วีดีโอ

This is interesting. I have been stuck on a book for 6 years. 6. YEARS. And I have frequently wondered if I am just starting too big. The problem I have with trying to redirect is that at this point I almost feel like I don’t know how to think about anything else when it comes to writing. It’s almost as though Ive trained my brain to think of writing and this book as synonymous with each other. I’ve had a couple ideas here and there but they were either ones that I knew would have to be just as big, or they were for genres that I don’t enjoy reading, so… why would I write them?

I see myself more as 10% a writer.

Interesting... I tried writing a novel this summer, and wrote about 30 pages. Unfortunately, those 30 pages have pretty much the whole story. Maybe I could add a bit and make it 40 pages, or even 50, but that's still not a novel. I like the short story every week idea, though. I might just try some version of that in 2025.

Thanks for this. From this, I am looking at getting to that stage where I'll know how much a story can become. I think it's a sign of experience and I can't wait to be that seasoned.

How do you know if your story idea is a short story or novel?

1:04 Its such an excellent advice i could print it and pin it to my wall

Not a writer (but could become😈) but I had "that exact book" idea with me for years. Wanted to create this epic saga comicbook, with cosmos, mystery, monster fights, magic ect. Every few years i sit down and write down new ideas for it, but mainly try to understand what my plot is even about. Recently I started working on it yet again and what I discovered is upsetting. It seems like, I made up characters, their awesome powers, friendship and hardships but thats all I ever focused on. I have little bits of story or where it needs to go but generally my plot is very empty. My 2 first acts are literally "The characters wandered the magic realms jumping from one to another through mysterious portals; get new member; repeat" but i realize, thats its not a story even, just a direction for it. Although, I was thinking at least for now, when I am stuck and dont know what to do with this empty husk of a story, I could take a different approach with it. I do have short stories withing this giant saga that are actually well thought off. And I could just write them and make little comics of them for now. Still thought. Even after writing dow a huuuge analyze of all my plot holes and trying to give them all sorts of questions to sort them out i am completely lost where to even begin with this project. But I guess if the answer is really to "do something else" for now, I ll try that and we'll see if it does help after all. P.S. this vid's comment section is very helpful! Honestly I was familiar with this advice. I'm guilty, i even heard it few times before but its that kind of advice that you honestly should get to have on repeat before it either sinks in or you start applying it. Thing is I know i should start making short simple comics before i make the big one...but the urge to get closer to your dream is itchy. Anyway, this video popped up in the most right time, I started writing short plots and storyboarding ideas starting this fall. I should take this as call to make a short story.

Yes, this can be good advice, but on the other hand, sometimes the only reason someone is writing at all is to write that epic. Sure, they may not make it, give up half way, or have it sit there for a decade. However, the process of trying and failing is just as important as succeeding. I think it really depends on the person as to what they should do.

Love this advice. It was smart. 😂

I have been thinking this for a while because I care about my current book so much that even my first draft has to be carved really carefully - 4 years later and I am only in chapter 20 in first draft. I never give up on it because I do love it but maybe, I just have to write something and finish it without caring too much and just having fun with setting myself free through words.

for a moment I thought you meant BellHammer was a story about a group of carpenters that fight an oil company by using practical jokes somehow, took me a while to realize you meant the story itself has great practical jokes not that it is part of the premise 😂😂 that aside, really solid advice, thank you, I will definitely try writing something smaller now!

I am not going to follow this advice. I'm 100,000 words into my epic fantasy novel, and it's a very flawed first draft with a lot of problems. It's slow going and can be discouraging at times, but I don't care that it's hard. Because it's the only story I'm passionate about writing right now. I'm in no rush to publish it. I'm writing it out of love. And I'm learning by writing it, so I don't see any of it as wasted time. It will be the first novel draft I finish, because I've promised myself and my characters that it will be. In the meantime, when I need to feel the satisfaction of finishing something, I write a poem or a short story.

1:26 Unless you're Ray Bradbury. ;)

I have to trick my mind too. I don't even call it a book. I say i'm writing a story. It seems less daunting. Thanks!

A version of Don't edit as you go I've found was the advice "let your first chapter/ page/ sentence be bad". a lot of writing places so much weight on the very beginning of a story that it can really paralyze someone. so let it such just to get it out the way then once you have everything down you can rewrite the start knowing the feeling the rest of your story and depending on how you outline the twists its made.

Very good advice. What could also help with this, in case someone really wants to write in that wonderful world they created, is to write novellas in it. Set up the world, its lands, culture, and magic systems and write a small story in it. Not the big epic sage, but something small in the world that might be worldbuilding in the eventual sage. It is great practice, helps to flesh out the world and those stories can be used to make a name. Because people are more inclined to buy a novella from a small writer than a first of a 13-book series that might never be finished. But a epic sage following up the novellas, well that sounds good.

Dang, our writing journey to writing that first book is SCARILY similar! Thanks for making this!

for the story I'm writing its gone through so much personal change. i started with one high concept story and slide down a slope for years wanting to implement new ideas every few months. its gotten to a point were i had to come to this conclusion by just deleting everything. recently I've restarted but instead of writing THAT story I've decided to take all the setup and world-building and make that the focus of writing short storys in the world and around THAT story. if i ever do write a novel or the like it likely won't even be THAT story because there's nothing more defeating then working on your ultimate master piece only to realize you don't have the skill and understanding to pull it off. Eden cluster is the name I've given my universe and even though its not publicated and i partly doubt I'll ever try. its certainly helped me understand writing better keeping within the world i love without pushing myself for the perfect story

This is really good advice. I have an idea for a huge space opera I came up with a couple of years ago, but thankfully I’ve had the insight to know that that kind of story is way too big for my current writing skills. So instead I wrote a fairly short 75,000-word novel set in a very quiet post apocalyptic rural Texas. The plot is simple and straightforward (with just enough complexity to keep it interesting and original). It is coming to Amazon in May 2025.

Very helpful content!

Stephen King's advice to write every day to 'keep your narrative edge sharp' is true. It's also known as a work ethic. If you write a page a day why stop at one; starting a second one almost always results in writing four or five. If you tire of what you're writing and start to hate it KEEP ON WRITING, your temporary malaise will pass, usually in a day.

really enjoy the videos, keep em coming!

the first half of the last 10% of my book i took nearly a month of writers block and RL crap to struggle through.... and then the 2nd half i blitzed through in a single day of frenzied writing. Granted, i had to re-write large sections of that to be better, but yeah.

Never judge a video by it's title.

I knew I always got Christian vibes from you! Totally here for it.

I wasn't prepared to receive advice so tailored to my situation

I want to write a book but the subject is frowned upon in my language or the people who speak my language and i want to do it in English but i don't know how to start , my English isn't that good i learned it through movies and songs

Excellent video mate, thanks for this advice❤

I know exactly what story to write! I've been working on it all along but passing it off as a side story or just for my own entertainment. Thank you for sharing!

Where can I read your writing?

How do you define writing success?

I'm trying to write 'that book' for almost 5 years. I have other ideas, but they are stored for later. And I never even thought about writing something simple. Thank you.

This is why I'm not published. I can't finish what I don't love, and it's proven very hard for me to nail down what I love. I like you, subbed.

I'm half a writer, but it's because I only write half a blogpost and then get distracted by life. Then, I lose the motivation for that one and move on to the next potential post.

I came up with an epic crime novel idea at the beginning of high school. I was too afraid to write it because I knew I wasn't ready in any way, so I wrote a science fantasy Tom Clancy rip off instead. I made it about 250 pages before I realized I was trying way too hard to force it. Fifteen years later I actually have real life experience to write short stories that make me proud. That original idea over time has inspired many other ideas, helping me form my ecology focused new weird fiction, and the characters and settings have coalesced into larger worlds/universes that feel naturally interconnected. I'm still not good enough to write that epic crime novel, but I'm closer than I ever thought I would get.

Do you really love what you wrote? I don’t. I’m proud of what I created, but love? No. I have better taste than that. That’s like saying you love your first paintings. Yes, have fun, be passionate, but if you already love what you wrote as a beginner, there’s not much room left for you to grow.

I'm very glad this video popped up on my recommended. I do get caught between this seeming dichotomy of writing as an art vs writing as a business. I don't want to create a book that's little more than a product designed to elicit a series of emotional responses for maximum profitability. Finding this line between writing what will sell vs writing what I want to write is a tricky balance to get right.

Thanks, I needed to hear this today.

What do you think? How important is having fun when writing a book?

I really enjoy your videos! They are short, but filled with amazing, easy-to-apply advice. Love it!

This is actually really good advice. When I first started writing, I poured about two years into a book I wasn't able to finish, because I got so caught up in big problems I couldn't solve. Also didn't understand characters then. I've spent the last two years writing short fiction and it has made a world of difference in how I approach brain storming etc. I think I have so many more tools at my disposal to go back to that original story idea and actually make it work. Whoo!

This series is so fun - thanks for making this!

Great advice, thanks

Brandon Sanderson's baby is The Stormlight Archive, he said he even wrote a short version of it as a Nanowrimo excercise. But as an author his first published novel was Elantris, then the Mistborn trilogy, then Warbreaker, and ONLY THEN he started publishing Stormlight Archive.

My first book was my magnus opus. I havent writen the second 😂

00:38 Alex hersh's gravity falls world literally has a space axolotl for a God.

For the algorithm 😊

Love the vibes on this channel, and I'm glad I discovered it! Here's to more videos haha

How many books have you *_almost_* finished?

As someone who DOES have a huge space fantasy version of King Arthur... yeah, I am not starting with that. My current plan is to work on several stories before that. Currently got a Land Before Time style adventure with dinosaurs as characters (who don't talk), and maybe a children's fantasy