I LOVE these videos!! They’re seriously so helpful. Having casual commentary on editing with examples is something I haven’t really seen anywhere els. It also makes the whole writing/editing process feel less scary lol.
Omg, I ABSOLUTELY love these line editing videos, I'm always learning so much. I think without your videos, my prose would still be where it was four years ago HAHA. *Trying to not cringe* is so true when reading old stuff. I was reading through my old stuff, and I ALSO REALIZED THAT I DID NOT HAVE ANY FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE lmao so funny. Loved this!!! 🌔💛
the way I feel a sudden need to go and line edit my stories because it's just so fun omg I always feel like the first draft for me is structure and the edit is drama 😂 I love these line editing videos 😊
“they were sat” is definitely a british grammar thing, i always notice it in writing haha. also we would spell “vigor” without the u. great video!! i’ve really been enjoying watching your writing videos, it’s inspiring me to work on my own book. looking forward to reading when it’s published!!🥳
“Daylight was breaking in watery, indigo streaks” is such beautiful prose! I love your line editing videos and how you’re able to line edit your work and sculpt it into something even more beautiful than it was before! Absolutely love these videos! So insightful! I hope you do more! 😍
Genuinely thank you sm for doing these vids, as a newer writer its sometimes hard to maintain an unbiased view of your own writing to see what can be improved without looking at published books that have been edited who knows how many times, so seeing you just go through older work is so helpful for understanding better what to look out for/improve!
14:52 I'm glad that I'm not the only one with this problem. It's funny how it works like this, but I think that writing doesn't necessarily make you a better wordsmith so much as (unless you're actively trying to up your lexicon game) it just makes you better with the words that you're already comfortable with, if that makes sense. This was a lot of fun. It's really cool to get to see you do your edits in real time, and to get a more in-depth look at your thought process behind why you change things the way that you did. Also loved the cheers for Kaira. Haha
As an American, its typical-as in 9/10 times- that we would word it as "sitting" somewhere rather than "sat". Like its not grammatically incorrect, it's just very formal for one and maybe a bit posh
As a British person my laptop always tells me to use ‘sat’ and that sitting is grammatically incorrect, which is weird because in a conversation I’d be far more likely to use sitting and automatically do the same when writing. Especially because sat can be both the action and a past tense of them already sitting so it could get confusing.
I'm English, and I wouldn't use 'sat', I would say 'sitting in the corner' ('sat' being in the past tense) - that said, my age group just missed out on being taught grammar in school so take that with a pinch of salt :)
i haven't done any line editing in a long time (bc i haven't done much writing in a long time lol oops) so it's helpful to hear the thought process behind the changes you make
The amount of times you fine tune to sift out "familiar phrasing" is striking, because the phrases you draft don't seem too familiar at all imo. With that in mind, it's cool to watch you push yourself anyways! *I'd LOVE a video all about Familiar Phrasing.*
as an american, and as someone who writes, I'm pretty sure I word things like "sat in the corner". i mean... i guess i could've picked that sort of thing up from non-american books and stories?? but idk how else i'd word smth like that lol
For the sat versus sitting question: I think for your first sentence it would be "She was stone-still, sitting in the corner". Or you could write it "She sat, stone-still, in the corner". To me it sounds like British slang to say "I'm sat on the floor" when you're speaking in present tense. When used in past tense 'sitting' would be an example of past continuous tense indicating that in the past there was an ongoing action (like sitting). Hopefully that makes sense and also disclaimer, I'm not an expert so I could be wrong, someone else can feel free to correct me or further expand :)
"slick with sweat" there didnt sound basic at all! It sounded forward and direct, it painted a clwar picture. I think simplicity (especially in YA) isnt a bad thing. Not basic at all.
I’m an Author and writing a new fantasy Roman (the King’s 13 Crows). I publish next year but I can’t decide for a name for the second lead. His backstory: He grew up in a small village with loving parents. They treated him like their own child, even though he was actually a changeling, a shadowborn. When he was 4 years old, his kinsmen were brutally murdered and the evil king's bodyguard found him in his mother's blood. He was raised and trained by the bodyguards, the so-called crows. Parts of his training included hunting, contract killings and strengthening his gift as a shadowborn to tame the darkness and the creatures that live in it. He is loyal, calculating and organized. He has a sense of black humor and is highly intelligent. His disadvantage compared to the other crows, that he has no wings, he makes up for with his speed and precision. He is morally gray, he does things that he knows are bad, but he does them for the crows, his family, they mean everything to him. His loyalty is to them, not to the king. The name examples: -Liam (the protector) -Sirius (the brightest star) -Caelum (another star) -Eryx (the Ruler) -Arwan (little warrior) -Azrael (angel of death) -Balthazar (protect the king, kings protector) I absolutely need help and by the way, my main character‘s name is Elara I have been working since months on it but I don’t know, I really struggle with his name. (English isn’t my native language, so don’t judge 😊)
I LOVE these videos!! They’re seriously so helpful. Having casual commentary on editing with examples is something I haven’t really seen anywhere els. It also makes the whole writing/editing process feel less scary lol.
Exactly, it's such a light and satisfying type of content. It makes me understand better how to guide myself in this creative process.
Omg, I ABSOLUTELY love these line editing videos, I'm always learning so much. I think without your videos, my prose would still be where it was four years ago HAHA. *Trying to not cringe* is so true when reading old stuff. I was reading through my old stuff, and I ALSO REALIZED THAT I DID NOT HAVE ANY FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE lmao so funny. Loved this!!! 🌔💛
the way I feel a sudden need to go and line edit my stories because it's just so fun omg I always feel like the first draft for me is structure and the edit is drama 😂
I love these line editing videos 😊
“they were sat” is definitely a british grammar thing, i always notice it in writing haha. also we would spell “vigor” without the u. great video!! i’ve really been enjoying watching your writing videos, it’s inspiring me to work on my own book. looking forward to reading when it’s published!!🥳
“Daylight was breaking in watery, indigo streaks” is such beautiful prose! I love your line editing videos and how you’re able to line edit your work and sculpt it into something even more beautiful than it was before! Absolutely love these videos! So insightful! I hope you do more! 😍
Genuinely thank you sm for doing these vids, as a newer writer its sometimes hard to maintain an unbiased view of your own writing to see what can be improved without looking at published books that have been edited who knows how many times, so seeing you just go through older work is so helpful for understanding better what to look out for/improve!
Honestly this is so entertaining AND insightful. Your comments and reactions to your own writing always make me laugh lol
14:52 I'm glad that I'm not the only one with this problem. It's funny how it works like this, but I think that writing doesn't necessarily make you a better wordsmith so much as (unless you're actively trying to up your lexicon game) it just makes you better with the words that you're already comfortable with, if that makes sense.
This was a lot of fun. It's really cool to get to see you do your edits in real time, and to get a more in-depth look at your thought process behind why you change things the way that you did. Also loved the cheers for Kaira. Haha
Love these line editing videos 🤍 your insights are so interesting and inspiring
my favorite videos everrrrr they always make me want to go edit my WIPs
As an American, its typical-as in 9/10 times- that we would word it as "sitting" somewhere rather than "sat". Like its not grammatically incorrect, it's just very formal for one and maybe a bit posh
As a British person my laptop always tells me to use ‘sat’ and that sitting is grammatically incorrect, which is weird because in a conversation I’d be far more likely to use sitting and automatically do the same when writing. Especially because sat can be both the action and a past tense of them already sitting so it could get confusing.
I'm English, and I wouldn't use 'sat', I would say 'sitting in the corner' ('sat' being in the past tense) - that said, my age group just missed out on being taught grammar in school so take that with a pinch of salt :)
I second this
I would say “seated” I think
I learn so much from these videos and your commentary is hilarious!
i haven't done any line editing in a long time (bc i haven't done much writing in a long time lol oops) so it's helpful to hear the thought process behind the changes you make
i loved this video, Kris - they're so helpful, I love the insight into your editing thought process!
The amount of times you fine tune to sift out "familiar phrasing" is striking, because the phrases you draft don't seem too familiar at all imo.
With that in mind, it's cool to watch you push yourself anyways!
*I'd LOVE a video all about Familiar Phrasing.*
Going through some books and editing them would seriously be so helpful.
as an american, and as someone who writes, I'm pretty sure I word things like "sat in the corner". i mean... i guess i could've picked that sort of thing up from non-american books and stories?? but idk how else i'd word smth like that lol
For the sat versus sitting question: I think for your first sentence it would be "She was stone-still, sitting in the corner". Or you could write it "She sat, stone-still, in the corner". To me it sounds like British slang to say "I'm sat on the floor" when you're speaking in present tense. When used in past tense 'sitting' would be an example of past continuous tense indicating that in the past there was an ongoing action (like sitting). Hopefully that makes sense and also disclaimer, I'm not an expert so I could be wrong, someone else can feel free to correct me or further expand :)
Omg yess!! I love these!
Watching this on my new laptop got on my birthday, also LOVE THIS VID😊😊😊😊
"slick with sweat" there didnt sound basic at all! It sounded forward and direct, it painted a clwar picture. I think simplicity (especially in YA) isnt a bad thing. Not basic at all.
I’m an Author and writing a new fantasy Roman (the King’s 13 Crows). I publish next year but I can’t decide for a name for the second lead.
His backstory:
He grew up in a small village with loving parents. They treated him like their own child, even though he was actually a changeling, a shadowborn. When he was 4 years old, his kinsmen were brutally murdered and the evil king's bodyguard found him in his mother's blood. He was raised and trained by the bodyguards, the so-called crows. Parts of his training included hunting, contract killings and strengthening his gift as a shadowborn to tame the darkness and the creatures that live in it. He is loyal, calculating and organized. He has a sense of black humor and is highly intelligent. His disadvantage compared to the other crows, that he has no wings, he makes up for with his speed and precision. He is morally gray, he does things that he knows are bad, but he does them for the crows, his family, they mean everything to him. His loyalty is to them, not to the king.
The name examples:
-Liam (the protector)
-Sirius (the brightest star)
-Caelum (another star)
-Eryx (the Ruler)
-Arwan (little warrior)
-Azrael (angel of death)
-Balthazar (protect the king, kings protector)
I absolutely need help and by the way, my main character‘s name is Elara
I have been working since months on it but I don’t know, I really struggle with his name.
(English isn’t my native language, so don’t judge 😊)
I would probably use the word “sitting” rather than “sat”