This is the tip I needed like a year ago. I've saved this to my favourites so I can find it again and you're the first person I've subbed to since I did a major purge of my sub list. Thanks for this :).
@@tangentsfortalent Honestly dude, I need all the help I can get and this might just be the thing that helps me stop overthinking and stay focused on writing, so I owe you one :).
@@thesamsquatch2704 no problem! If you think of anything else you'd like help with let me know and I'll see what I can do to include it in a future video 😁
A tip my partner told me which is similar to the TK method is to use square brackets for when you know what's going to happen in a scene but don't know exactly how or how exactly to describe it. for example, i am working on a short story in which the characters have a form of magic that allows them to create physical constructs with their mind. i want to have a unique tool for them to use but don't have it fully fledge out in my mind or i am unsure the best way to describe it's creation of visual identity so i would write: "Jim holds the fruit in his hand and [creates a tool with a sharp edge and a gauging spoon side] in his hand and begins eating." This allows me to keep my flow in my first draft but not loose the image i had in my mind. TK could be used in here too but i like having the extra detail so reference when i run through an editing draft of the scene. plus you can ctrl + f for square brackets because they are not used elsewhere in the text.
@@heirtothethrone2133 that's a brilliant tip! I really like how you can vary the level of detail within the square brackets in your approach to include details on what you already know about the tool(s). Thank you for sharing! (Also, this sounds like a really fun magic system to be writing. Make sure to pop back and let me know how it turns out for you! I'd be really interested in seeing how you make it all come to life ✌🏼)
Same as a lot of commenters, I use the hard brackets to write in info I'll add later or an alternate idea. Combining that with a "TK" is brilliant and now I'll be able to search for these sections all at once, rather than scrolling down and risk missing something. I can't count the number of times I've needed a name for a secondary character, or a specific terminology for something, so I'll go to the internet and get distracted on my way to the answer I was looking up. I can't wait to try this tip!
@@6thhistory oof 😣 I used something similar to you in my dissertation on non-linear narratives at BSc level so I know that feeling 😅 lots of 'find a reference to justify this' scattered throughout
@@tangentsfortalent 'Find a reference to justify this' I always hated that. Isn't it somehow more impressive if I came up with it on my own? Do you not have enough faith in yourself as a professor to decide whether my own ideas have any merit simply as ideas I have formed and not ideas I have assimilated? Bizarre stuff.
I don't know how many times I'll be blasting away at a great pace only to have the Flintstones' feet cram into the street stopping my stone aged car in its tracks (woah, I should've TK'd that reference and given a better one!). This is so insanely simple yet so helpful. Thank-you!
Bonus tip from me: the search function can be case-sensitive if you tell it to. Learn your search function (which usually also includes a replace function). It's awesome.
@@johndescy7904 brilliant! Thanks for sharing this! A further note on the replacement function is to make sure you're only replacing what you're intending to. I've heard a couple of stories where people have found and replaced all of one term with another, only to find it's also changed bits of other words. One that stuck in my head is hearing someone change 'pants' to 'trousers' for a UK audience and it ended up also changing 'participants' to 'particitrousers' 😂 But personally, one of my favourite uses for the find and replace is finding double spaces and replacing them with a single space. It's always funny to see how many times I must accidentally strike that space bar twice 😂
@@tangentsfortalent Those replace functions often have a confirm feature, which goes through all the changes and lets you confirm or skip each replacement. Furthermore, there should be a checkbox for only finding or replacing whole words.
I use the term 'lollipop' for this - I don't remember why I picked it specifically but I do know that I've never needed the word lollipop in manuscript so it's easy to search.
Haha, great choice 😁 a few comments have mentioned the word 'elephant' as theirs. I can't say I've ever needed lollipop or elephant either come to think of it 🤔
The way I do it is using bracket like 【】. Because I write in Mandarin, and in traditional Mandarin writing format, the bold bracket doesn't really exist, so while I just shooting out ideas, I will just write down what I need or what I want in the bracket. And I only need to search the former half of the bracket.
@@john80944 that's a great use for special characters. I think this will be a great workaround for other languages that have 'TK' together a lot too, such as Russian and other Slavic languages :) thanks for sharing that!
Great tip. For years, I've used && as my easy to find back 'signal' in my writing work in progress. BTW: In Dutch, the combination TK would come up too often - in words like ontkent, uitkomst, ontkleed, vastklampen, tekortkoming, uitkijken... the list goes on and on.
That's a good point - a few other languages have this also, including many Slavic languages and someone else mentioned German also. There's a few variations to this method and a few unique character pairings that others have mentioned in these comments so have a look through and see what works for you 😁 (although, && still works great)
@@LittleV179 hey now, a notebook is nothing to be ashamed of! 😂 I have a video coming out in a week or two where I actually praise them over computers for a few things (most notably stopping people getting distracted by going back and editing and tweaking huge chunks 😁 in theory that is haha)
@@tangentsfortalent don't get me wrong I love my PC but the notebook is the best for just pouring ideas out onto the page with zero distractions, write-ups and edits can come later 😅
I finished my novel in August and the way I got through it one day at a time was pretty much to just keep going and not get bogged down in details. I didn't know about the TK method. What I would do is just summarize what I had in mind and move on. As I rewrite now, I see those brief summaries and I just expand them fully. Same thing, it's just that I go by memory instead of making those sections ctrl-f-able. But this is a good video. Don't blunt force the process, flow where your attention and energy takes you. You'll fill the gaps later.
Absolutely, I find many people give up on their writing because they get stuck on a single line or description. Many really just want to move on to that one bit that sparked inspiration and made them WANT to write that book in the first place. It's difficult for those first time writers to know if they're allowed to 'skip' and come back later, so having this in their toolbox (or a similar placeholder like yours) might mean more manuscripts get completed! (And, as a bonus side effect, more of those manuscripts actually get revised too!) I'm glad you've got a process that works for you 😁 'flow where your attention and energy takes you' is a brilliant way to put it.
I'd vaguely heard of this before, but not in so much detail. All I'd really heard was "leave a note to yourself to come back to this later." I had trouble implementing that, since it was difficult to a find a consistent way to indicate to myself which parts I needed to come back to.
@@kiwilemontea4622 that's pretty much what it comes down to 😁 whichever way works best for you really. I quite like having details in my notes to come back to, however you can just leave it as 'TK' and that's searchable in of itself. Or, as many commenters have suggested, you could pop any ideas for the section you're leaving for later in [square brackets] and then just search for those :) when it all comes down to it, whichever system you can find that is quick, consistent, and searchable will be the best one to implement for you 😁 let me know how you get on with trying this (or if you end up preferring a variation of this more!)
@@SpiritedHeart94 These are also very useful I must admit. I used to opt for 'TBC' (to be continued) myself, however I remember a couple of these sneaking through my revisions and landing in my lecturer's inbox when I was getting formative feedback on assignments. (Luckily it never happened on an actual hand in! 😅)
Excellent hack. I've been 'leaving the description for later', but I had no reliable marker to return to. So it left me with the anxiety of knowing I'd have to do a 'fill it in' edit blind. This will work for a lot of details that might slow the flow. Thanks. Like and subscribe.
Thank you! I appreciate your support 😁 as many have mentioned, you can also use '[ ]', however at a glance it's glaringly obvious that the '___TK' should not be present, whereas someone skimming through may read square brackets and think it's supposed to be there. Either way works great, especially if it's for your own records 😁 it comes down to which one works best with your own writing flow
I am a hard core outlier for anything longer than a page or two. This should help me be able to address the multiple goals of a scene while dealing with the goals separately.
Definitely going to try this. It will go well with one of my current techniques which is when I come to review what I have written, I don't correct contradictions and plot holes or anything I am less than happy with, I add a bullet point to a list of notes I make through out the writing the first draft process. On starting the second draft I address each of these points by correcting the problem or kick it down the road onto my second draft notes. The TK method will allow me to incorporate descriptions and other non-plot related components into this and I can see how could streamline the process still further. What you said about foreshadowing is a great point.
Ooo, I love this! I feel like reviewing these contradictions in this way may help characters stay more faithful to the decisions they'd actually make, as opposed to feel like they've been forced by the writing to something the audience doesn't expect of them. Do you find this?
This is similar to how I approach writing, though I did not know about the TK part. I just skip parts to keep the writing inspiration flowing and revisit later, just leaving a small synopsis of what I want to happen in that paragraph or chapter. I like that you can search for it for easier access.
@@almost_harmless absolutely 😁 the searchability is a huge draw for me too. I also like that i can just ctrl+F and go back to any 'TK' I'd like whenever a bit if inspiration hits me and I either want to fill in, or just add details points to, a previous scene. Glad you liked the video 😁
@@anthonymiller4389 you're so welcome 😁 if there's anything else you'd like advice with then feel free to drop a comment and I might be able to make a video on it in future
Good video. Liked and sub’d. One piece of advice: reduce your background track to -30db so that it doesn’t compete with your vocal audio. You can use “ducking” techniques for times where you’re not talking, if you want. (Plenty of video tutorials online on how to duck audio.)
Thank you 😁 I appreciate this feedback. I'm still exploring how I want my final deliverables to be on this channel so this is something that will help me going forwards. (Also, if I'm completely honest, I messed up my sound levels BADLY when recording this, so a lot of my focus was reducing that noise floor, recovering and balancing out my voice, and finishing with a hard limiter and parametric EQ. The music levels were very much neglected on this one 😅) Thank you for subscribing 😁 I hope you enjoy the content I'll be making in this space
Personally, I use comas ,,, or ,,,, or ,,,,,. No confusions with the find there. ,,,char name, ,,,world building. Oh, when you do do a search, with your TK, use a space after it. Find will look for spaces just as easily. But for characters, to those individuals who need names, I have a list on my phone. It grows and grows. Whenever or wherever I spot them, it goes on the list. Also, I don’t write from page one on, I create a document for each POV character. When I run out of steam on one, I jump to another. If they’re interacting, I put different symbols (-->character name), and when I come back (character name-->). Stitching them together at the end is a breeze, because there is an understanding in how these different docs play in the overall picture, as there is a process to my madness.
Thank you for sharing your take on this technique! It's great to see what people have come up with in order to ensure they're always able to keep creating 😁
I don't get it. Why not simply write ToDo? Makes much more sense, you'll never forget it, and it works in every language (tk is very common in german). You don't even have to memorize "ToDo". Everybody else in the business world is using ToDo notes. So why make it so complicated?
@@ZooDinghy I wouldn't say it's more complicated than any other placeholder really. The main benefit with this one is that it's recognised by many editors and writers and you're less likely to accidentally remove words that are supposed to be in the manuscript (for example, if the character in one scene makes themselves a 'ToDo list' and then you use the 'find & replace' function to remove all instances of 'ToDo'). Overall, you're absolutely fine using ToDo as it's part of your own process and keeps those words flowing 😁 the reason I personally use TK is because i can see at a glance when it shouldn't be there. Many other commenters even prefer to just use square brackets, which may make it even simpler 😁 end of the day it's all down to preference and I'm glad you've already got a placeholder that works great for you. Perhaps a new writer will see your comment and adopt a 'ToDo' approach instead of 'TK'
Love the podcast guys. But yall lost me with the feeding window after workout. It’s been very thoroughly debunked over the years. Solid work though fellas. Praises.
@@vladimyrhilaire3283 I think this may have been intended for another video? But I agree nevertheless 😂 if your goal is muscle hypertrophy (or long term sustainable maintenance) I'd aim for 0.8g - 1g protein per kilo of lean mass per day and just space it out as needed. I tend to prioritise protein as my primary macronutrient goal and then sort of build my meals around that with low-mid carbs and fats depending on what fits my maintenance calories. Depending on which workout you watched/followed, it might be beneficial to have slightly higher carbs in your refuel meal just to replenish those glycogen stores but overall I tend to just have a higher carb day on intense hypertrophy focused workout days and don't usually pay too much attention with regards to meal timing. I'm sure timing may be important to some elite athletes and bodybuilders / gym goers but I'm definitely far from that stage 😂😂 Anyway, thanks for popping by! 😁
@@DubblejayComics I'm glad you like it! I first came across it from Savannah Gilbo. She's an educator who recently produced one of the 'storygrid masterwork' analysis book series. I recommend checking her out. Another educator I like is Kristen Kieffer. They've both got great minds when it comes to story craft and perfecting your prose. I always recommend people diversify their information sources as much as possible so you can compare and contrast experiences and teachings and get the most benefits possible 😁
@@DavidinMiami you're absolutely fine choosing any of these! As I say, it's simply a searchable placeholder you can return to. TK is in common use but any of the variations you mention are just as viable, as long as you use them consistently and remember which one(s) you opted for 😁 I'm sure there's even more variations out there too but for a sub 7 minute video I just opted for one 😀
@@DavidinMiami i would say, just adding to this, that these are great alternatives you've mentioned for those others in the comments that are looking for placeholders in languages where Tk is more common, such as the Slavic ones and I believe someone mentioned German also :) so thank you for mentioning these, I'm sure someone will find them viable for their usage
A first draft doesn't have to be good. You can write it faster than any other draft because it is the first one. Put any old dross in there you like, then edit, edit, edit again. Edit like the wind. All of these methods, in my opinion are nonsense. It doesn't matter how long a novel takes, they can take years to write. Just write.
@@MrRosebeing it might not be for you, however many out there (especially teens and first time writers) find snagging points disruptive to their writing process. They have bigger picture ideas in their heads which they might forget by getting stuck on these smaller details over and over for years. And as you say, the first draft doesn't have to be good as it will be revisited and revised. Things that can be improved upon and added/adjusted later. Which is exactly what this is for :) thank you for watching 😁
I'm writing a novel in Word. One method I use is to create a comment for every area that I want to come back to. Then, to fill in, simply go back to the comment. The goal being a finished document with zero comments. One advantage here is that is doesn't clutter the story with extraneous text. Another method is that I have a ToC. I also leave notes to myself in here. For example, I've added caps to the line as a working note: Chapter 101 Strange New Worlds TOO LONG! TRIM WORDS 420 But this TK method has a lot going for it. I'm gonna try it!
@@oldguyinstanton the comments are a great idea! It also means, should you have an editor or alpha reader look the document over and add their own comments, your goal never changes. You'll still be aiming to have a comment free document by the end 😁 great idea
Possibly torture for some, however it might feel more like torture to reach an impasse just as they're getting into a good flow with their writing. There's a whole range of different approaches that range in customisability, it's just about finding which works best for you and I guess doesn't feel like literal torture
I never skip things when writing. Nor do I get "writer's block". I basically see the entire story in my head before I start writing. If I suddenly need to do more research, then I do it, and get back to writing. I'd find a blank spot extremely distracting and annoying, and I couldn't progress without fixing it first.
That's understandable ☺️ It really sounds like you've found the process that works most for you. There's quite a few different approaches to writing and even more variations of each individual approach. I myself am very much a plotter. I love having the story clear in my head before I begin writing, like yourself. However, I've seen a few writers get stuck in the 'analysis paralysis'/'research stage' for months and months and fail to complete a single page. I've also seen a few fail to complete a manuscript because of perfectionism and feeling like they can't class something as a 'first draft' unless it's entirely accounted for. Hopefully this technique helps those writers find a way to break through those initial barriers and get their stories onto paper (or screen) ☺️ But very well done on not getting ''writer's block'' and for being so passionate about your writing. It's really nice for me to see people doing what they love.
I usually use the bracket method when I need to keep moving while writing, but I do like this idea as well. But what I'm really wondering is how I've never thought to just skip all of the descriptions and worldbuilding while writing the first draft. That always slows me down because I'm trying to make sure I describe the "right" things so that I can do all of the things that are "supposed" to be done with descriptions. But I can't really do that clearly in the first draft, when I'm still getting to know the characters and themes. I wonder how I should consider this when it comes to word count, though -- how will I determine if I'm going to hit an acceptable word count if I've skipped such a big chunk of the words? Definitely something to think about.
@@akwashington oh absolutely, this can speed up the first draft so much. Remember, the first draft isn't supposed to be perfect so we don't need every description in place, we just need enough to help us keep going until we've concluded our plot(s). First drafts will always be messy and that's absolutely fine :) With regards to hitting critical junctures in your book, yes this can definitely throw off word counts in the end and you may need to revise and refine to get your pacing perfect between these scenes. However, you may also find that, when you're looking at the skeleton of your story, it's easier to identify subplots that need rearranging, holes that need covering, and storylines that should simply be removed all together. In your first full read-through you'll also be able to see patterns in your work that may have gone unnoticed before because of those descriptions. For me, it's often over directing my characters in the slower moments. Once I'd eliminated some descriptions with the TK method, I realised I was putting way too much detail into EXACTLY what my characters were doing as they worked their way through an environment. I'd never noticed it before. By adjusting those moments I was able to improve the pacing of my scene so much more before I'd even included any establishing setting descriptions! If you use it on your next work in progress, I'd love to hear how you get on with it and if it made your revision process easier / harder 😁
@@SimGunther yep! This could definitely work as your placeholder 😁 although S and D are less visually arresting than the sharper letters (T, K, and your F), it's unique enough and bold enough to be eye-catching when skimming through a large chunk of text. I like it! Plus, being so short in length means 'SDF' won't be disruptive to your flow, whereas more special characters ([, √, ¥ and so on) might require a pause and a glance at the keyboard for some to remember where the key combos sit. Thanks for sharing! 😁
This is a REALLY good tip. Definitely going to start using that. I always get stuck on "Oh I should do some more description here" and then can sit and stare at it for hours even though I do know what will happen in the next chapter and I could be writing that. Thanks! I've subscribed :-)
Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. If the letters are solely for a search reference, I'd probably use something like "zz", because unless you're writing a biography about ZZ Top, I can't imagine where that'd be a thing you used. Or as others have mentioned already, brackets would do the trick too. But in the end it's whatever works I guess.
@@asquirrelplays Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief of Random House, noted TK to be a visually arresting pairing of letters, especially when capitalised (or used back to back ie: TKTK). It allows you to easily spot the placeholder at any stage of the writing/editing process. So it's often used in journalism to ensure nothing goes to print when items are absent :) and it was much more popular when copy-editing prior to modern software shortcuts. BUT, with all that said, I still 100% agree with you! Any placeholder will do and square brackets are incredibly effective, especially in modern processes where we have access to ctrl+F 😁 I like the idea of using zz, albeit as you say for a ZZ Top biography or possibly works that contain pizza 😁 thank you for watching!
@@tangentsfortalent it really is one of the best writing podcasts I've listened to! She's so generous with her free advice, so I can only imagine that her paid services are amazing... if I ever have the budget, I would completely trust her with my manuscript!
Haha, good point. Skip to 2:20 @anyone that wants to skip the problems and get straight to the method. Or use the chapters to get where you want to go 😁
This is the tip I needed like a year ago. I've saved this to my favourites so I can find it again and you're the first person I've subbed to since I did a major purge of my sub list.
Thanks for this :).
@@thesamsquatch2704 wow! Thank you so much! It means a lot 😁 I hope this helps improve your writing process as much as it improved mine 😁
@@tangentsfortalent Honestly dude, I need all the help I can get and this might just be the thing that helps me stop overthinking and stay focused on writing, so I owe you one :).
@@thesamsquatch2704 no problem! If you think of anything else you'd like help with let me know and I'll see what I can do to include it in a future video 😁
@@tangentsfortalent Thank you, I’m sure there’s something so I’ll keep you posted ☺️.
A tip my partner told me which is similar to the TK method is to use square brackets for when you know what's going to happen in a scene but don't know exactly how or how exactly to describe it.
for example, i am working on a short story in which the characters have a form of magic that allows them to create physical constructs with their mind. i want to have a unique tool for them to use but don't have it fully fledge out in my mind or i am unsure the best way to describe it's creation of visual identity so i would write: "Jim holds the fruit in his hand and [creates a tool with a sharp edge and a gauging spoon side] in his hand and begins eating." This allows me to keep my flow in my first draft but not loose the image i had in my mind. TK could be used in here too but i like having the extra detail so reference when i run through an editing draft of the scene. plus you can ctrl + f for square brackets because they are not used elsewhere in the text.
@@heirtothethrone2133 that's a brilliant tip! I really like how you can vary the level of detail within the square brackets in your approach to include details on what you already know about the tool(s). Thank you for sharing! (Also, this sounds like a really fun magic system to be writing. Make sure to pop back and let me know how it turns out for you! I'd be really interested in seeing how you make it all come to life ✌🏼)
I use square brackets too.
@@BrianWendt Me too - works like a charm.
Yup, I use square brackets too.
#TeamSquareBrackets
Act I
TK
Act II
TK
Act III
TK
I just finished the first draft of my novel!
😂 the structure at least 😂
I make placeholders/notes with square brackets. [further explanation]
Than I just have to search for "[" which isn't going to show up anywhere else.
This encourages disinterest and short term laziness. I love it.
Same as a lot of commenters, I use the hard brackets to write in info I'll add later or an alternate idea. Combining that with a "TK" is brilliant and now I'll be able to search for these sections all at once, rather than scrolling down and risk missing something. I can't count the number of times I've needed a name for a secondary character, or a specific terminology for something, so I'll go to the internet and get distracted on my way to the answer I was looking up. I can't wait to try this tip!
@@thegreenfaequeen I'm so glad you found something to add to your writing process! 😁 I get distracted by the internet constantly too 😂
TheBestNovelEverTK
@@maidden haha 😂 okay, this one got me 😂
I use curly brackets myself. Put a note inside about what you want to do later.
Very useful tip, thanks! More useful than my current habit of naming characters "Mr. NAME" or "Lord Dipshit"
@@abedrayton6398 hahaha 😂 I've been there too, don't you worry 😂
Wish I'd known of this before completely tanking my Master's dissertation with 'many interesting thoughts that just aren't fully realised'.
@@6thhistory oof 😣 I used something similar to you in my dissertation on non-linear narratives at BSc level so I know that feeling 😅 lots of 'find a reference to justify this' scattered throughout
@@tangentsfortalent 'Find a reference to justify this' I always hated that. Isn't it somehow more impressive if I came up with it on my own? Do you not have enough faith in yourself as a professor to decide whether my own ideas have any merit simply as ideas I have formed and not ideas I have assimilated? Bizarre stuff.
@@6thhistory 😂😂😂
I don't know how many times I'll be blasting away at a great pace only to have the Flintstones' feet cram into the street stopping my stone aged car in its tracks (woah, I should've TK'd that reference and given a better one!). This is so insanely simple yet so helpful. Thank-you!
Bonus tip from me: the search function can be case-sensitive if you tell it to. Learn your search function (which usually also includes a replace function). It's awesome.
@@johndescy7904 brilliant! Thanks for sharing this! A further note on the replacement function is to make sure you're only replacing what you're intending to. I've heard a couple of stories where people have found and replaced all of one term with another, only to find it's also changed bits of other words. One that stuck in my head is hearing someone change 'pants' to 'trousers' for a UK audience and it ended up also changing 'participants' to 'particitrousers' 😂
But personally, one of my favourite uses for the find and replace is finding double spaces and replacing them with a single space. It's always funny to see how many times I must accidentally strike that space bar twice 😂
@@tangentsfortalent Those replace functions often have a confirm feature, which goes through all the changes and lets you confirm or skip each replacement. Furthermore, there should be a checkbox for only finding or replacing whole words.
@@johndescy7904 Absolutely. well said 😁
I use the term 'lollipop' for this - I don't remember why I picked it specifically but I do know that I've never needed the word lollipop in manuscript so it's easy to search.
Haha, great choice 😁 a few comments have mentioned the word 'elephant' as theirs. I can't say I've ever needed lollipop or elephant either come to think of it 🤔
The way I do it is using bracket like 【】. Because I write in Mandarin, and in traditional Mandarin writing format, the bold bracket doesn't really exist, so while I just shooting out ideas, I will just write down what I need or what I want in the bracket.
And I only need to search the former half of the bracket.
@@john80944 that's a great use for special characters. I think this will be a great workaround for other languages that have 'TK' together a lot too, such as Russian and other Slavic languages :) thanks for sharing that!
Great tip. For years, I've used && as my easy to find back 'signal' in my writing work in progress.
BTW: In Dutch, the combination TK would come up too often - in words like ontkent, uitkomst, ontkleed, vastklampen, tekortkoming, uitkijken... the list goes on and on.
That's a good point - a few other languages have this also, including many Slavic languages and someone else mentioned German also. There's a few variations to this method and a few unique character pairings that others have mentioned in these comments so have a look through and see what works for you 😁 (although, && still works great)
Me sat here like a dinosaur with my physical notebook full of messy paragraphs and scribbles....😅
@@LittleV179 hey now, a notebook is nothing to be ashamed of! 😂 I have a video coming out in a week or two where I actually praise them over computers for a few things (most notably stopping people getting distracted by going back and editing and tweaking huge chunks 😁 in theory that is haha)
@@tangentsfortalent don't get me wrong I love my PC but the notebook is the best for just pouring ideas out onto the page with zero distractions, write-ups and edits can come later 😅
I finished my novel in August and the way I got through it one day at a time was pretty much to just keep going and not get bogged down in details.
I didn't know about the TK method. What I would do is just summarize what I had in mind and move on. As I rewrite now, I see those brief summaries and I just expand them fully.
Same thing, it's just that I go by memory instead of making those sections ctrl-f-able.
But this is a good video. Don't blunt force the process, flow where your attention and energy takes you. You'll fill the gaps later.
Absolutely, I find many people give up on their writing because they get stuck on a single line or description.
Many really just want to move on to that one bit that sparked inspiration and made them WANT to write that book in the first place.
It's difficult for those first time writers to know if they're allowed to 'skip' and come back later, so having this in their toolbox (or a similar placeholder like yours) might mean more manuscripts get completed! (And, as a bonus side effect, more of those manuscripts actually get revised too!)
I'm glad you've got a process that works for you 😁 'flow where your attention and energy takes you' is a brilliant way to put it.
I'd vaguely heard of this before, but not in so much detail. All I'd really heard was "leave a note to yourself to come back to this later." I had trouble implementing that, since it was difficult to a find a consistent way to indicate to myself which parts I needed to come back to.
@@kiwilemontea4622 that's pretty much what it comes down to 😁 whichever way works best for you really. I quite like having details in my notes to come back to, however you can just leave it as 'TK' and that's searchable in of itself. Or, as many commenters have suggested, you could pop any ideas for the section you're leaving for later in [square brackets] and then just search for those :) when it all comes down to it, whichever system you can find that is quick, consistent, and searchable will be the best one to implement for you 😁 let me know how you get on with trying this (or if you end up preferring a variation of this more!)
I'll give it a try. I've been changing font color to bright green, which isn't searchable. This TK method sounds better. Thanks!
You're welcome 😁
Interesting, my usual go-tos were the acronyms “TBD” (To be decided) and TBW (to be written), but I like this method too.
@@SpiritedHeart94 These are also very useful I must admit. I used to opt for 'TBC' (to be continued) myself, however I remember a couple of these sneaking through my revisions and landing in my lecturer's inbox when I was getting formative feedback on assignments. (Luckily it never happened on an actual hand in! 😅)
Excellent hack. I've been 'leaving the description for later', but I had no reliable marker to return to. So it left me with the anxiety of knowing I'd have to do a 'fill it in' edit blind. This will work for a lot of details that might slow the flow. Thanks. Like and subscribe.
Thank you! I appreciate your support 😁 as many have mentioned, you can also use '[ ]', however at a glance it's glaringly obvious that the '___TK' should not be present, whereas someone skimming through may read square brackets and think it's supposed to be there. Either way works great, especially if it's for your own records 😁 it comes down to which one works best with your own writing flow
I am a hard core outlier for anything longer than a page or two. This should help me be able to address the multiple goals of a scene while dealing with the goals separately.
Ooo, yes! I love a good outline 😁 thanks for watching. Best of luck with your scene goals!
Definitely going to try this. It will go well with one of my current techniques which is when I come to review what I have written, I don't correct contradictions and plot holes or anything I am less than happy with, I add a bullet point to a list of notes I make through out the writing the first draft process. On starting the second draft I address each of these points by correcting the problem or kick it down the road onto my second draft notes. The TK method will allow me to incorporate descriptions and other non-plot related components into this and I can see how could streamline the process still further. What you said about foreshadowing is a great point.
Ooo, I love this! I feel like reviewing these contradictions in this way may help characters stay more faithful to the decisions they'd actually make, as opposed to feel like they've been forced by the writing to something the audience doesn't expect of them. Do you find this?
@@tangentsfortalent Yes. And often the right answer does not reveal itself to you till you have the whole picture of the complete novel.
@@hornbeam7131 incredible, thank you so much for sharing this. I'll definitely be working this into my own process 😁
This is similar to how I approach writing, though I did not know about the TK part. I just skip parts to keep the writing inspiration flowing and revisit later, just leaving a small synopsis of what I want to happen in that paragraph or chapter. I like that you can search for it for easier access.
@@almost_harmless absolutely 😁 the searchability is a huge draw for me too. I also like that i can just ctrl+F and go back to any 'TK' I'd like whenever a bit if inspiration hits me and I either want to fill in, or just add details points to, a previous scene. Glad you liked the video 😁
Great advice, thank you!
@@anthonymiller4389 you're so welcome 😁 if there's anything else you'd like advice with then feel free to drop a comment and I might be able to make a video on it in future
Positive comment tk
interesting technique, I can see that being useful. I'll try it out on my next short story and see how it flows. Good video!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video 😁
Writing advice that I will actually use! Thank you!
I'm glad to hear it! 😁
Hey, a tip I've never heard before. Thank you!
Happy to help! 😁
Neat! Thank you!
@@kalimistakidou9103 you're welcome!
Good video. Liked and sub’d. One piece of advice: reduce your background track to -30db so that it doesn’t compete with your vocal audio. You can use “ducking” techniques for times where you’re not talking, if you want. (Plenty of video tutorials online on how to duck audio.)
Thank you 😁 I appreciate this feedback. I'm still exploring how I want my final deliverables to be on this channel so this is something that will help me going forwards.
(Also, if I'm completely honest, I messed up my sound levels BADLY when recording this, so a lot of my focus was reducing that noise floor, recovering and balancing out my voice, and finishing with a hard limiter and parametric EQ. The music levels were very much neglected on this one 😅)
Thank you for subscribing 😁 I hope you enjoy the content I'll be making in this space
Personally, I use comas ,,, or ,,,, or ,,,,,. No confusions with the find there. ,,,char name, ,,,world building. Oh, when you do do a search, with your TK, use a space after it. Find will look for spaces just as easily. But for characters, to those individuals who need names, I have a list on my phone. It grows and grows. Whenever or wherever I spot them, it goes on the list. Also, I don’t write from page one on, I create a document for each POV character. When I run out of steam on one, I jump to another. If they’re interacting, I put different symbols (-->character name), and when I come back (character name-->). Stitching them together at the end is a breeze, because there is an understanding in how these different docs play in the overall picture, as there is a process to my madness.
Thank you for sharing your take on this technique! It's great to see what people have come up with in order to ensure they're always able to keep creating 😁
I don't get it. Why not simply write ToDo? Makes much more sense, you'll never forget it, and it works in every language (tk is very common in german). You don't even have to memorize "ToDo". Everybody else in the business world is using ToDo notes. So why make it so complicated?
@@ZooDinghy I wouldn't say it's more complicated than any other placeholder really. The main benefit with this one is that it's recognised by many editors and writers and you're less likely to accidentally remove words that are supposed to be in the manuscript (for example, if the character in one scene makes themselves a 'ToDo list' and then you use the 'find & replace' function to remove all instances of 'ToDo').
Overall, you're absolutely fine using ToDo as it's part of your own process and keeps those words flowing 😁 the reason I personally use TK is because i can see at a glance when it shouldn't be there.
Many other commenters even prefer to just use square brackets, which may make it even simpler 😁 end of the day it's all down to preference and I'm glad you've already got a placeholder that works great for you. Perhaps a new writer will see your comment and adopt a 'ToDo' approach instead of 'TK'
Love the podcast guys. But yall lost me with the feeding window after workout. It’s been very thoroughly debunked over the years.
Solid work though fellas. Praises.
@@vladimyrhilaire3283 I think this may have been intended for another video? But I agree nevertheless 😂 if your goal is muscle hypertrophy (or long term sustainable maintenance) I'd aim for 0.8g - 1g protein per kilo of lean mass per day and just space it out as needed.
I tend to prioritise protein as my primary macronutrient goal and then sort of build my meals around that with low-mid carbs and fats depending on what fits my maintenance calories.
Depending on which workout you watched/followed, it might be beneficial to have slightly higher carbs in your refuel meal just to replenish those glycogen stores but overall I tend to just have a higher carb day on intense hypertrophy focused workout days and don't usually pay too much attention with regards to meal timing.
I'm sure timing may be important to some elite athletes and bodybuilders / gym goers but I'm definitely far from that stage 😂😂
Anyway, thanks for popping by! 😁
Great idea.
What's the name of the writing teacher you got this from? I couldn't quite make it out in the video.
@@DubblejayComics I'm glad you like it! I first came across it from Savannah Gilbo. She's an educator who recently produced one of the 'storygrid masterwork' analysis book series. I recommend checking her out. Another educator I like is Kristen Kieffer. They've both got great minds when it comes to story craft and perfecting your prose.
I always recommend people diversify their information sources as much as possible so you can compare and contrast experiences and teachings and get the most benefits possible 😁
Wy even include a "t" in "tk," when you can choose something much more obscure like "qx," "zq," or "ww"?
@@DavidinMiami you're absolutely fine choosing any of these! As I say, it's simply a searchable placeholder you can return to. TK is in common use but any of the variations you mention are just as viable, as long as you use them consistently and remember which one(s) you opted for 😁
I'm sure there's even more variations out there too but for a sub 7 minute video I just opted for one 😀
@@DavidinMiami i would say, just adding to this, that these are great alternatives you've mentioned for those others in the comments that are looking for placeholders in languages where Tk is more common, such as the Slavic ones and I believe someone mentioned German also :) so thank you for mentioning these, I'm sure someone will find them viable for their usage
@@tangentsfortalent Gotcha. Thanks for the video.
I didn't know this method had a name. I've been using *** or square brackets to do this. I like this method.
@@theimaginarium square brackets are a preference for many it seems 😁 I'm glad you like it!
One of the good writing tips on UA-cam among the massive amount of absolute garbage 👍
I use ddd
A first draft doesn't have to be good. You can write it faster than any other draft because it is the first one. Put any old dross in there you like, then edit, edit, edit again. Edit like the wind.
All of these methods, in my opinion are nonsense. It doesn't matter how long a novel takes, they can take years to write. Just write.
@@MrRosebeing it might not be for you, however many out there (especially teens and first time writers) find snagging points disruptive to their writing process. They have bigger picture ideas in their heads which they might forget by getting stuck on these smaller details over and over for years.
And as you say, the first draft doesn't have to be good as it will be revisited and revised. Things that can be improved upon and added/adjusted later.
Which is exactly what this is for :) thank you for watching 😁
I heard of this technique when I first began writing novels; however, the common placeholder word back then was ELEPHANT haha
Haha, brilliant 😁
I was about to comment this. My manuscripts have been littered with random elephants for years 😅
@@PrudenceHays I had no idea this was even a thing! Haha, It's interesting to see what practices people have picked up through the years 😮😁
I'm writing a novel in Word. One method I use is to create a comment for every area that I want to come back to. Then, to fill in, simply go back to the comment. The goal being a finished document with zero comments. One advantage here is that is doesn't clutter the story with extraneous text.
Another method is that I have a ToC. I also leave notes to myself in here. For example, I've added caps to the line as a working note:
Chapter 101 Strange New Worlds TOO LONG! TRIM WORDS 420
But this TK method has a lot going for it. I'm gonna try it!
@@oldguyinstanton the comments are a great idea! It also means, should you have an editor or alpha reader look the document over and add their own comments, your goal never changes. You'll still be aiming to have a comment free document by the end 😁 great idea
@@tangentsfortalent Thank you. I've already started using the TK approach.
this sounds like literal torture jesus christ
Possibly torture for some, however it might feel more like torture to reach an impasse just as they're getting into a good flow with their writing.
There's a whole range of different approaches that range in customisability, it's just about finding which works best for you and I guess doesn't feel like literal torture
I never skip things when writing. Nor do I get "writer's block". I basically see the entire story in my head before I start writing. If I suddenly need to do more research, then I do it, and get back to writing. I'd find a blank spot extremely distracting and annoying, and I couldn't progress without fixing it first.
That's understandable ☺️ It really sounds like you've found the process that works most for you.
There's quite a few different approaches to writing and even more variations of each individual approach.
I myself am very much a plotter. I love having the story clear in my head before I begin writing, like yourself. However, I've seen a few writers get stuck in the 'analysis paralysis'/'research stage' for months and months and fail to complete a single page.
I've also seen a few fail to complete a manuscript because of perfectionism and feeling like they can't class something as a 'first draft' unless it's entirely accounted for.
Hopefully this technique helps those writers find a way to break through those initial barriers and get their stories onto paper (or screen) ☺️ But very well done on not getting ''writer's block'' and for being so passionate about your writing.
It's really nice for me to see people doing what they love.
@@tangentsfortalent Yes, I have no objection to any technique that actually helps someone write.
Thank you for this! You need more subs and views because your content is so useful! OgComplimentTK
@@GuhnomeArt thank you so much! I'll be uploading every week so hopefully 🤞🏼 I'd love to be able to support as many creatives as possible 😁
@@tangentsfortalent Thank you! I’ve been binging your stuff and all of it has helped me!
I usually use the bracket method when I need to keep moving while writing, but I do like this idea as well. But what I'm really wondering is how I've never thought to just skip all of the descriptions and worldbuilding while writing the first draft. That always slows me down because I'm trying to make sure I describe the "right" things so that I can do all of the things that are "supposed" to be done with descriptions. But I can't really do that clearly in the first draft, when I'm still getting to know the characters and themes.
I wonder how I should consider this when it comes to word count, though -- how will I determine if I'm going to hit an acceptable word count if I've skipped such a big chunk of the words? Definitely something to think about.
@@akwashington oh absolutely, this can speed up the first draft so much.
Remember, the first draft isn't supposed to be perfect so we don't need every description in place, we just need enough to help us keep going until we've concluded our plot(s). First drafts will always be messy and that's absolutely fine :)
With regards to hitting critical junctures in your book, yes this can definitely throw off word counts in the end and you may need to revise and refine to get your pacing perfect between these scenes. However, you may also find that, when you're looking at the skeleton of your story, it's easier to identify subplots that need rearranging, holes that need covering, and storylines that should simply be removed all together. In your first full read-through you'll also be able to see patterns in your work that may have gone unnoticed before because of those descriptions.
For me, it's often over directing my characters in the slower moments. Once I'd eliminated some descriptions with the TK method, I realised I was putting way too much detail into EXACTLY what my characters were doing as they worked their way through an environment. I'd never noticed it before. By adjusting those moments I was able to improve the pacing of my scene so much more before I'd even included any establishing setting descriptions!
If you use it on your next work in progress, I'd love to hear how you get on with it and if it made your revision process easier / harder 😁
The SDF method isn't as catchy, but no word I know of has that specific combo of "SDF"
@@SimGunther yep! This could definitely work as your placeholder 😁 although S and D are less visually arresting than the sharper letters (T, K, and your F), it's unique enough and bold enough to be eye-catching when skimming through a large chunk of text. I like it!
Plus, being so short in length means 'SDF' won't be disruptive to your flow, whereas more special characters ([, √, ¥ and so on) might require a pause and a glance at the keyboard for some to remember where the key combos sit.
Thanks for sharing! 😁
This is a REALLY good tip. Definitely going to start using that. I always get stuck on "Oh I should do some more description here" and then can sit and stare at it for hours even though I do know what will happen in the next chapter and I could be writing that. Thanks! I've subscribed :-)
@@RazuTales thank you! I'm glad you found something useful for your process! I'd love to hear how you get along using it in the future 😁
Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. If the letters are solely for a search reference, I'd probably use something like "zz", because unless you're writing a biography about ZZ Top, I can't imagine where that'd be a thing you used. Or as others have mentioned already, brackets would do the trick too. But in the end it's whatever works I guess.
@@asquirrelplays Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief of Random House, noted TK to be a visually arresting pairing of letters, especially when capitalised (or used back to back ie: TKTK).
It allows you to easily spot the placeholder at any stage of the writing/editing process. So it's often used in journalism to ensure nothing goes to print when items are absent :) and it was much more popular when copy-editing prior to modern software shortcuts.
BUT, with all that said, I still 100% agree with you! Any placeholder will do and square brackets are incredibly effective, especially in modern processes where we have access to ctrl+F 😁 I like the idea of using zz, albeit as you say for a ZZ Top biography or possibly works that contain pizza 😁 thank you for watching!
@@tangentsfortalent dang I didn't even consider pizza, which is kinda odd considering I always want some. Still, super interesting stuff.
Thank you for the tip! I first learned this from Savannah Gilbo on her podcast too 😊
@@nataliejaneshields her podcast is absolutely incredible! It's on in my car for most journeys nowadays 😂
@@tangentsfortalent it really is one of the best writing podcasts I've listened to! She's so generous with her free advice, so I can only imagine that her paid services are amazing... if I ever have the budget, I would completely trust her with my manuscript!
Read that back and it definitely sounds like an ad... #notsponsored haha 😂
How do you make sure you're staying on track with your writing?
"Let's just get straight into it" he says at 1:30 into a 7 minute video...
Haha, good point.
Skip to 2:20 @anyone that wants to skip the problems and get straight to the method. Or use the chapters to get where you want to go 😁
You're right. 't Is more easy to criticize than it is to create.
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@@robawinters 😂😂 EquallyWittyReplyTK