I mentioned act two as being the toughest part of a draft for most authors to get through - but that's like 50% of the book! For me, I always plan a big midpoint twist, but then after I write that scene I lose momentum. Which part of the plot gives you the most grief?
Michelle, thank you! I thought I was writing a conflict driven plot, but now I see it is clearly about lack. This changes everything, in the best possible way.
But… you didn’t… I don’t understand. If you say it works, I believe you, but… Why does this work? How does it work? I’m not currently facing this issue, so I can’t just try it myself. How does writing a random scene you’re not allowed to put in the book address the overall plot? You didn’t explain the point of the exercise. I’m confused, I just feel like I missed something. :/
It works because when a writer is stuck in their story, it's coming from a place of pressure to 'get this part right.' You have to trick your brain out of that place - so when you tell yourself 'this isn't going to go in my book,' you free yourself from that pressure and start writing again!
Awesome, please let me know how it goes, Hannah! And thank you so much - I will admit I spend way more time editing than I probably need to or should, but it's stupidly fun. 😆
I'm having a hard time figuring out what I would like to do with ALL the ideas I have stuck in my head. I want to write a trilogy. Now out of all the ideas I have, I can segregate them and write separate trilogies. OR I could combined all my ideas into one large series. But the thing is, the ideas I have would change the story too much depending on the direction I took. I REALLY don't want to write one way and then later have to scrap it because I decided to change my mind. Then there's also the pro's and con's of writing one trilogy and saving those other ideas for more sets of trilogies. Perhaps in the same universe. SO CONFUSED. lol I honestly don't know what to do. So I just keep coming up with several more ideas until I can figure it out.
Oh man, Shaun, I relate to this so much. I've written a few series, and there are many more in my head, but honestly writing a standalone novel the first time I tried was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I remember having this one giant unwieldy trilogy idea that stuck with me for years, then I finally realized it was two ideas melded together. I pulled them apart and worked on them separately (one ended up getting published, but not the other). All that said, I really do think the best thing you can do is write a draft of book 1 and then reassess how you feel about the trilogy (or trilogies). It's important to prove to yourself that you can get to the end of a draft. And very often, you'll learn things about the world, characters, etc while you draft that you didn't know when you outlined or brainstormed - things that could very well alter the course of all the sequels! Don't think of it as choosing one idea and setting the others aside - think of it as taking a single seed and planting it to see what blooms!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thanks for responding! I guess I just have to suck it up, start writing, and see where the idea of IDEAS takes me. Then maybe the choice will be answered for me. Appreciate the advice. :)
im at a point where my cast is stuck in a fantasy world and they dont know how to go back home, the only person who knew how to help them turned out to be the main villian who wants to keep them there they also find out the friend they made in this fantasy world betrayed them, and didn't tell them how to get back home even after knowing how to do it , currently that friend is allies with the villian but its complicated cus the friend is startign to like the cast who is stuck in this world and now his views are changing how do i go from here to making the ally the cast's friend and helping them defeat the villian and some how make him tell them how to escape
Could you do a video on animal sidekicks/ characters? I'm not sure how much you could come up with on that topic, but I find myself including them in my books a lot, and there are a lot of annoying patterns I notice. For example, it's difficult for me to include them without making them super intelligent, like they understand English (and not just in my fantasy books). If you could come up with some tips for this, that would be awesome!
I’m going to vent! lol I’m stuck in a part with my character traveling to another place in her magical land with an important character a Prince they are both looking for a missing object in that area where I’m in my book. I just don’t know how to develop the romance without going straight into looking for that missing item 😭😭
So, what exactly is the point of the forbidden scene? Just to get you out of a writers block? It sounds intriguing, I just don't understand… The insistence that it can't under any circumstances be in your draft makes me think that it's a mental trick to get you to write something amazing, but if the amazing thing can't be in your draft under any circumstances doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Sorry I'm just trying to get a handle on this. Lol. Initially when you said "forbidden scene"my thought was "write some thing that the characters would never under any circumstances actually do" which I still think is an interesting idea, but I don't think that was the point of your video… Lol
I mentioned act two as being the toughest part of a draft for most authors to get through - but that's like 50% of the book! For me, I always plan a big midpoint twist, but then after I write that scene I lose momentum. Which part of the plot gives you the most grief?
The Ordinary World is my hellscape. I always wind up going back and writing it in after I draft the whole shebang.
Haven't even started drafting and I'm in the Swaaamp. ARRRTAAAAXXXX
"I'm not going to fix your plot, you're going to fix your plot" I have uttered those words, or a variation of them, way too many times.
The writer's daily affirmation 😂 You're welcome, and thanks for watching!
Michelle, thank you! I thought I was writing a conflict driven plot, but now I see it is clearly about lack. This changes everything, in the best possible way.
I'm SO happy to hear that, Estes! Thank you for letting me know! :D
This video is exactly what I needed. Now I'm going to binge on all your other videos :)
Yay! Thank you!
But… you didn’t… I don’t understand. If you say it works, I believe you, but… Why does this work? How does it work? I’m not currently facing this issue, so I can’t just try it myself. How does writing a random scene you’re not allowed to put in the book address the overall plot? You didn’t explain the point of the exercise. I’m confused, I just feel like I missed something. :/
It works because when a writer is stuck in their story, it's coming from a place of pressure to 'get this part right.' You have to trick your brain out of that place - so when you tell yourself 'this isn't going to go in my book,' you free yourself from that pressure and start writing again!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I see! That makes sense, thanks!
Thank you so much for the advice! Been stuck on act 2 exactly as you said, and I'll definitely be trying this exercise!
That's awesome, Marlieke! Please let me know how it goes - I hope the exercise helps! :)
ohhhhh I am so going to try that plotting exercise when I get stuck next. That's a great idea. I LOVE your editing style!!
Awesome, please let me know how it goes, Hannah! And thank you so much - I will admit I spend way more time editing than I probably need to or should, but it's stupidly fun. 😆
Michelle Schusterman editing is very fun! I’m not sure you can over-edit!
I am trying that forbidden scene right now!! Hopefully it will work because I am so stuck😭
Ahhh good luck! I really hope it works for you!
yo?? small creator but fire???
I'm having a hard time figuring out what I would like to do with ALL the ideas I have stuck in my head. I want to write a trilogy. Now out of all the ideas I have, I can segregate them and write separate trilogies. OR I could combined all my ideas into one large series. But the thing is, the ideas I have would change the story too much depending on the direction I took. I REALLY don't want to write one way and then later have to scrap it because I decided to change my mind. Then there's also the pro's and con's of writing one trilogy and saving those other ideas for more sets of trilogies. Perhaps in the same universe. SO CONFUSED. lol I honestly don't know what to do. So I just keep coming up with several more ideas until I can figure it out.
Oh man, Shaun, I relate to this so much. I've written a few series, and there are many more in my head, but honestly writing a standalone novel the first time I tried was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I remember having this one giant unwieldy trilogy idea that stuck with me for years, then I finally realized it was two ideas melded together. I pulled them apart and worked on them separately (one ended up getting published, but not the other). All that said, I really do think the best thing you can do is write a draft of book 1 and then reassess how you feel about the trilogy (or trilogies). It's important to prove to yourself that you can get to the end of a draft. And very often, you'll learn things about the world, characters, etc while you draft that you didn't know when you outlined or brainstormed - things that could very well alter the course of all the sequels! Don't think of it as choosing one idea and setting the others aside - think of it as taking a single seed and planting it to see what blooms!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thanks for responding! I guess I just have to suck it up, start writing, and see where the idea of IDEAS takes me. Then maybe the choice will be answered for me. Appreciate the advice. :)
@@shaungerald23 Anytime! And yes - that's exactly it. Keep me posted on how it's going!
Great video, Michelle...your channel looks awesome!
Thank you so much, Robert! :D
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor You’re totally welcome :)
Thank you for the video. Going to try it Right Now. :)
Awesome, Rosa! Let me know how it goes! 😀
I love your videos … but i just dont get this forbidden scene. 😳 that is how i plot my novel anyway! 😂
im at a point where my cast is stuck in a fantasy world and they dont know how to go back home, the only person who knew how to help them turned out to be the main villian who wants to keep them there
they also find out the friend they made in this fantasy world betrayed them, and didn't tell them how to get back home even after knowing how to do it , currently that friend is allies with the villian but its complicated cus the friend is startign to like the cast who is stuck in this world and now his views are changing
how do i go from here to making the ally the cast's friend and helping them defeat the villian and some how make him tell them how to escape
Could you do a video on animal sidekicks/ characters? I'm not sure how much you could come up with on that topic, but I find myself including them in my books a lot, and there are a lot of annoying patterns I notice. For example, it's difficult for me to include them without making them super intelligent, like they understand English (and not just in my fantasy books). If you could come up with some tips for this, that would be awesome!
What a fun topic idea! I just added it to my list of topics. Thanks, Carynn!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Yay, can't wait!!
I’m going to vent! lol
I’m stuck in a part with my character traveling to another place in her magical land with an important character a Prince they are both looking for a missing object in that area where I’m in my book. I just don’t know how to develop the romance without going straight into looking for that missing item 😭😭
Character postulates, check!
😆
So, what exactly is the point of the forbidden scene? Just to get you out of a writers block? It sounds intriguing, I just don't understand… The insistence that it can't under any circumstances be in your draft makes me think that it's a mental trick to get you to write something amazing, but if the amazing thing can't be in your draft under any circumstances doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Sorry I'm just trying to get a handle on this. Lol. Initially when you said "forbidden scene"my thought was "write some thing that the characters would never under any circumstances actually do" which I still think is an interesting idea, but I don't think that was the point of your video… Lol
😂😂😂