My biggest mistake was not finding your channel sooner! 🤪 Also that little nasty obsession of PERFECTION has always been my biggest mistake. It paralyzes us into a never ending loop of overthinking. It’s a viscous trap to get out of.
One way to prevent meandering stories, lackluster endings, and unfinished books is to take a Tex Avery approach _(aging myself :^( ),_ where you define the beginning and ending in advance at the same time, tying them directly together. Yes, this may be an affront to pantsers (i.e. discovery writers), but it does help to know where you're headed even when writing forward. And it makes the writing process so much easier if you've already worked out a satisfying ending. *_Note that having a predefined ending doesn't mean you can't change it!_* And it doesn't stifle creativity. In fact, it's best to think of the ending as version 1: You will most certainly make improvements to it as you write forward and/or plot. For example, in my first novel, I'd defined an ending that I'd believed to be satisfying. However, as the story progressed, I had to keep making tweaks to the ending that, while the bones were still there, the narrative had become completely shifted and truly dynamic! I dared to look back on that version 1 ending, and quickly realized that I couldn't have reached the final without it. Felt great😊! I'm using this same approach on my current novel, and am experiencing that feeling all over again. _I'm home._
Thanks for this, this sounds very similar to my approach these days, and how I'm approaching my current novel. I find it a good balance of structure and freedom 🙂
Cheers man, another great video. What sets your advice apart, in my view, is your authenticity and your willingness to talk about some of the hard stuff. Not just hard writing stuff but the hard learning stuff. Your advice in this video, and in a previous video where you talk about your mistakes with submitting work to literary agents, was really helpful. Not just because they are things not to do, but because I can see someone out there making similar sorts of (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes. Your style of self-deprecating humour helps, too.
Oh man thank you ☺️ I love poking fun at myself! I’m glad to know it might help people avoid these kinds of mistakes or at least be able to see them coming, that’s my real aim with this channel. I want to be useful and not just self-serving. To me sharing mistakes is just proving that I’ve learned things! And if they’re embarrassing then so be it 😂 Writing is hard, I’ve always found it hard and will always, I’d imagine. All people do when they pretend it’s a breeze all the time is isolate writers who do have a hard time, I never want to do that.
You had me at...making tea mid-vid. And again, at the 8:43 mark. Beautiful. AND A THIRD TIME at the 10:28 mark. Oh and.... your video-editing game is FIRE!
It definitely doesn’t help 😕 I didn’t realise how much I was missing out on with not talking to other writers. It just helps, not to mention finding people who’ll give you feedback.
Jumpin' catfish. I self-published two novels without adequate editing. (Publish in haste, repent at leisure.) I wish I had discovered your videos a quarter-million words ago.
I always like being honest about what I’ve cocked up and continue to cock up 😂 pretending to be perfect or better than I am would help no one, including me! I’m glad it was entertaining 😁 I’m really trying to make them fun to watch as well as hopefully giving some thinking points.
I wish I could talk to friends about writing, but they dont care about it. Love the vid! Good luck with writing! I am stuck at 50k words and cannot for the life of me manage to push further ahead.
Ah, for the longest time I didn't talk to any other writers, but now I do on the Discord channel at least. Also hate that feeling of getting stuck so far into a story like that. Do you plan far ahead or wing it with novels?
@@qine6559 it is fun, everyone’s nice if you ever fancy joining ☺️ but of course it’s not for everyone. I always thought it was a voice- based thing but we only do text posts in ours.
I used to HATE editing! I saw my first draft as 'writing' and editing as the annoying bit that came after. I'm also the other way round now. I think the only way to keep improving is to be open to trying new things (as you said) and learning from others (which you make great videos about).
Me too! I think partly why I hate it is I’m scared of discovering I’ve written something that doesn’t work. Its the moment of truth in a way 🤔 It’s got to be done though!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting It's definitely the moment of truth, but there's more than one way to find the truth. Sometimes you just need to chisel at it a little harder.
Stop avoiding the hard problems...if that's not the simplest and best writing advice ever, I don't know what is. And YESSS there's more to writing than just first drafting!! I feel like so many people are stuck in that first draft stage...which I do understand because I have definitely been stuck there for a while myself. But now that I'm really moving beyond that with one of my WIPs, it seems like there is much less in terms of resources and information to help with next steps. Totally agree about joining some sort of writing group or interacting with other writers regularly. That's been incredibly helpful for me over the last year and a half or so. hahaha analysis paralysis... Also, that's a lot of tea bags for one cup. _Have I been making tea wrong...? Is this why all the tea I've ever made is gross?_
It’s the hardest thing to face up to but the most useful I think 🤔 sometimes you just gotta do the nasty stuff in the hope of long term gain right? Haha I wondered if it would look like multiple teabags because of how I edited it 😂 it’s just the one, you’re doing it right! You’re tea-ing correctly!
Great video!! I did the same where the first few novels/stories I write, I didn’t edit or touch after they were done and as soon as I started editing, the quality and my happiness with the writing increased tenfold!. I really like the advice that the part of writing you’re most scared of is the part you should work on...I totally agree and I’m trying to think what part it is I’m stuck on now. I have quite a few things I’ve taken through 4/5/6 revisions and now they’re sitting on my computer...my comfort zone definitely ends at the word document 😂 Very thought-provoking-I’m now thinking around my resistance to actually trying to do anything with the work..thank you!
I have a similar thing to you, I really hate reading first drafts back, because they never seem as good as when I was writing them, but then once I've edited it and made it watertight, I feel so much better about it. It's like I've proven I was right in the first place, if that makes any sense, and not to blow my own trumpet obviously... I always tend to know what I'm avoiding doing with writing, but then I also just do nothing about that knowledge and stubbornly ignore it!
Weird thing about writer communities is, I thought people became writers because they don't play well with others. That and they don't have the money to make movies. I haven't had a conversation face to face with anyone probably in the last ten years that's amounted to shit. Writing to me is a way to tolerate existence.
I'm done with my first draft without planning and it's really bad after like 9 months i realized that i need plan now i working into it , i hope i can done with it in 2 months ..... so hard yes 😬
I honestly find planning harder than just writing whatever, but it’s definitely worth doing. It can save/improve a story for sure, and if you’ve been going for 9 months you definitely want to make all that hard work worthwhile! ☺️
what if you are stuck on 1 singular idea for a novel. And its a good idea by many and i do enjoy brainstorming it. But when i start writing i start rewriting it making it better but also makes it more frustrating.
I saw you on ig and can't find you again, man. Haha. Ig's a garbage shute, anyway, i think. Good choice if you left. I throw away comics and stuff there. Anyway, I appreciate your videos big lots so i have to watch old ones when you dont have new ones. You help me self reflect, brother.
Hey man, yeah I left Instagram this week sorry. I might start another one at some point but I’m done for now! Thanks so much for the kind words, I’m hoping to be able to make a few more videos from now, hopefully more than just one a week, but I’ll always get at least that up. Really appreciate you watching ☺️
Also. If you hear faintly audible cries about internal crisis-constructs, sloppy character arcs and something about the heady cost of top-end drone prices at about 2am tonight, from a frontdoor just down the street, that's just me workshopping elements of my forthcoming novel LIFT. Feel free to shout back any feedback. (or to mind waking the children?)
Hahaha however you get it off your chest, it's got to be done! :) I will shout encouragement back into the void. 'Sounds like an interesting conceeeeeeepppt.....'
OMG you're talking about me! Five and a half finished novels and many many false starts and I still didn't plan or plot. All were premise-less. I promised myself I wouldn't start another novel unitl I had formutlated a decent premise... so now I'm not writing at all!
That’s definitely a situation I’ve been in myself and still am to an offer extent. I’ve found I actually enjoy writing short fiction way more than novels for the most part, maybe it might be worth giving that a shot? ☺️
I wear caps because I like them. I’m not ashamed of being bald, if I was I’d never show it, would I? Surprising comment coming from someone who has previously left constructive ones.
As always, another brilliant video. Here’s an idea for your channel. You should start a video series for writing exercises, to get people revved up to tap the keyboard.
Thanks mate, I love this stuff ☺️ I always try to prioritise the content and message of the video but I love editing and stuff too. It’s a Fender, 2012 American. I treated myself a few years back and I don’t see a reason why I’d ever need to upgrade again! Not visible here are a couple of Les Pauls (epiphones) and my first Strat which was indeed a Squier 😁
@@KierenWestwoodWriting nice! I started playing guitar last year after playing drums for 20 years. I got myself a squier strat, 70s vibe with a nice maple fretboard. Still learning but it’s good fun!
@@AwakeArise Maple fretboards **chefs kiss** 😂 They just look so nice. Actually looking forward to how mine will age as the guitar gets older too. I don’t play as much as I used to (started when I was 13/14ish) but it’s still fun ☺️
