Y'alllllll, I went 3 for 3 in this writing craft reading vlog! I have timestamps so you can check out where I'm talking about each, if you want to skip around (and I answer which I'd buy if I could only choose one). Also here's that Skillshare link again! The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/katecavanaugh07211
The most frustrating writing workshop experience was when someone made a comment about my book that could be interpreted in multiple different ways but I wasn't allowed to ask for clarification because we were supposed to let our stories "stand on their own." If I think about "writing well" I'll just freeze up and not write anything at all. Shooting for word count might not work for everyone, but it really helps me. It can sometimes help me keep writing even when I'm having a depressive episode. If I tell myself "today's goal is 100 words" and then accomplish it, then that's a win, and it doesn't matter if my brain weasels think that a preschooler with a crayon could write a better story than what I've written. Vin is learning the art of catmoflage! My black cat likes curling up in the black office chair, while the tortie likes hanging out on the patterned rug.
"The Wastelanders" by Kristyn Merbeth totally changed the way I looked writing action! I COULD not put that book down. It was so quick, yet exact and concise. It was brilliant and I'd never seen anyone else write like that. Also all her characters were so well written and distinct.... ugh! I just loved that book. She's one of my "auto-buy" authors for sure!
Oh, I wanted to say that for me, a writer who I really love their prose is Erin Bow. She writes mostly middle-grade and it’s some of the most literary and poetic prose I’ve encountered, but being middle-grade, she achieves this with relatively simple language and doesn’t need to bust out the SAT vocabulary to do it. Great writer!
"Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can quality come." Even though I'm a perfectionist and a slow writer who second guesses every single word I put on the page, I couldn't agree more! Yes, I've experienced that when I solely and grimly focus on quality-sentences, I often lose connection to what I truly wish to express. I tend to value wording more than my honest thoughts, and I often alter them slightly to make them sound polished. My today's word of wisdom which I'm going to write on the first page of my notebook: "The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are." Mille grazie for this great video, Kate! :)
Great video! What I really took away from this video, as well as your last video, is that every writer has a very different process and style and that’s OK. For me, I can’t say that I have ever seen a writer who has a process like mine, and this actually is why it took a long time for me to “find“ my process. I was so overwhelmed with all this very prescriptive writing advice that I felt like if I wasn’t doing it “the right way“ then I wasn’t really a writer. I had to almost not define myself as a writer for a while (more like a hobbyist) in order to free myself up to experiment and finally find my own process. I think the challenge with a lot of writing advice is that there’s often a fundamental truth at the core of it that can help you in a lot of situations, but applying it too strictly will actually harm more than help. I think a great example of this is the way people will apply the “show don’t tell“ rule. This “rule“ does have a good point about being careful that you’re not just telling the reader everything all the time, but if you apply it too strictly, then you can also miss out on parts where it might actually be better to tell the reader rather than show. I could even make an argument that our ability to “tell” is a very prose-specific ability that gives us a dimension over other mediums, such as just watching a scene play out on TV or a movie. Like, if my whole book is going to be only showing, why not just write a film script? Some of my favorite sections of books are ones where the writer is telling me something but it’s in an interesting and creative way that could never be conveyed through showing. People often think that telling is a direct line from A to B, but good telling involves the writing telling you A from which you can infer C and then feel smart about it. If that makes sense. I’ll get off my soapbox about this particular thing. Basically there is a lot of nuance in writing and the craft of writing, and overly prescriptive advice loses that nuance. It’s the same for advice about process. We all have different brains that work differently. What helps one writer get unstuck could make a different writer with a different personality and different ways of processing even more stuck. Yet you don’t want to throw out all advice either because some things might still be helpful. Basically all writing advice should come with lots of caveats and salt and not an air of “this is the only way.” I think as the Internet changes the way writers converse about craft, the community will get more flexible about the wisdom of different approaches. I always appreciate your videos because you go out of your way to convey helpful or potentially helpful information without being prescriptive.
Adding these books to my to do list, especially Craft in the Real World! I really appreciate the fact that you highlight how Japan, China, Korea, and other Asian cultures use a different story structure. It’s something I’ve wanted to learn more about since looking more into how Ghibli movies were written. Given how more and more popular eastern stories have become, I’m amazed and intrigued at the fact that we haven’t learned more about their storytelling styles until so recently.
Personally, I've found that focusing on word count is counterproductive if I'm trying a quantitative, write-a-bunch approach. I've recently made the shift to shorter fiction so that I could focus on completing more stuff. Its the most I've ever grown as a writer, but I could only do it once I let go of word count. For me at least, word count obfuscated quantity as well as quality, because it was less about writing a ton and learning from it and more about getting a higher number. Focusing on word count meant I was privileging drafting above everything else, which meant I wasn't spending as much time in the other parts of the process. Especially as someone with a revision-heavy process, that definitely held me back.
For sure! Different strategies work for different people. I do think it's ~interesting~ how so many big time authors recommend having a word count goal in their writing craft/advice books, but that could just be because it's a quick, easy thing to give beginners a "baseline." I can't remember Matthew's book mentioning word count, in fact I really loved his bit about how he now likes to allow incomplete drafts into his workshops! He talked about how people write at all different paces and forcing people to have complete drafts before they're allowed to receive feedback can be unhelpful. (He also mentioned everyone has different circumstances and some are taking care of small children, working two jobs, etc. and don't have the capacity to finish a long project as quickly, but are still working toward it and they deserve to receive feedback too!)
@@KateCavanaugh Absolutely! I also for some reason feel like there is a huge difference between "try and write 500 words every day" and the emphasis on continual counting we can sometimes fall into (which can also obviously be super useful for folks). Objectively I understand that they are connected, but they feel like very separate things to me for some reason. Matthew's book sounds amazing and I'm requesting it as soon as I can get more library holds!
I think the word count debate only talks about it in extreems and therefore we are focused on it as the be all and end all of progress. I think word count is one tool out of many that we should use to measure progress.
One Craft Book I absolutely love is "Gotham's Writer's Workshop Writing Fiction. The Practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School" by Alexander Steel. I've read it three times so far and always find exactly what I need for my stories. What I especially like is that it contains the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver and all that is important for writing like beginning, middle, end, character arc, plot etc. is shown on examples of this short story. When it comes to books about writing craft I find them all over the place. In books stores, online or from channels like your :) Wishing you productive rest of the week and looking forward to your next videos :)
You are a primary source for writing craft recs. Before I started watching your channel I only rarely picked up craft books. Now I am more interested and I do see that interest increasing in my own writing as well. So, thank you!
The writing book I've been LOVING lately is: A Writer's Guide To Persistence: How to Create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice by Jordan Rosenfeld It's got a lot of exercises to help you figure out what your specific motivations are for writing, what you're willing to do to push yourself through it, etc. I'm deep in revision mode, and it's so, so helpful for the days when I want to chuck my draft into the fire and pretend it never happened.
Ohmygosh, so yes! I have several reading vlogs where I've literally filmed everything and just haven't compiled all the footage. I'm talking from reading challenges back in like, May. SOOOOO yes! There will be. I actually have to finish The Stand first, but that is my plan! (So I guess we'll need to define "soon" hahahaha.)
So excited to read Craft in the Real World. Added it to my list after watching your video. For revision, I highly recommend Living Revision : A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice by Elizabeth Andrew. It has so many great exercises in it for revision 😊
I recently read and really liked Story Genius by Lisa Cron because I heard Rachael Herron and whoever she was interviewing that week gushing about it on her podcast. It is really good. It's focused on character and how character drives plot, plus there are a ton of really helpful exercises and examples that help you implement what she's talking about in the book. I've been hearing great things about Craft in the Real World from other writers I know. Definitely going to pick that up next after watching this video.
The book about writing that enjoyed the most, so far, is Writing down the bones by Natalie Goldberg, very short chapters and good advice for practicing your writing and finding your voice. Also, added all 3 books to my reading list, thank you!!!
I always want to read books on writing (I have several) but I can never make myself stick to finishing one. However, that Ray Bradbury one sounds really good. I think I might have to push through that one! Thanks for sharing this 💜
I think a lot of these writing craft books are more like "my perspective on writing." As you said you wanted more of the how to craft a book, how to go about revisions, editing and writing. I haven't ready any of these (though I will have to look them up) but books I have read on the topic of writing often are written as this is what I learned about writing in my life time. Examples of this are 'Stephen King On Writing' and 'No Plot, No Problem' by Chris Baty (founder of nanowrimo). I have also read books that lean in on the advice such as 'The Depression Handbook for Writers' by Giselle Renarde and 'How to Write a Novel and Get It Published' by Nigel Watts. Of course there is always very dry texts about writing as well such as 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk, which is more about formating and design of books then the actual writing of a book. Also as I said already it is very dry.
I read Zen a couple of years ago and never thought I would reread it (it didn't make a lasting impression on me), but hearing you talk about it makes me curious to try it again. I might also check Craft, that sounds super interesting.
Super interested in Craft in the Real World! My experience with writing workshops has always been the "Author keep quiet while the group critiques" style, and to be honest it was always my least favorite part of whatever creative writing class or program I was in for just that reason - throwing a bunch of writers with different genres and tastes together is just not as helpful as we often think it is. I definitely see how it's important that the work stand on its own, but a workshop full of Literary writers critiquing a commercial YA is not really helpful haha. Definitely adding to my TBR!
My favorite writing craft book is about how writers can learn from method actors. I can’t think of the title right now but it’s by Brandilynn Collins. I tried to send you a kindle copy as a gift last holiday season because it helped me so much . Idk if you ever got it.
Really enjoying these writing craft book videos. I've added a few of the ones from your previous video to my shelf, I really enjoyed On Writing Well. I will have to add these ones to my next to buy list and hopefully get and read them soon. Can't wait to see what you think of the other books you showed at the beginning of the video but didn't get a chance to read this time around.
I'm totally picking these up! Where in the writing process do you find yourself reading craft books? Throughout? I'm thinking of doing a craft-and-outlining retreat of sorts before jumping into my next draft
i loved CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD too and I'm glad I'm seeing more writers reading it!!✨it made me feel a lot better about my past experience as a bipoc writer in workshop because even if you get lucky with a nice group of writers, if you're writing non-western settings with non-western cultural nuances, there's just always going to be a disconnect that's challenging for bipoc folks to contend with in the traditional workshop format (especially because of the "gag rule" that is intended to de-centre the author from the discussion)
Absolutely! It was so mind-opening to me to reconsider who "the reader" was. The whole book was such a treasure trove of information. Like I never would've thought someone would include their syllabus in the book but that was one of my favorite parts to read!! And I love how he redefined common craft terms!
Kate this was such great video. I was trying to hear whose pyramid you use when writing. I loved what you said about all 3 craft books. I would like to know which author you like the best so far from your Write like....series? I also saw more writing craft books on your shelf and I would like to know what are those books as well.
There's a Stephen King story in Consider This that made my jaw drop. A lot of the personal stories in it are pretty great. It does get a bit too prescriptive at times, I found myself disagreeing with him a lot. But the advice that did resonate with me, really elevated my writing. The best craft book I've read is Wired For Story by Lisa Cron. Its tailored to the modern YA novel style - fast paced, dialogue heavy, low narration. Which tend to be the kinds of books I love the most. It has had the most positive effect on my writing besides 'Show, Don't Tell'
MY JAW DROPPED TOO. I was like "is this real? is this folklore? there's no way." The idea of his blood dripping onto each book is permanently burned into my brain bahaha. I need to check Wired for Story out!!! Thank you for the reminder, I've heard such good things!
Craft in the Real World sounds like the kind of thing that makes you want to cry and lift up your hands in praise like you're in church, and you're being told all these things you've always known in your heart but never heard anyone confirm in any capacity, so you thought you were nuts, but now, NOW, someone has finally freed you, given you the permission to TAKE THE GLOVES OFF!
Re: Vin stealing your seat - now that she has started, you'll most likely be battling that for the rest of her life. I'm doing that with both of my cats.
I read a Chuck P book (titled RANT), but I definitely get the discomfort that comes from his writing. lol I got my dad into his books without reading more than the one, and then my dad ended up gifting me copies of two other novels by Chuck P that I don't have the heart to donate. But I also feel like I'm still recovering from the last one I read. 😬😅 They're kinda perpetually shelved.
But also that's very sweet about your dad bahaha. I got my dad to read THE WHEEL OF TIME because I said I was in the middle of the first one. He then read the ENTIRE series and I DNF'd part of the way through the first bahaha. I keep thinking I'll try again soon though....
@@KateCavanaugh This is so much like my dad. He and I trade books a lot, or give them to each other as gifts. And I'll recommend an author because I'll read one book by them (like Chuck P) and enjoy it. But then my dad will read everything they ever wrote! 🤪 This recently happened with Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill too, and he asks me all the time now, "Did you read X or Y by Z author?" And I'm just like, "Dad, I have a very long 'to-read' list. 😬 So, no." And then he tells me the whole plot. Lol thanks dad. I hope yours didn't spoil WoT for you at least. 😂
I don't think workshopping novels helpful beyond the first few chapters. A workshop for the first few chapters can help authors really start out well. The first few chapters inform the book and how it proceeds. I think CP's/beta readers for early drafts work better because they can look at the story as a whole and can really help focus the edit. A friend of mine is working with someone who want to quarry and his first read through, he caught a number of issues, but he also said to me that he could tell which scenes were workshopped. I want to read Deep Scenes by the end of the year because after Laura's review of it last year it reminded me about a screne writting craft book that I read about 15 years ago and some of the advice just stuck with me. Knowing the rules to break them, I think is misleading, you can't just know what the rule is and break them. You also have to know why the rule exsists. In film school, (sorry yes I'm bringing it up again) we talk about "Not crossing the line." Simplified is you have about 180 degrees in the same plane to move the camera that won't distract the viewer from the purpose of the scene. If you've ever watched The Shining, Stanley Kubrick broke this rule all the time to add to the unnatrualness of the hotel, and get the view to feel uncomfortable without a jump scare or something of that nature. He could have a very still camera and still give the errie feeling. Sophia Cooplla breaks the long stares at the camera rule in Lost in Translation (something as an Indie Film Festival judge I really wish she never did). There's a reason long silent shots don't work, they are boring to the eye and you lose your audience. She used them correctly, she had an actor who could use the silence and the focus to portray what she wants. You have to know the reasoning behind the rule. You can't just know it's a rule and not know why if you're going to break it well and make it work with the story.
@@KateCavanaugh 😂 I'm just giving you a hard time lol - I noticed you also still have a headphone jack (which is rare these days). Not that you asked, but I got an S21 plus earlier this year and I am IN LOVE with it. No headphone jack tho... you get used to it. 🤷♀️😊
Y'alllllll, I went 3 for 3 in this writing craft reading vlog! I have timestamps so you can check out where I'm talking about each, if you want to skip around (and I answer which I'd buy if I could only choose one). Also here's that Skillshare link again! The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/katecavanaugh07211
Hey Kate, What do you think about starting Coofl page? I think it can help a lot for creative writing.
The most frustrating writing workshop experience was when someone made a comment about my book that could be interpreted in multiple different ways but I wasn't allowed to ask for clarification because we were supposed to let our stories "stand on their own."
If I think about "writing well" I'll just freeze up and not write anything at all. Shooting for word count might not work for everyone, but it really helps me. It can sometimes help me keep writing even when I'm having a depressive episode. If I tell myself "today's goal is 100 words" and then accomplish it, then that's a win, and it doesn't matter if my brain weasels think that a preschooler with a crayon could write a better story than what I've written.
Vin is learning the art of catmoflage! My black cat likes curling up in the black office chair, while the tortie likes hanging out on the patterned rug.
"The Wastelanders" by Kristyn Merbeth totally changed the way I looked writing action! I COULD not put that book down. It was so quick, yet exact and concise. It was brilliant and I'd never seen anyone else write like that. Also all her characters were so well written and distinct.... ugh! I just loved that book. She's one of my "auto-buy" authors for sure!
Oh, I wanted to say that for me, a writer who I really love their prose is Erin Bow. She writes mostly middle-grade and it’s some of the most literary and poetic prose I’ve encountered, but being middle-grade, she achieves this with relatively simple language and doesn’t need to bust out the SAT vocabulary to do it. Great writer!
"Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can quality come." Even though I'm a perfectionist and a slow writer who second guesses every single word I put on the page, I couldn't agree more! Yes, I've experienced that when I solely and grimly focus on quality-sentences, I often lose connection to what I truly wish to express. I tend to value wording more than my honest thoughts, and I often alter them slightly to make them sound polished.
My today's word of wisdom which I'm going to write on the first page of my notebook: "The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are." Mille grazie for this great video, Kate! :)
Nothing like a new Kate Cavanaugh video on the day you get sick and have to stay home from work :)
Great video! What I really took away from this video, as well as your last video, is that every writer has a very different process and style and that’s OK.
For me, I can’t say that I have ever seen a writer who has a process like mine, and this actually is why it took a long time for me to “find“ my process. I was so overwhelmed with all this very prescriptive writing advice that I felt like if I wasn’t doing it “the right way“ then I wasn’t really a writer. I had to almost not define myself as a writer for a while (more like a hobbyist) in order to free myself up to experiment and finally find my own process.
I think the challenge with a lot of writing advice is that there’s often a fundamental truth at the core of it that can help you in a lot of situations, but applying it too strictly will actually harm more than help. I think a great example of this is the way people will apply the “show don’t tell“ rule. This “rule“ does have a good point about being careful that you’re not just telling the reader everything all the time, but if you apply it too strictly, then you can also miss out on parts where it might actually be better to tell the reader rather than show. I could even make an argument that our ability to “tell” is a very prose-specific ability that gives us a dimension over other mediums, such as just watching a scene play out on TV or a movie. Like, if my whole book is going to be only showing, why not just write a film script? Some of my favorite sections of books are ones where the writer is telling me something but it’s in an interesting and creative way that could never be conveyed through showing. People often think that telling is a direct line from A to B, but good telling involves the writing telling you A from which you can infer C and then feel smart about it. If that makes sense. I’ll get off my soapbox about this particular thing.
Basically there is a lot of nuance in writing and the craft of writing, and overly prescriptive advice loses that nuance. It’s the same for advice about process. We all have different brains that work differently. What helps one writer get unstuck could make a different writer with a different personality and different ways of processing even more stuck. Yet you don’t want to throw out all advice either because some things might still be helpful. Basically all writing advice should come with lots of caveats and salt and not an air of “this is the only way.” I think as the Internet changes the way writers converse about craft, the community will get more flexible about the wisdom of different approaches. I always appreciate your videos because you go out of your way to convey helpful or potentially helpful information without being prescriptive.
Adding these books to my to do list, especially Craft in the Real World! I really appreciate the fact that you highlight how Japan, China, Korea, and other Asian cultures use a different story structure. It’s something I’ve wanted to learn more about since looking more into how Ghibli movies were written. Given how more and more popular eastern stories have become, I’m amazed and intrigued at the fact that we haven’t learned more about their storytelling styles until so recently.
Personally, I've found that focusing on word count is counterproductive if I'm trying a quantitative, write-a-bunch approach. I've recently made the shift to shorter fiction so that I could focus on completing more stuff. Its the most I've ever grown as a writer, but I could only do it once I let go of word count.
For me at least, word count obfuscated quantity as well as quality, because it was less about writing a ton and learning from it and more about getting a higher number. Focusing on word count meant I was privileging drafting above everything else, which meant I wasn't spending as much time in the other parts of the process. Especially as someone with a revision-heavy process, that definitely held me back.
For sure! Different strategies work for different people. I do think it's ~interesting~ how so many big time authors recommend having a word count goal in their writing craft/advice books, but that could just be because it's a quick, easy thing to give beginners a "baseline."
I can't remember Matthew's book mentioning word count, in fact I really loved his bit about how he now likes to allow incomplete drafts into his workshops! He talked about how people write at all different paces and forcing people to have complete drafts before they're allowed to receive feedback can be unhelpful. (He also mentioned everyone has different circumstances and some are taking care of small children, working two jobs, etc. and don't have the capacity to finish a long project as quickly, but are still working toward it and they deserve to receive feedback too!)
@@KateCavanaugh Absolutely! I also for some reason feel like there is a huge difference between "try and write 500 words every day" and the emphasis on continual counting we can sometimes fall into (which can also obviously be super useful for folks). Objectively I understand that they are connected, but they feel like very separate things to me for some reason.
Matthew's book sounds amazing and I'm requesting it as soon as I can get more library holds!
I think the word count debate only talks about it in extreems and therefore we are focused on it as the be all and end all of progress. I think word count is one tool out of many that we should use to measure progress.
One Craft Book I absolutely love is "Gotham's Writer's Workshop Writing Fiction. The Practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School" by Alexander Steel. I've read it three times so far and always find exactly what I need for my stories. What I especially like is that it contains the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver and all that is important for writing like beginning, middle, end, character arc, plot etc. is shown on examples of this short story.
When it comes to books about writing craft I find them all over the place. In books stores, online or from channels like your :) Wishing you productive rest of the week and looking forward to your next videos :)
Had not realized the cat was called Vin and that name is perfect and I'm screaming.
YES!!! :)
Great analysis! I love your deep dives into the craft of writing.
Also laughed out loud at “I know if I was your student!”
You are a primary source for writing craft recs. Before I started watching your channel I only rarely picked up craft books. Now I am more interested and I do see that interest increasing in my own writing as well. So, thank you!
The writing book I've been LOVING lately is:
A Writer's Guide To Persistence: How to Create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice by Jordan Rosenfeld
It's got a lot of exercises to help you figure out what your specific motivations are for writing, what you're willing to do to push yourself through it, etc. I'm deep in revision mode, and it's so, so helpful for the days when I want to chuck my draft into the fire and pretend it never happened.
I love Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury!!!!
Kate, is there gonna be a Stephen King “The Stand” reading vlog any time soon?
Ohmygosh, so yes! I have several reading vlogs where I've literally filmed everything and just haven't compiled all the footage. I'm talking from reading challenges back in like, May. SOOOOO yes! There will be. I actually have to finish The Stand first, but that is my plan! (So I guess we'll need to define "soon" hahahaha.)
@@KateCavanaugh This is mega relatable
Aww, kitties are such fun writing companions. With my two recent kitties it was a game changer to get a usb chargable laser pointer.
So excited to read Craft in the Real World. Added it to my list after watching your video. For revision, I highly recommend Living Revision : A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice by Elizabeth Andrew. It has so many great exercises in it for revision 😊
Thank you for some new books to add to my ever overflowing tbr on Goodreads.
I recently read and really liked Story Genius by Lisa Cron because I heard Rachael Herron and whoever she was interviewing that week gushing about it on her podcast. It is really good. It's focused on character and how character drives plot, plus there are a ton of really helpful exercises and examples that help you implement what she's talking about in the book. I've been hearing great things about Craft in the Real World from other writers I know. Definitely going to pick that up next after watching this video.
The book about writing that enjoyed the most, so far, is Writing down the bones by Natalie Goldberg, very short chapters and good advice for practicing your writing and finding your voice.
Also, added all 3 books to my reading list, thank you!!!
I always want to read books on writing (I have several) but I can never make myself stick to finishing one. However, that Ray Bradbury one sounds really good. I think I might have to push through that one! Thanks for sharing this 💜
This video was amazing! And now I want all of these books hahaha, especially the craft one! This has inspired me to pick up my book again!
I think a lot of these writing craft books are more like "my perspective on writing." As you said you wanted more of the how to craft a book, how to go about revisions, editing and writing.
I haven't ready any of these (though I will have to look them up) but books I have read on the topic of writing often are written as this is what I learned about writing in my life time. Examples of this are 'Stephen King On Writing' and 'No Plot, No Problem' by Chris Baty (founder of nanowrimo).
I have also read books that lean in on the advice such as 'The Depression Handbook for Writers' by Giselle Renarde and 'How to Write a Novel and Get It Published' by Nigel Watts.
Of course there is always very dry texts about writing as well such as 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk, which is more about formating and design of books then the actual writing of a book. Also as I said already it is very dry.
Wow.....those babies really do follow you EVERYWHERE...
I read Zen a couple of years ago and never thought I would reread it (it didn't make a lasting impression on me), but hearing you talk about it makes me curious to try it again. I might also check Craft, that sounds super interesting.
Super interested in Craft in the Real World! My experience with writing workshops has always been the "Author keep quiet while the group critiques" style, and to be honest it was always my least favorite part of whatever creative writing class or program I was in for just that reason - throwing a bunch of writers with different genres and tastes together is just not as helpful as we often think it is. I definitely see how it's important that the work stand on its own, but a workshop full of Literary writers critiquing a commercial YA is not really helpful haha. Definitely adding to my TBR!
My favorite writing craft book is about how writers can learn from method actors. I can’t think of the title right now but it’s by Brandilynn Collins. I tried to send you a kindle copy as a gift last holiday season because it helped me so much . Idk if you ever got it.
This was so interesting! I will check some of these out. Thank you, Kate
Ray Bradbury's book on writing is my favorite EVER!
Ahhhh, yay!!! I enjoyed it so much. My copy should be coming in tomorrow, EEEE! Really pumped to have it in a physical form that I can highlight. :)
@@KateCavanaugh YAY for physical copies, haha! Mine is tabbed like craaaazy!
Really enjoying these writing craft book videos. I've added a few of the ones from your previous video to my shelf, I really enjoyed On Writing Well. I will have to add these ones to my next to buy list and hopefully get and read them soon. Can't wait to see what you think of the other books you showed at the beginning of the video but didn't get a chance to read this time around.
I'm totally picking these up! Where in the writing process do you find yourself reading craft books? Throughout? I'm thinking of doing a craft-and-outlining retreat of sorts before jumping into my next draft
Your videos always make me want to write. Unfortunately, I'm always working at my job when I listen.
Loving the videos at the mo Kate! ❤️
Awww yay! I'm so glad! :)
Hey Kate, what do you think of Amazon's new platform kindle Vella?
I would love for you to do a writing worshop with you. What were the other writing books that you mentioned in this video but didn't get to?
I definitely liked your reactions and opinions 🙌🏽
Aww yay, I'm glad! Definitely recommend all of these books.
i loved CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD too and I'm glad I'm seeing more writers reading it!!✨it made me feel a lot better about my past experience as a bipoc writer in workshop because even if you get lucky with a nice group of writers, if you're writing non-western settings with non-western cultural nuances, there's just always going to be a disconnect that's challenging for bipoc folks to contend with in the traditional workshop format (especially because of the "gag rule" that is intended to de-centre the author from the discussion)
Absolutely! It was so mind-opening to me to reconsider who "the reader" was. The whole book was such a treasure trove of information. Like I never would've thought someone would include their syllabus in the book but that was one of my favorite parts to read!! And I love how he redefined common craft terms!
Just me still gushing about it hahahaha.
Kate this was such great video. I was trying to hear whose pyramid you use when writing. I loved what you said about all 3 craft books. I would like to know which author you like the best so far from your Write like....series? I also saw more writing craft books on your shelf and I would like to know what are those books as well.
I think she said Freytag's pyramid?
@@katendress6142 thank you so much
There's a Stephen King story in Consider This that made my jaw drop. A lot of the personal stories in it are pretty great.
It does get a bit too prescriptive at times, I found myself disagreeing with him a lot. But the advice that did resonate with me, really elevated my writing.
The best craft book I've read is Wired For Story by Lisa Cron. Its tailored to the modern YA novel style - fast paced, dialogue heavy, low narration.
Which tend to be the kinds of books I love the most.
It has had the most positive effect on my writing besides 'Show, Don't Tell'
MY JAW DROPPED TOO. I was like "is this real? is this folklore? there's no way." The idea of his blood dripping onto each book is permanently burned into my brain bahaha.
I need to check Wired for Story out!!! Thank you for the reminder, I've heard such good things!
Craft in the Real World sounds like the kind of thing that makes you want to cry and lift up your hands in praise like you're in church, and you're being told all these things you've always known in your heart but never heard anyone confirm in any capacity, so you thought you were nuts, but now, NOW, someone has finally freed you, given you the permission to TAKE THE GLOVES OFF!
Re: Vin stealing your seat - now that she has started, you'll most likely be battling that for the rest of her life. I'm doing that with both of my cats.
I'm simultaneously like "oh no" and "oh but she's so cute though" bahaha. Our cats are spoiled adorable little creatures.
@@KateCavanaugh absolutely. 😂 95% of the time, I just let them keep the seat and I find somewhere else to sit.
Have you read The Artful Edit by Susan Bell? If you want another book about editing and revision, I highly recommend it!
I haven't but an editing and revision book is exactly what I'm looking for!! Thank you!
You might be able to get them online.
5th? and it's 5:40 a.m. here. Not bad. LOL As always I love your videos.
Bahaha! GOOD MORNING REGINA! :)
I read a Chuck P book (titled RANT), but I definitely get the discomfort that comes from his writing. lol I got my dad into his books without reading more than the one, and then my dad ended up gifting me copies of two other novels by Chuck P that I don't have the heart to donate. But I also feel like I'm still recovering from the last one I read. 😬😅 They're kinda perpetually shelved.
It is a LOT. Very evocative and he does a great job with what he's aiming to do but sometimes I was like ".....oh no...." bahahahah.
But also that's very sweet about your dad bahaha. I got my dad to read THE WHEEL OF TIME because I said I was in the middle of the first one. He then read the ENTIRE series and I DNF'd part of the way through the first bahaha. I keep thinking I'll try again soon though....
@@KateCavanaugh This is so much like my dad. He and I trade books a lot, or give them to each other as gifts. And I'll recommend an author because I'll read one book by them (like Chuck P) and enjoy it. But then my dad will read everything they ever wrote! 🤪 This recently happened with Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill too, and he asks me all the time now, "Did you read X or Y by Z author?" And I'm just like, "Dad, I have a very long 'to-read' list. 😬 So, no." And then he tells me the whole plot. Lol thanks dad.
I hope yours didn't spoil WoT for you at least. 😂
Book Craft by Derek Murphy is pretty good too.
Oh, I haven't heard of him before! I'm checking out his blog now.
@@KateCavanaugh he's the plot dot guy from the nanowrimo 101 workbook.
Do you love your rocketbook?
Dogs lay on the ground in very strange ways lol ;)
Dang published a minute ago and only three comments... I'm early? What is this sorcery?? XD
YOU WERE SO QUICK! 🦄
Time to cook some of that good old ramen noodle.
I don't think workshopping novels helpful beyond the first few chapters. A workshop for the first few chapters can help authors really start out well. The first few chapters inform the book and how it proceeds. I think CP's/beta readers for early drafts work better because they can look at the story as a whole and can really help focus the edit.
A friend of mine is working with someone who want to quarry and his first read through, he caught a number of issues, but he also said to me that he could tell which scenes were workshopped.
I want to read Deep Scenes by the end of the year because after Laura's review of it last year it reminded me about a screne writting craft book that I read about 15 years ago and some of the advice just stuck with me.
Knowing the rules to break them, I think is misleading, you can't just know what the rule is and break them. You also have to know why the rule exsists. In film school, (sorry yes I'm bringing it up again) we talk about "Not crossing the line." Simplified is you have about 180 degrees in the same plane to move the camera that won't distract the viewer from the purpose of the scene.
If you've ever watched The Shining, Stanley Kubrick broke this rule all the time to add to the unnatrualness of the hotel, and get the view to feel uncomfortable without a jump scare or something of that nature. He could have a very still camera and still give the errie feeling.
Sophia Cooplla breaks the long stares at the camera rule in Lost in Translation (something as an Indie Film Festival judge I really wish she never did). There's a reason long silent shots don't work, they are boring to the eye and you lose your audience. She used them correctly, she had an actor who could use the silence and the focus to portray what she wants.
You have to know the reasoning behind the rule. You can't just know it's a rule and not know why if you're going to break it well and make it work with the story.
Hey! I'm on contract in the English channel so I can't text you ... download whatsapp
Hey you have Ray’s name wrong in the time stamps. Feel free to delete this comment when you get it. Just thought you’d like to know. Love your videos
OMG THANK YOU. "Rad Bradbury"...I mean, he was pretty rad bahaha.
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I feel like it might be time for a new screen protector -- one more fall and your screen might not make it 😄
Bahaha it's time for a new phone - period! But yes, next time I'll definitely have a better screen protector!
@@KateCavanaugh 😂 I'm just giving you a hard time lol - I noticed you also still have a headphone jack (which is rare these days). Not that you asked, but I got an S21 plus earlier this year and I am IN LOVE with it. No headphone jack tho... you get used to it. 🤷♀️😊