Відео

Sorry to be the 70th view. ;)

Damn, she really CAN do everything! EVeRYTHIIIng!

Not what I expected, but welcome 💖

It is helpful, thanks for your perspective!

That's the Da Vinci way! 💪💪

Oh Amazon......... You piece of shit!

Still better than Dan Brown, am i right fellas?

'promo sm'

“House of Leaves”

I don't know much about horror literatura but, near the end of George Orwell's 1984 there's a certain incident with a group of rodents that really made my skin crawl

Hi

You're doing it wrong

I've pantsed my way through roughly 40k words (with a part 1 ending written through gritted teeth). Then I got stuck because I couldn't pants any longer. Then I took a long look backwards and thought to myself, "this plot isn't very good, maybe I should have done at least a rough outline". And now I'm stuck, both because the pantsing stopped and because plotting feels like closing many doors. They say "a thousand noes for one yes" but what if I'm really sensitive to noes?

Lotta good thoughts in this one. I might just be restating what you already said but it's how my thinking through of things works. I see the same things you're seeing, but I think my only real difference is on framing. I can't speak for David Lynch's creative approach but I think it's less "fuck the audience" and more "my audience is a subset of the whole and I'm ok with that." It does feel like all of this is only a problem because of the need for financial security: there's a gap between where you are and the reality where what you want to write is aligned with getting that stability. I see a few solutions. One solution that doesn't require changing how you write is to already have a steady income outside of the work (UBI? Marrying someone rich? A main corpo job? have inheritance/savings to last you a while?). This kind of requires either working multiple jobs at the same time, or luck (which might have already passed), so, not great. Also, it requires accepting failure: you might never get an audience enough to live off of, but if you're okay with that, then at least you create something that you and people like you enjoy, and maybe that's more important/acceptable. Another solution would be somehow getting enough good marketing that the thing you want to write is seen by enough people that are interested that you gain that audience and can pay those bills. This sort of skips the following solution, but I don't know how this is doable without having friends in high places or catching lightening in a bottle. Also not great. The more approachable/realistic solution, as you noted, is to instead re-orient your writing to what people want, ride the wave of mass appeal to do the marketing for you without a wish from a genie. But what people want isn't even necessarily unknown: You are introducing an unknown factor to the creative process, which produces an anxiety. Assuming that what you want to write is internally consistent, because it's only in your head, you could be more assured that plot points are justified and hit well. This is what Swift Ya's comment is talking about, I think. Trying to chase public appeal might result in the worst of both worlds, the HP love story fiasco: She didn't write the story she wanted (I assume?) _and_ the audience didn't want what she wrote. But there's not really another option here. With this path, some amount of what you want to write has to factor in this unknown quantity of what you think people want. As I've heard it described, this is the entire point of having these aggressive edits supplied by publishers: they are selling themselves to writers on the promise that they have their finger on the pulse of the market, and know what they want, and they'll charge a pretty penny to share that info, or otherwise have a high bar for what they're willing to take a risk on. I suppose with enough attempts, the aim is to start writing with some amount of this mass appeal influence and then eventually re-orient towards the stuff you really want to write, bleeding off some readers but keeping (and adding on) enough people that are your kind of people to keep the lights on. To grow into David Lynch. Personally, I'm of that first solution. I wrote a little in high school and enjoyed it, but put it aside for getting a computer science degree. It's only now, 10 years later, that I have finally gained enough funds and work a job with enough flexibility to not sweat the small stuff and spend time on writing. But it comes at a cost, I'm actually considering quitting my job in the next few weeks because of how stressful it is. I got savings to last a while, but nothing enough to retire (especially since I'm renting :///). But, I do plan on doing some writing while I can, and we'll see where I end up. Maybe I'll publish a book and make some money, maybe not, but I got lots of disparate skills and personal projects to spend time on. I'm definitely the kind of artist willing to write a book and only have myself to read it, the point of sharing it is then on the chance that others might also enjoy it like I do, but that's not my priority. It comes with drawbacks/risks but I know what they are and can accept them. Probably the most we can hope for out of any decision we make, eh? Anyway, thanks for this video Magdalen! I hope warm air lifts you as you take your next steps. :]

I've gone 100k words into a cyberpunk novel that started out as a few short stories, until I realized I never had an actual overarching story to tell. I worked out an outline to get it all to work, but working through that and actually finishing the thing just wasn't giving me joy. Instead, I kept thinking about this fantasy novel idea I've had for years, and started developing that properly in my head while I was supposed to work on my ending. So instead I just sidelined the cyberpunk novel and started the other one. I'm now 175k words (300 pages) into that one, and there's maybe 50 pages or so to go. And you know what? Again, I'm already thinking about the next one. What is wrong with me? After ruminating on it for a while, what I've found is that I just like to come up with new things. Having the ending figured out and having to write it down? That's not new. That's old thoughts. But I have new thoughts to write!! (This might also be an ADHD specific thing which you might relate to lol) Once I diagnosed this issue, I figured I needed a different reason to write than just "newness". I keep reminding myself that I've never written any of this because of the capital p Plot, but because of the characters. And what's so bad about writing this ending, then? I get to spend some more time with the characters, figure out how they react to the end, and for some of them that means a horrible death which is either the conclusion to their arc or a cruel interruption. I don't want to do my characters dirty by not granting them that conclusion, and that is getting me to actually keep working on this. And realizing that, it's actually fun to write again! There's also this bit of writing advice that I keep reminding myself of, which I believe was from Dan Harmon, who said "Sit down and prove to yourself what a bad writer you are." It really resonates with me, because it circumvents all these thoughts and the self doubt that leads to unproductive perfectionism. I tell myself to just write it badly. It doesn't have to be perfect, or even good. I can still make it better later. Somehow, it works for me. Thanks for your videos, it's nice to see someone struggle with similar issues <3

I liked the Sim house analogy haha! But yeah, being a creator in such a capitalist world sucks :/ I try not to be too cynical about it too, but you're right, that when it comes to art vs content, artistry has turned into a career path that requires success with content so you can *then* do what you're passionate about.

I agree the ending is dificult, what helped me is structure. Abbie Emmons is a author on UA-cam that has a fantastic guide on beats to write a story. Your not forced to follow the structure but it can help you think about the story. Another idea to keep in mind is that practice makes perfect. Once you get the hang on how stories are made/created, you can start exploring more.

If I wanted to get the ending that I "want" rather than the one the author thinks I deserve, I would watch a Hallmark movie. Being mad/upset/unsatisfied with an ending is part of the experience sometimes.

also I LOVE your David Lynch impression 🤣🤣

Have you read the Essay on writing Stephen King wrote?

Do I stick to my previously laid plans because I'm as stubborn as an old mule, or do I allow myself to change and see where things are going, like a leaf that blows from one gutter to another? Either way, I suspect that I'm a fraud. A tale as old as time.

I actually dug Mimi Rose, i didn't know what the hell was going on but that's precisely what i enjoy. I Guess that all you can do Is just whatever you want because you like It and hope for the Best.

Lots of writers don’t do the whole “I know the end” because the ending might be completely different after you know the characters more from writing. Write as if you don’t even know where it’s going. Let it surprise you.

I enjoyed Mimi Rose Manor.

This is cool. I like this. I think, if you have the ending in mind as you write, then the story will inevitably support it. People might predict it incorrectly, but they won't be able to deny it was the "right" ending, because the seeds of it will always be there. Even if you set up problems and conflicts for the characters that you don't know how to pull towards that ending, you know what it is, so the conflicts you come up with will be somehow relevant to the story you get by shining a laser from the characters to the ending, instead of just random problems that anyone in any situation could have. Art Vs Content... This is something that bugs me, but what I like is that art seems to win most of the time. Everything anyone says is good and wants to support, that's on the Art side of things, something the creator wanted to make, whereas Content, which I think of as like, quickly generated top ten lists and stuff like that, nobody actually likes that stuff. But it's easy for me to say, my actual Art voice is pretty commercial. My weirdest, most personal stuff is still basically built out of stuff I consumed because it was popular enough to reach me, so I couldn't make a MimiRose Manor. Even if I did, an authentic part of the expression in my case would be trying to put it in a shape other people would enjoy and not realise they were being indoctrinated into the Stuff I Alone Love haha When I think about this question I tend to think, ok, if something is Content, then the question is what's it's the contents of? Someone else's website? Well that's everything now, that's not even shameful. I mean the great novels are Content of the publisher's portfolio, right? So to me, the only time to worry is if the people consuming it think of it more as Content of that other entity than as your creation. I think as long as you make something like what you want to make, that won't happen. As for your current series, if you can keep readers to the end, you won at art, you did it! They're on your side, so they're ready now for your ending. (Of course that does rely on you to actually have a decent ending in your pocket, which certain writers didn't) Is it obvious I'm writing this while I wait for the bed to warm up and should be asleep?

I think part of our job as writers is to convince the reader (through the text) that the ending we've chosen is not only the best ending, but also the only possible ending, given what has proceeded it. Easier said than done, of course!

*pours one out for Mimi Rose Manor*

I don't hear too many people saying the Harry Potter books suck. I haven't read them. I saw a couple of the movies while visiting family (they had kids; therefore, they had HP tapes) and decided I probably wouldn't like the books either. What sucks about the books? (Oh, you answered it later.) The guy who wrote The Scarlet Letter wrote page long sentences too. I hated reading that book. Not selling out vs not starving: why not do both? -- actual non-rhetorical question (I'm not a writer). Now I'm curious. Gonna check out MimiRose and see if it's as weird as Eraser Head. I don't remember where I read/heard this, but Charles Dickens changed the ending of Great Expectations because his editor told him not many people were going to buy it unless he did.

I've gone the hardcore commercial write-to-the-market route before and burned out doing that, so now I make myself view writing strictly as a hobby. It's great when my books make money and I like to put that money back into publishing more books, but I avoid thinking of it as a way to pay the bills. It helps that I love my day job. As for the endings of my books, I write romance novels so the end is a foregone conclusion, lol.

This was helpful! I completed the first draft of the alien/angel/eldritch short story your other video helped me come up with. Good vibes :)

Well, take that Anime girl from beats to study volume 1, This Is the real deal! Not but really, this Is so good!

Soothing!

Another angle: I write things and don't publish them because I think they're shite. I don't care what other people think.

The price is you have to go to the seedy tavern. Seedy taverns aren't a plus point to everyone, and the narrator is a germophobe Plus the queue in the bar is quite long

Solid music choice, as always

the drink itself was actually free because of what an honor it was when she got to make the drink. There is a catch, though. You must provide the garnish for this sacred drink yourself. The garnish is...

That is actually really, really good advice and I never thought of it this way... thank you, this was really helpful!!

Well there's the opening to the duo book (s) I'm writing done. Here's to the next...

Thank you for this! Meant to comment during the stream, but then I got so focused on writing that I spent the next few hours doing it and forgot. :)

Well I did it, I spent those thirty minutes writing a few paragraphs based on a dormant outline I whipped up months ago. Thanks for the nudge, Mags!