"Choosing change over stagnation is the essence of story." When valuable writing advice overlaps with valuable life advice... 😳 I feel confronted, and thank you for it. 😆
HELP! At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them? I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts. But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
I remember coming up with an entire grand plot, and after so much planning and I was about to start it, I found a MASSIVE plothole that could potentially ruin the entire story if it were found out. Fun
The slow middle is why I get bored with serial shows. When there's 27 seasons of a show you know nothing is going to happen for a while. "Gee, what color will this wedding be?" "Oh no, they've run out of main characters and are starting to kill secondary characters."
@@TrueMohax that might be why the red wedding works so well... just casually reading and in the middle of the book at some boring wedding everything changes. I remember reading it and feeling my blood drain when I realised what was happening and I literally audibly said 'fuck' and had to stop reading for a while.
My characters just sit around and have coffee. I am opposed to drama. You will read my novel of 3 people having coffee and the waitress who brings it to them.... AND LIKE IT! :D
Thanks everyone for comments. @@lunapond7652 You have NO idea how eerie your name is as it pertains to my story! I've never heard of Coffee Talks but I'll look it up when I can as it looks interesting. Here's an excerpt from my fiction: The waitress served the coffee for everyone. There were 3. She was wearing an apron. Everyone grabbed their spoon and started stirring the coffee----with respective spoons. (No one stirred anyone else's coffee.) "How's the coffee?" He took a sip of his. "You know," she thought about it, "I mean it's..." she shrugged "...coffee," she finally uttered. "So what did you do this weekend?" "Not much. You?" "Not much." "Not much, too," said the 3rd one, albeit without being asked. "Huh!" They all sipped the coffee in the silence of the very busy diner. I'm just kidding, LOL! Ok that was a nice break, back to email work! XD
For repetition you can replace it with the character describing their day to day work, or turn it into a short montage. Using a montage can show the reader the repetitive and monotonous life the character lives while also showing the passage of time. Using this method is useful for fetch quest storylines, characters looking for more excitement in their lives, or to prevent the feeling that the characters are teleporting to locations.
I think I felt this In The Binding. Throughout the first 100 pages the plot barely moves ahead and it's an exasperating read. But slowly things pick up and somehow...that stagnant time seems to make sense. However I've not read the full book yet, so let's see
@@deekshab9417 HELP! At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them? I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts. But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
My main 'plotting problem' is... that I don't plot. I'm a pantser. Well, I do some plotting, but during the actual writing, not in advance. If I plan a story, knowing what will happen to who, let alone how it will end, I feel like the story is done already, and have no urge to have to write it down. Instead I have to surprise myself while writing, as I would get surprised by reading a story someone else wrote. It still astounds me that my stories actually make any sense in the end, but they do, as if I did plot and plan everything from the start.
My next video will be about plotting vs. pantsing, actually! :) There are a lot of pantsers out there who feel the same way you do, and plot is always something you can revise after the draft is finished. Keep writing!
@@QuotidianWriter Pas de probleme! As busy as I know you are, it's touching to think of how you spare no expense in finding entertaining, eye-catching images to go with your top-shelf scripts and video editing. And, as if that wasn't impressive enough, all of your videos are all steak and a decadent helping of sizzle (which we all love), but no fat! Taken together, your videos so far have more than enough valuable, applicable and timely content, to fill a book on how to write engaging novels while avoiding writing pitfalls, etc. How you do all of this "in your spare time" is beyond my ability to understand! I just wanted to extend you my truly sincere appreciation for all you do for your fledglings. Our hearts jump whenever you post a new video because what you do means so very much to us! P.S. I'll be preparing Thanksgiving dinner so I wanted to get in "what I'm thankful for" before I get too busy! 😉
@@QuotidianWriter I don't agree with all of your opinions { especially that one about " juicy character development " } however I've only yet to start my first story { since abstaining from creative writing since after primary/elementary school } . So your more expert than me. I dislike " negative conflict " , as well as sad/disappointing endings Although I know some stories deserves them. You've got a nice voice for #UA-cam. 🧑💻🇦🇺🇳🇴 📖🔏
Love how French novelcraft is used as the illustrator here. Just because they went long & meandering does not mean the plot was absent. If the artist is paid by the word or page, why not take some savor time and go full Ferris Bueller?
Thanks a lot for the video. I'm writing a fanfic right now and I hadn't even realized that part of the reason why everything seemed to slow down once in a while was that I didn't give my protagonist enough of a reason to care for portions of it. It killed the pace and the interest some of my readers had. There were significant events but they felt dull.
Premise: a guy finds the love of his life only to discover he has cancer. as luck would have it, a shadowy man approaches with a cure for his illness. but there are consequences. body altering, face distorting consequences. but hey...now he's sort of indestructible. coming soon! (sounds kinda familiar) cue Peter Cetera for a soundtrack song.
I believe the only way for your brilliant efforts to payoff and for us to show the utmost of gratitude is to extract better material of ourselves to provide as writers. Diane, we can never thank you enough!
I rarely comment on videos, but I feel like I just have to express my gratitude somehow for your videos. They're among the best writing advice videos I have ever come across and I feel like I have become a much better writer thanks to them. I always feel like I'm learning so much watching your videos, more than most other writing videos, and the depth and quality of them are absolutely great! I love how you bring up stuff I personally have not seen as often, at least not put together in this way, and the diversity in examples etc. and I want to thank you for that. You put a lot of hard work into these and it's really showing. Thank you so much for helping me and other fellow writers on our journeys!
I've been struggling to outline this story I've had in my head for a while and your video just helped me figure out that making the ending a midpoint reversal could work really well. Thanks!
Thank you! Generally, writer advice videos are so _uninspiring_ that I can't wait to get through them, hoping to find just one nugget of wisdom. Your video is a treasure trove. Perhaps the old saying is true, "When the student is ready the master appears". I am writing a time travel novel with dual timelines that interweave throughout the story, and it's driving me batty to keep it properly structured. I believe your advice will help, and I look forward to watching your other videos as well. Subscribed.
This is one of the best and most accurate plot-related advice i've seen out there in a while and god knows i've watched many. The amount and the quality of the information is astonishing. Thank you so much, you're a pearl!
These videos are as brilliant as they are inspiring. I am getting old, and the mind isn't what it once was. I appreciate how much information you have provided in such perfectly produced sessions. You've helped approach my writing from a clearer perspective. Thanks for your obviously very hard work.
Oml!! i literally just began clapping like a seal would when i saw that you uploaded!1 i have been waiting patiently for ages and it was so worth it!! thanks for this! you have no idea how much i have been struggling with plot development, this could not have come at a perfect time!! thanks so much!
My plot is: "Guy hears stories." Stories of human trafficking and other abuses, mostly consensual but not all. Then at the Midpoint he goes to the police, but he doesn't have enough info, so he decides to play detective and gather more info. As a result of this decision ... he keeps hearing stories. Finally he finds out whether the stories are true. Also, he lives by a set of rules that his mom has made him memorize (complete with numbers).
skaetur1 If there’s a personal connection in the part of the story where the guy is being told the stories, OP doesn’t necessarily need to start with the police involvement. So long as the police involvement feels like it’s recontextualizing something incredibly important in the first half.
I actually struggled with too many ideas - internal plot points or the like. That's continued to haunt me for how convoluted or unclear everything felt until I began to see it in a simplified way. Suddenly, it became as simple as "your sweetheart's abuser returns, and they want her back". While nowhere thrilling at first glance, the easier it is to understand, the better it will be to stay focused and motivated to give it life with all the little spices.
I'd like to argue that it's okay to write stories with figures instead of characters, who are more about representing something or someone than they have unique personality, like Bertholt Brecht did in his plays. I prefer writing dense, intrinsic characters, but some people might not be interested in writing them
You are doing something really special with this channel. I find your videos are often as thought provoking as they are informative. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into this and I hope you are happy and healthy.
This is great. Reassuring to me that I am at least on the right track with my WIP. Loved the examples you used. I too have had a problem with the sagging middle. I think i fixed that. One of my problems has been how and where to give backstory, revealing it a little at a time. So many writers, it seems, want to give the reader "info dumps" to give up all the backstory at once. Sometimes this is right in the middle of the book too! And often the reader does not need the info as it is not essential to the story.
In my most recent project, a science-fiction novel, I'm struggling with a cohesive plot. Thanks to videos like this, however, I think I have a notion of what do to.
Wow, this was so helpful. Thank you so much! I’m writing my first book and have had a hard time finding a good and original plot for my book that won’t be too boring. This inspired me a lot✨
Vert helpful. You deliver your content without the snarky, pedantic tone that characterizes so many internet editors and other fiction writing instructors.
Thank you for the wonderful video!!! I'm stuck figuring out my plot! It would be a romance with a sci-fi setting. It started with the concept of Nadya (main character 1) finding out about her grandfather owing basically a king's ransom. While he insists that it's nothing to worry about she worries about it... A LOT since she's got some tied-up emotional stake in lost family/trusting. She becomes a runner/merc in an attempt to solve the problem. She lands herself a job with Thiago (main character 2), a hacker, who is a huge flirt (to a fault). My biggest struggle is I want to do a romance/erotica, to show how these two weirdos come together, learn how to communicate effectively, and become a couple, but I don't know how to balance it with the ransom / what do I do once the ransom situation resolves itself. EDIT: To clarify this originally started as characters that were developed for a tabletop RPG game but it's since been divorced from that.
HELP! At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them? I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts. But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
That sounds like a great plot! Honestly, the story might come across as more sci-fi-oriented than romance-oriented based on your premise. If you truly want to spotlight the romance/erotica plot, then Nadya's relationship with Thiago needs to be at the forefront. Based on your description, it feels more like a romantic subplot rather than the romance being THE plot, as readers might expect it to be in an erotica novel. I would consider how you can make their relationship the main thrust of the story. Perhaps she needs to seduce and sleep with Thiago in order to get the information she needs, which relates to her goal of dealing with the ransom. Or maybe she's investigating Thiago's involvement in the ransom, but she can't deny their chemistry, so she's torn between throwing him to the cops and banging him, haha. Although you're writing sci-fi, the genre closest to what you're doing is paranormal erotica, so you could also check out some bestsellers in that category and see how they balance plot and sexy times. Keep writing! :)
@@slevinchannel7589 I answered in your other thread for you! :) Those illustrations and more are by an artist on Pixabay. pixabay.com/users/cdd20-1193381/?tab=popular&pagi=
You give some solid advice! Thank you! Mary Robinette-Kowal (might have misspelled that) also have good advice on how to do some of these, she calls it the "yes, but..." and "no, and".
Every time I hear about the count of monte cristo, as if I don't already know this for a fact, I always go "Huh! Sweeney Todd must have been inspired by this book!"
I have found two pros and multiple cons in my story. I'll start with pros: 1: the main character must sacrifice his dreams, family, and all connections in order to achieve his goal, and the antagonist had a very close relationship with him 2: every death or victory has an equal and opposite reaction. Most of the time, the killer gets punished greatly and suffers greatly, and the winners usually have something bad happen to them. Cons: 1: Not once has the main character won against the villain until the end. They may have won the battle but as the villains power increases exponentially, there is less hope for the future and less interest (I think that's how it goes, correct me if I'm wrong) 2: The middle is very slow. It's just in there, and unnecessary, but reveals lots of plot points yet distills from the main storyline. The main character and his little group of buddies focus on how to get out for the first act of the sector (my story is divided into 3 sectors), then it focuses on the steps to achieve that goal. The steps are apparently to learn to how to manipulate energy, which is important for the last sector of the story. 3: the first sector is incredibly boring. It doesn't have any major events other than the apocalypse and the government exile, which are located in seasons 4 and 5, at the end of the sector. 4: the story feels incredible cluttered. There are so many events happening each season, and talking about sector 3 has probably an important even for each season. The character list is incredibly high, and there's too many things to keep track of (planet info, galaxies, etc.) 4.5: this slightly goes along witht eh previous one but the storyline itself is also very clunky. The sectors contrast so much from each other. Sector 1 is simple adventures, sector 2 is incredibly slow, and sector 3, the longest one, has so much events but the premise is space and trying to stop the villains empire. 5: I do not know if this is a problem but there are too many villains to keep track of. First you got the deranged psychopath, the close enemy, the blue ground Dweller, and the entire government. 5.5: there are also way too many character arcs and histories and backstories. This is for every single character. Or most of them. I feel as if some backstories should be ambiguous and left for the audience to ponder. I do not believe the story would turn out well though, so I'll keep it in the back of my mind and revise it there. Keep in mind, I am still relatively a child. In the sense that being 12 is a child. I do not know much. I am not sensible. I am not logical. I am not mature enough to understand the grasp of what I am doing. If you must, please, and I beg you, please correct any errors in the premise of my story and you may recommend options for me to improve my story. After all, feedback can remove bias from a viewpoint.
I've found that my writing uses dream logic and surrealism, which makes it hard for me to convey ideas clearly. I love that ambiguity and forming a paradox with clever wordplay, but I'm worried that doing so alienates my audience. How could one use the midpoint to ground the story and reconnect with the audience?
That is a tough challenge. I wonder if you could have part of the story feel more "grounded" or conventional than the rest, giving readers an anchor, and then you could launch into the more surreal, dreamlike aspects. You could return to that grounded story line at the midpoint to reorient the reader. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman uses this technique, switching between real life and a metaphorical dream world. I also recommend reading popular "surrealist" writers like Haruki Murakami to get a sense for how they balance ambiguity, wordplay, and audience connection. Keep writing! :)
one thing that defines surrealism is the ability to transition. one thing that defines a dream, is that the is an inkling that it is in fact a dream logic. for both, it requires a deeper sense of suspension but a lighter spring. take it easy on the vocabulary.
12:50 I understand what you're saying, I shudder at basically subverting the entire premise of your story 60-90 through your story. Mostly cause it nearly always ends up being, "Oh, you were furthering the villains' plot all along" (either by being unwitting dups, being strung along when you think you're working against the villain, or having been fighting for the wrong side all along). It makes it feel like the first 60-90% of the story was a completely different story, and now it has no real end, and now we have this much shorter story with these characters we'll read about instead.
Personally, I would like to see more unreliable female narrators and characters who start "good" but descend into villainy. I appreciate stories where two morally gray characters are in opposition, rather than the story featuring an obvious hero and villain. However, everyone's tastes are different, and what I like might not be what the current publishing market is looking for!
I love to hear your insight, and your voice is very pretty. You've actually helped me a lot in my writing journey, and some of what I've accomplished wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you, so thank you, and I can't wait to watch more!
I think death tends to come at the Low Point at the 3/4 mark (the Second Plot Point), before the Climax. In A Christmas Carol Scrooge sees his own death as well as Tiny Tim's.
This is some good advice here! I found that my plotting problems/minus points often come from me gravitating to episodic structures or video game mission style plotting naturally. So for instance a chapter is more aking to a TV show episode or a mission given. They may have a larger story connecting them or at least a theme. Or show something about certain characters at the very least. Downside is: It can often look like a lack of focus and drags on and on and on (aka some things keep occuring). Also huge ass word count to be written making any sort of publishing a moot point.
I have almost never heard of the Two Princesses of Bamarre ever referenced anywhere. That book has been in my shelf for years, and I love it so much. Such a bittersweet story. This was so cool! But the question "What happens if the protagonist walks away" is a great one I hsoul dbe thinking abut myself.
The majority of Author tube or the authorities of writing and editing are from the West or Countries that treasures reading and the writing industry. Here in the region of Cordillera in the Philippines, it took me about 8 years to write and publish my book. The main reason is the Arts in general like writing, music, painting, sculpture, acting and the like are considered as "hobbies" and not a "real careers". People are focused on what they consider as "real careers" that are "paying jobs" like farming, carpentry, professions, businesses and the like. This is mainly due to the low standard of living or poverty that are prevalent here. It was difficult for me to find editors, beta readers, critic partners, support systems (family and friends who believed on my career choice), time to write (have to hustle in the real world to fulfill basic needs and to exhausted in my free time) and others. I end up skipping some steps and submitted my manuscript this year in a publishing company willing to help me publish as a novice writer. I don't know if this is necessary but it is my reality as a writer.
AMAZING! I love this channel! it's extremely helpful and interesting to listen to. I rarely comment on youtube videos but I really like the content. thank you!
My original midpoint ended up being the first plot point. Moore after listening to this, I'm woneing ng of I can restructure to the original plan, even though I came up with a new midpoint. 10 more options? NOOOOOO! My story has changed enough. I want to finish it.
I'm currently working to revive a novel I wrote when I was an undergraduate a decade ago. I had once reach the conclusion it was stillborn. In my rewrite, I have realized that I was guilty of not making the stakes personal or high enough. I have also changed the time of the book to where the events I had planned to write about are the past. This also meant that the true main character changed. The story is now about a suicidal fugitive finding a meaningful friendship, and the chance for redemption at the cost of facing his fears and losing his freedom.
Watched this again just now. Again, finding this very insightful. Interestingly I'd say that whilst, yes, ending with a bang instead of a whimper is the way to go, I've read two books in the last year or so that had very different but very unsatisfactory endings, one a whimper, (The Book of Strange New Things,) and one a bang, (Birnham Wood.) Both were reasonably readable up until the end, but both left me feeling, "What a stupid lazy ending." I've a feeling there's quite a trend of leaving books without a real resolution, without tying up at least most of the loose ends. And I hate it. As I say, it feels like the author's gotten tired of the journey, and just wants to wrap things up quickly so they can sell the book and move on. But either there is no real ending, or the ending is a cheap ploy for dramatic effect, that leaves you thinking, "What about all that other stuff?" and, "Oh. Right. Those characters really were that two-dimensional after all." But I love your clear and sensible unpacking of this topic Diane. Very grateful you've taken the time to create this and upload to UA-cam. (I personally don't use any social media, unless UA-cam can be described as such.) Looking forward to the next piece you might choose to create and upload 🙂
Thank you so much for this video! I recently stumbled over your channel and am enjoying it very much. I have been afraid of writing my own stories since I always thought myself to be terrible at writing, but this year I'm facing my fears and trying our NaNoWriMo (well, my version of it: instead of 50k words I'll try to write a story from start to finish, doesn't matter whether it reaches 50k words or not). I've been working on the outline during october but I was having trouble deciding how the characters get from the midpoint to the ending I wanted to have, and this video gave me the solution I'm going to try (at 15:34)!
Hmm... I thought I might be having a problem with the middle (at least, I was seeing it coming on). I am also fearful of unsatisfying endings... Until you mentioned 1984. Now, we know that Winston has made his choice in the opening few lines of the book. Everything else is build up to the inevitable. But one of the most evocative puzzle pieces of that ending has to do with the equation he writes in the dust of a table at the Chestnut Tree Café; 2+2=... In the original 1951 version, the typographers have not put the "5" that was intended by Orwell, which would have meant that Big Brother has won. It has been argued that this was an honest mistake, but I doubt it, as typography then was with lead type. So the question is, how satisfying is the ending, relative to the type of book this is? Also see Saint-Éxupéry's Sun Sand and Stars. Otherwise, I will stick with F. Scott Fitzgerald for unsatisfying endings.
"Choosing change over stagnation is the essence of story." When valuable writing advice overlaps with valuable life advice... 😳 I feel confronted, and thank you for it. 😆
HELP!
At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them?
I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts.
But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
I remember coming up with an entire grand plot, and after so much planning and I was about to start it, I found a MASSIVE plothole that could potentially ruin the entire story if it were found out.
Fun
What was it if you don't mind me asking
x2
x3
x4
x5 lmao
The slow middle is why I get bored with serial shows. When there's 27 seasons of a show you know nothing is going to happen for a while. "Gee, what color will this wedding be?" "Oh no, they've run out of main characters and are starting to kill secondary characters."
Why did the Red Wedding suddenly pop in my head?
@@TrueMohax that might be why the red wedding works so well... just casually reading and in the middle of the book at some boring wedding everything changes. I remember reading it and feeling my blood drain when I realised what was happening and I literally audibly said 'fuck' and had to stop reading for a while.
My characters just sit around and have coffee. I am opposed to drama. You will read my novel of 3 people having coffee and the waitress who brings it to them.... AND LIKE IT! :D
Sounds awesome! Lately I've been more interested in books not about the end of the world and drama. Good luck on the book! :)
@@teardrop6392 Thanks for the lovely comment, I appreciate that! :D
@@irened2 Of course! It's great to see people write new and fresh stories that they love.
You’d Like the game “coffee talks”
Thanks everyone for comments. @@lunapond7652 You have NO idea how eerie your name is as it pertains to my story! I've never heard of Coffee Talks but I'll look it up when I can as it looks interesting. Here's an excerpt from my fiction:
The waitress served the coffee for everyone. There were 3. She was wearing an apron. Everyone grabbed their spoon and started stirring the coffee----with respective spoons. (No one stirred anyone else's coffee.)
"How's the coffee?" He took a sip of his.
"You know," she thought about it, "I mean it's..." she shrugged "...coffee," she finally uttered.
"So what did you do this weekend?"
"Not much. You?"
"Not much."
"Not much, too," said the 3rd one, albeit without being asked.
"Huh!"
They all sipped the coffee in the silence of the very busy diner.
I'm just kidding, LOL! Ok that was a nice break, back to email work! XD
Queen has blessed us with 26 minutes of content.
I read content as consent and it really confused me
Golden advice to remember
Gay
@@aayushipriya0216 n I. Cchiu
For repetition you can replace it with the character describing their day to day work, or turn it into a short montage. Using a montage can show the reader the repetitive and monotonous life the character lives while also showing the passage of time. Using this method is useful for fetch quest storylines, characters looking for more excitement in their lives, or to prevent the feeling that the characters are teleporting to locations.
But they are teleporting
A time lapse can also works, like in Big Hero 6 when Hiro is busy with his work. That’s a great scene.
I think I felt this In The Binding. Throughout the first 100 pages the plot barely moves ahead and it's an exasperating read. But slowly things pick up and somehow...that stagnant time seems to make sense. However I've not read the full book yet, so let's see
@@deekshab9417 HELP!
At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them?
I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts.
But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
My main 'plotting problem' is... that I don't plot. I'm a pantser. Well, I do some plotting, but during the actual writing, not in advance. If I plan a story, knowing what will happen to who, let alone how it will end, I feel like the story is done already, and have no urge to have to write it down. Instead I have to surprise myself while writing, as I would get surprised by reading a story someone else wrote.
It still astounds me that my stories actually make any sense in the end, but they do, as if I did plot and plan everything from the start.
My next video will be about plotting vs. pantsing, actually! :) There are a lot of pantsers out there who feel the same way you do, and plot is always something you can revise after the draft is finished. Keep writing!
@@QuotidianWriter
Thanks! I'm looking forward to that! :)
"Oooh, this is juicy!" I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt. You truly have a beautiful gift, Diane! Thanks for another entertaining and informative video.
Haha, thank you so much, Joel! :)
@@QuotidianWriter Pas de probleme! As busy as I know you are, it's touching to think of how you spare no expense in finding entertaining, eye-catching images to go with your top-shelf scripts and video editing. And, as if that wasn't impressive enough, all of your videos are all steak and a decadent helping of sizzle (which we all love), but no fat! Taken together, your videos so far have more than enough valuable, applicable and timely content, to fill a book on how to write engaging novels while avoiding writing pitfalls, etc. How you do all of this "in your spare time" is beyond my ability to understand! I just wanted to extend you my truly sincere appreciation for all you do for your fledglings. Our hearts jump whenever you post a new video because what you do means so very much to us!
P.S. I'll be preparing Thanksgiving dinner so I wanted to get in "what I'm thankful for" before I get too busy! 😉
@@QuotidianWriter I don't agree with all of your opinions { especially that one about " juicy character development " } however I've only yet to start my first story { since abstaining from creative writing since after primary/elementary school } . So your more expert than me. I dislike " negative conflict " , as well as sad/disappointing endings Although I know some stories deserves them. You've got a nice voice for #UA-cam. 🧑💻🇦🇺🇳🇴 📖🔏
Love how French novelcraft is used as the illustrator here. Just because they went long & meandering does not mean the plot was absent. If the artist is paid by the word or page, why not take some savor time and go full Ferris Bueller?
Thanks a lot for the video. I'm writing a fanfic right now and I hadn't even realized that part of the reason why everything seemed to slow down once in a while was that I didn't give my protagonist enough of a reason to care for portions of it. It killed the pace and the interest some of my readers had. There were significant events but they felt dull.
Premise: A young boy witness the murder of his parents after a night in the movie thea.....wait
Premise: a guy finds the love of his life only to discover he has cancer. as luck would have it, a shadowy man approaches with a cure for his illness. but there are consequences. body altering, face distorting consequences. but hey...now he's sort of indestructible. coming soon! (sounds kinda familiar) cue Peter Cetera for a soundtrack song.
@@chaddelong998 premise: guy walks he trips then disappears
@@mjolninja9358 Please warn people before you write something so scary.
Premise: 3 people sit at a 1930's diner to have coffee. The waitress brings it to them... and SHE SMILES!
@@chaddelong998 isn't it the premise of Deadpool?
I believe the only way for your brilliant efforts to payoff and for us to show the utmost of gratitude is to extract better material of ourselves to provide as writers. Diane, we can never thank you enough!
I rarely comment on videos, but I feel like I just have to express my gratitude somehow for your videos. They're among the best writing advice videos I have ever come across and I feel like I have become a much better writer thanks to them. I always feel like I'm learning so much watching your videos, more than most other writing videos, and the depth and quality of them are absolutely great! I love how you bring up stuff I personally have not seen as often, at least not put together in this way, and the diversity in examples etc. and I want to thank you for that. You put a lot of hard work into these and it's really showing. Thank you so much for helping me and other fellow writers on our journeys!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I love making these videos, and receiving wonderful comments like yours inspires me to keep creating them. :)
I've been struggling to outline this story I've had in my head for a while and your video just helped me figure out that making the ending a midpoint reversal could work really well. Thanks!
HELP
I can’t thank you enough for this video...
I finally ‘get it’ about what personal stakes really are.
This video is a true education.
Thank you! Generally, writer advice videos are so _uninspiring_ that I can't wait to get through them, hoping to find just one nugget of wisdom. Your video is a treasure trove. Perhaps the old saying is true, "When the student is ready the master appears". I am writing a time travel novel with dual timelines that interweave throughout the story, and it's driving me batty to keep it properly structured. I believe your advice will help, and I look forward to watching your other videos as well. Subscribed.
This channel is so calming. Bonus, you learn something about creative writing. 😊
This is one of the best and most accurate plot-related advice i've seen out there in a while and god knows i've watched many. The amount and the quality of the information is astonishing. Thank you so much, you're a pearl!
Your timing is great! I'm at the dreaded 40k mark in NaNoWriMo and plotting is pitfalling hard right now!
These videos are as brilliant as they are inspiring. I am getting old, and the mind isn't what it once was. I appreciate how much information you have provided in such perfectly produced sessions. You've helped approach my writing from a clearer perspective. Thanks for your obviously very hard work.
You're the only UA-camr I've hit the bell notification for. Your advice is much appreciated:)
Same
Oh my god the midpoint reversal is genius!
Oml!! i literally just began clapping like a seal would when i saw that you uploaded!1 i have been waiting patiently for ages and it was so worth it!! thanks for this! you have no idea how much i have been struggling with plot development, this could not have come at a perfect time!! thanks so much!
Me seeing that one of my favourite authortubers liked my comment: (*≧▽≦)
°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
Your voice is so soothing.
Brilliant advice! I've watched it three times, I suppose I'm trying to memorize it. Best writing advice I've seen. Many thanks!
Ooh, a new channel with advice to binge watch when taking writing breaks
My plot is: "Guy hears stories." Stories of human trafficking and other abuses, mostly consensual but not all. Then at the Midpoint he goes to the police, but he doesn't have enough info, so he decides to play detective and gather more info. As a result of this decision ... he keeps hearing stories. Finally he finds out whether the stories are true.
Also, he lives by a set of rules that his mom has made him memorize (complete with numbers).
Sounds good if executed well
Skip the first part. Start where he goes to the police.
skaetur1 If there’s a personal connection in the part of the story where the guy is being told the stories, OP doesn’t necessarily need to start with the police involvement. So long as the police involvement feels like it’s recontextualizing something incredibly important in the first half.
I actually struggled with too many ideas - internal plot points or the like. That's continued to haunt me for how convoluted or unclear everything felt until I began to see it in a simplified way.
Suddenly, it became as simple as "your sweetheart's abuser returns, and they want her back". While nowhere thrilling at first glance, the easier it is to understand, the better it will be to stay focused and motivated to give it life with all the little spices.
5:10 sounds like a parallel world to Kingkiller Chronicles 😂
IT IS.
I thought of Hawkeye lol
I'd like to argue that it's okay to write stories with figures instead of characters, who are more about representing something or someone than they have unique personality, like Bertholt Brecht did in his plays.
I prefer writing dense, intrinsic characters, but some people might not be interested in writing them
You are doing something really special with this channel. I find your videos are often as thought provoking as they are informative. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into this and I hope you are happy and healthy.
0:34 how satisfying is that visual?!
Diane, you are pure gold!
This is great. Reassuring to me that I am at least on the right track with my WIP. Loved the examples you used. I too have had a problem with the sagging middle. I think i fixed that. One of my problems has been how and where to give backstory, revealing it a little at a time. So many writers, it seems, want to give the reader "info dumps" to give up all the backstory at once. Sometimes this is right in the middle of the book too! And often the reader does not need the info as it is not essential to the story.
Possibly the most helpful of your videos I've seen so far. Thanks very much for this.
a quick appreciation for the accurate subtitles on all these videos!! so grateful for them
I loved listening to this while doing vocabulary work. Very satisfying!
Just found your channel, and now I'm watching everything... I love it (I also like the production value, it's great)
Thank you so much for your kind words! Keep writing. :)
In my most recent project, a science-fiction novel, I'm struggling with a cohesive plot. Thanks to videos like this, however, I think I have a notion of what do to.
I keep rewatching this. Thank you for making such a good resource!
Wow, this was so helpful. Thank you so much! I’m writing my first book and have had a hard time finding a good and original plot for my book that won’t be too boring. This inspired me a lot✨
This viedo helped me so much for developing my fantasy novel! Thank you for your work!!!
Vert helpful. You deliver your content without the snarky, pedantic tone that characterizes so many internet editors and other fiction writing instructors.
It has been *years* since I heard of the Two Princesses of Bamiere. This was one of my favorites as a child.
Same! I’m so glad someone else sees how wonderful this book is.
Your videos are really good. I fell down a writing rabbit hole recently and your videos have helped me with moving my plot. Thank you.
It was cool that you mentioned Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I couldn't put it down.
Another fantastic video to help writers with certain problems. Your true voice offering help is appreciated. 🙂
This is super helpful, thank you!
Had to pause frequently to give myself time to reconsider my story.
Thank you for the wonderful video!!!
I'm stuck figuring out my plot! It would be a romance with a sci-fi setting. It started with the concept of Nadya (main character 1) finding out about her grandfather owing basically a king's ransom. While he insists that it's nothing to worry about she worries about it... A LOT since she's got some tied-up emotional stake in lost family/trusting. She becomes a runner/merc in an attempt to solve the problem. She lands herself a job with Thiago (main character 2), a hacker, who is a huge flirt (to a fault).
My biggest struggle is I want to do a romance/erotica, to show how these two weirdos come together, learn how to communicate effectively, and become a couple, but I don't know how to balance it with the ransom / what do I do once the ransom situation resolves itself.
EDIT: To clarify this originally started as characters that were developed for a tabletop RPG game but it's since been divorced from that.
HELP!
At 0:52, those pictures that represent writer-rules like Chekovs Gun and all such, where can i find more of them?
I want to hang such up on my walls where i live, reminding me of Rules and Concepts.
But where to find more of them; let alone those in this video here?
That sounds like a great plot! Honestly, the story might come across as more sci-fi-oriented than romance-oriented based on your premise. If you truly want to spotlight the romance/erotica plot, then Nadya's relationship with Thiago needs to be at the forefront. Based on your description, it feels more like a romantic subplot rather than the romance being THE plot, as readers might expect it to be in an erotica novel. I would consider how you can make their relationship the main thrust of the story.
Perhaps she needs to seduce and sleep with Thiago in order to get the information she needs, which relates to her goal of dealing with the ransom. Or maybe she's investigating Thiago's involvement in the ransom, but she can't deny their chemistry, so she's torn between throwing him to the cops and banging him, haha. Although you're writing sci-fi, the genre closest to what you're doing is paranormal erotica, so you could also check out some bestsellers in that category and see how they balance plot and sexy times. Keep writing! :)
I'll have to relook at my current drafts and check out your suggestions!
Thank you so much for the response! It means a lot!
@@QuotidianWriter What about my comment though??
@@slevinchannel7589 I answered in your other thread for you! :) Those illustrations and more are by an artist on Pixabay. pixabay.com/users/cdd20-1193381/?tab=popular&pagi=
Your videos are fantastic. Great graphics, nuanced explanations, and highly informative. Thanks for the great content.
Thankyou. It took a little time of searching on UA-cam until I found this. Thanks Diane
Great ideas, so well presented, Diane. Your visuals and voice add so much, too.
Your presentation is pure genius
You are exotically original
You give some solid advice! Thank you!
Mary Robinette-Kowal (might have misspelled that) also have good advice on how to do some of these, she calls it the "yes, but..." and "no, and".
Omg. This helped so much. I’ve been stuck for weeks. Thank you.
I can't believe you only have 18k subs. Your content is amazing.
Your advice on how to handle slow middles is awesome! You're videos really get me inspired! :D
Amazing video and so useful. Thank you! One to watch more than once.
Every time I hear about the count of monte cristo, as if I don't already know this for a fact, I always go "Huh! Sweeney Todd must have been inspired by this book!"
I have found two pros and multiple cons in my story.
I'll start with pros:
1: the main character must sacrifice his dreams, family, and all connections in order to achieve his goal, and the antagonist had a very close relationship with him
2: every death or victory has an equal and opposite reaction. Most of the time, the killer gets punished greatly and suffers greatly, and the winners usually have something bad happen to them.
Cons:
1: Not once has the main character won against the villain until the end. They may have won the battle but as the villains power increases exponentially, there is less hope for the future and less interest (I think that's how it goes, correct me if I'm wrong)
2: The middle is very slow. It's just in there, and unnecessary, but reveals lots of plot points yet distills from the main storyline. The main character and his little group of buddies focus on how to get out for the first act of the sector (my story is divided into 3 sectors), then it focuses on the steps to achieve that goal. The steps are apparently to learn to how to manipulate energy, which is important for the last sector of the story.
3: the first sector is incredibly boring. It doesn't have any major events other than the apocalypse and the government exile, which are located in seasons 4 and 5, at the end of the sector.
4: the story feels incredible cluttered. There are so many events happening each season, and talking about sector 3 has probably an important even for each season. The character list is incredibly high, and there's too many things to keep track of (planet info, galaxies, etc.)
4.5: this slightly goes along witht eh previous one but the storyline itself is also very clunky. The sectors contrast so much from each other. Sector 1 is simple adventures, sector 2 is incredibly slow, and sector 3, the longest one, has so much events but the premise is space and trying to stop the villains empire.
5: I do not know if this is a problem but there are too many villains to keep track of. First you got the deranged psychopath, the close enemy, the blue ground Dweller, and the entire government.
5.5: there are also way too many character arcs and histories and backstories. This is for every single character. Or most of them. I feel as if some backstories should be ambiguous and left for the audience to ponder.
I do not believe the story would turn out well though, so I'll keep it in the back of my mind and revise it there.
Keep in mind, I am still relatively a child. In the sense that being 12 is a child. I do not know much. I am not sensible. I am not logical. I am not mature enough to understand the grasp of what I am doing. If you must, please, and I beg you, please correct any errors in the premise of my story and you may recommend options for me to improve my story. After all, feedback can remove bias from a viewpoint.
As Im doing Nanowrimo I’m loosing that first excitment I had about this story. Need to get that fire back!
It might be worth reading 'The Dip' by Seth Godin. He talks about this exact problem. He calls it, 'the dip'. See what he did there? Haha
I've found that my writing uses dream logic and surrealism, which makes it hard for me to convey ideas clearly. I love that ambiguity and forming a paradox with clever wordplay, but I'm worried that doing so alienates my audience. How could one use the midpoint to ground the story and reconnect with the audience?
That is a tough challenge. I wonder if you could have part of the story feel more "grounded" or conventional than the rest, giving readers an anchor, and then you could launch into the more surreal, dreamlike aspects. You could return to that grounded story line at the midpoint to reorient the reader. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman uses this technique, switching between real life and a metaphorical dream world. I also recommend reading popular "surrealist" writers like Haruki Murakami to get a sense for how they balance ambiguity, wordplay, and audience connection. Keep writing! :)
@@QuotidianWriter Thank you so much! I'll definitely give them a read and focus on finding an anchor.
one thing that defines surrealism is the ability to transition.
one thing that defines a dream, is that the is an inkling that it is in fact a dream logic.
for both, it requires a deeper sense of suspension but a lighter spring.
take it easy on the vocabulary.
A lot to chew on, here. I will watch this a few times and absorb all I can. Another good one, D.C.
12:50 I understand what you're saying, I shudder at basically subverting the entire premise of your story 60-90 through your story. Mostly cause it nearly always ends up being, "Oh, you were furthering the villains' plot all along" (either by being unwitting dups, being strung along when you think you're working against the villain, or having been fighting for the wrong side all along). It makes it feel like the first 60-90% of the story was a completely different story, and now it has no real end, and now we have this much shorter story with these characters we'll read about instead.
If I may ask a question, what are sime unused character tropes these days, and what would you like to see more aften?
PLEASE ANSWER. :)
Personally, I would like to see more unreliable female narrators and characters who start "good" but descend into villainy. I appreciate stories where two morally gray characters are in opposition, rather than the story featuring an obvious hero and villain. However, everyone's tastes are different, and what I like might not be what the current publishing market is looking for!
@@QuotidianWriter thank you, I'll think about it.
I'm just here on my journey of watching every one of your videos.
I love to hear your insight, and your voice is very pretty. You've actually helped me a lot in my writing journey, and some of what I've accomplished wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you, so thank you, and I can't wait to watch more!
Best writing advice I've seen on UA-cam 😃
This video made me realize that my novel is severely lacking. Thank you though for making me realize this!
Thank you for this video.
I think death tends to come at the Low Point at the 3/4 mark (the Second Plot Point), before the Climax. In A Christmas Carol Scrooge sees his own death as well as Tiny Tim's.
Also, in Star Wars, Obi-Wan gets "killed" at the 3/4 point
Ommggg this video has been so helpful
Ugh thank you so much!
Really Wonderful video.... Learnt a lot... Thanks.... Do keep posting often. I look forward to your videos. 👍
This was so helpful thank you!
Thank you so much for watching! Keep writing! :)
This is some good advice here! I found that my plotting problems/minus points often come from me gravitating to episodic structures or video game mission style plotting naturally. So for instance a chapter is more aking to a TV show episode or a mission given. They may have a larger story connecting them or at least a theme. Or show something about certain characters at the very least.
Downside is: It can often look like a lack of focus and drags on and on and on (aka some things keep occuring). Also huge ass word count to be written making any sort of publishing a moot point.
I have almost never heard of the Two Princesses of Bamarre ever referenced anywhere. That book has been in my shelf for years, and I love it so much. Such a bittersweet story. This was so cool!
But the question "What happens if the protagonist walks away" is a great one I hsoul dbe thinking abut myself.
The majority of Author tube or the authorities of writing and editing are from the West or Countries that treasures reading and the writing industry. Here in the region of Cordillera in the Philippines, it took me about 8 years to write and publish my book. The main reason is the Arts in general like writing, music, painting, sculpture, acting and the like are considered as "hobbies" and not a "real careers". People are focused on what they consider as "real careers" that are "paying jobs" like farming, carpentry, professions, businesses and the like. This is mainly due to the low standard of living or poverty that are prevalent here. It was difficult for me to find editors, beta readers, critic partners, support systems (family and friends who believed on my career choice), time to write (have to hustle in the real world to fulfill basic needs and to exhausted in my free time) and others. I end up skipping some steps and submitted my manuscript this year in a publishing company willing to help me publish as a novice writer. I don't know if this is necessary but it is my reality as a writer.
AMAZING! I love this channel! it's extremely helpful and interesting to listen to. I rarely comment on youtube videos but I really like the content. thank you!
Very skillfully done!
The video was a very skillfully crafted object lesson.
Very well made and helpful!
My original midpoint ended up being the first plot point. Moore after listening to this, I'm woneing ng of I can restructure to the original plan, even though I came up with a new midpoint. 10 more options? NOOOOOO! My story has changed enough. I want to finish it.
The "Unfocused Trajectory" point sounds like The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Bro, your videos are so informative.
I'm currently working to revive a novel I wrote when I was an undergraduate a decade ago. I had once reach the conclusion it was stillborn. In my rewrite, I have realized that I was guilty of not making the stakes personal or high enough. I have also changed the time of the book to where the events I had planned to write about are the past. This also meant that the true main character changed. The story is now about a suicidal fugitive finding a meaningful friendship, and the chance for redemption at the cost of facing his fears and losing his freedom.
Really too good video. Very crisp, clear and full of content. Nicely talked-about.
Excellent as usual!
Thank you so much! Keep writing! :)
@@QuotidianWriter you're welcome! Will do - currently on chapter three of my first story!
Watched this again just now. Again, finding this very insightful. Interestingly I'd say that whilst, yes, ending with a bang instead of a whimper is the way to go, I've read two books in the last year or so that had very different but very unsatisfactory endings, one a whimper, (The Book of Strange New Things,) and one a bang, (Birnham Wood.) Both were reasonably readable up until the end, but both left me feeling, "What a stupid lazy ending." I've a feeling there's quite a trend of leaving books without a real resolution, without tying up at least most of the loose ends. And I hate it. As I say, it feels like the author's gotten tired of the journey, and just wants to wrap things up quickly so they can sell the book and move on. But either there is no real ending, or the ending is a cheap ploy for dramatic effect, that leaves you thinking, "What about all that other stuff?" and, "Oh. Right. Those characters really were that two-dimensional after all."
But I love your clear and sensible unpacking of this topic Diane. Very grateful you've taken the time to create this and upload to UA-cam. (I personally don't use any social media, unless UA-cam can be described as such.) Looking forward to the next piece you might choose to create and upload 🙂
Thus was very helpful. Thank you
Thanks! This is very helpful! 👍
A cat named Richard . . . Interesting.
I loved the useful information. Thanks🙂
Hey Diane I like your videos, thank you, they help alot
I am so thankful to have found your channel
Amazing video, thanks!
Much needed video 🤩 thank you!
Thank you so much for this video! I recently stumbled over your channel and am enjoying it very much. I have been afraid of writing my own stories since I always thought myself to be terrible at writing, but this year I'm facing my fears and trying our NaNoWriMo (well, my version of it: instead of 50k words I'll try to write a story from start to finish, doesn't matter whether it reaches 50k words or not). I've been working on the outline during october but I was having trouble deciding how the characters get from the midpoint to the ending I wanted to have, and this video gave me the solution I'm going to try (at 15:34)!
Very informative and professional
Hmm... I thought I might be having a problem with the middle (at least, I was seeing it coming on). I am also fearful of unsatisfying endings... Until you mentioned 1984. Now, we know that Winston has made his choice in the opening few lines of the book. Everything else is build up to the inevitable. But one of the most evocative puzzle pieces of that ending has to do with the equation he writes in the dust of a table at the Chestnut Tree Café; 2+2=... In the original 1951 version, the typographers have not put the "5" that was intended by Orwell, which would have meant that Big Brother has won. It has been argued that this was an honest mistake, but I doubt it, as typography then was with lead type. So the question is, how satisfying is the ending, relative to the type of book this is? Also see Saint-Éxupéry's Sun Sand and Stars. Otherwise, I will stick with F. Scott Fitzgerald for unsatisfying endings.
Great content! Thoroughly enjoyed that video! :)