A story in your mind is yours and can be changed by you, but a story in someone else's mind is theirs, even if it was you who told it.
When the guitar strumming started I was confused. Then you started with the "la la"s which made me think "this sounds a lot like that Britney song" and then you started singing that Britney song. You blew my mind. What random reason did you have to end this video with one of my favorite Britney songs? And then you answered by giving the shrug at the end.
i think it's because it's a pretty famous example of something changing after it's already been "done". which is what this video was about. after it was included on her album and pushed on radio her record label put out another edit taking out the "k" from "seek" because people were offended with the the version that was already released.
I appreciate you and your thoughtfulness a lot Hank. Looking forward to reading the new book and it being LOCKED. As an artist I relate a lot. Is what it is. All the best, health and safety to you and yours in this trying time.
Have you thought about doing livestream book signings from home? Brandon Sanderson has been doing it with his pet parrot lately talking about all sorts of random stuff while signing pages to help him not get bored and it's been a lot of fun!
Hank. That ending is brilliant. I've heard you sing scienc-y songs but that was legit good. Like professional singer good. It's unfair how some people just get to be good at everything. More please.
I knew I would love your first book immensely before I read it. In fact I bought it last summer from a local bookstore here in San Francisco and due to a series of events that continually upturned my life for the last year, I just now, today, finished the last chapter of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It gave me goosebumps Hank. Truly I loved the book and it moved me in ways were surprising and meaningful. I love your voice, it is so distinct from the authors I have read before. Just know that your writing is already affecting the readers, even before they pick up the book because we know how much work you put into these stories and we know they will have social impact and we know that in some small way, we get to be a part of the journey. For that I thank you Hank Green. As an Environmental Chemist, I want to thank you for showing that writing is not limited to one type of person. I've been watching vlogbrothers since I was 12 years old, and I am now 21. Know that I appreciate the things you and your brother have chosen to share with this world. My best friend and I memorized your "53 terrible jokes" video and performed the sequence for a group of our friends in 8th grade and now we both do research in labs that are trying to better climate model and build solutions to the world's most pressing problem. Along the way we have read every book, crammed for tests with crashcourse and just generally grown into the globally minded individuals we are today. I love that the actions of one person can affect another person so greatly, and the person may never know they exist. It demonstrates to me the importance of shared experience and collective knowledge whether or not any physical interaction takes place. If you never read this, that is perfectly fine, I just wanted to put my gratitude into the world.
@@maximilianosalvador9559 the way in which witches and wizards relieve themselves (just peeing and pooping all over the place and magically vanishing it), and she said that werewolves are supposed to be an analogy for the AIDS crisis
@@maximilianosalvador9559 She never said Hermione was originally black or anything, just that "whiteness" isn't really a trait of her character, and her being played by a black woman is fine. Like, context matters in this case, it was to get attacks away from the black woman who played the character. Like, Rowling's new TERF-y opionions are garbage, but this isn't one of her faults
HAAAAANK, I’ve had a horrible day and hearing you unexpectedly break into If U Seek Amy made my day an okay day 😭 I would pay for that as a P4A perk, no questions asked.
When you’re watching a PBS Eons video from a notification and then you get a Hanks Channel notification and have to chose your allegiance because you can’t wait. Also when you chose right!
If you seek Amy, Huh? Makes a lot of sense now! DFTBA and read a beautifully foolish endeavour everyone (it is out now and available in bookstores everywhere)
This is why I have taken to considering the worst possible outcome for my writing endeavors-- that I never get published, as not really so bad, because it will mean I get to keep working on the books forever, changing a few words around each time and keeping them for myself. Doesn't actually sound too bad when I think of it like that! Except that feedback is indeed like fuel and feels soooo good when it's good, so I get wanting to share like-now-please as well.
@@WillMoff0 She's a really transphobic person and although I respect her work immensely I have to stand with my trans friends so in my opinion I just don't want to put her name on the internet more.
watching you mention missing the deadlines was just... ow like whatever emotion you expressed in that moment gave me physical pain because my empathy alarm was screaming at me
Ed Sheeran said in an interview that when he's releasing a song it's his, but once it's released, it's not his anymore. He doesn't listen to it, he doesn't change it. It's your wedding song, your first date song, your "hey, remember when we did that thing" song. I like that idea.
I am all for different revised versions. They’re a wonderful story all on their own. Give this stressful “no redos” policy a rethink, Hank, and learn to love the YOU MADE A FRIKN BOOK, you MAGNIFICENT BADASS! part of the journey.
Something like that happens with art too. In my case, you put work on drawing and brining an idea to paper... You build it and finish it but something always it's like it's never done. Even if it's done and it looks great.
I guess the sample of the population that are watching this viedo are probably richer, probably younger than a random sample. It could be less than one person!
The channel typically gets a few tens of thousands of views, but there are only about 300 periods of 80 days in a human lifetime (365 days times 80-ish years). So I'd be surprised if this weren't true.
@@azialifaziz6652 Well, about 1 in 1200 twenty-year-olds in the US don't live to see 21 (according to Social Security System actuarial tables). So call that 1 in 5700 or so dying in a given 80 day span. Presumably that's not wildly far off the rate for many other countries. But maybe this video won't get a lot of views.
Fair, I also think Carl could be the question asker? Or maybe April’s parents? Her brother? Idk. Also- I’ve been thinking and I’m not sure who else (within the cast of people we know thus far) would respond with “ugh, I wish I knew”... it doesn’t seem like the way Maya or Robin or Miranda or even Jason would respond, although admittedly we aren’t too familiar with some of these characters as they’ve been introduced to us through the lens of April May and haven’t been explored as much... I guess Andy maybe? I’m not too sure. Ofc there’s also the possibility that it’s an entirely new character too.. *shrugs* just speculation. Edit: nvm, I don’t think it would be Carl cuz “voice quavering” I’m guessing wouldn’t be applicable to Carl??
As someone who works in the book publishing industry but who hasn't personally written a book, this is a very interesting perspective for me. Thanks for sharing it with all of us!
I'm still glad your book will be released on my 40th birthday! I can imagine this lock down has made things MUCH worse since you can't really distract yourself from the horror of no longer being able to edit anything. Thankfully there is Twitch and Guitars and singing and as the saying goes "This too shall pass" DFTBA!
hank if you're looking for fun things to do during isolation (and the little one allows it) it would be amazing to see you cover more songs or even livestream performing your own songs!
Changing books is not unheard of: Tolkien changes the Hobbit to adjust it to Lord of the Rings after that came out, and he also tried to rewrite it even more extensively later
I can't stop thinking about JK Rowling when you were talking about how you can't just change a universe after everyone has already experienced it and read it.
it's very interesting the difference between something that's "published" verse something more organically performed, like the music example. As a musician, I tend to never think about music performance as set in stone. it can always be changed to "make it better". I teach a competitive marching band where we are constantly making changes to our music to better our performance and increase our scores (some musicians argue this bad for music, but that's another topic altogether). similarly, In a sense Jazz performance or any improvisation in general relies on a certain amount of change each time it's performed. Even classical music performances that focus on "purity of replication" are never all exactly the same from performance to performance. And I think that's the beauty of art in general. And yet when something is published whether it be recording, film, print, etc, there's a collective idea that it's set in stone and can't ever be changed. Or perhaps "shouldn't" be changed. I do think there is a point in many artistic mediums when you just have to stop trying to make it better and let it be what it is, which is why many people get frustrated with George Lucas and all his changes. art is never perfect. My professors in college always said this: "practice for perfection, settle for excellence." On a different note, when it comes to some things, like history, facts, and science, we should not stop improving. this is why Wikipedia is important. just because it's published doesn't mean it's set in stone.
3:24 The Mountain Goats have this song, Going To Georgia, and there's this one live performance I love of it where the tune is so different than how it is on the album. I like this one specific live video more than the recorded one, which makes no sense because he even forgets a Line. Right in the middle of the song he stops, says "wait, that's not even it!" And then continues singing. And because of this, it kind of gives the song an extra line. When I listen to that song now, even the recorded version, I always say "wait that's not even it" at that point. Basically my point is no, not everything will be exactly as you want it when it's published, but maybe someone will like it better than it would have been otherwise.
This video made me think a lot, and somewhere along the train of thought I considered (again) how to explain to someone who doesn't really watch RU-vid, why these videos are so important to me, which lead to the realisation that I have more commitment to this RU-vid channel than I do to basically anything else in my life. I've been watching and feeling and understanding and enjoying for about 10 years. That's all of my adult life, I've had 3 careers in that time... Let's not work out how many partners. Maybe that will explain it to muggles.
I'm writing the lyrics for my first album and I so fucking feel this! Thankfully self-publishing among our professional musician friends is normal, one of our best friends owns her own studio with her fiance, and my husband and all his friends are musicians willing to record and touring with me. But revisions of lyrics is a huge and important part of the writing process for me, just as much as I do when writing a thesis.
Ooh, I have that same copy of Beowulf. It's great! The text is interspersed with photos of archaeological artifacts from the time period and historical footnotes.
Hank, through the magic of Reading, your thoughts will become our thoughts, filtered through our own experiences and biases and expectations. The written word is imprecise. The novel is not a perfect medium. Sure, the book could be tweaked further. Or marginally improved. But the thoughts and feelings you wish to share *will indeed be shared.* We will enjoy the experience of peering into your imagination and are thankful for the opportunity. Thank you for writing your book and investing so much of yourself into it. It'll be okay. Rest.
I agree. I published three novels (in Hebrew), and reading them again is oftentimes painful. When you have to do it, like in a reading, you really feel like it doesn't belong to you in the same way anymore
I think this needs to be known: when you said have reached the point where I can no longer change it" I recoiled in utter horror. Thanks for this, I will never attempt to have anything published.
