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It's like my guitar student asking, when they finally become a guitarist. If you play guitar, you're a guitarist. Nobody will stop you on the street to check your license. And even if you've only been at it for a month, you're already a better guitarist than 99% of all the people around you.
I tried all the 3 activities, honestly it was fun just writing and not worrying if I am doing good or not, just letting words work their way on my notebook. I definitely enjoyed it.
That's great! Follow that feeling. Put that bad experience aside for now (as much as you can) and just be as creative as possible. It was always there!
I always appreciate how supportive and positive and encouraging you are with yourself and other writers. Too many of us take up writing with dollar signs and movie contracts clouding our vision. That's the Hollywood-ized version of what a writer's life should be like, but it's 100% NOT reality. When reality finally does sink in, we think we failed, and we get discouraged. Media makes it it hard for us to shatter that initial disillusionment, but we MUST do it!
I haven't written anything since I left school in the 1980s, yes I'm old, but I had a go at the exercises and really enjoyed them. Thank you for a wonderful supportive video.
Aw Andy! Your age is completely and utterly irrelevant. Those who place no limitations on themselves as older adults...Those who don't see a number as a hindrance of any sort...they are rare. I don't see the lack of older adults taking their dreams on as a sign that they shouldn't. Instead I see the few who do...and I know that others just haven't yet believed the same of themselves. You do whatever makes you happy. Whatever you want! It's your life. You deserve to be happy. Your age changes nothing. Assumptions are just that. They're air. The stigma and or opinions of society are just that. They bare no meaning... You do what makes you feel good!!! ❤ You're NEVER too old. It is NEVER too late. As long as you're alive, and as long as you're a human...Live your life however you would like. Don't let those unrealistic beliefs hold you back. ❤❤
I followed the 3 exercises. The third one is the hardest.. After these exercises, I wrote a short story with 1510 words. So I was able to write a total of close to 2000 words today. The last time I wrote a short story was 3 weeks ago. Thank you. You are very inspiring and motivating.
The timing of this video is insane. Just when I was thinking of giving up the idea of writing a story before I could even start, thinking I was too incompetent. I'm actually impressed with the dialogue I wrote in those exercises. All what I had to do is break the ice and put my ideas on paper regardless. This video allowed me to do that. Thank yo so much ✨It was really helpful.
That's great! It's encouraging to know that the exercises help. I really do think there's some secret power in breaking the ice and getting words down. Thanks for letting me know this helped, I'm really glad it did.
Time’s gonna pass anyway is the greatest advice, especially for creative endeavors. I’ve heard that years ago and started writing. I don’t feel daunted nor pressured whenever I’m writing after that.
Exercise 3 is definitely the best one of the three. I cringe over everything i write and never think anything is good enough. This can cripple my writing for months. This video is great!
The first thing you write will be garbage. But write that garbage story, finish it & then you will be a step further down the line than you were before you started it. I've gone back & read things I wrote 30 years ago, & thought--Oh, what was I doing there? Read more, & expand your reading horizon. Step by step you will learn the craft. Start with just writing one good sentence. Then, expand that to a paragraph. You're on your way.
Absolutely love your videos. You are the only writing advice channel I have come across that seems to be rooted in truth. There are no strict rules, just suggestions. Keep it up, you deserve whatever success comes your way.
Thank you so much! I definitely just want to suggest, and not dictate. I can't tell someone else's story, but if I can help them to tell it, that's what I want to do.
Hey man, I have to share with you that I used to write a lot of short horror stories, and just fiction out of my life experiences, and I thought I was awesome. I also got validations from people around me - but one day it just stopped- and I haven’t been writing for almost 10 years now. Though I always had some kind of yearning to get back to it but didn’t know how to , especially with work and family life. But I have to say - taking 15 minutes to follow your steps, is really helping me to hear that voice in me that I’ve abandoned for so long, so I really want to thank you for this! Step one - easy Step two - tricky (I had David from King’s Breathing Method and The Dude) Step three - surprisingly easy every time!
That's great! I'm really glad it could get you moving again. Sometimes just taking over the brain and starting the mechanics of writing can kick-start you a bit. You don't always have to wait for the ideas or the muse. Awesome that it helped, and thanks for letting me know!
Reading plays helps with dialogue patterns and pacing. I acted and directed for many years, which is why I prefer to write dialogue rather than setting descriptions! :)
I really enjoyed this video!! I've been a huge reader this year and it sparked my desire to write my own series. I have ideas that are pouring out of me. I'm actually excited to get started and personally don't care if I don't make money, I wanna do this because I believe it to be a good creative past time. Like an outlet for my creativity. And I want to write this specific series because it's something I would TOTALLY read. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from my own life, so the main character would be based off of myself. I guess it's like a fictional idealized world for myself. I think that my ideas are so good and I'm excited to put them down on paper.
Starting from a place of excitement, and aiming to write a story that you want to read is a good start! It'll take you further than you think, just don't give up if initially it's tough, it'll get easier.
The algorithm blessed me today! This wasn’t a video that I was searching for however, I’ve been recently clicking on a lot of ambient music playlists for writing so it makes sense that the algorithm sent me this direction. Immediate sub! I love the positivity and the encouragement
Thanks for subscribing ☺️ Maybe the algorithm connected it because I said something about ambient music playing during the exercises? Whatever the case, glad you’re here! Welcome!
I loved the writing exercises. I have 3 novels started, and i never give myself the freedom to just write. I indent, check spelling, etc. The exercises gave me freedom to write, to not be so critical, and it was fun. Thank you for your videos. You are the first person that gives permission to just write. Everyone else it seemed to me would get into the precision of writing. I loved English in school, but I never got the whole adverbs, nouns and such. I recognize them just not the structure. Besides, I write the way I speak, which isn't always a good idea. So I really thank you and I'm watching more of you vids.
I do that stuff too! Tidying up here and there so I can avoid getting to the really important stuff. It's natural I think. Having permission to just take a crack at it I think really can open a lot of doors. Just trying things often works out better than you think, and if it doesn't, at least you learned something to avoid in the future I guess. Yeah, I do try to stay away from the technical side if I can, I write by feel really, and I think a lot of that stuff can be fixed in editing, but you can't really fix the heart of the story with grammar rules and such!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I agree. I've been watching a Master Class of one of my favorite authors, Dan Brown. When I read the Da Vinci Code, from the prologue to the last sentence of the book, I was held. Couldn't put it down and got angry when I had to. The same thing happened when I read The Deep by Peter Benchley. At 67, If I could create a novel like that, where my reader couldn't put it down. That would be, too cool for words! I'm an artist. To me, there's something more satisfying in creating a picture with words, than with a pencil, or paint. I'm learning so much from various writers about style and pacing. Sometimes I get overwhelmed, especially when they talk about formulas and structure. "I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl", to coin a phrase. I have to say, it's really nice meeting you!
I followed along all three exercises, and it was a lot of fun! I didn't even feel like I made any significant progress with anything I've been stuck on with my current novel, but I didn't care, I just had fun writing.
The therapy session you gave were incredible. It was like someone was reading my thoughts exactly as they were. When you asked to write something in 3 min and choosing the character I know really made it a lot easier. I started writing and didn't expect what it turned out to be. It was not very much but it was more than what I was trying to write for a past one year. Thanks and keep it up
I like how you incorporated the timings into the video. I think the hardest thing is when you start and have a blank page and unlimited time to write anything, it's just too easy to get distracted. But when you have only 3 min and a clear instruction, you start to think it's not so hard after all! Will definitely use this video to practice some writing 😊
Thanks! It's a strange thing, but you're right. Having that limitation I think pushes my perfectionism away a little bit and subsequently leads to getting something down quicker.
Your video is so helpful! I was looking for some writing exercises, because as a beginner I feel like I'm not ready to dive into writing a full length novel from zero. I am very restrictive to myself, that's why my pace usually is 200 words per hour. I did all three exercises with you, and found out that my actual speed is 50 words per 3 minutes. Today I wrote 400 words of my story in only 20 minutes. Insane! And I was actually enjoying it. Writing didn't feel like a chore, a hard work with no joy. I hope this warm up will boost my creative freedom. Thank you
Yessss that's exactly what we want! Honestly, a lot of progress with writing gets unlocked from figuring out how YOU do things and what works for YOU. There's no wrong answer, so if something gets you writing, lean into it. I'm really glad this could help.
I want to say that your videos mean so much to me. I have been writing a sci-fi dystopian novel with my friend, and your videos get me motivated and in the mood.
I found this to be so helpful - thank you so much! I didn't know that I needed to hear someone else say it is okay to write even if you don't know HOW to write a story :)
Absolutely! Sometimes you just have to jump in and give it a go, but there can be loads of barriers to doing that I think, even if we don't realise it.
Watched this due to my growing addiction to "You can do the thing!" videos I've been watching to try to get through some mental blocks and debilitating anxiety. I admit, I am only passingly interested in writing, and my interest is more because of.. how wordy I can't help but make things. If I could apply it creatively, maybe I'd do some impressive things. Really, I just like the idea of artistic expression and thought writing might be a way to get things out if I could get through my mental dam. But, I find the sentiment this, and the other video you made on the exact same topic years ago, to be one of the best ones I've seen. In that, encouraging is all well and good, but I feel like the idea of "You can't improve on nothing" is something I really needed to hear, and haven't seen before in these videos. Writing is especially bad about it, because yours is the 4th "how to write" channel, and the others were all more "how to make writing ideas" and "don't do this thing that annoys me that other writers do" marketed on UA-cam as "how to write". Not sure if I'll apply this to writing or not; I'm isolated enough that I am unsure how people interact in general, which really gives me some mixed feelings on the idea of me trying to depict anything. But I am definitely applying the sentiment that connected so strongly to me on my other hobbies.
I trolled through countless number of videos on this topic, desperately searching for a tranquil English-speaking person, as I find American videos grate on my nerves! Thank goodness for algorithms, as through them, I found you! I found your video very inspiring & highly educational. I shall follow you and hope to use all your advice to get my writing hobby off the ground. Thank you so much, God bless xx
haha is that because of their constant inflections at the end of every other word?! it absolutely grinds my t*ts. English people do it too, but I find Americans do it FAR more.
I finally got done with this exercise today after procrastinating about it for weeks now, and I have to say thank you. I really enjoyed it and I can say I learnt something from it as well. Cheers!
Was kind of looking and very much hoping for some outer element to help walk me out of my head, which is in a very tough place at the moment, and you showed up in my internet rambling’s. Your approach is lovely and has actually got me writing. Thanks!!
Thank you for this videos. I didn't go to university for writing. And I did doubt my self too. But I know I have it on me since my first writing I was 8 years old. I been learning process from reading, search, video's like yours. I'm good at story telling but still learning on script writing. My story coming from my own experience. My life story is my teachers. Writing is my savior and my companion during dark times of my life. I have written so far 8 story base on true events with fiction.
Thank you so much for this!!! It really helped. Until now, I didn't realize how much my expectations were interfering with my writing process (constant search for better words on Chatgpt, the mental analysis of balancing imagery and dialogue ). You probably know the rest. More of these videos, please (if possible).
Thanks for this video. It's exactly what I needed. I've struggled with writing prompts and the advice to "Just write". Your exercises are great. I hope you give us more.
This was really helpful for improving my mindset. I get in my own head quite badly avoiding the start of the process, but these simole little exercises felt really good for just getting my mind to let go and just try. Thank you for this.
A lot of us thoughtful writer types get in our own way I think, I'm the same. Sometimes just taking over and pushing through can get the ball rolling, I'm glad it was helpful!
Hello Kieron - my name is also Ciaran, and I’ve had my story idea in my head for years now. I have only JUST started writing it out after thinking about the world, plot, ideas etc for years. My problem is I have ADHD and dyslexia so I have the creativity in my head but since I was a little kid I have really struggled putting brain to paper and I have been using AI to help me sculpt the words, sentences and grammar. It’s helped me massively and hopefully one day many years from now I will click publish Thank you for your videos.
Thanks for being here, fellow Ciaran! Glad the channel could be useful for you. I'm glad you've found a method that works for you, that's a side of AI I'd never really considered before. You've opened my eyes a bit there.
This video is great. I did all three exercises and I was surprised with what I got down. I found the dialogue exercise the most challenging. Thanks for this.
Thanks for the advice man, I tried these exercises and it's incredibly helpful.The last one was especially helpful and I started writing a lot more, ideas just came flooding me as I was writing.I started with writing about something as insignificant as me waking up to wanting to write a full on mystery novel.I truly appreciate your help because I really want to become a writer and there's many other things I want to do but I just absolutely love writing, it's amazing how words on a page can completely transport my mind into a whole new world I love it!!
You love to help others, I can feel it, I can understand, and I do appreciate it. I tried to change the channel, but it felt like you only spoke to me, and this felt right. I do appreciate the time you spent to help us, particularly when you said , "If English is not our first language," in my case, it's my 5th, language, it's challenging sometimes. Thanks tremendously.
Wow!!! i absolutely loved the video, the "try now" exercise sessions in between were not expected but they were absolutely helpful in challenging yourself as a new writer. At first I frowned upon them and thought with my eyes up in the back of my head .... "oh here we go" then after the first 2 tries, I decided ... why not? I didn't get very far, didn't complete the entire paragraph but 3 sentences later I actually saw a paragraph for my book begin to come to life. I loved it and the self challenge made me see that there is an opportunity brewing. Now the challenge for me is, staying focused on that one paragraph at a time and not moving ahead of myself, Organizing my thoughts and consistency. Thanks again, "new subscriber"
Thanks for the video. Of all the videos I have ever watched, yours is the only one that helped me to follow through with the exercises. I appreciate that you wrote along with us, and the music also helped. Thanks a million. I just found your video and I just had to subscribe.
The last time I wrote a short story back in 8th grade. To my pleasant suprise, I found it actually not too difficult to get started with the 3 exercises. The key is as you say is to start, and then rest will happen. Any tips for teenage horror? I appreciate this video so much.
That's great! Glad the video worked for you and I agree, a lot of it is just getting past the initial blank page. I haven't got anything specific for teenage horror I'm afraid, but hopefully there might be some other useful stuff on my channel!
Thank you so much for this video. It's the first time that I have found someone so encouraging. Those three exercises were brilliant and it was easy for me to complete them. Looking forward to hearing more from you and will be listening to the other content of your UA-cam audios. Thanks for your time and interest!
How sad that is! People talk about themselves when they criticize so let it be water off a ducks back! It took me a long to understand Other people's opinions are none of my business 😂😂😂
Thank you, this was such a beautiful video! The exercises are super fun to follow along, no matter the result :) And to anyone reading this, there is no need to criticize yourself. Love yourself, encourage yourself and treat yourself the best, not just while writing but in life. Embrace yourself for who you are, cherish what you created and there will be progress. Enjoy the journey :)
The 1st exercise was interesting. The 2nd was fun. The 3rd was more difficult than I expected but I got more out of it than the first two. Thanks for helping me get started on this path. I have put it off for far too long.
Thanks so much, I just recently (like within the last week) decided to go all in with taking my writing seriously and this video helped me to tell my inner critic to shut up lol. Also, I loved the exercises and the part where you mentioned that you didn't need to know everything to get started, like grammar and how to develop a plot or characters, those were the main issues holding me back.
I’m really glad it could help a bit! It’s natural to feel stuck by all of that stuff, but just writing something is often the best way to make progress, the rest of it can come later ☺️
I actually like that this was more like a therapy than strictly techical ways on how to improve your writing because the biggest block for me, and probably a lot of others, is mental. I tend to overthink too much and try to flesh out the entire story before I even started writing. Then I'll change my mind about something bcs I thought it wasnt good enough originally and one "correction" leads to another until I say "you know what, this whole idea is meh, I need a new one" and cycle repeats. That way I spend most of my time in my head instead of on the paper. That being said, your exercises really helped and made me write without thinking too much, and I got to say, I was pretty pleased with those few lines I wrote during three minutes. That combined with words of encouragement in the first half of the video, helped me realize to not overthink it, but to just write. Thanks man, great vid :)
I'm late getting to your comment, my apologies! But yes, I absolutely know what you mean. I call that state 'analysis paralysis'. It's very easy to get stuck in that state of not being able to move forward, because it feels very convincing and legitimate, there are always good reasons to revisit something , or figure something out, or go back and mess with things, so you can't always get past that mentally. Instead, you have to hit the 'manual override' button with exercises like these that just jump start you a little bit and get things moving! I'm really glad this worked for you!
Thank you very much, dude! I've been thinking to start writing for years and I've been watching videos about writing and story every day these last few weeks, I've even read Stephen King's book On Writing during this time but I've never actually started putting words on the page untill this very video. The hardest part for me, I feel, is coming up with something to say, especially an idea 'worth' saying, that's what probably freezes me the most. Paradoxically on the last exercise I've encounter the least difficulty on that front.
That's always a hard part I think. It tends to help me if I remember that I can find that 'meaning' and that thing that's worth saying along the way. It doesn't have to be all figured out upfront. Sometimes you don't know what you want to say until you start. Also, some stories are just stories and they're fun or they're sad or they're exciting and that's all, and that's fine too!
Wow how great was this video, thank you. I love the encouraging and motivating way you show us that writing something is possible. So refreshing. I especially loved the exercises! Yes loved them! I actually enojed them and was surprised how stuff poured out of me. I've always loved words and loved writing and I've always thought I had something inside of me that needed to be told or shared...and doing these exercises was the perfect thing for me. I think I need some more exercises 😉 if you have more? That paragraph exercise, I don't know where it came from inside if me, but I am going to continue with it because it was fun. And I think that's the point you were trying to make is that we shouldnt judge ourselves and be so hard on ourselves. Just have fun, and i did. That presure to be perfect was gone. It reminds me how I always wished I was a great painter. I can't draw a stick figure even, but I'd love to be a great painter. Well kind of like this exercise, when I sit down and just start putting that paint on the paper no matter how it comes out, it still does something wonderful inside of me. And that's how this exercise went for me. It was like finally getting that large jar of pickles open. Wow... now i can finally eat one! I'm really thankful that you gave me that push that I needed to just at least try. And it's not that I haven't tried, but I always thought I had to like ,sit down and write from the beginning to end which doesn't work. So, just having these three exercises gave me everything that I think you were trying to say and it really did work and it really did help me so I can't thank you enough. And this is the first video I've seen of yours because I've been going through so many playlists,😅 but you resonate with me and you've helped me and I will continue to watch more of your videos. Course now I'm really interested in what kind of things you write so I may have to look into that too, haha. Anyway, thank you again thank you thank you thank you!
Thanks so much for watching! I'm really glad the vide could help. I do find just jumping in can sometimes get results your weren't expecting ☺️ There's another exercise coming later today that I think is a fun one!
Thank you for this. I was much kinder to myself and tackled an intro I was scared to approach. There are a couple of lines I wrote that are worth expanding on. Such a great warm up!! 👏🏿👏🏿👍🏿👍🏿💪🏿
Nice to hear from you😊 Yes I'm often doing the same exercise when i try myself to improve my writing skills. Hopefully i can say, it’s better now. My aim to improve writing language skills.
9:06......I'm pleased to see free writing is the first exercise you suggest. Its absolutely invaluable I find. I do however approach it a little differently. When I write whatever I want, I do so using my already established characters. I'll put them somewhere, it can be two of the senior members of the group, having a random conversation about a particular event in X country, or the intended plan to make a move to install a more favourable regime in Y region etc - all in the comfy surroundings of a private members club haha. It might be one of the analysts working on a particular assignment, and I'll use the opportunity to just dig into the characters mind and let them speak to me. Its undoubtedly one of the best ways I have found to flesh out my characters and create something much more real. Even my main antagonist to my novel, he's not a cardboard cutout. I've delved into him deeply, given him a legitimate grievance and fleshed him out - dare I say I might have put a bit more work into developing him than my actual main character. Free writing is one of the best things a writer can do, and for me it even works well to plant the seeds for future novels I intend to write with the same characters. At the risk of rambling further, I'll stop here :D
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Yeah it can - I think on some subconscious level, I always have some idea of what I want to play with narrative wise. As I say, I've had a few instances where its actually led to something much bigger that has blossomed into an idea for other books with the same characters. I find it helps prevent my writing from getting rusty/stale also. I used to struggle with long procrastination periods where I would literally go several months and only have half a chapter written. It then becomes counter productive because as a writer you KNOW you're supposed to be writing, but then you fear the quality of what you are going to write so you procrastinate even more and avoid the issue. THIS then bleeds into mentally beating yourself up for the aforementioned lack of action and it just becomes a cycle of procrastination and self irritation haha! I'm fortunate to have a work from home job at the moment, so if work isn't too busy I can write too which is a huge plus. Last night I couldn't sleep and my sleeping pattern was all to pot. I ended up finally just getting up close to 4am, putting on a fresh cup of coffee and sitting down at my keyboard. A couple of hours later I had just over 800 words written - yes not a lot but progress is progress. I'v since done a bit more writing today, time allowing, and I'm feeling good :)
This was actually really easy to follow along. Thank you for breaking it down into smaller more manageable steps. Once I heard you remind me that it can't be wrong or that no one would be able to read it unless I allow it, well that made things a lot easier to start typing. I actually wrote a decent starter paragraph for my first fantasy book I've had in mind for a couple years. Thank you
Thank you. I've been struggling with my inner critic and I just felt like I didn't knew enough to write a story. These exercises really helped me lower the stakes to something more reasonable.
This was a really good informative video!❤ Not sure if I did it correctly, but for the dialogue exercise, my characters were the adult me and the (inner)child me. As an adult, I was having a lovely conversation with my inner child about how she was feeling and what did she want for breakfast. I felt as though I was talking to what could be my daughter. It felt great and flowed well.
Definitely :) It's mad how three minutes can feel a lot different in something like this, to scrolling on your phone. It's almost worth doing just for a few moments of peace! :D
Thanks Kieren. I recently found your channel and have been mining it for inspiration and information. I've found it to be one of the best of the crowd of writing channels out there. Anyhoo. Here are my efforts; I thoroughly enjoyed completing them. I hope others also share. Exercise 1. I don’t know why he always has to meet at these places. It's 3am and cold. I stamp my feet and rub my hands together to stop them from freezing. He said he’d be here at 2:30 but he’s already thirty minutes late. I pull out a cigarette and pause looking at the sky in a moment of stillness. “Fuck, look at those stars.” Then I feel very small in a very large universe. I guess me killing someone doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in the big scheme of things. Headlights crest the ridge of the road leading to the station platform, the light reflecting off frost on the road. Exercise 2. Gavin from the Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel Case from Neuromancer by William Gibson “Have you ever lost anything?” said Gavin. “What do you mean?” “You know. lost something that you now miss, and wish you still had it.” “Yeah.” “Me too.” “Okay. What? You obviously want me to ask you what.” said Case, eyeballing Gavin. “Well, I lost a whole girl and her baby. I was a fucking idiot. But I let them go.” Case snorts. “What. That’s not tragic enough for you?” “No. Not really. I once lost a girl and humanity's future.” “Oh. Yeah. That’s probably a little worse. Sorry man. ” “Shut the fuck up and buy me another drink.” “Two again thanks bartender.” said Gavin, raising a hand. “Oh and some dex as well.” Exercise 3. It’s like the island is sinking. They keep building the walls higher. With them, the sea also rises. I imagine that the city, and the island it’s built on is sinking. It’s easier to believe that it’s just this place that’s going to end up be sucked into an abyss, flooded by the unending sea beyond, than to accept that it is the whole world. Humanity, art, all the great things that mankind has achieved will be gone. No more rockets launching to worlds far above and way beyond, or someone's creative spark bringing into existence some great work of art
Thanks so much! These are great I think! Your result on the first exercise especially is impressively coherent. I ended up with nonsense when I filmed this! How did you like The Lola Quartet? I'm a fan of Emily St John Mandel, though I find there's a bit of a difference in style between her stuff pre-Station Eleven.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thanks Kieren! I found out about her from you. I started with station eleven after you highlighted her use of a “flash forward.” I’ve bought all of her books, except for the first, and they are lined up to be read. I tend to buy second hand where I can, but I am finding it hard to find a decently priced copy. I found the Lola Quartet to be a bit of a master class in how to engage a reader who needs to know more. Not a lot happens, but it’s so well written and hooks you with a few details and unanswered questions right from the start that your along for the whole ride. Thanks for all your uploads.
That's great! By all means, if you get into that flow-state, just shut me up for a while and keep going with it! I was hoping that might happen for some writers!
Thanks a lot for such inspiring words. Lot of stories come to my mind but I never write them down because I think grammar is weak, sentence structure is not correct and so on. But now I will write for myself.
The dialogue that I came up with is between Andrew Medicine from a recent novel that I read and Severus Snape from Harry Potter. They had a weird conversation about the day when Snape was killed. The opening paragraph was also pretty weird. It was about two people, one named Daisy and the other Jase. They are brother and sister, and they had a conversation about their friends, revels. Thank you for this challenge! Best regards from an Ukrainian! Although this is not my first accomplished book, my third btw, I still had a lot of fun.
I just subscribed. This was great. I haven't started the exercises but I'd really like to carve out a little bit of time to write fiction sometimes and just let myself have fun with it and maybe I'll get somewhere eventually. :) one of my bucket list goals is to write a dream novel with certain representation in it.
Hi buddy. Great video! Exercise 1. I found this bit quite easy, just wrote about going to spend time with a woman I REALLY like in a couple of weeks (true story. wish me luck. Exercise 2. This was an interesting exercise. I ended up using Watanabe from the book "Norwegian Wood" and Dr Gregory house. A very unlikely duo. This was slightly harder to start but I found it got a lot easier once I got going. Exercise 3 was more difficult still. I suppose it's due to that need to find the initial rock to grab on to before scaling the mountain. I am actually hoping to get a piece together for a short story competition in February. I am using this comp as a goal, to help get my routine together. No pressure on myself to win or do well of course. Just want to get something completed, tidied up and sent off for a deadline. Will pay to have feedback too, to see where the damage is. Thanks again for the vid buddy. Ive definitely subbed. All the best with the youtube journey.
Thanks so much for watching! I'm really glad you found them useful. I think writing for competitions is a great way to give yourself momentum and a reason to finish things, so you're on the right track there in my opinion. I very much agree with that outlook. Thanks for subscribing and sharing how this went for you!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting No problem at all my man. Ill be spending some time over the next few days checking out more content. Ill be sure to comment and so on, get that algorithm going! Thanks again buddy.
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My problem is I flipflop from thinking I'm trash to the best author who ever lived
Haha I feel like that too and it’s entirely random!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Part of the process
Unfortunately, that's pretty common. Hopefully knowing that makes the lows easier to bear.
That's pretty normal.
So your protagonist is bi polar 1?
Was beginning to accept I'm not a writer but "if you write, you're writer" love that! Thank you!
It's like my guitar student asking, when they finally become a guitarist. If you play guitar, you're a guitarist. Nobody will stop you on the street to check your license. And even if you've only been at it for a month, you're already a better guitarist than 99% of all the people around you.
I used to write every day for years, but inner critic kinda kicked my butt. This really helped me write again. Thank you so much!!!
Really glad it could help ☺️ thanks for watching!
I tried all the 3 activities, honestly it was fun just writing and not worrying if I am doing good or not, just letting words work their way on my notebook. I definitely enjoyed it.
I just did the 1st exercise. I'm full of smiles. My heart is bursting, like confetti has burst from it. It's fun. 🎉 Thank you.
That's great! Follow that feeling. Put that bad experience aside for now (as much as you can) and just be as creative as possible. It was always there!
I always appreciate how supportive and positive and encouraging you are with yourself and other writers. Too many of us take up writing with dollar signs and movie contracts clouding our vision. That's the Hollywood-ized version of what a writer's life should be like, but it's 100% NOT reality. When reality finally does sink in, we think we failed, and we get discouraged. Media makes it it hard for us to shatter that initial disillusionment, but we MUST do it!
Absolutely, that's definitely the angle I want to come at it from. There's lots of writing advice out there, but not nearly enough encouragement!
I haven't written anything since I left school in the 1980s, yes I'm old, but I had a go at the exercises and really enjoyed them. Thank you for a wonderful supportive video.
Aw Andy! Your age is completely and utterly irrelevant.
Those who place no limitations on themselves as older adults...Those who don't see a number as a hindrance of any sort...they are rare.
I don't see the lack of older adults taking their dreams on as a sign that they shouldn't.
Instead I see the few who do...and I know that others just haven't yet believed the same of themselves.
You do whatever makes you happy. Whatever you want! It's your life.
You deserve to be happy.
Your age changes nothing. Assumptions are just that. They're air. The stigma and or opinions of society are just that. They bare no meaning...
You do what makes you feel good!!! ❤
You're NEVER too old.
It is NEVER too late.
As long as you're alive, and as long as you're a human...Live your life however you would like. Don't let those unrealistic beliefs hold you back.
❤❤
I followed the 3 exercises. The third one is the hardest.. After these exercises, I wrote a short story with 1510 words. So I was able to write a total of close to 2000 words today. The last time I wrote a short story was 3 weeks ago. Thank you. You are very inspiring and motivating.
That’s a great result! ☺️
The timing of this video is insane. Just when I was thinking of giving up the idea of writing a story before I could even start, thinking I was too incompetent. I'm actually impressed with the dialogue I wrote in those exercises. All what I had to do is break the ice and put my ideas on paper regardless. This video allowed me to do that. Thank yo so much ✨It was really helpful.
That's great! It's encouraging to know that the exercises help. I really do think there's some secret power in breaking the ice and getting words down.
Thanks for letting me know this helped, I'm really glad it did.
Time’s gonna pass anyway is the greatest advice, especially for creative endeavors. I’ve heard that years ago and started writing. I don’t feel daunted nor pressured whenever I’m writing after that.
Exercise 3 is definitely the best one of the three. I cringe over everything i write and never think anything is good enough. This can cripple my writing for months. This video is great!
The first thing you write will be garbage. But write that garbage story, finish it & then you will be a step further down the line than you were before you started it. I've gone back & read things I wrote 30 years ago, & thought--Oh, what was I doing there? Read more, & expand your reading horizon. Step by step you will learn the craft. Start with just writing one good sentence. Then, expand that to a paragraph. You're on your way.
Absolutely!
Absolutely love your videos. You are the only writing advice channel I have come across that seems to be rooted in truth. There are no strict rules, just suggestions. Keep it up, you deserve whatever success comes your way.
Thank you so much! I definitely just want to suggest, and not dictate. I can't tell someone else's story, but if I can help them to tell it, that's what I want to do.
Hey man, I have to share with you that I used to write a lot of short horror stories, and just fiction out of my life experiences, and I thought I was awesome. I also got validations from people around me - but one day it just stopped- and I haven’t been writing for almost 10 years now. Though I always had some kind of yearning to get back to it but didn’t know how to , especially with work and family life.
But I have to say - taking 15 minutes to follow your steps, is really helping me to hear that voice in me that I’ve abandoned for so long, so I really want to thank you for this!
Step one - easy
Step two - tricky (I had David from King’s Breathing Method and The Dude)
Step three - surprisingly easy every time!
That's great! I'm really glad it could get you moving again.
Sometimes just taking over the brain and starting the mechanics of writing can kick-start you a bit. You don't always have to wait for the ideas or the muse.
Awesome that it helped, and thanks for letting me know!
Reading plays helps with dialogue patterns and pacing. I acted and directed for many years, which is why I prefer to write dialogue rather than setting descriptions! :)
I can definitely see that being useful!
I really enjoyed this video!! I've been a huge reader this year and it sparked my desire to write my own series. I have ideas that are pouring out of me. I'm actually excited to get started and personally don't care if I don't make money, I wanna do this because I believe it to be a good creative past time. Like an outlet for my creativity. And I want to write this specific series because it's something I would TOTALLY read. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from my own life, so the main character would be based off of myself. I guess it's like a fictional idealized world for myself. I think that my ideas are so good and I'm excited to put them down on paper.
Starting from a place of excitement, and aiming to write a story that you want to read is a good start! It'll take you further than you think, just don't give up if initially it's tough, it'll get easier.
The algorithm blessed me today!
This wasn’t a video that I was searching for however, I’ve been recently clicking on a lot of ambient music playlists for writing so it makes sense that the algorithm sent me this direction.
Immediate sub! I love the positivity and the encouragement
Thanks for subscribing ☺️
Maybe the algorithm connected it because I said something about ambient music playing during the exercises?
Whatever the case, glad you’re here! Welcome!
Love this video!! Would love to maybe see another sort of “write with me” where you talk us through short exercises like that. It was super helpful!
Another one coming in a few days! :)
I loved the writing exercises. I have 3 novels started, and i never give myself the freedom to just write. I indent, check spelling, etc. The exercises gave me freedom to write, to not be so critical, and it was fun. Thank you for your videos. You are the first person that gives permission to just write. Everyone else it seemed to me would get into the precision of writing. I loved English in school, but I never got the whole adverbs, nouns and such. I recognize them just not the structure. Besides, I write the way I speak, which isn't always a good idea. So I really thank you and I'm watching more of you vids.
I do that stuff too! Tidying up here and there so I can avoid getting to the really important stuff. It's natural I think.
Having permission to just take a crack at it I think really can open a lot of doors. Just trying things often works out better than you think, and if it doesn't, at least you learned something to avoid in the future I guess.
Yeah, I do try to stay away from the technical side if I can, I write by feel really, and I think a lot of that stuff can be fixed in editing, but you can't really fix the heart of the story with grammar rules and such!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I agree. I've been watching a Master Class of one of my favorite authors, Dan Brown.
When I read the Da Vinci Code, from the prologue to the last sentence of the book, I was held. Couldn't put it down and got angry when I had to. The same thing happened when I read The Deep by Peter Benchley. At 67, If I could create a novel like that, where my reader couldn't put it down. That would be, too cool for words!
I'm an artist. To me, there's something more satisfying in creating a picture with words, than with a pencil, or paint. I'm learning so much from various writers about style and pacing. Sometimes I get overwhelmed, especially when they talk about formulas and structure. "I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl", to coin a phrase.
I have to say, it's really nice meeting you!
I followed along all three exercises, and it was a lot of fun! I didn't even feel like I made any significant progress with anything I've been stuck on with my current novel, but I didn't care, I just had fun writing.
Great! Sometimes it's good to remind ourselves that it's supposed to be fun I think. A lot of work, yeah, but not always.
The therapy session you gave were incredible. It was like someone was reading my thoughts exactly as they were. When you asked to write something in 3 min and choosing the character I know really made it a lot easier. I started writing and didn't expect what it turned out to be. It was not very much but it was more than what I was trying to write for a past one year. Thanks and keep it up
I'm really glad it made it easier for you! Sometimes overriding all those questions and just going straight into the process really works well.
I like how you incorporated the timings into the video. I think the hardest thing is when you start and have a blank page and unlimited time to write anything, it's just too easy to get distracted. But when you have only 3 min and a clear instruction, you start to think it's not so hard after all!
Will definitely use this video to practice some writing 😊
Thanks! It's a strange thing, but you're right. Having that limitation I think pushes my perfectionism away a little bit and subsequently leads to getting something down quicker.
Your video is so helpful! I was looking for some writing exercises, because as a beginner I feel like I'm not ready to dive into writing a full length novel from zero. I am very restrictive to myself, that's why my pace usually is 200 words per hour. I did all three exercises with you, and found out that my actual speed is 50 words per 3 minutes. Today I wrote 400 words of my story in only 20 minutes. Insane! And I was actually enjoying it. Writing didn't feel like a chore, a hard work with no joy. I hope this warm up will boost my creative freedom. Thank you
Yessss that's exactly what we want!
Honestly, a lot of progress with writing gets unlocked from figuring out how YOU do things and what works for YOU. There's no wrong answer, so if something gets you writing, lean into it.
I'm really glad this could help.
I’m taking up writing again after probably 15 years, and this was so encouraging. Thank you!🙏🏻
This really helped, thank you!!!
The first one was good!
The second was HARD.
The third was easy!
The one that was supposed to be hardest was easiest? That's great!
Awesome video!!! A bright lighthouse for new and old writers alike
Thanks so much 🥰
I want to say that your videos mean so much to me. I have been writing a sci-fi dystopian novel with my friend, and your videos get me motivated and in the mood.
That's great! Thanks so much for being here :)
I found this to be so helpful - thank you so much! I didn't know that I needed to hear someone else say it is okay to write even if you don't know HOW to write a story :)
Absolutely! Sometimes you just have to jump in and give it a go, but there can be loads of barriers to doing that I think, even if we don't realise it.
Watched this due to my growing addiction to "You can do the thing!" videos I've been watching to try to get through some mental blocks and debilitating anxiety.
I admit, I am only passingly interested in writing, and my interest is more because of.. how wordy I can't help but make things. If I could apply it creatively, maybe I'd do some impressive things. Really, I just like the idea of artistic expression and thought writing might be a way to get things out if I could get through my mental dam.
But, I find the sentiment this, and the other video you made on the exact same topic years ago, to be one of the best ones I've seen. In that, encouraging is all well and good, but I feel like the idea of "You can't improve on nothing" is something I really needed to hear, and haven't seen before in these videos. Writing is especially bad about it, because yours is the 4th "how to write" channel, and the others were all more "how to make writing ideas" and "don't do this thing that annoys me that other writers do" marketed on UA-cam as "how to write".
Not sure if I'll apply this to writing or not; I'm isolated enough that I am unsure how people interact in general, which really gives me some mixed feelings on the idea of me trying to depict anything. But I am definitely applying the sentiment that connected so strongly to me on my other hobbies.
Thank you! Even if it's not strictly your type of thing, I appreciate the insight.
I trolled through countless number of videos on this topic, desperately searching for a tranquil English-speaking person, as I find American videos grate on my nerves! Thank goodness for algorithms, as through them, I found you! I found your video very inspiring & highly educational. I shall follow you and hope to use all your advice to get my writing hobby off the ground. Thank you so much, God bless xx
haha is that because of their constant inflections at the end of every other word?! it absolutely grinds my t*ts. English people do it too, but I find Americans do it FAR more.
I finally got done with this exercise today after procrastinating about it for weeks now, and I have to say thank you. I really enjoyed it and I can say I learnt something from it as well. Cheers!
Was kind of looking and very much hoping for some outer element to help walk me out of my head, which is in a very tough place at the moment, and you showed up in my internet rambling’s. Your approach is lovely and has actually got me writing. Thanks!!
Sometimes all it takes is that nudge from something outside of our own thought processes. Glad I could help! :)
Thank you for this videos. I didn't go to university for writing. And I did doubt my self too. But I know I have it on me since my first writing I was 8 years old. I been learning process from reading, search, video's like yours. I'm good at story telling but still learning on script writing. My story coming from my own experience. My life story is my teachers. Writing is my savior and my companion during dark times of my life. I have written so far 8 story base on true events with fiction.
I've been in the doldrums for a while now, so it's refreshing to hear some positivity for a change. Great presentation, Kieren. Nice one.
Thanks for watching! Hopefully it'll pass for you soon.
Thank you so much for this!!! It really helped. Until now, I didn't realize how much my expectations were interfering with my writing process (constant search for better words on Chatgpt, the mental analysis of balancing imagery and dialogue ). You probably know the rest. More of these videos, please (if possible).
It’s a mental game, it really is. I was hoping these exercises might be some kind of bypass for that, just to get things moving ☺️
Thanks for this video. It's exactly what I needed. I've struggled with writing prompts and the advice to "Just write". Your exercises are great. I hope you give us more.
Thank you! I will do ☺️
Thank you for reminding me that I don't need to be in a hurry, and that consistency and repetition are more important than a massive daily word count.
This was really helpful for improving my mindset. I get in my own head quite badly avoiding the start of the process, but these simole little exercises felt really good for just getting my mind to let go and just try.
Thank you for this.
A lot of us thoughtful writer types get in our own way I think, I'm the same.
Sometimes just taking over and pushing through can get the ball rolling, I'm glad it was helpful!
Hello Kieron - my name is also Ciaran, and I’ve had my story idea in my head for years now. I have only JUST started writing it out after thinking about the world, plot, ideas etc for years.
My problem is I have ADHD and dyslexia so I have the creativity in my head but since I was a little kid I have really struggled putting brain to paper and I have been using AI to help me sculpt the words, sentences and grammar.
It’s helped me massively and hopefully one day many years from now I will click publish
Thank you for your videos.
Thanks for being here, fellow Ciaran! Glad the channel could be useful for you. I'm glad you've found a method that works for you, that's a side of AI I'd never really considered before. You've opened my eyes a bit there.
This video is great. I did all three exercises and I was surprised with what I got down. I found the dialogue exercise the most challenging. Thanks for this.
Thank you! ☺️
Great video. I wish I’d had a guide like this one when I first started out writing at 15.
But I don’t regret it. 😊
Me too really, I realized a while ago that telling people to 'just get started' wasn't all that helpful, hopefully this is!
Thanks for the advice man, I tried these exercises and it's incredibly helpful.The last one was especially helpful and I started writing a lot more, ideas just came flooding me as I was writing.I started with writing about something as insignificant as me waking up to wanting to write a full on mystery novel.I truly appreciate your help because I really want to become a writer and there's many other things I want to do but I just absolutely love writing, it's amazing how words on a page can completely transport my mind into a whole new world I love it!!
You love to help others, I can feel it, I can understand, and I do appreciate it. I tried to change the channel, but it felt like you only spoke to me, and this felt right. I do appreciate the time you spent to help us, particularly when you said , "If English is not our first language," in my case, it's my 5th, language, it's challenging sometimes. Thanks tremendously.
All the videos I have watched so far (from different channels)on writing, this one is the best…. Thank u for sharing 😊
Thanks so much!
Excellent video. Thank you for sharing
I was literally opening up Word to write as you began talking about pausing to free write. We’re in sync dude!
Ayyy! Great minds!
You really grabbing my hand to write...thank you
Wow!!! i absolutely loved the video, the "try now" exercise sessions in between were not expected but they were absolutely helpful in challenging yourself as a new writer.
At first I frowned upon them and thought with my eyes up in the back of my head .... "oh here we go" then after the first 2 tries, I decided ... why not?
I didn't get very far, didn't complete the entire paragraph but 3 sentences later I actually saw a paragraph for my book begin to come to life. I loved it and the self challenge made me see that there is an opportunity brewing. Now the challenge for me is, staying focused on that one paragraph at a time and not moving ahead of myself, Organizing my thoughts and consistency. Thanks again, "new subscriber"
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for sticking with it :)
You have such a nice tone! Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I'll do my best to write my books asap. Thanks for your encouragement!
I have to tell you - I have watched A LOT of these writing advice videos. You're one of the best, hands down. Thank you.
The writing exercise really worked! It felt good. Thanks!
You're video editing skills are on fire, man! I love this channel, keep it up and keep writing!
Thanks mate! Appreciate you sticking with me :)
Thanks for the video. Of all the videos I have ever watched, yours is the only one that helped me to follow through with the exercises. I appreciate that you wrote along with us, and the music also helped. Thanks a million. I just found your video and I just had to subscribe.
Thanks so much! I'm really glad it helped. I'm going to make more videos like this for sure.
The last time I wrote a short story back in 8th grade. To my pleasant suprise, I found it actually not too difficult to get started with the 3 exercises. The key is as you say is to start, and then rest will happen. Any tips for teenage horror? I appreciate this video so much.
That's great! Glad the video worked for you and I agree, a lot of it is just getting past the initial blank page.
I haven't got anything specific for teenage horror I'm afraid, but hopefully there might be some other useful stuff on my channel!
Thank you so much for this video.
It's the first time that I have found someone so encouraging.
Those three exercises were brilliant and it was easy for me to complete them.
Looking forward to hearing more from you and will be listening to the other content of your UA-cam audios.
Thanks for your time and interest!
Thanks for watching! There isn't enough encouragement out there I find, only criticism.
How sad that is!
People talk about themselves when they criticize so let it be water off a ducks back!
It took me a long to understand
Other people's opinions are none of my business 😂😂😂
Thank you, this was such a beautiful video! The exercises are super fun to follow along, no matter the result :) And to anyone reading this, there is no need to criticize yourself. Love yourself, encourage yourself and treat yourself the best, not just while writing but in life. Embrace yourself for who you are, cherish what you created and there will be progress. Enjoy the journey :)
Perfect! Exactly :)
The 1st exercise was interesting. The 2nd was fun. The 3rd was more difficult than I expected but I got more out of it than the first two. Thanks for helping me get started on this path. I have put it off for far too long.
Thanks so much, I just recently (like within the last week) decided to go all in with taking my writing seriously and this video helped me to tell my inner critic to shut up lol. Also, I loved the exercises and the part where you mentioned that you didn't need to know everything to get started, like grammar and how to develop a plot or characters, those were the main issues holding me back.
I’m really glad it could help a bit! It’s natural to feel stuck by all of that stuff, but just writing something is often the best way to make progress, the rest of it can come later ☺️
I actually like that this was more like a therapy than strictly techical ways on how to improve your writing because the biggest block for me, and probably a lot of others, is mental. I tend to overthink too much and try to flesh out the entire story before I even started writing. Then I'll change my mind about something bcs I thought it wasnt good enough originally and one "correction" leads to another until I say "you know what, this whole idea is meh, I need a new one" and cycle repeats. That way I spend most of my time in my head instead of on the paper. That being said, your exercises really helped and made me write without thinking too much, and I got to say, I was pretty pleased with those few lines I wrote during three minutes. That combined with words of encouragement in the first half of the video, helped me realize to not overthink it, but to just write. Thanks man, great vid :)
I'm late getting to your comment, my apologies!
But yes, I absolutely know what you mean. I call that state 'analysis paralysis'.
It's very easy to get stuck in that state of not being able to move forward, because it feels very convincing and legitimate, there are always good reasons to revisit something , or figure something out, or go back and mess with things, so you can't always get past that mentally.
Instead, you have to hit the 'manual override' button with exercises like these that just jump start you a little bit and get things moving!
I'm really glad this worked for you!
No need for apologies, I'm the one who saw the video 2 months later haha. Completely agree with you and thanks again. Keep up the great vids
Thank you very much, dude! I've been thinking to start writing for years and I've been watching videos about writing and story every day these last few weeks, I've even read Stephen King's book On Writing during this time but I've never actually started putting words on the page untill this very video.
The hardest part for me, I feel, is coming up with something to say, especially an idea 'worth' saying, that's what probably freezes me the most. Paradoxically on the last exercise I've encounter the least difficulty on that front.
That's always a hard part I think. It tends to help me if I remember that I can find that 'meaning' and that thing that's worth saying along the way. It doesn't have to be all figured out upfront. Sometimes you don't know what you want to say until you start. Also, some stories are just stories and they're fun or they're sad or they're exciting and that's all, and that's fine too!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I see, thanks again, this video has been really helpful!
Wow how great was this video, thank you. I love the encouraging and motivating way you show us that writing something is possible. So refreshing. I especially loved the exercises! Yes loved them! I actually enojed them and was surprised how stuff poured out of me. I've always loved words and loved writing and I've always thought I had something inside of me that needed to be told or shared...and doing these exercises was the perfect thing for me. I think I need some more exercises 😉 if you have more? That paragraph exercise, I don't know where it came from inside if me, but I am going to continue with it because it was fun. And I think that's the point you were trying to make is that we shouldnt judge ourselves and be so hard on ourselves. Just have fun, and i did. That presure to be perfect was gone. It reminds me how I always wished I was a great painter. I can't draw a stick figure even, but I'd love to be a great painter. Well kind of like this exercise, when I sit down and just start putting that paint on the paper no matter how it comes out, it still does something wonderful inside of me. And that's how this exercise went for me. It was like finally getting that large jar of pickles open. Wow... now i can finally eat one! I'm really thankful that you gave me that push that I needed to just at least try. And it's not that I haven't tried, but I always thought I had to like ,sit down and write from the beginning to end which doesn't work. So, just having these three exercises gave me everything that I think you were trying to say and it really did work and it really did help me so I can't thank you enough. And this is the first video I've seen of yours because I've been going through so many playlists,😅 but you resonate with me and you've helped me and I will continue to watch more of your videos. Course now I'm really interested in what kind of things you write so I may have to look into that too, haha. Anyway, thank you again thank you thank you thank you!
Thanks so much for watching! I'm really glad the vide could help. I do find just jumping in can sometimes get results your weren't expecting ☺️ There's another exercise coming later today that I think is a fun one!
Thank you for this. I was much kinder to myself and tackled an intro I was scared to approach. There are a couple of lines I wrote that are worth expanding on. Such a great warm up!! 👏🏿👏🏿👍🏿👍🏿💪🏿
Awesome! Glad it could be helpful ☺️
This was just what I needed thank you so much !❤
Thank you for an amazing and inspiring video! I was amazed at what I was able to come up with in these exercises.
Nice to hear from you😊 Yes I'm often doing the same exercise when i try myself to improve my writing skills. Hopefully i can say, it’s better now. My aim to improve writing language skills.
9:06......I'm pleased to see free writing is the first exercise you suggest. Its absolutely invaluable I find. I do however approach it a little differently. When I write whatever I want, I do so using my already established characters. I'll put them somewhere, it can be two of the senior members of the group, having a random conversation about a particular event in X country, or the intended plan to make a move to install a more favourable regime in Y region etc - all in the comfy surroundings of a private members club haha.
It might be one of the analysts working on a particular assignment, and I'll use the opportunity to just dig into the characters mind and let them speak to me. Its undoubtedly one of the best ways I have found to flesh out my characters and create something much more real. Even my main antagonist to my novel, he's not a cardboard cutout. I've delved into him deeply, given him a legitimate grievance and fleshed him out - dare I say I might have put a bit more work into developing him than my actual main character.
Free writing is one of the best things a writer can do, and for me it even works well to plant the seeds for future novels I intend to write with the same characters. At the risk of rambling further, I'll stop here :D
That sounds like a great idea for a regular exercise. I hadn't thought of doing that, but I can imagine it's really helpful if you're in a rut too?
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Yeah it can - I think on some subconscious level, I always have some idea of what I want to play with narrative wise. As I say, I've had a few instances where its actually led to something much bigger that has blossomed into an idea for other books with the same characters. I find it helps prevent my writing from getting rusty/stale also. I used to struggle with long procrastination periods where I would literally go several months and only have half a chapter written. It then becomes counter productive because as a writer you KNOW you're supposed to be writing, but then you fear the quality of what you are going to write so you procrastinate even more and avoid the issue. THIS then bleeds into mentally beating yourself up for the aforementioned lack of action and it just becomes a cycle of procrastination and self irritation haha!
I'm fortunate to have a work from home job at the moment, so if work isn't too busy I can write too which is a huge plus. Last night I couldn't sleep and my sleeping pattern was all to pot. I ended up finally just getting up close to 4am, putting on a fresh cup of coffee and sitting down at my keyboard. A couple of hours later I had just over 800 words written - yes not a lot but progress is progress. I'v since done a bit more writing today, time allowing, and I'm feeling good :)
Would love more of these.
There's a few more in this playlist, and plenty more on the way:
ua-cam.com/play/PLmCyFUqEq-8X_iF4akdi7lFVIFdHDC547.html
Thanks for watching!
This was actually really easy to follow along. Thank you for breaking it down into smaller more manageable steps. Once I heard you remind me that it can't be wrong or that no one would be able to read it unless I allow it, well that made things a lot easier to start typing. I actually wrote a decent starter paragraph for my first fantasy book I've had in mind for a couple years. Thank you
Thanks for watching, I'm glad it worked for you!
Thank you. I've been struggling with my inner critic and I just felt like I didn't knew enough to write a story. These exercises really helped me lower the stakes to something more reasonable.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of shaking that stuff off, but it’s easier said than done!
This was a really good informative video!❤
Not sure if I did it correctly, but for the dialogue exercise, my characters were the adult me and the (inner)child me. As an adult, I was having a lovely conversation with my inner child about how she was feeling and what did she want for breakfast. I felt as though I was talking to what could be my daughter. It felt great and flowed well.
Oh I love that approach, speaking with your inner child like that is a great idea.
If it felt great and flowed well, you definitely did it right!
2nd exrcise interesting, but the third! I came out with a short horror story incident. Didn't expect that! thanks for the prompts.
That’s great! Glad it could bring something out!
Loved this, far from beginner but nice to just sit write and listen. Great job!
Definitely :) It's mad how three minutes can feel a lot different in something like this, to scrolling on your phone. It's almost worth doing just for a few moments of peace! :D
Thanks for this! Exactly what I need ❤
I needed the first eight minutes of this video more than I thought. So I would like to simply say thank you!😎✌🏻
Thanks Kieren. I recently found your channel and have been mining it for inspiration and information. I've found it to be one of the best of the crowd of writing channels out there.
Anyhoo. Here are my efforts; I thoroughly enjoyed completing them. I hope others also share.
Exercise 1.
I don’t know why he always has to meet at these places. It's 3am and cold. I stamp my feet and rub my hands together to stop them from freezing. He said he’d be here at 2:30 but he’s already thirty minutes late. I pull out a cigarette and pause looking at the sky in a moment of stillness. “Fuck, look at those stars.” Then I feel very small in a very large universe. I guess me killing someone doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in the big scheme of things. Headlights crest the ridge of the road leading to the station platform, the light reflecting off frost on the road.
Exercise 2.
Gavin from the Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel
Case from Neuromancer by William Gibson
“Have you ever lost anything?” said Gavin.
“What do you mean?”
“You know. lost something that you now miss, and wish you still had it.”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
“Okay. What? You obviously want me to ask you what.” said Case, eyeballing Gavin.
“Well, I lost a whole girl and her baby. I was a fucking idiot. But I let them go.”
Case snorts.
“What. That’s not tragic enough for you?”
“No. Not really. I once lost a girl and humanity's future.”
“Oh. Yeah. That’s probably a little worse. Sorry man.
” “Shut the fuck up and buy me another drink.”
“Two again thanks bartender.” said Gavin, raising a hand.
“Oh and some dex as well.”
Exercise 3.
It’s like the island is sinking. They keep building the walls higher. With them, the sea also rises. I imagine that the city, and the island it’s built on is sinking. It’s easier to believe that it’s just this place that’s going to end up be sucked into an abyss, flooded by the unending sea beyond, than to accept that it is the whole world. Humanity, art, all the great things that mankind has achieved will be gone. No more rockets launching to worlds far above and way beyond, or someone's creative spark bringing into existence some great work of art
Thanks so much!
These are great I think! Your result on the first exercise especially is impressively coherent. I ended up with nonsense when I filmed this!
How did you like The Lola Quartet? I'm a fan of Emily St John Mandel, though I find there's a bit of a difference in style between her stuff pre-Station Eleven.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thanks Kieren! I found out about her from you. I started with station eleven after you highlighted her use of a “flash forward.” I’ve bought all of her books, except for the first, and they are lined up to be read. I tend to buy second hand where I can, but I am finding it hard to find a decently priced copy. I found the Lola Quartet to be a bit of a master class in how to engage a reader who needs to know more. Not a lot happens, but it’s so well written and hooks you with a few details and unanswered questions right from the start that your along for the whole ride. Thanks for all your uploads.
Thank you so much it was actually really helpful and it was just a good experience of our inner thoughts ❤❤😊
Felt great doing exercise 1 actually.. I didn't even know when three minutes was up. I just kept writing as it came to me😄😄
That's great! By all means, if you get into that flow-state, just shut me up for a while and keep going with it! I was hoping that might happen for some writers!
Thank you @KierenWestwoodWriting 👍👍
thank you for sharing your gifts with us!
Thanks a lot for such inspiring words. Lot of stories come to my mind but I never write them down because I think grammar is weak, sentence structure is not correct and so on. But now I will write for myself.
I have very little interest in writing but so much of this also applies to art as well, and music.
As always, an incredibly informative and entertaining video.Thank you for that.
I loved these exercises. It was so much fun! Pls share more of these exercises.
Another one coming very soon!
Thanks for another excellent class on the basics of writing
Thank you ,excellent lesson.
Your video on micro fiction was hugely helpful for me.
Great! I might try another video on that soon.
I liked the video a lot... Thank you, enjoyed the exercises.
Thanks for your video
I appreciate your walking us thru some writing basics
Thanks man, this was truly inspirational!
A massive help! Thank you.
I'm glad! Thanks for giving it a go :)
Absolutely genius video. Thank you
The dialogue that I came up with is between Andrew Medicine from a recent novel that I read and Severus Snape from Harry Potter. They had a weird conversation about the day when Snape was killed.
The opening paragraph was also pretty weird. It was about two people, one named Daisy and the other Jase. They are brother and sister, and they had a conversation about their friends, revels.
Thank you for this challenge!
Best regards from an Ukrainian!
Although this is not my first accomplished book, my third btw, I still had a lot of fun.
This was really helpful. Thank you!
I needed this today. Cheers!
Thanks for watching :)
I just subscribed. This was great. I haven't started the exercises but I'd really like to carve out a little bit of time to write fiction sometimes and just let myself have fun with it and maybe I'll get somewhere eventually. :) one of my bucket list goals is to write a dream novel with certain representation in it.
Thank you for letting me discover my weird and wonderful writer sub -consciousness again. What a breeze of freshness!!
Hi buddy. Great video!
Exercise 1. I found this bit quite easy, just wrote about going to spend time with a woman I REALLY like in a couple of weeks (true story. wish me luck.
Exercise 2. This was an interesting exercise. I ended up using Watanabe from the book "Norwegian Wood" and Dr Gregory house. A very unlikely duo. This was slightly harder to start but I found it got a lot easier once I got going.
Exercise 3 was more difficult still. I suppose it's due to that need to find the initial rock to grab on to before scaling the mountain. I am actually hoping to get a piece together for a short story competition in February. I am using this comp as a goal, to help get my
routine together. No pressure on myself to win or do well of course. Just want to get something completed, tidied up and sent off for a deadline.
Will pay to have feedback too, to see where the damage is.
Thanks again for the vid buddy. Ive definitely subbed. All the best with the youtube journey.
Thanks so much for watching! I'm really glad you found them useful.
I think writing for competitions is a great way to give yourself momentum and a reason to finish things, so you're on the right track there in my opinion. I very much agree with that outlook.
Thanks for subscribing and sharing how this went for you!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting No problem at all my man. Ill be spending some time over the next few days checking out more content. Ill be sure to comment and so on, get that algorithm going!
Thanks again buddy.
Thank you sir. Your videos are really helpful for teens.
warmed up with a daydream of being at the coast,all the feels of wind and water!
This video is really for me. Thank you ❤