A dream weekend!! Also, Chaol is great, people are wrong and completely misunderstand him!! the hate he gets is completely undeserved in my opinion 🤷‍♀

That's so cute she sends you comments while she watches your videos live :') This is so cool!

okay, now come back so we can do this again this weekend! 🥰

You two!! So precious ❤

This is so wholesome!! I definitely relate to the part about needing an hour+ of conversation buffer in order to get anything done with your best friend around XD

I love when you realise your manuscript is a good 'un. Such a lovely feeling.

"Treating balance as a verb and not as a state-of-being" is my biggest takeaway and something I needed to hear today. Thank you! ❤

November is such an interesting favorite month. It's a toss-up for me, but I'm either team May or team October. (team Maytober?) But I can see why it's your favorite, though. It makes sense. Personally, I think that November gets a liiiiiitttle too cold for me. (Although this November has not been cold at all.) Speaking of...I'm envious of the fall vibes in this video. I feel like nature is gaslighting me right now, because I see leaves on the ground everywhere, but all the trees are still green. So, I'm wondering where all these leaves are coming from? It's like they're spawning out of the ground. (Also, also, loved your spread for November. Very nice.)

Always so happy when your new videos pop up ❤

Yayy for Addie LaRue and Starling House! I enjoyed both of those books so much! Also if you're not yet subscribed to VE Schwab's newsletter, I highly recommend - it's probably my favorite author newsletter because there's so much great insight about craft and ambition and author-hood!

Very cozy! And the journal spread👌🏽👌🏽🖤

Congrats on a great start, and your timing is so impeccable... I am just about to start my novel and this gave me a burst of encouragement! :)

just want to take a moment and mention the hair GOALS in this vlog...GIRLIE just gorgeous! ...and as always I have zero patience until I can readdddd more of your work!!!

I always pronounce "pecan" like "puh-kahn." Mostly because I've tried using the "pee-can" pronunciation in the southern US and gotten very much lectured on that. "I'll tell you what a 'pee-can' is! That's a can you do your business in, and that's not for polite company." (Or rather, that's what my mother told me would happen, and I've avoided that pronunciation ever since. 💀💀💀) The fall vibes in this video are immaculate. This truly is such a wonderful time of the year. Congrats on hitting 11K. This is the perfect time to work on the story. Good luck and hope you continue to have fun with it!

I have also been gripped by inspiration recently, though I can't say it's exactly new since I've been world building (it's an epic fantasy) for months now. But I'm finally getting out of that and into the outlining phase, and some actual writing as well, just in time for Sarra Cannon's Rough Draft Challenge in November! Also, I love your cats lol

Needed this today :) thankyou

I'm working on a new story idea and I've been really stuck hashing out the plot, but this pep talk really helped lift my spirits, thank you for the video, this was really helpful!

"The more _you let yourself_ practice writing" is such a good way of putting it. Because we have so much more control over the process than we realize. I think that a lot of people go about writing as if they're waiting on a literal muse to do the dirty work for them, but to the best of my knowledge, it does not work that way, unfortunately. (But also fortunately, because that means that you don't have to wait for inspiration to hit in order to write something good. Sometimes, all it takes is a keyboard, a screen, and a little bit of patience to get a similar effect.) Wonderful video! Hat-backwards Megan always has such good advice. Haha

Thank you for this lovely pep talk. It's a nice reminder that you are not alone as a writer! We all overthink it sometimes! <3 Subscribed!

"If you are here, you're probably overthinking it" ah, you caught me there, Megan! I loved this writing advice video, thank you! I'm currently doubting the pacing and plotting of my current story (I'm about halfway through and not liking the direction the plot and the main character arc is taking) so all writing advice around plotting gets my mind going. I liked your casual, easy way of looking at things: four major plot points + ending = go for it, don't overthink it. I'll start brainstorming now. Thank you for this uplifting and encouraging video!

I love 'it will happen' ❤

This was very coherent and extremely useful. I feel pepped up and believed in. I'm super happy to have found this channel.

my therapist told me something that i've held onto for years, and i think this video shares that same sentiment: "i am disturbingly persistent in my belief in you" i'm gonna vibe with the sims for another hour, and then i'm gonna keep chipping away at this scene. we're up to 52,000 words!

very much a loose, general outline but discovery drafter. idr where the analogy comes from exactly, but it's like having a vague map of knowing where you start and where you need to end, and the journey along the way is whatever paths you take to get there (with some specific sightseeing along the way) creativity has been less of a backburner and more of a low flame. work is exhausting and demanding, i'm far off from my original goals, but i'm also realizing that where i am in the journey and where i want to end, it's going to take a lot longer (and a lot more words) to get there. trying to be patient, but keep going. we're gonna break 50k today.

Really enjoyed this vlog x

Evening shifts at the library - I can totally relate with the no sleeping. I worked 10 years in a public library with usually 2 late shifts a week. The days were not set like you have right now, but could be any two days during the week. We did get our shifts a good time in advance so you knew 3-6 weeks prior what time you were working so late shifts were not a surprise you found out about the day before. The mornings were great. They were my best writing hours during the week, but when I got home at nine my head was still buzzing and going to bed at ten was impossible. Finding a good wind down routine was a struggle. Usually I would eat a late snack and watch something with my husband. Then he would go to bed at 22 and I would make a cup of tea or decaff and write by hand. No KZbin, no music, nothing, sometimes some cat whining, but usually just silence. And basically I just tried to write out what was buzzing in my head. It was not 100% fool proof and there were days falling a sleep was still a struggle. I'm grateful I was able to shift from full time to doing freelancing, so basically taking shifts when there is a need + if it suits my other schedule. The gigs are still late shifts, but being able to balance it with free time has been a blessing. If I ever need to go back to full time employment I might have to say goodbye to library work. I love the work, but the late shifts were messing me too much. I really hope you find what works for you. The comments about yoga and journaling sounded good.

Lovely new vlog, Megan! I'm also a planner/pantser and I love it! It helps me to have a structure to "fall back to" when I'm hitting a blank but I also love my creative brain for coming up with even better plans for the characters than my planner-brain :) Also, loved the "can't sleep but writing's good" -comment, I feel you. Writing projects are the safe space even if everything else gets tricky. But I hope you'll be able to find a night routine for relaxing that'll work!

Just a random aside, I don't think that I've ever seen "golden yellow sugar" before. Upon googling, this would be what I would call "light brown sugar," apparently? I just thought that was interesting. I would define myself as a "discovery drafter that likes to think of themselves as an outliner." As in, I get very organized, outline everything, and then just ignore 55% of it when I start to actually write because why not? Let's make things harder for ourselves. 🙃 But I don't know. I can't help but feel like outliner me just doesn't get the vision sometimes, you know? Haha

Straight hair looks great!

I used to write on my 2 hour (one way) public transit commute. Nowadays, they have so many options (I love the Freewrite Traveler), have you tried it? I know it takes some adjustment, but it worked for me. I have ADHD, but it still worked. The Loop earplugs are helpful for public writing for me, but you don't seem to have sound issues.

Hey Idk if this can help but for my wind down routine to avoid insomnia (mine comes from excitement for dreams/stress) I give myself 30 minutes: I do nothing, maybe a bit of journaling or planning in complete silence.. like I leave my brain to take the stress away while sitting down and then I sleep having the mind emptier. Though ofc you’ll know what works for you best <3 hope you manage to find a way to sleep! Good work btw

Love your vlogs and the music you choose, I never miss a video :’) Thanks for sharing!

I’m usually a strict outliner, but for my current book I’ve been more of a mix like you! Adding scenes once I’ve already started writing is scary, but they end up being some of my favorites 🥴 I might be converted

its so cool to see other peoples writing process. thanks for using my song in there as a part of yours :D

Beautiful Roger!

Try also acting. You would be a wonderful actress 😍

Splitting the manuscript into two and writing the story lines separately is a smart thing to do. Some people can handle all the plot lines simultaneously in their head, but I for one am not one of them which is why I do the same. There is no shame in being a splitter. Roger and his blanket <3 My chunky senior is waiting for the heat to be turned on so he can glue himself onto the heater, but unfortunately it's not that cold yet. This was such a nice vlog. Thanks for sharing your writing with us.

There were so many good things in this vlog, thank you for this one, Megan! I loved the talk about your 'beginner mindset' with writing right now - I'm working on the first draft of my adult stand-alone fantasy (while waiting to hear back from publishers on another manuscript I sent away a month ago, yikes) and I'm constantly changing between the thoughts of "is this structure/pacing/character/dialogue okay" and the "I just love writing and discovering this story for the first time". I think it's a sign of improving as a writer, that you are more aware of the quality of your writing while writing. And at the same time, it's important to just enjoy the process, too. So, looking forward to upcoming videos and hearing more about how you're feeling about your writing!

Hola! Veo tus videos para practicar mi inglés. 😊

Dowry of blood is so so good

It is very interesting: were you born in Germany? At what age did you move to Canada? Are your parents German? Did you speak German fluently? Hope you'll ask the questions if they are not too privet:) that is just my curiosity:)

So many Megan’s @1:52 - Megan-inception!! 😄

Hey Megan , really nice video ! I was wondering if I could help you with more Quality Editing in your videos and also make a highly engaging Thumbnail and also help you with the overall youtube strategy and growth ! Pls let me know what do you think ?

Roger is the cuddliest cat in the world - I'd be too distracted to get any work done lol 🩷 Oh, I'm definitely a "vibes" buyer with books. I just need to see a trope or character dynamic that I love, and then it's immediately added to my cart 😅 The coffee shop seemed to help a lil' bit with your writing struggle, so that's great 🫶🏾 Rooting for you!

Love the backpack! I want one. What is the brand?

Ahh, I can't believe I missed this video 😭 The library, the sweater, the mug - the early-autumn cozy vibes are insanely good (I'm getting sick of the heat here in JA, so living vicariously through you rn) ✨️ I hope you're feeling better mentally!

Thank you for a wonderfully moody vlog! I love the long days of light during the summer but struggle with the heat, too (doesn't go too well with writing). Even though I'll miss late evening swims in the sea, I'm looking forward to autumn and welcome it. Congratulations on your writing and outlining process! I'm writing daily and managing 300-1,000 words, but happy with those too :)