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Past Amina spitting facts XD why is it that you blink and suddenly a year goes by and nothing changes? Time moves both too slow and too fast sometimes. But fr I get you. I'm a very "if you can dream it, you can do it" type of person... but i've spent way too much time dreaming and not getting to the doin part lmao!! For 2025, that's my goal. Started this month and making new routines and setting tangible goals that dont overwhelm me but help me feel like i'm making progress actively since the year prior. As someone with chronic illness, I loathe hustle culture. I consider myself a self-motivated and disciplined person, but work is something I do to maintain the lifestyle I want, not live to work, ya know? Im down for hard work when it needs to be done, but I want to enjoy my present and not spend all my days prepping for my future. I try to savor my suffering now and hope it comes through in my writing. Stories are emotional journeys so maybe something I go through that feels bad at the time will help someone else feel less lonely down the road. Something that had made me so stressed so for so long is thinking my life had to be crossing off a series of checkboxes and expectations. And if I didn't do it according to a standard someone else set, I was doing it wrong. But I always hated going with convention. I just thought I was supposed to do it. I'm seeing my life as a road map yet to be fully created. I have the general idea, but I'm still discovering all the paths and learning about the typography. Life feels like an adventure now instead of a checklist and I'm enjoying it a lot more. :)) I so feel you on living in a bubble and wanting to do more in your mid twenties. Same boat! ToT But I feel really hopeful this year n.n Im trying to take an exhale and letting myself do things I want to do to my own standard, not another imaginary person's standard, and just living life in the moment and truly enjoying all that comes my way. Ups and downs. Im open to ✨experience✨ this year~ Loving the cozy vibes here, Amina! <3 I love your vibes in general like I could listen to you yap for years 🫂💗🌷

yess loved this reflection Amina!! also love the cut from previous you hahaha 🌷

🌷 - yesss to getting out of our comfort zones this year ♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡

What a joy of a video! I am always down for a yap session and LOVE when a sprint stream gets chatty. Thank you for that wonderful discussion on providing feedback!

🌷 that’s enough of the 2026 talk. Let’s get through this year first 😉

This is so beautiful and refreshing bestie! Love your perspective on going into the new year ✨✨🌷🌷

Inserting the old clip of you roasting yourself LMAOOOO

Sat and ready!!

🌷🌷🌷

Someone's looking comfortable today. Filming while tucked in bed is a top tier vibe.

That was a really great discussion on critique! I think giving critique is a skill we all have to work on, and your suggestions were really great for giving kind constructive criticism! 😊

I get so tired of the miscommunication trope when it isn't used correctly. Like it makes sense if a character doesn't communicate healthy because they're missing something and need to grow, but then the story needs to hold them accountable and I expect them to own it later. But when the story tries to act like it wasn't the character's fault, it just feels cheap. Like the plot feels author-motivated instead of character-motivated bc what even is the point? Like in "Marriage Story", Charlie (Adam Driver) tells his wife Nicole (Scarlet Johansson) that he wishes she was dead during a really heated fight. But he doesn't really want this. What he means is "I just want this to be over". Charlie is so emotionally immature at this point that the miscommunication here emphasizes he's incapable of taking part in a relationship in a meaningful way and needs to grow. This fight also has consequences. If this miscommunication didn't happen, the whole movie might as well not happen because there is no story because the marriage would've just been happy and healthy with nothing interesting going on. This is also seen in "The Break Up" when the actual break up scene happens. We understand it's not really about doing the dishes but about being a good partner and helping and cherishing your partner. It's not outwardly said, but the fact it's not so candid is why it feels so real rather than a preachy therapy session. However, in Helluvah Boss, Blitzo and Fizz realize a huge fight that ruined their friendship was over a miscommunication caused by a whole other character. Their relationship is basically fixed on the spot. It just feels unearned and like the writers were unwilling to have either character be held accountable for bad choices or a lack of growth they had at the time of the fight, which would've shown growth they had when hashing things out even if the relationship wasn't mended. Show vs tell is also an interesting one. I think writers think telling is off limits all the time and that's just not true. There's a correct (and incorrect) way to use both. BookFox has a great video on metaphors and the reason I bring it up is often when writers are trying to "show not tell" they use metaphors and use them very, very wrong. Hello Future Me's video "Show Don't Tell is a Lie" expands on this in a really profound way with great examples.

Writing sprints with Amina? 😍 SIGN ME UP!

On your point about strong black women, i myself am a black woman and I'm more on the feminine side. I'm super shy and quiet (especially around those I'm not fully comfortable with) and i can people please lol. My character on the other hand is the total opposite (she's also black). Its been kinda easy due to the strong, independent representation of black women in media, but she also reflects some aspects of myself in terms of her introvertedness and creativity. I want her character to reflect her transformation from a strong, hyper-independent, workaholic who's afraid of relying on others, due to trauma, to becoming one who's more open to love, help and embraces her softness and femininity (this is after therapy and rehab).

I'm watching this as I'm planning and outlining my own book lol (which I've done like 3 times because i keep wanting to add stuff and it needs to make sense 😩😭) 😂. I'm currently re-outling my characters after getting a new notion novel template. I'm also making the original outlines more concise and creating mood boards for them (I've done 5 so far). I'm so excited to start writing, i have do many scene and dialogue ideas jotted down and I'm so excited to use them (I'm a pantser but I'm trying to get in the habit of fully plotting, but not too much that i loose interest)! Its nice to see your journey and you going through the stages i did 😂🤍.

definitely looking forward to a writing yap sprint. I've been looking for one and i haven't found any. I find that to be a really unique idea. I would like to change from 6 hour true crime video/podcast to the writing yapping sesh. Save me please.

It's so beautiful how passionate you are!!! I loved this video sm

This series was like a “hallmark movie” series for me! Is the writing the best? No… but if I’m in the mood for smut about possessive men? I’m rereading them… lol

Loved this video! In terms of outlining I’m definitely in the middle. I feel like I need to write down the path but I very often leave the path or build new side roads along the way.

✨Congrats on 3 years Amina ✨ I’m starting a writing channel this year, so I appreciate your insights on the behind the scenes of growing a TH-cam channel. I’d love a series on the business side of TH-cam.

✨ Thank you for sharing! It would be cool if you made a video of how you read and breakdown legal documents or contracts. I enjoy that you rate or review your favorite videos, least favorite, favorite thumbnails, and videos that are performing well and not performing well. Also, what languages are you learning or how many languages do you know? Wishing you well as you embrace all your interests and post the content you want and enjoy making. I'm figuring that out too. What videos I want to make and enjoy making. I'm a writer too. I like how down to earth you were in this video. Congratulations on the achievements you did achieve and the things you learned in 2024.

So excited for this journey of yours AHHHHH!! You've gained a new writer sub and writer friend hehe <3

We love a hobby vlog!!!

I tried to outline and found myself just wanting to write + it has been so much more enjoyable discovering the story along the way!

13:07 - You caught me so off-gaurd here, I was just about to open up milanote 🤣

I love yapping! We are definitely in this together hahaha. I love your set-up btw!

Lolol girl I feel you on that wearing multiple hats. It can make me so anxious for a story because I’m like how would I ever explain this like a real person with this career or interest 😭 I’ve put off ideas that would require so much research and getting into character for a bit easier ones

I found your thoughts on your main character so relatable 😭 I feel like I know my mmc so much more than my fmc, which is weird. Another thing I struggle with is keeping her character and personality consistent, because tell me why it’s so hard??

I'm so exited to read your book someday, it sounds so interesting!❤

I got mine done 4 days ago pain level was the same but it was ok after the following day my nose was swollen it's still swollen and it hurts bad pain level right now is like a 7/10

I am also SUCH a yapper. and I love hearing other people yap. let's all yap together. 💀

When you talk about strong independent women not sacrificing their femininity, it makes me think of "Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture" by Jeffery Brown. It's specifically addressing action heroines in films, but I definitely see this problem in literature too especially sci-fi and YA/NA fiction. It's always funny when characters take on a life of their own XD sometimes you really have to drag their secrets out of them and it tells you a lot about the sort of person they are. Being a writer is like being some inter-dimensional traveler where you go to other worlds, meet people, and then come back and tell their wild stories haha 15:14 agree! Sometimes it's easier too when you give yourself a sort of blueprint? Like writing down as much as you can when it comes to what you want to happen. Then when you edit, you can delete and frankenstein it until it's *chef's kiss*~ Sometimes my mood will change what I can handle? Like if I'm in an intense creative flow then the imagery flows so much better but if im feeling really methodical that day then it's just easier to blueprint and go back and edit in the prose and pretty narration. I like to give myself notes too for my future self to use. My method for rating books depends on if I share it or not. My personal reading journal, I base it on all the factors like craftsmanship and personal enjoyment. It helps me decide if I want to use that book to study and hone my craft or if there's any techniques I want to steal for myself. But if I share it on like goodreads or something then I review it based on how well it was written for the target audience, even if I'm not in said target audience. This helps me get outside my own preferences and perceptions and I realize often there's more to learn from a book than if i'd just based it on my own personal enjoyment. But with friends, I wouldn't really rare their books. It'd feel weird I think? Also part of me is going to love it anyway because a friend made it so I know I have a bias. But when they're editing and want feedback, I like to have a list of their goals for the book, their overall pitch and target audience, and specific concerns they want me to address. Helps me understand what is the most helpful thing for them because the way I edit my own work is not the same in how I edit someone else's because we're writing different things for different people with different styles. It also helps me look for not only pain points for their audience but also things to praise the author for. If they're worried about dialogue and I think it's done well, then I can let them know not only that it's working but get specific in why and how it's working so well. This helps the author grow and is super encouraging because now they can be more confident in the execution of their craft. I love your energy, Amina! <3 Can't wait to read your book :D

i love the way you articulated the shapeshifting writers have to do. i literally posted a tiktok about that today, we’re a million different people fr!!

I feel you!!! 🤣 Yesterday, I had to look up tarot reading and what all the cards meant for one of my characters. It's so interesting, but before becoming a writer, I never knew how much time and attention authors put into creating their worlds and characters. Love your videos. Subscribe.

That was a masterclass. Thank you, I'll come back to this when i critique again.