so your creative life is in a slump
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- I've been there, friends. I was there two weeks ago, two months ago, two years ago, twenty years ago...I've been there enough times that I've gotten a little better at pulling myself out of it.
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I recommend starting with a book set in my main fantasy world:
The Sorcerer's Concubine: books2read.com/...
Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy: books2read.com/...
The Broken Queen: www.amazon.com...
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I really enjoy your videos because it's realistic. A lot of times, in different groups you just see people at their peaks and that's not how it really goes over the long haul!
Oh I know, sometimes in the indie writing groups it seems like everyone is doing SO well, and I get it...you're not going to make a post that's like "well, this month was 20% below normal, womp womp"...it's not very post-worthy! But getting through THOSE months is psychologically a big part of it.
This is something that should be talked about more- especially for younger creators to hear. You're going to have ups and downs; you just have to remember it's a cycle and not get stuck in the weeds!
Yes, I could probably make a video on this topic once a month, just because...it took me SO many years to learn this, and even then it gets me. Just for shorter periods of time now.
Thank you so much for your kind, soft energy. One of my dogs unexpectedly died. My other dog may be passing soon. It's knocked me out of sync completely. And yet, I keep pressuring myself to go-go-go with writing. I've been trying to convince myself that being present in my life is perfectly fine. The stories will always be there when I'm ready. I really needed your message today. Thank you.
I'm so sorry you lost your dog. It makes sense to have grief knock us out of routine. We have to focus on the trauma to move through it in a healthy way; you're doing what's best for your body 🙂
I've read a ton of biographies of writers, musicians, filmmakers etc. And what you find is that often your creative heroes had pretty normal lives, for the most part. Maybe they had an exciting few years when they published their most popular books, or whatever. But they mostly just work, take care of their families, do laundry. Just like us! And it's fairly humdrum. I'm sure Brandon Sanderson still has those days where he's like, "What am I doing with my life?" Cuz he's a real person.
Aaaaw I love the gentle Lidiya pep talk. It feels like a warm hug from a friend.
This video helped me so much. The last 3 months have been particularly difficult for me. I've been through difficult times before, but I am not used to feeling so negative about it/them. It's so hard not feel guilty about not being able to work as much as you need to (or you feel you need to). This video has also made me realise/remember that this guilt is draining in itself and to stop worrying about what other people may or may not think about your situation.
Out of all of the authortubers, you have the content many of us need most. thanks!! ❤
"talk to yourself as though you were a friend" is fantastic advice I'll follow and tell to other people from now on, especially those who constantly put themselves down c: thank you for this video
It's something I try to remind myself all the time. I can be so down on myself and I have a very supportive family, I can only imagine how bad this could be if I had family who disparaged my art or ambitions regularly, as so many people do! Why do we do this to ourselves...!
So much of this is related to what they talk about as "the Monitor" in Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. Our motivation and energy tend to correlate with how well we think we SHOULD be doing-and as we find more success, our goalposts change. So there's always that "should" nudging us into discouragement. And learning to manage the shoulds feels like the work of a lifetime!
This video was perfect timing for me... I've been very discouraged lately with social media marketing my published series and with my inability to write any new stories. Thank you for your videos! They're like a cozy chat with a friend.
This really helped, thank you ❤ 2024 hasn’t been kind to me, but I just kept on going. I have to push my pre-order back, but it’s better to do that than put out a product I’m not happy with.
Team "Long Frustrating Plateau" here! Making little shifts where I can, but I can only do much while juggling a full time job, and being a single mom of two. So... I've had to adjust expectations, and my timeline. I'll get there.
I definitely needed this video 😭 The first half of the year has treated me so well in high, steady royalties that I just assumed it would be like that forever-but alas! My royalties have dropped almost 50% and it has been tough seeing that. But this is a good reminder that not everything is the same all the time and there will be highs and lows. I really love your insight on the emotional aspects of this career and appreciate it so much as an early 20-something trying to do the same thing!
Great pep talk! ❤ like always, you hit the nail. Thank you, Lidiya
My biggest struggle right now is pregnancy brain. It's as if my brain has been replaced with a sack of flour and trying to write a Dark Fantasy story, trying to world build, and also trying to make my submissions for my thesis classes have been a struggle.
It's been hard for me to think about anything and I have at least 6 more months of this to go.
Hormones can really change things up in our brain! Pregnancy has a lot of stages, and this one might not last the whole pregnancy. Congrats to you and your family! Take care of yourself ❤
I like your Una and Varrie and Doll girl Meets Dead Guy stories so much more than the other stories of yours I have listened to! I really hope those take off for you!
I've had so many peaks and troughs this year and sometimes it's hard to see the forest from the trees. This is the pep talk I need. Love the day trader analogy.
I do feel like this year has been hard for a lot of people, but it's always hard to say for sure without like, a scientifically conducted poll. I feel like social media is in real flux though, so it's hard to know where or how to get the word out about new books. Or old books! Or anything!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor for me, I've come to conclusion that I'll never know what will be a hit. Like which videos will be a hit or which books. I can have a "feeling" but I've had "feelings" take off and flop. Maybe I should be like George in Seinfeld: "every intuition I've ever had is wrong, so now I'm just going to do the opposite."
It's a little easier to act on trends in videos vs. books for me as I write slower than the typical indie. And I'm quirky😅
@@teresachaotic.corner Yeah, I definitely agree that video trends are much easier than books! You also get more chances (at least if you're in the "sittin' in a room blabbing" genre and not like, intensely researched mini-documentaries). It's a nice change from books!
Oof, I'm feeling this right now. It was, in a sense, planned - we knew there'd be a few months without insurance coming up, but the payoff was good insurance plus my spouse's dream job. I guess I'd forgotten how tough writing is when you're in pain. I kinda stumbled a book launch during that because I couldn't keep track of everything. Hopefully, next year will be better, but I can't shake the feeling that I should be doing so much more (professionally, personally) right now.
Thank you ❤
Hi Lidiya ! Thank you for another great video. I am working on my first fiction novel (and probably WAY too old for it, rofl !!) I just wanted to say that I especially love your videos that aren't only about Fantasy style writing. Those are good, don't get me wrong, but some of us might write another kind of story and perhaps get more out of your general writing advice rather than advice that is so specific to one genre. Hopefully that made sense. I find you warm, funny and very genuine and I hope you have all the success that you hope for : D
As a 31-year-old going through quarter-life crisis right now, this video is a perfect timing to what I've been feeling these days.
Thank you for this video. I feel like I'm being left behind (trad pub-wise) and I have no idea how am I going to find balance in my life.
Thank you Lidiya 🧡
It’s cozy time! I disappeared for a bit as life consumed me for a bit. But I’m back .
My advice is if you don't take daily men's/women's multi vitamins and possibly extra vitamin D to do so. Gave me way more motivation and got me to start working on my first novel.
Great video!
This video helped me, thank you 🙏
🌻😃
I get anxious about writing for fun, I can’t imagine how burnt you could be writing for work. Maybe August was just you being a little burned out, you were really jumping on the TH-cam game and making videos + edits can be a lot on its own. Writing on top of that? That’s tough.
Maybe switch some gears, i can feel the way your speaking. Have you tried a suspense novel or something else .
Thanks for the lovely encouragement. However, my issue is somewhat different. I put my heart and soul and a FORTUNE (all my savings) into self-publishing my first book. I published it as a romance. I discovered that it is NOT a romance, it is "women's literature." Oh. That helps explain the schizophrenic reviews ("The most engaging new voice since LM Montgomery" and "I would give this trash zero stars if I could - virtually unreadable, repulsive characters, completely unsatisfying ending.") {sigh} Romance readers get really pissy when you deviate from mainstream tropes. I now have eight books written and either ready to publish or very nearly ready. I can't make myself pull the trigger, even though I really need the money. When I attempt to get reasonable unbiased feedback, the responses are so wishy-washy, generalised, and tepid that I can't tell if I have no hope in commercial markets, or whether I'm hopeless as a writer, or whether to proceed or not. I never get, "This will appeal to many readers (or a small niche audience or whatever). I think it's worth publishing," or "I love your writing, but I am a tiny minority and I sincerely doubt there is a market for this." Nope. I get pages of tactful warnings "You shouldn't feel bad about failing in this highly competitive market" and many warnings about how difficult it is to get started in self-publishing, how competitive it is, that without a major social media presence or massive ad spend it's virtually impossible to sell books, and (most discouraging of all) MOST authors lose money on their books until they have a back list of at least 12, or 10, or 7 books (depending on the advisor); THEN they start making money. ONLY, of course, if those books are all in a related series with good read-through (mine are not a series). You're a good editor (I've watched those videos) would you be interested in reading my shortest work, a novella, and evaluate it's got commercial potential? If so, what would you charge for that?