Great advice, thank you for the video! I learnt the hard way that morning writing is the best way to get started after spinning my wheels for a year following my first two book releases. Now my first thing to do every day is 2 writing sprints (25 min each) and I can usually get about 1000 words in that time. Then I go to my paid work. Not only does it help create that habit and routine, but also the feeling of accomplishment that no matter what else happens during the day I have done 'some' writing towards my personal achievements, and that's a great feeling. Keep up the great content!
You mentioned discovery writing being another form of outlining and I tend to agree. Though in my experience the time allotted for the outline significantly affects the outcome. I'm a discovery writer and I work in a very similar way to Stephen King. I know he has mentioned the very same thing that I do in interviews in that, though the story is made up as we follow our characters to see where they go or want to take the story, I spend a scheduled amount of time each day thinking about the next chapter and what needs to happen next in the story whether it be when I go to bed falling asleep or sometime in the day when I go for a walk. In that approach, It is outlined so to speak, but outlined daily in my head one chapter at a time. I write approximately 2000 words a day this way, which is close to most of my chapter lengths. I prefer this method because it gives my brain much more time to come up with unique ideas for the story from interacting with my world and finding unexpected inspiration over a broad length of time. This gives me 3 to 4 months-depending on the length of the book-worth of creative musing to take the story places I could never have fathomed inside a week or a month even of pre-outlining, and I never get writer's block. I've tried doing outlines several times in the past beforehand, and it just doesn't come out as good for me personally. My fantasy series starts off with five viewpoint characters and expands as the series progresses much in the same way that A Song of Ice & Fire does. I'm an indie author and don't have a huge following as of yet, but the first two books in my series have been received very well so far. I love your work, by the way, I've read Empire of Silence and plan to start the next book soon. Also, I love your channel!
Thanks for writing, Michael! I don't mean to suggest that outlining is mandatory or anything, only that IF someone were stuck, it might be a way out of that situation, and one I think some people haven't considered. I'm pretty envious of your method--and to tell the truth that's about the way I wrote Empire of Silence, but once they started giving me deadlines for the later releases, I had to adapt!
You are a rare and very special gift to mankind. As the one true living being in this universe. I can tell you for sure that you are about to blow up in popularity. Keep kicking ass.
Thanks Christopher! I love this type of content and this approach. Hard agree, not enough authors talk about this kind of mindset in regards to writing.
Serious note: mental illness plus disability have reigned since, well, day 1. Then when I started writing at 19, it informed that endeavor. I’m now 38 tomorrow, and still have made very, very little progress. I’ve made efforts by way of getting into therapy, but I think, also, a large part of it is a cognitive problem. Cognitively, knowing what must happen, in a story I MYSELF write, is a vastly different thing to knowing how OTHERS do it, via watching every example ever of, say, the hero’s journey.
I’ve recently been reminded of the great importance of outlining as I’m currently in the outlining stage of my first book. However, despite saying writing is important to me I have not yet made a daily habit of it. If I don’t get on that, I’ll never finish the book.
I used to think I could be a "pantser," and then discovered pretty quickly that just didn't work. As you note, it is possible to write this way, and there are no hard rules about it, but if you want to write a book with a strong plot, you do need SOME planning. I spent all of 2020 drafting a book, and I had a pretty loose outline, which was just enough to keep me going and to prevent hitting a wall. I did, however, find a method that worked well for me, however unconventional. I wrote the first draft as a memoir, in first person. I had already written two actual memoirs, and thought it would be a good way to get me into writing fiction. It turned out to be the best decision, and I gave myself a standing order to write every weekday, and at least 600-1,000 words per session. I'm now working through the second draft, and I've transformed it into third person, adding in a couple of extra POV characters. I wouldn't say it's the best method, necessarily, but it has worked for me.
@@SunEaterBooks I would also like to stress the vital importance of reading widely and often. One of the main reasons I don't struggle with writing is I've always been an avid reader, and I don't limit myself to one genre or type of book. I'm just as happy reading about the history of migrations (as someone who has spent my life living in various parts of the world, this is a fascinating topic for me), as I am a nail-biting thriller, space opera, high fantasy, and straightforward drama. Side note: I love that your main character is called Hadrian. I have a mini-obsession with Hadrian the Roman emperor, and if you're not familiar with Memoirs of Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar, I highly recommend it. Though it's best read in the original French, it's a compelling novel of Hadrian's life told in first person.
Nice advice. I agree with outliners discovering as they go. I haven’t published a book but I enjoy writing. The way I like the write and workout my story is have my idea.(I know a lot of the story in my head but it’s just cool bits I like.) Then write my first chapter and see where that goes. Maybe another chapter then I’m in my world on paper. Now it’s down I like the add to each chapter who’s chapter it is and plan that out. The first few chapters I write what targets I’m heading for and what I want. Then I start writing and aiming for them. It always changes and I add more stuff. My cast grows and I have to add more notes that this and that chapter need this and that. (Targets). I then add more chapters with new characters and I just keep building like this. I do feel like I plan each chapter with a few targets and notes I want to hit then I just discover everything to that point. If it changes it changes but I just run. Haha.
Great info as always. In regards to planning, do you have any tips on how to outline? Do you do it like a puzzle and do the border first and then fill in the rest? I have so many ideas, but cutting it into pieces are where I struggle.
I start really small and build. I'll write maybe a 2-5 page summary of the plot, then identify what the big plot points are, and figure out how many acts the book has, and sort of build my outline from there. My chapters are usually pretty consistent in length, so I look at all I want to accomplish and say, "If I want the book to be this long, I need to do X by chapter 10, Y by 25, and Z by 40, which means I've got about this much space to build up to these points, and figure out how to chop up that description I've already written into 5, 10, 15, etc chapters--whatever I need. Then I go through and take the couple sentences from that 2-5 page summary that correspond to each chapter and start filling them out until each is about a page of information. Does that help?
Just stumbled over your channel after reading Empire of Silence. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I thank you for that. Hopefully I will have time over the Christmas period to read the following novels. Out of interest, how many drafts do you undertake? And what are some of your favourite novels?
Thanks for reading, Thomas! Usually, a book goes through about 3 drafts (four if you count that outline as one, which I sort of do), but the writing mostly happens in the first draft, with those latter ones being edits and revisions of varying intensity. Favorite book ever is Lord of the Rings. Love Dune (perhaps obviously), and I'm a big fan of A Canticle for Leibowitz, for a more obscure pick.
Hi Cristopher! I have a question: Which are your 10 favorite works of literature, regardless of genre and regardless of medium (comics, manga etc. included)?
I wonder why that first step is so hard for me. For me after I wrestle with my moods or whatever to finally sit down to write I find myself hating how easy it is to do the writing part. All that struggle prior to actually doing the work is so pointless and it feels so primitive.
I'm not a writer, but I would have guessed that rule #1 is to unplug from social media. Such a distraction.
You caught me haha. It's a catch 22. You need it to market and community build, but you also need it to GO AWAY.
Great advice, thank you for the video! I learnt the hard way that morning writing is the best way to get started after spinning my wheels for a year following my first two book releases. Now my first thing to do every day is 2 writing sprints (25 min each) and I can usually get about 1000 words in that time. Then I go to my paid work. Not only does it help create that habit and routine, but also the feeling of accomplishment that no matter what else happens during the day I have done 'some' writing towards my personal achievements, and that's a great feeling. Keep up the great content!
Keep writing, you are good!
I believe you because, see, you look like you know what you’re talking about with that very serious business suit on.
You mentioned discovery writing being another form of outlining and I tend to agree. Though in my experience the time allotted for the outline significantly affects the outcome. I'm a discovery writer and I work in a very similar way to Stephen King. I know he has mentioned the very same thing that I do in interviews in that, though the story is made up as we follow our characters to see where they go or want to take the story, I spend a scheduled amount of time each day thinking about the next chapter and what needs to happen next in the story whether it be when I go to bed falling asleep or sometime in the day when I go for a walk. In that approach, It is outlined so to speak, but outlined daily in my head one chapter at a time. I write approximately 2000 words a day this way, which is close to most of my chapter lengths. I prefer this method because it gives my brain much more time to come up with unique ideas for the story from interacting with my world and finding unexpected inspiration over a broad length of time. This gives me 3 to 4 months-depending on the length of the book-worth of creative musing to take the story places I could never have fathomed inside a week or a month even of pre-outlining, and I never get writer's block. I've tried doing outlines several times in the past beforehand, and it just doesn't come out as good for me personally. My fantasy series starts off with five viewpoint characters and expands as the series progresses much in the same way that A Song of Ice & Fire does. I'm an indie author and don't have a huge following as of yet, but the first two books in my series have been received very well so far. I love your work, by the way, I've read Empire of Silence and plan to start the next book soon. Also, I love your channel!
Thanks for writing, Michael! I don't mean to suggest that outlining is mandatory or anything, only that IF someone were stuck, it might be a way out of that situation, and one I think some people haven't considered. I'm pretty envious of your method--and to tell the truth that's about the way I wrote Empire of Silence, but once they started giving me deadlines for the later releases, I had to adapt!
@@SunEaterBooks That sounds like a good problem to have!
You are a rare and very special gift to mankind. As the one true living being in this universe. I can tell you for sure that you are about to blow up in popularity. Keep kicking ass.
Thanks Christopher! I love this type of content and this approach. Hard agree, not enough authors talk about this kind of mindset in regards to writing.
I just hope it helps!
wow i think your energy and pep in the video answers the question of the video !
Ha! I hope you're right.
Serious note: mental illness plus disability have reigned since, well, day 1. Then when I started writing at 19, it informed that endeavor.
I’m now 38 tomorrow, and still have made very, very little progress. I’ve made efforts by way of getting into therapy, but I think, also, a large part of it is a cognitive problem. Cognitively, knowing what must happen, in a story I MYSELF write, is a vastly different thing to knowing how OTHERS do it, via watching every example ever of, say, the hero’s journey.
I’ve recently been reminded of the great importance of outlining as I’m currently in the outlining stage of my first book. However, despite saying writing is important to me I have not yet made a daily habit of it. If I don’t get on that, I’ll never finish the book.
I used to think I could be a "pantser," and then discovered pretty quickly that just didn't work. As you note, it is possible to write this way, and there are no hard rules about it, but if you want to write a book with a strong plot, you do need SOME planning. I spent all of 2020 drafting a book, and I had a pretty loose outline, which was just enough to keep me going and to prevent hitting a wall.
I did, however, find a method that worked well for me, however unconventional. I wrote the first draft as a memoir, in first person. I had already written two actual memoirs, and thought it would be a good way to get me into writing fiction. It turned out to be the best decision, and I gave myself a standing order to write every weekday, and at least 600-1,000 words per session. I'm now working through the second draft, and I've transformed it into third person, adding in a couple of extra POV characters. I wouldn't say it's the best method, necessarily, but it has worked for me.
Ultimately, that's the best any of us can hope for: finding a system that works for us. Glad you found one! Good luck writing there, Jason!
@@SunEaterBooks I would also like to stress the vital importance of reading widely and often. One of the main reasons I don't struggle with writing is I've always been an avid reader, and I don't limit myself to one genre or type of book. I'm just as happy reading about the history of migrations (as someone who has spent my life living in various parts of the world, this is a fascinating topic for me), as I am a nail-biting thriller, space opera, high fantasy, and straightforward drama.
Side note: I love that your main character is called Hadrian. I have a mini-obsession with Hadrian the Roman emperor, and if you're not familiar with Memoirs of Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar, I highly recommend it. Though it's best read in the original French, it's a compelling novel of Hadrian's life told in first person.
Nice advice. I agree with outliners discovering as they go.
I haven’t published a book but I enjoy writing. The way I like the write and workout my story is have my idea.(I know a lot of the story in my head but it’s just cool bits I like.)
Then write my first chapter and see where that goes. Maybe another chapter then I’m in my world on paper.
Now it’s down I like the add to each chapter who’s chapter it is and plan that out. The first few chapters I write what targets I’m heading for and what I want. Then I start writing and aiming for them. It always changes and I add more stuff.
My cast grows and I have to add more notes that this and that chapter need this and that. (Targets).
I then add more chapters with new characters and I just keep building like this. I do feel like I plan each chapter with a few targets and notes I want to hit then I just discover everything to that point. If it changes it changes but I just run. Haha.
Sounds like you have a system that works for you--and that ultimately is what matters!
@@SunEaterBooks it’s just another way. I would say a hybrid way haha
Great info as always. In regards to planning, do you have any tips on how to outline? Do you do it like a puzzle and do the border first and then fill in the rest? I have so many ideas, but cutting it into pieces are where I struggle.
I start really small and build. I'll write maybe a 2-5 page summary of the plot, then identify what the big plot points are, and figure out how many acts the book has, and sort of build my outline from there. My chapters are usually pretty consistent in length, so I look at all I want to accomplish and say, "If I want the book to be this long, I need to do X by chapter 10, Y by 25, and Z by 40, which means I've got about this much space to build up to these points, and figure out how to chop up that description I've already written into 5, 10, 15, etc chapters--whatever I need.
Then I go through and take the couple sentences from that 2-5 page summary that correspond to each chapter and start filling them out until each is about a page of information. Does that help?
Just stumbled over your channel after reading Empire of Silence. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I thank you for that. Hopefully I will have time over the Christmas period to read the following novels.
Out of interest, how many drafts do you undertake? And what are some of your favourite novels?
Thanks for reading, Thomas!
Usually, a book goes through about 3 drafts (four if you count that outline as one, which I sort of do), but the writing mostly happens in the first draft, with those latter ones being edits and revisions of varying intensity.
Favorite book ever is Lord of the Rings. Love Dune (perhaps obviously), and I'm a big fan of A Canticle for Leibowitz, for a more obscure pick.
[Jack Nicholson voice]: Nice outfit.
Thanks!
It's the lapel pin and pocket square game coming in strong
@@buggzero The lowest effort dressing up of which I'm capable.
Hi Cristopher! I have a question: Which are your 10 favorite works of literature, regardless of genre and regardless of medium (comics, manga etc. included)?
You know, that's a video I really ought to make. My favorite book of all time is Lord of the Rings, but I'll have to think about the whole list.
@@SunEaterBooks Please do make the video
I do 10K a week. I would double that if I had time.
Yeah, I'm 7-10K per week at the moment. It's entirely too slow.
Greetings from Pakistan. 😍
I wonder why that first step is so hard for me. For me after I wrestle with my moods or whatever to finally sit down to write I find myself hating how easy it is to do the writing part. All that struggle prior to actually doing the work is so pointless and it feels so primitive.
Man, that's a struggle in itself. I totally get it.