I’ve been really into “no plot, just vibes” stories where there’s only one discernible plot point (someone dies at the end, for example) and I realized I like those stories because of all the little internal and interpersonal conflicts that slowly create the conditions necessary for that single event to happen
Day in the life stories can be really pleasant. And often are just as unresolved when they finish as when they began. But even daily life is chock full of conflicts. Things like what to order for lunch, where to hang out, what to wear to spend time with the LI.
Welcome back yar harrrr! Also hurraaay, I really needed this 🙈 I mean it's relatively easy in its basis but I feel like I totally over-think conflict while simultaniously trying to disregard it (particularly development wise as the plot moves forward) in my writing, but this was really really helpful ♥
I write crime fiction, which is full of conflicts: cops versus criminals, cops versus cops and criminals versus criminals. Not to mention all the interpersonal stuff. Coming up with conflicts is fairly easy: I just modify some I've seen or lived in real life. I'm trying to write horror and I find it more challenging, partially because the "monster" (whatever malevolent force or entity) that challenges to protagonist has mysterious motivations.
Sound cool, and reminds me of one of my currently shelved unfinished stories (also horror/crime + urban fantasy). I love it, but can't focus on it atm. It's about cops, criminals and literal monsters too. I also struggled with the monster's ambitions for a while, but I have solved that part now. :P
@@ludovico6890 Well, umm... it's got to do with the monster's past and what he is. And what people thought he was. And I spent time doing other things while still thinking about it. It's about the lore of the world and how certain things are connected. Cryptic enough? :P
@@ludovico6890 Well, umm... it's got to do with the monster's past and what he is. And what people thought he was. And I spent time doing other things while still thinking about it. It's about the lore of the world and how certain things are connected. Cryptic enough? :P
With Jenna and her family going through a tough time, everyone comment your favourite video and why it was so good. Let's show some love to an incredible TH-camr with the best content. My best video was '10 Best Tips For Reducing Your Word Count' as it really opened my eyes to quality over quantity. Shortening my writing has improved my writing. Each paragraph is stronger for cutting stuff that isn't needed and focusing my words on what needs to be said. Thank you for the advice and I hope Cliff makes a speedy recovery.
Pick a favorite video?? 😱 there's some internal conflict right there 😉😄 they're all so good... >///< how do I pick one.... I'm a horror writer, so I enjoyed her video on horror tropes 🙂☺
Cheers to Jenna, the first person to fully explain "show, don't tell" in a way I understood! I also really appreciate the videos discussing overwriting vs underwriting, since I am the former and need to know how to work with my writing style instead of against it.
9:34 You know, after rewriting my story over 3 times now, I've discovered that the more 💩tiy the conflict becomes, the more difficult it is to write my protagonist way out of it by act 3! 😣😫😤
I think the best way is be incremental and don't over do it. There's a way you got into that conflict and there's a way you can get out. Think of a car trip. First you have heavy traffic slowing you down so you get off and take one of your back up routes- only to get have a car accident happen in front of you. You're safe but trapped between the wreck and the car behind you. When you finally get going your car breaks down and you got to find a way to get to your destination.
I am writing a well known protagonist who is in the public domain and he has conflicts with antagonists who are in the public domain but they are not well known. What I do is I write a bunch of pages, and after like page 10 or 15 there is a minor conflict. Then the antagonist becomes less and less predictable and there are several more conflicts, each more of a conflict than the other so the minor conflict is going to be the one which starts the others. Finally there is one huge conflict which sums up everything which has been going on in the past pages.The less known your antagonist is, the better. The antagonist in my novel cares more about his father than anybody else in the whole world and makes attempt after attempt to learn to care for the protagonist in the same way because he is so curious about him. The conflicts arise because they are two different species. If you want your conflict to be extra shitty or with an extra amount of fights between characters try to keep that later on in the story or closer to the end. You have to have a reason for your protagonist to confront the antagonist. This is a similar technique that William Peter Blatty used. He took one of the most famous characters from mythology and made it possible for him to become intimate with American civilization. Pazuzu has major sister issues but these are not discussed in The Exorcist. Pazuzu is now a household name in the computer genre. Try to have a unifying impact on your readers so they have something which binds them together which can be tied to the story you are going to write. This technique works all the time as long as you put yourself into the shoes of your characters and try to make them as human as possible, even those who are not human like demons, elementals, etc.
October is always extra fun~~ it’s also fun in like… July when I binge watch the videos while editing my writing, and hot dog Jenna yells at me 🤣 Best wishes as always, including for Cliff.
The conflict in my favorite moment in Azumanga Daioh boiled down to "little girl wants to pet this cat but it's being a jerk". It does not have to be big to the world, in other words. It just has to be big to at least one person.
Oh! I didn't think you would be making content for the foreseeable future. Happy to see you, though, of course. All the good vibes to you and Cliff and Butters. 💗
One thing that helped be remember that conflicts in books ≠ conflicts between characters or forces, was to instead think of it as the driving problem or issue. Eg in one of my current wip:s one person was gravely injured in an ambush and the problem then is to keep him from dying and get him to security. Once they get him to safety and get help for him to recover, the new problem is that he is 100% convinced it's a fever dream since he is the only person who recognizes the place and as far as he knows he destroyed it by waking a deity and the others don't understand why he's acting so weird.
I suck at conflict, in both reality and imagination. I usually either escape through alternative ways or solve the conflict too fast to make a story. This helps a lot. Thanks Jenna!
I think miscommunication would be interesting in a way where both characters want to talk and apologise but due to outer influences just can’t find the time/opportunity for a few chapters and feel equally bad about it
@@messinalyle4030 honestly, pretty much everything has been done already in some way at least. Doesn't mean that it was done exactly the way I picture it in my head
I mean it can be done well in some ways I guess, but I think most people simply find it irritating no matter what lol. I personally hate it and will only tolerate it if it doesn't take a lot of time to be resolved and there's very good reasons the characters are not talking about it, but still, I don't really like it
@@luca553 yeah, I personally don’t like for most internal conflicts to be dragged out for too long. As realistic as it might be, I‘m here to read about character growth not a character being stuck. Just, what I meant to express was that I’d be fine with miscommunication if it’s not the characters fault it doesn’t get resolved and if it takes up a reasonable length in the story, like, if it’s not the main conflict.
Video : 18 seconds ago Comments : 3-4 days ago TH-cam’s high again y’all Edit : Fun fact ; I never knew Jenna had a patreon for her fans to get early access, my bad lol, love the video by the way.
@@sophieandrew4666 I honestly have no idea. Sorry if I made you upset with my “joke” but I never knew she had a patreon or maybe I did and just forgot. I have no idea what you mean defending myself from tbh
"Sure, a job promotion isn't life or death steaks..." Funny you should say that, I have a vague idea for a dystopian sci-fi where anyone who fails to climb the corporate ladder quickly enough is cast out to starve.
Great video! Jenna, do you plan on making a video about NaNoWriMo, since it's coming up? Any tips on how I can prepare to write the first draft of my next book all in a month? (Or as much as I can) Are there any goals that work great for you? Thanks! I'm trying to get my friends to participate and do their best.
Sounds like your "conflict" in The Savior's Champion didn't change at all, it was always: "how do I feed my family without having to participate in a life or death tournament."
My favorite kind of conflict is emotional conflict. For example, in the novel I'm currently working on, the protagonist is made to fight her adopted brother who she loves dearly. The brother acts as both the antagonist and secondary protagonist of the book so the reader actually gets to watch as he falls to a certain dark influence. The protagonist and her brother( they are blood related but they are not siblings though they were raised as such) belong to a certain race that can sense when something happens to their kin so she knows that something is wrong with her brother. Her betrothed also cares for the brother and asks the protagonist if they should go back home(they haven't made it very far in their journey yet. Their home city is only five days away from where they currently are). The protagonist declines the offer, noting her brother's stubborn pride and that he would be offended if they abandoned the journey because of him. Something happens that eventually does force the protagonist along with her traveling party back to her home city. On the way she is separated from her betrothed which greatly upsets her. Other things happen that break her heart until she is eventually forced to kill her brother. After suffering so many losses in such a short time, she loses the will to live. The book does end on a hopeful note with the protagonist training before continuing her journey but up until that point most of my characters are put through the wringer. That is to say the trauma isn't limited to just the main characters. There are other smaller conflicts such as a potential future war with the most powerful of the five kingdoms that will be explored in the rest of the books(there will be five in total, one for each kingdom), the protagonist's growing fear of her nature powers due to a certain event that happened while on the road involving slavers(which is illegal in this kingdom) disguised as a traveling troupe of performers, along with other character driven conflicts. This series has been in the works for years so I'm really looking forward to getting it out there.
how to write killer conflict. step 1. acquire the rights to two 1980s franchises about serial killers. step 2. put a "vs." inbetween the two franchises you just bought step 3: ???? (this refers to the audience's reaction) step 4: killer conflict achieved! did I do it right?
new video!!!! i don't write as much anymore but your vids always motivate me to hjshkfsdkt (hope you and cliff are doing well. wishing him a speedy recovery!)
I am sad we didn't get an update. It's just like Jenna's gone and this happened. Its like a great plot was set, I can envision the setting, the characters and then Jenna returns and the whole thing falls on its face, and there is no climax, just disappointment.
You're a cracking woman. I enjoyed such a laugh whilst taking onboard some smashing advice. I'd love to chat with you in a Pub over a beer. From England, God bless!
My fear is I’ll fall into the trap of relying on what too many books do-interpersonal conflicts. I don’t like just relying on petty drama or having characters at each other’s throats. There IS that, at least with two characters, but it’s not constant, and there’s a reason behind it. It also explore my novel’s theme: mercy. In other words, succumb to hatred or show mercy when the given the opportunity to leave that person to die and save yourself?
Loved the tips about increasing conflict and subverting expectations! I'll try to improve my protagonist's goals to make them feel more urgent. Thanks Jenna!
I haven't read your book, but I despise the mis-communication trope to the point of it being a pet peeve, so hearing that you resolve it the very next chapter makes me happy.
The pirate hat attracted my 10 year old to watch this to help her with her writing. Wish we knew there was adult content in this with the foul language :/
She's 10 years old. Just watch it next to her as an overseeing parent and it should be fine. She's not a toddler, she should have a general sense of right from wrong at that age.
OH MY GOSH thank you sooo much!!! The bit about conflict and change and evolved just helped me so much. I have been stuck on trying to figure out my MC’s internal conflict, thinking it had to be the same throughout. This video has literally saved my sanity and writers block. Thank you, thank you thank you!!!! 🙌🏻❤️
Lost writers followed Number 6 to the t, maybe too much. As for Number 5 i created a different conflict to fill the part where my MC is absent from the story revolving around my MC's absence.
OUR QUEEN HAS RETURNED!! Thank you for the video despite your family's circumstances. I hope Cliff continues with his recovery and you continue to be in a good place
I find it personally funny when saying the chapters have to move the story forward. Mostly because in a story I'm working on involves time travel, so moving forward is basically my characters going backwards.
My conflict is staying home and dealing with our cats. I don't really have conflict other than that, it still would be my first time writing, I guess create a series and see what would happen. I not looking for five stars three and four an half would be fine. I think creating funny moments between characters when are close would make sense like a bathing scene, snuggle scene, being clingy to the character because one them really likes he or she sound like an idea for a anime fan service. I will try my best that's all I need to do and hope it's good since we all create our own ways.
As always, great writing advice. We need more talented writers. Also, I tried Milanote 2 years ago when you talked about it and it’s like a whiteboard to the whiteboard power. Never going back to the one I have in the corner (never did hang it up).
Good video, but I have to disagree on two points: 1.I don't think "filler" in the loosest sense possible is nessessarily a bad thing. If it's just pure filler with no conflict its bad, but i think there's something to be said about slowing down the main plot for just a moment to explore the psychology of the characters, at least in stories extremely focused on the characters psyche 2. I don't think you should think of genres have "rules"...
1. No kidding, eh? I tried writing a book in early university that had NO conflict, because, I figured, the real world can be messy enough. And you know what? IT WAS BORING. I might revive it, though, at some point, because the actual premise was good. I would even sy that conflict could be some kind of task...? Maybe. Depends on how you write it. But kids' books, and I men for YOUNG kids, like the "Arthur" series, right, take a book like "Arthur's Glasses". I know, I know, but work with me here. He can't see well enough to be passing his classes, he needs glasses, he gets glasses, feels self-conscious about it, discovers that people he admires wear glasses, too, starts to feel better about it, and bam, resolution. I read to my nieces and nephew a lot when they were little, eh. 2. In my own work, with my four mains... Adam: His ego (at first) Victoria: Her family's reputation (at first) Stephen: His ambitions (and it stays this way, but his ambitions change) Kayla: Her physical appearance (she's only 14), but also her family and friends 3. All four of them have obstacles: Adam's self-conscious about becoming a wheelchair user at the start of the book, and has to reconcile, Victoria falls in love with a BIPOC guy and has to worry about her dad, who's a racist prick, Stephen is...Stephen...which, trust me, is a phrase that explain itself in my writing, but let me clarify: "Prince f*cking Adam, going around like a helpless little baby on his throne with wheels, and I'm expected to act like it's totally normal? That and mom and dad giving me all his work. 'Stephen, can you sleep in the same room as him to make sure he doesn't fall out of bed? Stephen, can you smile like this is just another ordinary day when you're out in public with him? Stephen, can you make sure baby doesn't have an accident? Stephen, can you wipe the royal ass?', and on and f*cking on!" Uhh...yep, that's Stephen. At first. And then you get my poor Kayla, who, through SOME miracle of science, actually LIKES Stephen, feels bad for her big brother, but doesn't know how to help him, and she gets ignored by everyone else. 4. Realistic fiction. How am I doing? 5. Working o n it. All of their four threads start off FAIRLY distinct from one another, but once the plot hits the fan, and it hits HARD, I intend to twist all four of their threadds in around one another, so that they support one another, as well as the plot. Stephen's going to have the most to work through, though, so drawing him in is going to be a big thing in itself. TECHNICALLY, this book is also a romance, so the can-they-can't-they between Victoria and Jeremy (her BIPOC boy) is obviously a main factor here, too, but Jeremy's involved in the plot in a lot of other ways, too, namely as Stephen's murder-crush. For those who aren't aware, "murder crush" is the person you hate SO MUCH that you're obsessed with them. You want to kill them, but you're also kind of their stalker. And this is entirely one-sided. Jeremy's having none of that sh*t . To be clear, he hates Stephen, too, but it's not to the same pitch. 6. I'm...okay?...at doing this? But since I'm planning multiple sequels, there also have to be multiple unanswered questions by the end of the book. I FINALLY heard from the second half of the book about what it wants to be when it grows up, praise the Gods, and I DO have ideas...but how to implement...hmm... 7. Working on it. But I realized a while back that I have SO MANY TYPOS in the first half of this thing that you would swear it's intentional. It's not. I sustained a really bad injury to my left hand back in 2018, and I haven't been able to feel the tips of my fingers since then, which is SUPER "convenient", given that I'm left-handed, but I even have to back-edit all my comments on videos and stuff, eh, so I'm currently in the process of editing my first half so that I can actually read it without wanting to kick myself. 8. Different books, different conflicts, in my case, given that I delineated this book's conflicts above, other than, you know, the actual plot. But with the next one, there's going to be a lot more about how these four kids fit into this new world where I put them in the middle of the firs t book. It's not a literal "other world', because realistic fiction, but the place where they are is its own, like...subculture? "One Eagle's Wings" (book one) is about them starting to get over their various foibles, while "Sal t of the Earth" (book two) is about the people they grow into being once having overcome those things. And NO, Adam's thing to overcome isn't the wheelchair. It's his shame about it. Because, speaking from the perspective of a woman with multiple disabilities, disability is not something I think it's productive to be ashamed of. Thank you for reading this PSA. 9. Oh yeah, and the actual PLOT is that these four kids' father is a total religious zealot with way too much power and money, he's abusive to his wife (she gets her own book later on), he taught his daughters to be fearful of the whole world, while simultaneously teaching his sons to stomp on the world until it surrenders. Sh*t goes down, CPS gets involved, and, needless to say, all four of them need a nice, long, cleansing bah...for their brins...to get the dad's influence out. He's like mud .And he doesn't last beyond book one. Like, he survives--should clarify--but I would be satisfied to see him behind bars for a few decades after what he does. Need to look up how long a prison sentence someone gets for beating their own kid almost to death. In Florida. I THINK I read that it's twenty years at min, thirty at max? I know this may be a bit to ask, but can anyone clarify? 10. Yeah, that's what the second half of my book has been whispering at me. Thing is, these four were raised by, and I can't emphasize this enough, CAP-I-TAL-ISTS--we're talking freaking Donald Trump levels of bigotry, but only with a fraction, though a fairly sizeable fraction, of his wealth--while the environment they get brought to is a literal commune that operates under the Anarcho-Communist model. The culture shock alone, right? But I'm using the second half to air my own political views, as well as developing a story around them. Jeremy, Victoria's love interest, is my political and moral voice throughout the book, and he lives in this place and was raised there. And I know that writing from a particularly political stand is obviously nothing new, but I find Jeremy's naivety about it all rather charming, given that it's mine, too. But, for example, a question he asks is along the lines of, "Everyone raises their children to share, right? But, when we're adults, what, are we suddenly just supposed to put that aside and start cannibalizing one another? If that's the case, why not skip the sharing step, and just teach our kids that might makes right, right from the very beginning?" But his implication, of course, is how cold and cruel a world that would be. So you can see my own naivety in that, because I LITERALLY don't understand that one. Capitalism is stupid. Which is, ironically, my two cents, LOL.
Thanks to Milanote for sponsoring this video! Sign up for free and start your next creative project: milanote.com/jennamoreci1022
Can you do a video on writing contemporary fantasy without a "masquerade." Where is at least aware of the Supernatural like Hellboy and Soul Eater.
I’ve been really into “no plot, just vibes” stories where there’s only one discernible plot point (someone dies at the end, for example) and I realized I like those stories because of all the little internal and interpersonal conflicts that slowly create the conditions necessary for that single event to happen
Day in the life stories can be really pleasant. And often are just as unresolved when they finish as when they began.
But even daily life is chock full of conflicts. Things like what to order for lunch, where to hang out, what to wear to spend time with the LI.
No.
That reminds me of the Sasquatch Gang movie. A lot of little stuff around a Bigfoot sighting that leads to a conflict riiight at the end.
Yay! You're back! Praying for Cliff's continued recovery.
Welcome back yar harrrr!
Also hurraaay, I really needed this 🙈 I mean it's relatively easy in its basis but I feel like I totally over-think conflict while simultaniously trying to disregard it (particularly development wise as the plot moves forward) in my writing, but this was really really helpful ♥
Praying for Cliff’s continued recovery yay glad you’re back 🙏🏻❤️🩹🙏🏻
I write crime fiction, which is full of conflicts: cops versus criminals, cops versus cops and criminals versus criminals. Not to mention all the interpersonal stuff. Coming up with conflicts is fairly easy: I just modify some I've seen or lived in real life. I'm trying to write horror and I find it more challenging, partially because the "monster" (whatever malevolent force or entity) that challenges to protagonist has mysterious motivations.
Sound cool, and reminds me of one of my currently shelved unfinished stories (also horror/crime + urban fantasy). I love it, but can't focus on it atm. It's about cops, criminals and literal monsters too. I also struggled with the monster's ambitions for a while, but I have solved that part now. :P
@@SysterYster Without giving anything away, tell me how you solved it.
@@ludovico6890 Well, umm... it's got to do with the monster's past and what he is. And what people thought he was. And I spent time doing other things while still thinking about it. It's about the lore of the world and how certain things are connected. Cryptic enough? :P
@@ludovico6890 Well, umm... it's got to do with the monster's past and what he is. And what people thought he was. And I spent time doing other things while still thinking about it. It's about the lore of the world and how certain things are connected. Cryptic enough? :P
@@SysterYster Yeah, pretty much. Can't say I can copy that.
With Jenna and her family going through a tough time, everyone comment your favourite video and why it was so good. Let's show some love to an incredible TH-camr with the best content. My best video was '10 Best Tips For Reducing Your Word Count' as it really opened my eyes to quality over quantity. Shortening my writing has improved my writing. Each paragraph is stronger for cutting stuff that isn't needed and focusing my words on what needs to be said.
Thank you for the advice and I hope Cliff makes a speedy recovery.
My favorite videos are 'Yes, I really am a cyborg' and 'Yes, I really did push Cliff off a cliff.'
Pick a favorite video?? 😱 there's some internal conflict right there 😉😄 they're all so good... >///< how do I pick one....
I'm a horror writer, so I enjoyed her video on horror tropes 🙂☺
I pretty much enjoy any of her trope videos! They're just so funny and I love learning about tropes to try and put my own spin on them
I think it is "10 worst romance tropes". But really, any "10 worst X tropes" video is the best
Cheers to Jenna, the first person to fully explain "show, don't tell" in a way I understood! I also really appreciate the videos discussing overwriting vs underwriting, since I am the former and need to know how to work with my writing style instead of against it.
9:34
You know, after rewriting my story over 3 times now, I've discovered that the more 💩tiy the conflict becomes, the more difficult it is to write my protagonist way out of it by act 3! 😣😫😤
I think the best way is be incremental and don't over do it. There's a way you got into that conflict and there's a way you can get out. Think of a car trip. First you have heavy traffic slowing you down so you get off and take one of your back up routes- only to get have a car accident happen in front of you. You're safe but trapped between the wreck and the car behind you. When you finally get going your car breaks down and you got to find a way to get to your destination.
I am writing a well known protagonist who is in the public domain and he has conflicts with antagonists who are in the public domain but they are not well known. What I do is I write a bunch of pages, and after like page 10 or 15 there is a minor conflict. Then the antagonist becomes less and less predictable and there are several more conflicts, each more of a conflict than the other so the minor conflict is going to be the one which starts the others. Finally there is one huge conflict which sums up everything which has been going on in the past pages.The less known your antagonist is, the better. The antagonist in my novel cares more about his father than anybody else in the whole world and makes attempt after attempt to learn to care for the protagonist in the same way because he is so curious about him. The conflicts arise because they are two different species. If you want your conflict to be extra shitty or with an extra amount of fights between characters try to keep that later on in the story or closer to the end. You have to have a reason for your protagonist to confront the antagonist. This is a similar technique that William Peter Blatty used. He took one of the most famous characters from mythology and made it possible for him to become intimate with American civilization. Pazuzu has major sister issues but these are not discussed in The Exorcist. Pazuzu is now a household name in the computer genre. Try to have a unifying impact on your readers so they have something which binds them together which can be tied to the story you are going to write. This technique works all the time as long as you put yourself into the shoes of your characters and try to make them as human as possible, even those who are not human like demons, elementals, etc.
@@Yatukih_001
👊😮💨 Now you sound like Jenna!
October is always extra fun~~ it’s also fun in like… July when I binge watch the videos while editing my writing, and hot dog Jenna yells at me 🤣
Best wishes as always, including for Cliff.
The conflict in my favorite moment in Azumanga Daioh boiled down to "little girl wants to pet this cat but it's being a jerk". It does not have to be big to the world, in other words. It just has to be big to at least one person.
Oh! I didn't think you would be making content for the foreseeable future. Happy to see you, though, of course. All the good vibes to you and Cliff and Butters. 💗
One thing that helped be remember that conflicts in books ≠ conflicts between characters or forces, was to instead think of it as the driving problem or issue. Eg in one of my current wip:s one person was gravely injured in an ambush and the problem then is to keep him from dying and get him to security. Once they get him to safety and get help for him to recover, the new problem is that he is 100% convinced it's a fever dream since he is the only person who recognizes the place and as far as he knows he destroyed it by waking a deity and the others don't understand why he's acting so weird.
I suck at conflict, in both reality and imagination. I usually either escape through alternative ways or solve the conflict too fast to make a story. This helps a lot. Thanks Jenna!
I think miscommunication would be interesting in a way where both characters want to talk and apologise but due to outer influences just can’t find the time/opportunity for a few chapters and feel equally bad about it
That's already been done to death. To the point where a lot of people have lost patience with it.
That's most of Shakespeare
@@messinalyle4030 honestly, pretty much everything has been done already in some way at least. Doesn't mean that it was done exactly the way I picture it in my head
I mean it can be done well in some ways I guess, but I think most people simply find it irritating no matter what lol. I personally hate it and will only tolerate it if it doesn't take a lot of time to be resolved and there's very good reasons the characters are not talking about it, but still, I don't really like it
@@luca553 yeah, I personally don’t like for most internal conflicts to be dragged out for too long. As realistic as it might be, I‘m here to read about character growth not a character being stuck. Just, what I meant to express was that I’d be fine with miscommunication if it’s not the characters fault it doesn’t get resolved and if it takes up a reasonable length in the story, like, if it’s not the main conflict.
Video : 18 seconds ago
Comments : 3-4 days ago
TH-cam’s high again y’all
Edit : Fun fact ; I never knew Jenna had a patreon for her fans to get early access, my bad lol, love the video by the way.
Or maybe those viewers…I dunno, got early access to the video?
Patrons get earlier access.
@@sophieandrew4666 I haven’t been on her channel long enough to know that people could get early access, chill it’s a joke
@@sh4rky466 Jokes are meant to be funny. Or are you just saying that to try and defend yourself?
@@sophieandrew4666 I honestly have no idea. Sorry if I made you upset with my “joke” but I never knew she had a patreon or maybe I did and just forgot. I have no idea what you mean defending myself from tbh
"Sure, a job promotion isn't life or death steaks..."
Funny you should say that, I have a vague idea for a dystopian sci-fi where anyone who fails to climb the corporate ladder quickly enough is cast out to starve.
Tips start at 2:54
Great video!
Jenna, do you plan on making a video about NaNoWriMo, since it's coming up?
Any tips on how I can prepare to write the first draft of my next book all in a month? (Or as much as I can)
Are there any goals that work great for you?
Thanks! I'm trying to get my friends to participate and do their best.
Sounds like your "conflict" in The Savior's Champion didn't change at all, it was always: "how do I feed my family without having to participate in a life or death tournament."
I love the 2000s vibes in this video and this is very helpful
your back. I missed you hope you and Clif are feeling better sending hugs
My favorite kind of conflict is emotional conflict.
For example, in the novel I'm currently working on, the protagonist is made to fight her adopted brother who she loves dearly. The brother acts as both the antagonist and secondary protagonist of the book so the reader actually gets to watch as he falls to a certain dark influence. The protagonist and her brother( they are blood related but they are not siblings though they were raised as such) belong to a certain race that can sense when something happens to their kin so she knows that something is wrong with her brother. Her betrothed also cares for the brother and asks the protagonist if they should go back home(they haven't made it very far in their journey yet. Their home city is only five days away from where they currently are). The protagonist declines the offer, noting her brother's stubborn pride and that he would be offended if they abandoned the journey because of him.
Something happens that eventually does force the protagonist along with her traveling party back to her home city. On the way she is separated from her betrothed which greatly upsets her. Other things happen that break her heart until she is eventually forced to kill her brother. After suffering so many losses in such a short time, she loses the will to live. The book does end on a hopeful note with the protagonist training before continuing her journey but up until that point most of my characters are put through the wringer. That is to say the trauma isn't limited to just the main characters.
There are other smaller conflicts such as a potential future war with the most powerful of the five kingdoms that will be explored in the rest of the books(there will be five in total, one for each kingdom), the protagonist's growing fear of her nature powers due to a certain event that happened while on the road involving slavers(which is illegal in this kingdom) disguised as a traveling troupe of performers, along with other character driven conflicts.
This series has been in the works for years so I'm really looking forward to getting it out there.
I really hope it will !
It looks like a book I will be ready to devour again and again ...
And again , as well ...
how to write killer conflict.
step 1. acquire the rights to two 1980s franchises about serial killers.
step 2. put a "vs." inbetween the two franchises you just bought
step 3: ???? (this refers to the audience's reaction)
step 4: killer conflict achieved!
did I do it right?
new video!!!! i don't write as much anymore but your vids always motivate me to hjshkfsdkt (hope you and cliff are doing well. wishing him a speedy recovery!)
i started to use milanote and i love it! its so nice to organize and gets my creativity flowing. i really love all your sponsors esp this one!
Hope Cliff is on the road to recovery. ::hugs:: I remember that someone said that conflict is the engine that drives the story.
I am sad we didn't get an update. It's just like Jenna's gone and this happened. Its like a great plot was set, I can envision the setting, the characters and then Jenna returns and the whole thing falls on its face, and there is no climax, just disappointment.
Hoping for Cliff's recovery, thanks for sharing this video. 🙏
You're a cracking woman. I enjoyed such a laugh whilst taking onboard some smashing advice. I'd love to chat with you in a Pub over a beer. From England, God bless!
My fear is I’ll fall into the trap of relying on what too many books do-interpersonal conflicts. I don’t like just relying on petty drama or having characters at each other’s throats. There IS that, at least with two characters, but it’s not constant, and there’s a reason behind it. It also explore my novel’s theme: mercy. In other words, succumb to hatred or show mercy when the given the opportunity to leave that person to die and save yourself?
Wishing Cliff a speedy recovery. Glad you are back.
Thank you for providing these informations for free madam. You're really awesome. Thank you once again.
Oh God.. Jenna made another advise video, let me get my face palm ready.
She’s back! I was worried we would have to wait another year to see the pizza costume again 😭😭 hope Cliff is feeling better!
Loved the tips about increasing conflict and subverting expectations! I'll try to improve my protagonist's goals to make them feel more urgent.
Thanks Jenna!
I’m really looking forward to Shut up an write the book. I’m more than half ways through my first manuscript and I’ve got questions. Stoked.
So brave your already making videos!!
I haven't read your book, but I despise the mis-communication trope to the point of it being a pet peeve, so hearing that you resolve it the very next chapter makes me happy.
Welcome back Jenna! Hoping for Cliff's speedy recovery ❤️
SHES BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK, IM GLAD ITS OK, PRAYING :)
Argggh. Ahoy, mates! Shiver yor timbers.
I like so much more conflict in stories than in real life
Hope you and Cliff are feeling better!
I saw the pirate hat and I knew I just had to watch this video
Great advice.
Welcome back. Take it easy. 🙂
The pirate hat attracted my 10 year old to watch this to help her with her writing. Wish we knew there was adult content in this with the foul language :/
She's 10 years old. Just watch it next to her as an overseeing parent and it should be fine. She's not a toddler, she should have a general sense of right from wrong at that age.
Jenna, Thank you much.
How can I focus on a anything but that hat? 😂😂😂
You're the best
How to balance main plot and sub plots?
Nice to see Jenna's back. Apparently pirating in the seas during her absence. Nice.
How do u design a cover for ur book. I have a vision in my head but cant draw?
Usually, you don't. There's artists for that. I'm 99% sure she made a video on book covers.
i can never get enough of watching you
Not your problem; but every time I hear 'subvert expectations', I think of how Ruin Johnson ryaned Star Wars. :|
Thank u so so so much I needed this
OH MY GOSH thank you sooo much!!! The bit about conflict and change and evolved just helped me so much. I have been stuck on trying to figure out my MC’s internal conflict, thinking it had to be the same throughout. This video has literally saved my sanity and writers block. Thank you, thank you thank you!!!! 🙌🏻❤️
Conflict = story's blood
Lost writers followed Number 6 to the t, maybe too much. As for Number 5 i created a different conflict to fill the part where my MC is absent from the story revolving around my MC's absence.
Conflict? In our daily lives? ...
... No. That's just you. 😋😛🤪🤨
"Or is that just me?" lmao
OUR QUEEN HAS RETURNED!! Thank you for the video despite your family's circumstances. I hope Cliff continues with his recovery and you continue to be in a good place
nice hat where I buy it queen ?
I find it personally funny when saying the chapters have to move the story forward. Mostly because in a story I'm working on involves time travel, so moving forward is basically my characters going backwards.
9# tho💀
My conflict is staying home and dealing with our cats. I don't really have conflict other than that, it still would be my first time writing, I guess create a series and see what would happen.
I not looking for five stars three and four an half would be fine.
I think creating funny moments between characters when are close would make sense like a bathing scene, snuggle scene, being clingy to the character because one them really likes he or she sound like an idea for a anime fan service.
I will try my best that's all I need to do and hope it's good since we all create our own ways.
As always, great writing advice. We need more talented writers. Also, I tried Milanote 2 years ago when you talked about it and it’s like a whiteboard to the whiteboard power. Never going back to the one I have in the corner (never did hang it up).
Welcome back 🤗☺️
Jenna you're back! Really hoping Cliff is alright!
Hey girlie! It's good to see your face again. Missed ya, hope Cliff is a little better 😘
Welcome back, Jenna. Hope you and Cliff are doing well.
Glad you’re back!!! I hope Cliff makes a speedy recovery!
Yeah! So glad to see you! Hope your sweet heart is healing well. ❤️❤️
EGG PLANT
Good to see you back. I hope Cliff and Butters are doing well.
I hope this means that Cliff is home. Don't forget to take care of yourself, too.
The cyborg has returned. Prayers for cliff
So happy to see you’re back! I hope everything is well!🎉
welcome back....how is Cliff doing?
YAY you’re back hope you are feeling better Jenna ❤
WE'VE MISSED YOU!❤️💜💙❤️💜💙❤️💜💙
This was your best one yet! I love conflict!
Great vid! Thanks Jena, just what I needed
Your the BEST JENNA! ❤
I hope your husband is better all the best
Hope Cliff gets better soon.
Great to see you back Jenna!! ☺️
you're so good at what you do
Glad you are back
Great video!
I KNEW IT!
👌
Jenna ❤❤
Good video, but I have to disagree on two points:
1.I don't think "filler" in the loosest sense possible is nessessarily a bad thing. If it's just pure filler with no conflict its bad, but i think there's something to be said about slowing down the main plot for just a moment to explore the psychology of the characters, at least in stories extremely focused on the characters psyche
2. I don't think you should think of genres have "rules"...
1. No kidding, eh? I tried writing a book in early university that had NO conflict, because, I figured, the real world can be messy enough. And you know what? IT WAS BORING. I might revive it, though, at some point, because the actual premise was good. I would even sy that conflict could be some kind of task...? Maybe. Depends on how you write it. But kids' books, and I men for YOUNG kids, like the "Arthur" series, right, take a book like "Arthur's Glasses". I know, I know, but work with me here. He can't see well enough to be passing his classes, he needs glasses, he gets glasses, feels self-conscious about it, discovers that people he admires wear glasses, too, starts to feel better about it, and bam, resolution. I read to my nieces and nephew a lot when they were little, eh.
2. In my own work, with my four mains...
Adam: His ego (at first)
Victoria: Her family's reputation (at first)
Stephen: His ambitions (and it stays this way, but his ambitions change)
Kayla: Her physical appearance (she's only 14), but also her family and friends
3. All four of them have obstacles: Adam's self-conscious about becoming a wheelchair user at the start of the book, and has to reconcile, Victoria falls in love with a BIPOC guy and has to worry about her dad, who's a racist prick, Stephen is...Stephen...which, trust me, is a phrase that explain itself in my writing, but let me clarify: "Prince f*cking Adam, going around like a helpless little baby on his throne with wheels, and I'm expected to act like it's totally normal? That and mom and dad giving me all his work. 'Stephen, can you sleep in the same room as him to make sure he doesn't fall out of bed? Stephen, can you smile like this is just another ordinary day when you're out in public with him? Stephen, can you make sure baby doesn't have an accident? Stephen, can you wipe the royal ass?', and on and f*cking on!" Uhh...yep, that's Stephen. At first. And then you get my poor Kayla, who, through SOME miracle of science, actually LIKES Stephen, feels bad for her big brother, but doesn't know how to help him, and she gets ignored by everyone else.
4. Realistic fiction. How am I doing?
5. Working o n it. All of their four threads start off FAIRLY distinct from one another, but once the plot hits the fan, and it hits HARD, I intend to twist all four of their threadds in around one another, so that they support one another, as well as the plot. Stephen's going to have the most to work through, though, so drawing him in is going to be a big thing in itself. TECHNICALLY, this book is also a romance, so the can-they-can't-they between Victoria and Jeremy (her BIPOC boy) is obviously a main factor here, too, but Jeremy's involved in the plot in a lot of other ways, too, namely as Stephen's murder-crush. For those who aren't aware, "murder crush" is the person you hate SO MUCH that you're obsessed with them. You want to kill them, but you're also kind of their stalker. And this is entirely one-sided. Jeremy's having none of that sh*t . To be clear, he hates Stephen, too, but it's not to the same pitch.
6. I'm...okay?...at doing this? But since I'm planning multiple sequels, there also have to be multiple unanswered questions by the end of the book. I FINALLY heard from the second half of the book about what it wants to be when it grows up, praise the Gods, and I DO have ideas...but how to implement...hmm...
7. Working on it. But I realized a while back that I have SO MANY TYPOS in the first half of this thing that you would swear it's intentional. It's not. I sustained a really bad injury to my left hand back in 2018, and I haven't been able to feel the tips of my fingers since then, which is SUPER "convenient", given that I'm left-handed, but I even have to back-edit all my comments on videos and stuff, eh, so I'm currently in the process of editing my first half so that I can actually read it without wanting to kick myself.
8. Different books, different conflicts, in my case, given that I delineated this book's conflicts above, other than, you know, the actual plot. But with the next one, there's going to be a lot more about how these four kids fit into this new world where I put them in the middle of the firs t book. It's not a literal "other world', because realistic fiction, but the place where they are is its own, like...subculture? "One Eagle's Wings" (book one) is about them starting to get over their various foibles, while "Sal t of the Earth" (book two) is about the people they grow into being once having overcome those things. And NO, Adam's thing to overcome isn't the wheelchair. It's his shame about it. Because, speaking from the perspective of a woman with multiple disabilities, disability is not something I think it's productive to be ashamed of. Thank you for reading this PSA.
9. Oh yeah, and the actual PLOT is that these four kids' father is a total religious zealot with way too much power and money, he's abusive to his wife (she gets her own book later on), he taught his daughters to be fearful of the whole world, while simultaneously teaching his sons to stomp on the world until it surrenders. Sh*t goes down, CPS gets involved, and, needless to say, all four of them need a nice, long, cleansing bah...for their brins...to get the dad's influence out. He's like mud .And he doesn't last beyond book one. Like, he survives--should clarify--but I would be satisfied to see him behind bars for a few decades after what he does. Need to look up how long a prison sentence someone gets for beating their own kid almost to death. In Florida. I THINK I read that it's twenty years at min, thirty at max? I know this may be a bit to ask, but can anyone clarify?
10. Yeah, that's what the second half of my book has been whispering at me. Thing is, these four were raised by, and I can't emphasize this enough, CAP-I-TAL-ISTS--we're talking freaking Donald Trump levels of bigotry, but only with a fraction, though a fairly sizeable fraction, of his wealth--while the environment they get brought to is a literal commune that operates under the Anarcho-Communist model. The culture shock alone, right? But I'm using the second half to air my own political views, as well as developing a story around them. Jeremy, Victoria's love interest, is my political and moral voice throughout the book, and he lives in this place and was raised there. And I know that writing from a particularly political stand is obviously nothing new, but I find Jeremy's naivety about it all rather charming, given that it's mine, too. But, for example, a question he asks is along the lines of, "Everyone raises their children to share, right? But, when we're adults, what, are we suddenly just supposed to put that aside and start cannibalizing one another? If that's the case, why not skip the sharing step, and just teach our kids that might makes right, right from the very beginning?" But his implication, of course, is how cold and cruel a world that would be. So you can see my own naivety in that, because I LITERALLY don't understand that one. Capitalism is stupid. Which is, ironically, my two cents, LOL.
Bro literally write an thesis
Pfftt.....I bet Millinote can and has been hacked into---just like my Microsoft word has been. I WON'T be using it... .
YESSS SHES BACK! Hoping cliff makes a speedy recovery ❤️🩹
Also as someone who uses millanote, it’s better than she says! Use it I recommend so hard!