Blasting through first drafts is a great approach, it's working well for me. I am an intuitive plotter and when I know where the story's going the writing flows. Haven't tried a novella yet.
i'm currently on summer holidays, and I am trying to write a novella before I go back to school, as it is something I have always wanted to do. This video really got me thinking about things like the beginning/middle/end etc. and it got me to actually plan something for once. Great video. :)
@@keylmedia1294 I just saw this. I've gotten a couple from Fiverr and did several of my own using Canva (premium). Depending on your genre you may need to hire a pro. Self help books and NF don't need one but if you do it yourself it will require a learning curve and patience. But it gets easier with each one. You'll have to weigh the costs with the benefits. Did you get your book written? 6 months has passed and that's a good enough time for a novella. :) It not, maybe you're on winter break and can give it a final push. Good luck
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I’m very grateful to have found someone who is teaching me. I can learn from you. You have a gift for teaching as well. Please continue making videos.
Great video. I prefer reading shorter books, so I’d love to write novellas too. Many books these days are filled with boring fluff. Beautiful woman, too. Thanks.
There are nice tips here. Thanks. I did write some kind of novella. I don't know what the word count is. So I don't know if it is technically a novella. I just know that it is longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. I was able to complete it in four days. I was able to focus obsessively on it. So the idea of having commitment and making sacrifices is effortless to me. When I obsess I am already committed. The writing is what I really want to do. So I don't have to worry about sacrificing tv, socializing, social media or whatever people like to do in their spare time. I don't even like socializing or social media very much. I would rather do writing any day, even just for the fun of it. When I write a story I do write an outline first. I am a diehard plotter. It is impossible for me to get anywhere in a story without outlining it first. For novellas I have a short and simple outline. It is only a page long, and I can whip it out real quick. The rates you are giving dont fit me very well. There is absolutly no way that I can write that fast. I can't do that many words per hour at all. I also can't type a rough draft. I have to write it with a notebook and pencil first. Otherwise my mind won't work for the story. The one good part is that I do have a lot of free time. I have no work or school. So I can write all day. I have found that I can do about 10 or 12 notebook pages a day. These pages are front and back. I don't know the exact word count. Each page would be about 250 words. So that would be 2,500 to 3,000 words. I guess if I do this for 4 days that would multiply to 10,000 to 12,000 words. Wait a minute. If I do 7 days a week, and do the higher quantity each day, that would result in 21,000 words. That is enough for a novella. This is just guesstimating. The novella I recently did was Behind the Mask. It is a simple romance story about two musicians in a music studio. The protagonist is a lovely lady new to recording buisness. She rises to be a big star. The love interest is a creepy but attractive guy, who lives underground beneath the studio. He is so ugly from a scar, that he wears a mask. I guess it is possible to make a short story out of this idea. However I did flesh it out into something longer quite easily. Maybe I am an overwriter or something. I just find short stories difficult to do, so I lend myself to longer formats. I do have a story idea I had for a long time. It is my main passion project. It is a fantasy story. It is about a lady who becomes a light lord. She has a lot of adventures and learns lot of magic. She saves the world from a dark lord, and she do so in an unconventional way. I was thinking of making a novella for that. The story is best suited for a book series, which is the extreme for large formats. However I would like to write out a bare bones novella for it. I did write a bare bones standalone novel, but I tragicly lost it.
If it's in word you can check the count but there are novellas, novelletes (hitting 10k) and then short stories. As long as you're writing though, right?
Yea i can relate to what your talking about. i started out wanting to write about my life. turns out i started planning, and you can say i was a panser, then realized i could write a fiction book. for my first time.
Hi Bernette, very inspiring video, thank you! This reminds me of Barbara Cartland who has been known for apparently writing all of her romance books in few hours. The process was always the same: she would lie down on her sofa, all the scenes going through her mind and she would dictate to her secretary. After a few hours, the books were written and done! Would be great to be able to do that ☺️
Now with speech to text we can do this. I’ve been playing around with it and while it takes some getting used to, I wrote about 3000 words last week driving in the car over a couple hours. Got home and cleaned up on computer. Actually, for that book I’m finding it flows much better this way while another book in progress I need to be seated at the computer. 🤷🏾♀️
I love this video so much!!! Thank you so much, Bernette. I'm planning to write a novella soon (39k so yeah really big, I'm also a big planner) but I'm hoping to write 8k for 5 days so I can finish in a week during the holiday season. Fingers crossed. And thank you again for this video ❤️❤️❤️❤️
You have help me to really think about the materials I have already Written.i am now going to concentrate on my organization. Thank you. Have great day.
Thank you so much! Your realistic yet optimistic approach to this gave me the push I needed. I have just finished the first draft (20,000 words so far) for my first novella. I've put it aside for a few months to start my second draft but in the meantime I've started on my next one. Thank you so much again! I can't thank you enough. :)
OMG Yayyyyy! That is awesome Michael. I am so glad you got the first draft done. And you're starting another. Yes, man! Keep me updated on your progress.
@@IAmBernette I just finished the first draft to my second novella, 20,000 words as well. I wanted to ask a question if that's alright. What advice would you give to someone who plans to publish for the first time? I've looked at KDP and such, but is that the way you went? Or would you recommend releasing the novella's for free, in order to gain an audience first?
@@acehilm. There is so much to say - more than I can do here. If you're ready to publish KDP is a great way to go, but limits you to Amazon. However, Amazon is the biggest player in the market so while limiting it's not necessarily bad. Several of my books are on Kindle only. If you want to do it free this isn't an option on Amazon and you can do this on Wattpad. I can't say it'll get you much of a following unless you're writing content geared to teens and young adults. I am doing a free self-publishing 101 webinar next month. While I often work with women, you don't have to be one to benefit from this 101. :)
Awesome. I just finished drafting 2 novellas in romcom genre (new for me) so it does work and is possible. Publishing first on August 1 (fingers crossed)
This is such a lovely video. I adore your attitude to the process, and it's such a refreshing change to so many videos that only seem to concentrate on the things you shouldn't do. I needed this positivity today. Thank you :-)
Congrats and good work!! I am a poet, and educated in poetry, and achieved, and for me I would up my writing amount, to 1500 words a day. If I did 5 000 words a day for 3 days I would have several poetry Chapbooks a week. I only do poetry chapbooks. My goal is to basically put out two Chapbooks of poetry weekly. I have 3 done now. I am releasing one next week. I have two new classes coming up. I can commit 4 days a week, cause I need the other days to outline and research, for my next Chapbook book. My new schedule is 1500 to 4 000 words a day, at least 5 days a week.
I love that you have a goal that is measurable and you know you can act on it. That is critical to success. Is there a reason you are doing the chapbooks rather than compiling into a larger work? Are you planning to later compile them?
I loved this, thanks for sharing such valuable advice. Of course, I already know most of this deep down, but it's excellent to receive these tips in such a straightforward and positive manner. It makes me realize that I actually could complete my long-suffering work-in-progress by the end of this very week!!
Hi my name is Rekha Chadha, I write fantasy fiction children books, you are amazing, I can't wait to get a copy of your book, congratulations on your books, I am here for you 🤗
I like checking in on some of those who comment. It's been 5 months so I figured I'd ask if you've got that first draft or how it's coming? Hoping you took that first step.
Greetings again dear Bernette! Thanks again for your encouragement and many great tips. I found your suggestion of visualizing the overall picture very very helpful. Planning is great but the story itself is unfolding itself with its own will. Also I wondered how to get myself to follow a word count everyday to actually follow through and complete this with continuity. Instead of stopping and losing track. As you said, it has wings and also writing everyday is less daunting than it seems The good news I’d like to share with you is at the rate of 1000 or so words a day I’ve completed over 13000 words which is more than halfway through a novella. I thank you for your encouragement. If you have any videos on self publishing in other videos or here, I’d love to look at them. ❤️🌹
Amita. Congratulations on the progress you're making. That consistency is amazing. I love how you are seeing how just a day at a time you can get there faster than you may have thought. Here's the playlist I have for authors: th-cam.com/play/PLo8hFG3JWAJI6UzsVpNAw2vwM6m5SQ8Mh.html.
@@IAmBernette hi Bernette thanks again for being so positive and encouraging. I’ve subscribed here and will look at your other videos. Right now I have completed 25000 or so words. I found my word count increasing towards the end. I now need to shape and edit my draft. So I think this through. I’ll see if you have any suggestions for editing and then self publishing. If you have any helpful books I’ll look into that as well. Great content. Thank you for your good energy as well 🙏🏾❤️
@@amitaspoetry384 I'm so excited for you! You've reached novella length Amita!!! Yessss. Editing is one of those unfun but necessary steps. Keep going. Feel free to check out my website too: bernettesherman.com.
I have a long tem project that Ive been working on for a long time, but i sometimes jot down my ideas in a book for shorter quicker stories. I think im going to develop one of them using this.
Thank you! This has inspired me. I’m also a planning pantser or pantsing planner haha! This is the way I write as well and can relate to it. Very helpful!
Bernette Sherman - The Messenger Thank you so much for asking! It is going well. I’ve completed the rough draft/outline portion. Now I’m going back over it and fine tuning some things. My reference guide book is on Fasting. Thanks again for checking in on me. Much appreciated
@@mariabrewer6343 Congrats on getting the rough draft/outline done. I hope you keep pressing forward through the entire process. The editing is a beast (that's just the truth) but it can be tamed :)
ive written a thriller novella under a week (if u dont count my long break after the first few chapters lol) its on wattpad if anyone's interested :---)
I'm interested in reading it. I am not familiar with wattpad, but I'll Google it to find it. May I have the title of your thriller? Thanks in advance and congrats. I hope to muster the motivation to write a novella too.
I have been wrestling with my “debut novel” for five years. Out of the blue I got an idea for a novella and banged it out in a week. I came here to figure out how on earth I did it. Conclusion: it was having the full picture in my mind with a healthy dose of unprecedented neurodivergent focus.
I have to submit a 20k word project for my course and was flagging in motivation. I've got 5k words down and have 15 to go. I'm determined to complete it within the week!
@@milestrombley1466 My suggestion if you really want to finish at least one is to give yourself a deadline and then make it so you have to be accountable. Set up something around it so you have to finish it. Nothing like a little pressure to get things going. ;)
I have no idea how you can get 5k words in 2-3 hours. I'm writing for 10 years, full time for a couple years, I'm currently writing my 5th novel, I plan everything meaning that I know what I have to write during the day when I wake up, and despite all that my personal reccord is 5500 words in a full day of work (about 7 hours writing). And from the info I could gather online, this is a very good pace compared to typical famous rights such as Stephen King. So... good for you, I guess! ^^
Hi again Bernette. You have such a good spirit. Thanks again for your kind and empowering words. As far my novella in three weeks or so I’ve completed 26000 words or so. Im still in the stage of editing my drafts. But I wanted to run a couple of questions by you. First in your experience, can a novel of this length have a market or would it be better to put it along with another novella or novelette and sell as a two in one. I’m just thinking ahead. The second question I had was do you have any tips on how to self publish. What program do you use to put the story in book format? I know there are many print on demand companies but I wonder which is reliable. Anything you can suggest would be awesome like your wonderful videos. Thank you again. ❤️💜💙🧡💚💛
You are doing amazing. Writing the first draft is the first hurdle. Keep pushing forward. Novellas can be difficult on their own if you don’t have an audience. If the stories are connected or they are same genre you can combine. It can vary though. If you plan on putting on a serial platform like Wattpad, it’s fine. I use Amazon for print and eBook primarily. I don’t know where you are but my experience is based on being in the USA so it could be different elsewhere. I have resources that might be helpful on my website if you go to https//:BernetteSherman.com. I offer coaching and public support. Continued good luck on your journey.
@@IAmBernette hi Bernette, thanks for your reply. I’m also in the U.S. I’ve been going through editing and might put two novellas together. I was told about Amazon as well and hearing it from you also encourages me to take a look at them
This was so inspiring! I can't wait to try write one, since untill now I've never been able to actually finish a book.How long do you normally put into planning your books? I was trying to plan my story, but I feel like waiting so long to write the actual story has made me lose the connection I felt to the characters.
Once a story gets in my head and I start thinking about it I consider that part of planning. That can go on for several days and then the story line comes from that. I know how I want it to begin and end and then break down in outline form (just a sentence or two) the key things that will happen to get me to the end. Usually this follows chapters. I can do this in an hour or two. From there, I sometimes let the story tell itself from within that framework. Or, if it's more complicated I'll break down a chapter further. Don't spend forever planning a book and if you're planning and words start flowing - write them down. That's inspiration in action. Good luck
Great video! I do a lot of live event speaking and can create a 90 minute presentation with ease...I want to write a book and this video was motivating :-)
Woohoo. If you have a 90 minute presentation, you likely already have about 15k words written. They just have to be put down. If you’ve given your talk and had it recorded, consider having it done speech to text as a start. Good luck!
It can be done, but only if you know your story inside out and you don't have to research it....sometimes, i spend 3 or 4 months reading for a project and three or 4 months writing...but there's really no right or wrong way, if the story come to you, you act on it and write it...
Bernette, great job on your writing success and thank you for posting this video. It is very inspiring. I always wanted to write a novella or novel, something in the noir or thriller genre, but I just kept putting it off. Your video was just what I needed! I'm interested in reading some of your works. As a fan of thriller and mystery works I want to read something outside that genre to broaden my reading horizon. Which of your works would you recommend? Thank you in advance! I don't usually leave comments, but I couldn't resist.
Oh thanks so much. Well my writing may br lighter than your normal preference as it's usually pretty pg and YA. I like my Crossed and Out of the Woods books and if you're interested in writing a novella these are both novellas and would give a sense of how I do it. Let me know how your writing goes. Good luck. amazon.com/author/bernettesherman
Is it ok to refer to a character as him or her to prevent from saying the persons name? It is my story so I don’t want to make up names, however I don’t want to reveal certain names either... would love to here your thoughts!
Interesting question. You can refer to characters as her/him but this can become confusing when there are multiple people around who you could be referring to. Is it possible to allow yourself to change the names of the people? Even if it is your story, if you are trying to protect certain people that’s an option that won’t leave readers confused.
@@IAmBernette Update: I've finished my short story last month. Meant to be about 3,000 words but it turned out way more lol. Thank you for your inspiration!
I have to say all of you, people who advocate writing a book in less than a week or in a day write a book fast. You can do that or you can write a good book. but I don’t believe you can do both.
Love this video!. I was in jail when i wrote 6 books which led to 1 being stolen and later sold to an established author! (A long story) Anyway, I've narrowed it down to 4 books I want to publish. However, these books were written in pen and I dread the thought of typing them. Any suggestions?
I can only imagine how that must feel! Whew!!! The best get back is to publish. You can see if someone will type them. I haven’t had this issue of having to transcribe a long book although I did type from handwritten my first book and then added to it. You might also try reading it into a Google to type for you and then clean it up since that won’t be perfect. Best of luck!
Hi Bernette! Thank you for this lovely video and for your positive encouragement to writers. Just a few comments if I may. Firstly. I love your suggestion of visualizing the whole story. Seeing the picture certainly gives me a deeper connection with what I want to express. I also totally agree that keeping the momentum going is crucial. Or else with a huge time gap between chapters, it would be difficult to get back into the stream. This is actually what happened with one of my novellas, still sitting on a clipboard waiting to be finished. I’m not sure if I can commit to 5000 words per day. It would all depend on my creative juices. Certainly staying with it until the end would be great. I will shoot for a week and hopefully finish it no later than two or three. Thanks again for your wonderful energy and ideas.
I’m so glad you’re encouraged. Whether you write 5000 or 2000 that regular momentum is key to finishing (faster) and having the story flow. The novel I just drafted is 100k words and it took 7 weeks. I lost some time in there but I did visualize the story (while allowing it to change as it unfolded- and it did!). I wish you the best in your writing project(s) and look forward to an update.😊
@@IAmBernette thank you. I like not only your suggestion to visualize but to visit the characters. I’m discovering that like you I’m a planning pancer. It would be counter productive not knowing where the story is heading. The only challenge for me is the word length. I am trying to build upto at least 2000 words a day to complete this novella. So far I’m at 1000 . Trying to figure out how to keep the tempo going. Do you take breaks or work at one stretch? Thanks again for this lovely video! 🌹❤️
@@amitaspoetry384 when I started my younger child was about to turn 4 and time (and mental space) were tight. I wrote in chunks. I’d let it flow for a good hour if possible. I admit that I’m a fast writer. Even 1k a day is a whole novel in 2 months! So don’t get down. Find your pace and work with that.
@@IAmBernette that’s amazing you’re a fast writer. For me right now it is 1000 or in the thousands. I’ve thought of a break for tea or a little walk to see if I can build upto 2000. And you’re right even 2 months is a good time for completion. Thanks for your positive energy and encouragement
@@mathildehirth8408 OH MAH GAWDDDDD! Girl you are rocking and rolling!!! Keep up that momentum and get them out there to the world. That is amazing. If I knew how to insert the hands up emoji, it'd be right here. Just imagine it is! :)
I'm writing a novella for the first time and in Third person but I've never written in third person...i want to show the different view points of certain characters but I don't know how to approach writing it (the writing style) it's just very weird to me..
Ayla here's what I wrote on the other video you commented on. Ayla Hi Ayla, yes. One is to be consistent and be careful who's 3rd person perspective you're using across a scene. We don't want readers getting lost. If you have lots of characters like I do in my Chosen novel this is really important as not only are you giving each person a chance to shine but you can better develop their character since you can get on their head. If you have other questions or needs check out my site www.wonderworksservices.com or my new IG at instagram.com/wonderworksservices.com Thanks and best of luck.
I'm working on an eBook that is going to end up in parts and in paperback form,so its looking like.it on spiritual warfare and prayer and the weapons of our warfare.it was going to be one big book,but i decided to split the chapters up into sections.
Bernette Sherman I’m work on Twitter separate books but put one aside to do the other cause God told me to.the book is going good I’ve also been working on an online teaching that coincides with the book I’m writing,about how to Tay strong in these times we are in.
@@Warangel144Dreamsandvisions That's great - having something else that connects with your message is important (packages it together). :) And stay strong with completing this work.
But does being focused of speed diminish the quality. My aim is the put out the best quality as possible. Therefore, consistency is more important to me. I don’t want to wash and put out a low quality of rushed work. It would crush me to publish my book just read it later like “look at all these errors” or “oddly worded prose. It doesn’t matter how good a plot is, a reader isn’t going to suffer through low quality writing. It’s too distracting
This is to getting your first draft and keeping that momentum and it’s for only 20k words. I have personally found that getting those ideas out when the muse is strong allows it to flow with consistency. Now the editing and rewriting WILL take more time. The first draft is usually not pretty whether you take a week, a month or a year. It just isn’t and I have met many a writer taking great pains to write perfectly the first time who have yet to finish writing anything. So… while you don’t want to put out anything bad this is about getting your ideas out not putting anything out yet for the public. Good luck on your project!
I’m up to 5,500 words in 1-2 days. You’ve motivated me to keep going and finish! Thanks I’m gonna look into buying your novellas!
Woot woot! Keep it up. Just think in 5 days you couldn’t have a novella length book at that pace!
So inquiring minds need to know...Can we expect a book this year?
Also, I invite you to join my FB group. www.Facebook.com/groups/WriterLauncher
@@IAmBernette Yes! I finished a few drafts! thank you.
This is so inspiring I may have to give my idea another try. Thanks to you.
Of so many videos on this topic, yours has just changed my mind.
Blasting through first drafts is a great approach, it's working well for me. I am an intuitive plotter and when I know where the story's going the writing flows. Haven't tried a novella yet.
The momentum diminishing is so true! This is great advice thanks
I love your energy. this was very helpful, I'm currently writing on a comic book so appreciate the help bernette
Hi Mira. You're most welcome. How is your comic book coming along?
Well, today I wrote the first 4360 words to my novella. Now that I have watched this, I can see I am not quite done! Thanks!
This has seriously helped me. In a sea of Same Advice, it has been invaluable. THANK YOU!!
Bernette you are amazing wow a published book many books published
i'm currently on summer holidays, and I am trying to write a novella before I go back to school, as it is something I have always wanted to do. This video really got me thinking about things like the beginning/middle/end etc. and it got me to actually plan something for once. Great video. :)
Keyl yay. Get it!!! So glad you've got a plan. You can do it.
Bernette Sherman - The Messenger I hope so. For future reference, do you have any tips for creating/ getting a front cover and back cover? :)
@@keylmedia1294 I just saw this. I've gotten a couple from Fiverr and did several of my own using Canva (premium). Depending on your genre you may need to hire a pro. Self help books and NF don't need one but if you do it yourself it will require a learning curve and patience. But it gets easier with each one. You'll have to weigh the costs with the benefits. Did you get your book written? 6 months has passed and that's a good enough time for a novella. :) It not, maybe you're on winter break and can give it a final push. Good luck
Thank you so SO much for this!! You can't imagine how much you inspired me 🥹🥹🥹
Oh my goodness thank thank you for this. Its truly a guiding light in these lockdown times.
How has your writing come along in these past 8 months? I also invite you to join my FB group. www.Facebook.com/groups/WriterLauncher
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I’m very grateful to have found someone who is teaching me. I can learn from you. You have a gift for teaching as well. Please continue making videos.
Great video. I prefer reading shorter books, so I’d love to write novellas too. Many books these days are filled with boring fluff.
Beautiful woman, too. Thanks.
There are nice tips here. Thanks. I did write some kind of novella. I don't know what the word count is. So I don't know if it is technically a novella. I just know that it is longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. I was able to complete it in four days. I was able to focus obsessively on it. So the idea of having commitment and making sacrifices is effortless to me. When I obsess I am already committed. The writing is what I really want to do. So I don't have to worry about sacrificing tv, socializing, social media or whatever people like to do in their spare time. I don't even like socializing or social media very much. I would rather do writing any day, even just for the fun of it. When I write a story I do write an outline first. I am a diehard plotter. It is impossible for me to get anywhere in a story without outlining it first. For novellas I have a short and simple outline. It is only a page long, and I can whip it out real quick. The rates you are giving dont fit me very well. There is absolutly no way that I can write that fast. I can't do that many words per hour at all. I also can't type a rough draft. I have to write it with a notebook and pencil first. Otherwise my mind won't work for the story. The one good part is that I do have a lot of free time. I have no work or school. So I can write all day. I have found that I can do about 10 or 12 notebook pages a day. These pages are front and back. I don't know the exact word count. Each page would be about 250 words. So that would be 2,500 to 3,000 words. I guess if I do this for 4 days that would multiply to 10,000 to 12,000 words. Wait a minute. If I do 7 days a week, and do the higher quantity each day, that would result in 21,000 words. That is enough for a novella. This is just guesstimating. The novella I recently did was Behind the Mask. It is a simple romance story about two musicians in a music studio. The protagonist is a lovely lady new to recording buisness. She rises to be a big star. The love interest is a creepy but attractive guy, who lives underground beneath the studio. He is so ugly from a scar, that he wears a mask. I guess it is possible to make a short story out of this idea. However I did flesh it out into something longer quite easily. Maybe I am an overwriter or something. I just find short stories difficult to do, so I lend myself to longer formats. I do have a story idea I had for a long time. It is my main passion project. It is a fantasy story. It is about a lady who becomes a light lord. She has a lot of adventures and learns lot of magic. She saves the world from a dark lord, and she do so in an unconventional way. I was thinking of making a novella for that. The story is best suited for a book series, which is the extreme for large formats. However I would like to write out a bare bones novella for it. I did write a bare bones standalone novel, but I tragicly lost it.
If it's in word you can check the count but there are novellas, novelletes (hitting 10k) and then short stories. As long as you're writing though, right?
Yea i can relate to what your talking about. i started out wanting
to write about my life. turns out i started planning, and you can say
i was a panser, then realized i could write a fiction book. for my first time.
Hi Bernette, very inspiring video, thank you! This reminds me of Barbara Cartland who has been known for apparently writing all of her romance books in few hours. The process was always the same: she would lie down on her sofa, all the scenes going through her mind and she would dictate to her secretary. After a few hours, the books were written and done! Would be great to be able to do that ☺️
Now with speech to text we can do this. I’ve been playing around with it and while it takes some getting used to, I wrote about 3000 words last week driving in the car over a couple hours. Got home and cleaned up on computer. Actually, for that book I’m finding it flows much better this way while another book in progress I need to be seated at the computer. 🤷🏾♀️
best youtube video on writing
I love this video so much!!! Thank you so much, Bernette. I'm planning to write a novella soon (39k so yeah really big, I'm also a big planner) but I'm hoping to write 8k for 5 days so I can finish in a week during the holiday season. Fingers crossed. And thank you again for this video ❤️❤️❤️❤️
You have help me to really think about the materials I have already
Written.i am now going to concentrate on
my organization.
Thank you.
Have great day.
Thank you so much! Your realistic yet optimistic approach to this gave me the push I needed. I have just finished the first draft (20,000 words so far) for my first novella. I've put it aside for a few months to start my second draft but in the meantime I've started on my next one. Thank you so much again! I can't thank you enough. :)
OMG Yayyyyy! That is awesome Michael. I am so glad you got the first draft done. And you're starting another. Yes, man! Keep me updated on your progress.
@@IAmBernette I just finished the first draft to my second novella, 20,000 words as well. I wanted to ask a question if that's alright. What advice would you give to someone who plans to publish for the first time? I've looked at KDP and such, but is that the way you went? Or would you recommend releasing the novella's for free, in order to gain an audience first?
@@acehilm. There is so much to say - more than I can do here. If you're ready to publish KDP is a great way to go, but limits you to Amazon. However, Amazon is the biggest player in the market so while limiting it's not necessarily bad. Several of my books are on Kindle only.
If you want to do it free this isn't an option on Amazon and you can do this on Wattpad. I can't say it'll get you much of a following unless you're writing content geared to teens and young adults.
I am doing a free self-publishing 101 webinar next month. While I often work with women, you don't have to be one to benefit from this 101. :)
This is great, hoping to apply this lesson. Thank you Bernette
You’re welcome and best of luck to you! Let me know how it goes.
Thank you. I am working on a poetry book but I think many of these things are still applicable.
Thank you so much for the tips. You've motivated me to write novellas.
Awesome. I just finished drafting 2 novellas in romcom genre (new for me) so it does work and is possible. Publishing first on August 1 (fingers crossed)
This is such a lovely video. I adore your attitude to the process, and it's such a refreshing change to so many videos that only seem to concentrate on the things you shouldn't do. I needed this positivity today. Thank you :-)
Nicholas McCarthy Glad you found it helpful. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming (in the voice of Dory)
Read your page through a search on Google then later tapped on your video by accident. So i subscribed.
Great info. Thank you. I’ve been thinking about starting a novella series and this was very informative and inspirational
I say go for it!😊
Congrats and good work!! I am a poet, and educated in poetry, and achieved, and for me I would up my writing amount, to 1500 words a day. If I did 5 000 words a day for 3 days I would have several poetry Chapbooks a week. I only do poetry chapbooks.
My goal is to basically put out two Chapbooks of poetry weekly. I have 3 done now. I am releasing one next week. I have two new classes coming up. I can commit 4 days a week, cause I need the other days to outline and research, for my next Chapbook book. My new schedule is 1500 to 4 000 words a day, at least 5 days a week.
I love that you have a goal that is measurable and you know you can act on it. That is critical to success. Is there a reason you are doing the chapbooks rather than compiling into a larger work? Are you planning to later compile them?
You definitely gave excellent tips to begin writing a book!
Thank you ❤
Wow your collection of your own novellas looks pretty. Good work.
I loved this, thanks for sharing such valuable advice. Of course, I already know most of this deep down, but it's excellent to receive these tips in such a straightforward and positive manner. It makes me realize that I actually could complete my long-suffering work-in-progress by the end of this very week!!
Hi my name is Rekha Chadha, I write fantasy fiction children books, you are amazing, I can't wait to get a copy of your book, congratulations on your books, I am here for you 🤗
This was motivational!! Thanks a lot
Thank you, Bernette! I needed this! ❤️❤️
Plantsers unite! I'm gonna have to try this! 9k into a story that should end up being less than 30k. So excited!
Great advices, thank you for sharing them
Glad it could help
Thanks for sharing.... I am inspired to go for it!
Good luck on your writing journey!
Thank you so much for your advice and help, I appreciate it.
Shadow Phantom You’re welcome!
This was excellent. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this video, I was really struggling with writer's block. planning, structure and visualizing the entire book worked for me.
Want desperately to write novellas. So many book ideas that I keep in a dairy. Kids are grown now, so no excuses now. 😁
I like checking in on some of those who comment. It's been 5 months so I figured I'd ask if you've got that first draft or how it's coming? Hoping you took that first step.
@@IAmBernette This is so sweet! Checking in! I want to start writing novellas, and I found this video. Thank you!
@@Charlotteapaige have you started writing your book?
@@IAmBernette I have!!
Greetings again dear Bernette! Thanks again for your encouragement and many great tips. I found your suggestion of visualizing the overall picture very very helpful. Planning is great but the story itself is unfolding itself with its own will. Also I wondered how to get myself to follow a word count everyday to actually follow through and complete this with continuity. Instead of stopping and losing track. As you said, it has wings and also writing everyday is less daunting than it seems The good news I’d like to share with you is at the rate of 1000 or so words a day I’ve completed over 13000 words which is more than halfway through a novella. I thank you for your encouragement. If you have any videos on self publishing in other videos or here, I’d love to look at them. ❤️🌹
Amita. Congratulations on the progress you're making. That consistency is amazing. I love how you are seeing how just a day at a time you can get there faster than you may have thought. Here's the playlist I have for authors: th-cam.com/play/PLo8hFG3JWAJI6UzsVpNAw2vwM6m5SQ8Mh.html.
@@IAmBernette hi Bernette thanks again for being so positive and encouraging. I’ve subscribed here and will look at your other videos. Right now I have completed 25000 or so words. I found my word count increasing towards the end. I now need to shape and edit my draft. So I think this through. I’ll see if you have any suggestions for editing and then self publishing. If you have any helpful books I’ll look into that as well. Great content. Thank you for your good energy as well 🙏🏾❤️
@@amitaspoetry384 I'm so excited for you! You've reached novella length Amita!!! Yessss. Editing is one of those unfun but necessary steps. Keep going. Feel free to check out my website too: bernettesherman.com.
I have a long tem project that Ive been working on for a long time, but i sometimes jot down my ideas in a book for shorter quicker stories. I think im going to develop one of them using this.
I think this is a great idea! It will let you feel those intermittent successes that keep you going.
I may have to give my idea another chance.
Thank you so much! You are an inspiration.
Thanks Zerlene. I hope you go on to write what’s important to you. I also invite you to join my FB group. www.Facebook.com/groups/WriterLauncher
Thank you so much. God bless you.
Thanks for sharing this. It really made me think about making time for myself to get it done
You're welcome. I hope you give yourself the chance to tell your story.
Thank you! This has inspired me. I’m also a planning pantser or pantsing planner haha! This is the way I write as well and can relate to it. Very helpful!
I've written 11,000 words in 3 days. My aim is 20,000, but I can already tell I'm going to have to go back and expand on some of my work to meet that.
11k in 3 days is awesome!!! You've got this for sure. By now you probably even got to your 20k if you kept that pace up. Congratulations.
@@IAmBernette I did! I'm revising my first draft now.
Great tips!!! Love the hourly breakdown!!!
Maria Brewer How’s the writing coming?
Bernette Sherman - The Messenger Thank you so much for asking! It is going well. I’ve completed the rough draft/outline portion. Now I’m going back over it and fine tuning some things. My reference guide book is on Fasting. Thanks again for checking in on me. Much appreciated
@@mariabrewer6343 Congrats on getting the rough draft/outline done. I hope you keep pressing forward through the entire process. The editing is a beast (that's just the truth) but it can be tamed :)
ive written a thriller novella under a week (if u dont count my long break after the first few chapters lol) its on wattpad if anyone's interested :---)
Isabela Louise Congrats on your book.
I'm interested in reading it. I am not familiar with wattpad, but I'll Google it to find it. May I have the title of your thriller?
Thanks in advance and congrats. I hope to muster the motivation to write a novella too.
Isabela, see Truman's comment below. You may have a Wattpad reader
@@trumanjefferson2560 why am i only seeing this now 😩 it's entitled Mine by Ellafair Blase it can be googled
Wow,Thank you😊 you explained everything in great details.Just great 😊
Very encouraging! Thanks Bernette for the video xo
I have been wrestling with my “debut novel” for five years.
Out of the blue I got an idea for a novella and banged it out in a week. I came here to figure out how on earth I did it.
Conclusion: it was having the full picture in my mind with a healthy dose of unprecedented neurodivergent focus.
I'm so glad I found this bcuz I knew I wanted to write but not a long novel and I didnt know what that was called lol
And advice to write a story about my own life
Video starts at 3.33
Whereafter, much is repeated without need.
@@some1namedno1white men being rude in our spaces isn’t needed. You got info. Be thankful and go. Or just go
It started at 0.00
Synchronicity
THANK YOU!!! 😂
I have to submit a 20k word project for my course and was flagging in motivation. I've got 5k words down and have 15 to go. I'm determined to complete it within the week!
You can absolutely do it. Stay focused and intentional. :)
Thank you for the advice. I believe I can get two done in one month.
Hey Miles. It's been two months. :) Just wondering how things are coming alone. Did you get one done? Two done?
Still working on them. My days ate busy.
@@milestrombley1466 My suggestion if you really want to finish at least one is to give yourself a deadline and then make it so you have to be accountable. Set up something around it so you have to finish it. Nothing like a little pressure to get things going. ;)
Thank you.
Great advice! Thank you. Also, *swoon*
Thanks so much for this
I have no idea how you can get 5k words in 2-3 hours. I'm writing for 10 years, full time for a couple years, I'm currently writing my 5th novel, I plan everything meaning that I know what I have to write during the day when I wake up, and despite all that my personal reccord is 5500 words in a full day of work (about 7 hours writing). And from the info I could gather online, this is a very good pace compared to typical famous rights such as Stephen King. So... good for you, I guess! ^^
It's a fast pace and probably not typical but even at half that pace one can still write 20k or more word in a week. 😀
Hi again Bernette. You have such a good spirit. Thanks again for your kind and empowering words. As far my novella in three weeks or so I’ve completed 26000 words or so. Im still in the stage of editing my drafts. But I wanted to run a couple of questions by you. First in your experience, can a novel of this length have a market or would it be better to put it along with another novella or novelette and sell as a two in one. I’m just thinking ahead. The second question I had was do you have any tips on how to self publish. What program do you use to put the story in book format? I know there are many print on demand companies but I wonder which is reliable. Anything you can suggest would be awesome like your wonderful videos. Thank you again. ❤️💜💙🧡💚💛
You are doing amazing. Writing the first draft is the first hurdle. Keep pushing forward.
Novellas can be difficult on their own if you don’t have an audience. If the stories are connected or they are same genre you can combine. It can vary though. If you plan on putting on a serial platform like Wattpad, it’s fine.
I use Amazon for print and eBook primarily. I don’t know where you are but my experience is based on being in the USA so it could be different elsewhere.
I have resources that might be helpful on my website if you go to https//:BernetteSherman.com. I offer coaching and public support. Continued good luck on your journey.
@@IAmBernette hi Bernette, thanks for your reply. I’m also in the U.S. I’ve been going through editing and might put two novellas together. I was told about Amazon as well and hearing it from you also encourages me to take a look at them
Excellent video! ❤️
Thank you for this encouragement 💗
Thank You!
Posting on Facebook...
Thanks Don😀
See my latest related video with tips and commentary on what to do AFTER you've written that book - th-cam.com/video/f3nBDjUlbvs/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for this video it’s very appreciated!!
This was so inspiring! I can't wait to try write one, since untill now I've never been able to actually finish a book.How long do you normally put into planning your books? I was trying to plan my story, but I feel like waiting so long to write the actual story has made me lose the connection I felt to the characters.
Once a story gets in my head and I start thinking about it I consider that part of planning. That can go on for several days and then the story line comes from that. I know how I want it to begin and end and then break down in outline form (just a sentence or two) the key things that will happen to get me to the end. Usually this follows chapters. I can do this in an hour or two. From there, I sometimes let the story tell itself from within that framework. Or, if it's more complicated I'll break down a chapter further. Don't spend forever planning a book and if you're planning and words start flowing - write them down. That's inspiration in action. Good luck
Thank you for your advice.:) It's much helpful. I will do this next time.:) Thanks for your time and work.:)
I wish you could like a video multiple times cause if I could you'd have millions of likes on this video
This was quite helpful! Thanks!
Great video! I do a lot of live event speaking and can create a 90 minute presentation with ease...I want to write a book and this video was motivating :-)
Woohoo. If you have a 90 minute presentation, you likely already have about 15k words written. They just have to be put down. If you’ve given your talk and had it recorded, consider having it done speech to text as a start. Good luck!
It can be done, but only if you know your story inside out and you don't have to research it....sometimes, i spend 3 or 4 months reading for a project and three or 4 months writing...but there's really no right or wrong way, if the story come to you, you act on it and write it...
Thank you for this. I'm facing a deadline and I'm desperately needing encouragement. lol
Eeek. (I don't love deadlines.) Hopefully you are still encouraged and moving towards making that date
This is so helpful, thanks!
Finally I feel it's going to be doable. I really hope I finish something this time..
You're so beautiful btw
I'm so glad it helped. Let me know how your progress goes.
So after 8 months how's it going?
I type 90-120 WPM 😊
so inspiring
Bernette, great job on your writing success and thank you for posting this video. It is very inspiring. I always wanted to write a novella or novel, something in the noir or thriller genre, but I just kept putting it off. Your video was just what I needed! I'm interested in reading some of your works. As a fan of thriller and mystery works I want to read something outside that genre to broaden my reading horizon. Which of your works would you recommend?
Thank you in advance! I don't usually leave comments, but I couldn't resist.
Oh thanks so much. Well my writing may br lighter than your normal preference as it's usually pretty pg and YA. I like my Crossed and Out of the Woods books and if you're interested in writing a novella these are both novellas and would give a sense of how I do it. Let me know how your writing goes. Good luck. amazon.com/author/bernettesherman
Thank you. . . . I am a planning pantser too 💕
Is it ok to refer to a character as him or her to prevent from saying the persons name? It is my story so I don’t want to make up names, however I don’t want to reveal certain names either... would love to here your thoughts!
Interesting question. You can refer to characters as her/him but this can become confusing when there are multiple people around who you could be referring to. Is it possible to allow yourself to change the names of the people? Even if it is your story, if you are trying to protect certain people that’s an option that won’t leave readers confused.
So encouraging. Thank you 💖
Oh my gosh, I love your work ethic! I have a couple of short stories in my mind dying to be written. Thank you for your tips. 😊
Alright! Let's make August the month to create.
@@IAmBernette Update: I've finished my short story last month. Meant to be about 3,000 words but it turned out way more lol. Thank you for your inspiration!
@@CanCanElf16 Congratulations! What are you going to do with it now?
I have to say all of you, people who advocate writing a book in less than a week or in a day write a book fast. You can do that or you can write a good book. but I don’t believe you can do both.
Heard of Georges Simenon? He averaged around two to three weeks for a large proportion of his books.
has been very helpful!
Thanks. Are you in the process of writing a story?
Write a book about this process
I wrote a book called Four Week First Draft several years ago. I have a draft of a book but don’t know if there is enough demand
@@IAmBernette umm 🤔 sis I think there is a ton of demand lol I’d buy it but that’s me
thank you so much for this motivation ❤️
Marwan Alley you’re very welcome 😊
Love this video!. I was in jail when i wrote 6 books which led to 1 being stolen and later sold to an established author! (A long story) Anyway, I've narrowed it down to 4 books I want to publish. However, these books were written in pen and I dread the thought of typing them. Any suggestions?
I can only imagine how that must feel! Whew!!! The best get back is to publish. You can see if someone will type them. I haven’t had this issue of having to transcribe a long book although I did type from handwritten my first book and then added to it.
You might also try reading it into a Google to type for you and then clean it up since that won’t be perfect. Best of luck!
Hi Bernette! Thank you for this lovely video and for your positive encouragement to writers. Just a few comments if I may. Firstly. I love your suggestion of visualizing the whole story. Seeing the picture certainly gives me a deeper connection with what I want to express. I also totally agree that keeping the momentum going is crucial. Or else with a huge time gap between chapters, it would be difficult to get back into the stream. This is actually what happened with one of my novellas, still sitting on a clipboard waiting to be finished. I’m not sure if I can commit to 5000 words per day. It would all depend on my creative juices. Certainly staying with it until the end would be great. I will shoot for a week and hopefully finish it no later than two or three. Thanks again for your wonderful energy and ideas.
I’m so glad you’re encouraged. Whether you write 5000 or 2000 that regular momentum is key to finishing (faster) and having the story flow. The novel I just drafted is 100k words and it took 7 weeks. I lost some time in there but I did visualize the story (while allowing it to change as it unfolded- and it did!). I wish you the best in your writing project(s) and look forward to an update.😊
@@IAmBernette thank you. I like not only your suggestion to visualize but to visit the characters. I’m discovering that like you I’m a planning pancer. It would be counter productive not knowing where the story is heading. The only challenge for me is the word length. I am trying to build upto at least 2000 words a day to complete this novella. So far I’m at 1000 . Trying to figure out how to keep the tempo going. Do you take breaks or work at one stretch? Thanks again for this lovely video! 🌹❤️
@@amitaspoetry384 when I started my younger child was about to turn 4 and time (and mental space) were tight. I wrote in chunks. I’d let it flow for a good hour if possible. I admit that I’m a fast writer. Even 1k a day is a whole novel in 2 months! So don’t get down. Find your pace and work with that.
@@IAmBernette that’s amazing you’re a fast writer. For me right now it is 1000 or in the thousands. I’ve thought of a break for tea or a little walk to see if I can build upto 2000. And you’re right even 2 months is a good time for completion. Thanks for your positive energy and encouragement
I'm not a newbie, I just needed some inspiration--and I got it--thank you, Bernette! :)
You're welcome Mathilde. What are you working on?
Bernette Sherman Hello! Well, since I last saw your video, I’ve finished the second draft of my epic fantasy and drafted three novellas 😁
@@mathildehirth8408 OH MAH GAWDDDDD! Girl you are rocking and rolling!!! Keep up that momentum and get them out there to the world. That is amazing. If I knew how to insert the hands up emoji, it'd be right here. Just imagine it is! :)
Bernette Sherman Thank you 😊 That’s so sweet of you
Your awesome
I'm writing a novella for the first time and in Third person but I've never written in third person...i want to show the different view points of certain characters but I don't know how to approach writing it (the writing style) it's just very weird to me..
Ayla here's what I wrote on the other video you commented on. Ayla Hi Ayla, yes. One is to be consistent and be careful who's 3rd person perspective you're using across a scene. We don't want readers getting lost. If you have lots of characters like I do in my Chosen novel this is really important as not only are you giving each person a chance to shine but you can better develop their character since you can get on their head. If you have other questions or needs check out my site www.wonderworksservices.com or my new IG at instagram.com/wonderworksservices.com
Thanks and best of luck.
Bernette Sherman - The Messenger Thank you
I'm working on an eBook that is going to end up in parts and in paperback form,so its looking like.it on spiritual warfare and prayer and the weapons of our warfare.it was going to be one big book,but i decided to split the chapters up into sections.
How's it coming along?
Bernette Sherman I’m work on Twitter separate books but put one aside to do the other cause God told me to.the book is going good I’ve also been working on an online teaching that coincides with the book I’m writing,about how to Tay strong in these times we are in.
@@Warangel144Dreamsandvisions That's great - having something else that connects with your message is important (packages it together). :) And stay strong with completing this work.
Excellent super woman!
❤
I am writing one. I have written 6200 words and now m stuck😂 Thinking of planning and then resuming.
Did you get unstuck by stopping and doing some planning? How’d it go?
I also invite you to join my FB group. www.Facebook.com/groups/WriterLauncher
But does being focused of speed diminish the quality. My aim is the put out the best quality as possible. Therefore, consistency is more important to me. I don’t want to wash and put out a low quality of rushed work. It would crush me to publish my book just read it later like “look at all these errors” or “oddly worded prose. It doesn’t matter how good a plot is, a reader isn’t going to suffer through low quality writing. It’s too distracting
This is to getting your first draft and keeping that momentum and it’s for only 20k words. I have personally found that getting those ideas out when the muse is strong allows it to flow with consistency. Now the editing and rewriting WILL take more time. The first draft is usually not pretty whether you take a week, a month or a year. It just isn’t and I have met many a writer taking great pains to write perfectly the first time who have yet to finish writing anything. So… while you don’t want to put out anything bad this is about getting your ideas out not putting anything out yet for the public. Good luck on your project!
My thing is i need to focus and stop doubting myself
You have the most incredibly beautiful skin.
Stephen King writes 6 pages a day. That's 9000 words a day.
Am I the only crazy person around here?