My take on the Bill setence: "Hey, there’s Bill." Ashton's angry face sent ice chips in the teen's face. How did this guy know his name? Who ratted him out? He didn’t have enough time to think. Ashton charged in his direction. Bill holllered in fear and sprinted down the street. He made a sharp turn around the corner and crashed into something so hard it knocked him on the ground. It was Alex who also lied on the ground from the crash. His best friend glared at him. "Jesus Christ, Alex, what the-?" "Alex, we gotta go! Ashton's coming for me!" "Oh, crap!" The boys scrambled to their feet- A gun cocked behind them. Ashton stood behind them, a pistol clamped in his hand. "One move, and you're both dead." He sneered.

Always research your ghosts, when you figure out their identity...

Great stuff once again ❤

Thanks from a Whale Rider fan!!!

I'm not sure if this is discussed in video, but when writing an abstract for a paper, that is when the million dollar words are helpful and advised. What you can say in one word, that would normally take 12 -- may prove advantageous Know the audience and cater the message style to audience I'm a writing newbie... so forgive any flagrant flag placement😂

Let's be real, out of all the mistakes one can make, the biggest one is to not write.

Whale Rider is one of my favourite movies in the world. I'm Australian. Thank you for analysing it for me. When payday comes I'll shout you a coffee via KZbin thanks 😂😊

Hi Ellen. I'm a blind girl and your videos help me so much! You have a beautiful voice and you explain things so well! Could you do a series of videos abou editing a novel and revising a novel? It would be incredibly helpful.

Thank you very much for this and for explaining it.

But I am an amateur writer.

Thanks so much for this series, Ellen. Niche question about story structure I'm having trouble with. Say you have an epic story with multiple POVs. Massive world, epic stakes, and all that. Maybe you've got a general with a flat arc over here, a princess going through a positive arc back at the kingdom's palace, and the general's son learning to believe in himself somewhere else critical to the war effort. It's all one conflict told through many perspectives, like A Song of Ice and Fire, Stormlight Archive, etc. How rigid should one be with regards to story structure between POVs? Should the General, the Son, and the Princess all take turns going through the same structural beats at the same time in different locations? OR can you be more lenient with it? Like depending on the plot, the General might be in the 3rd Quarter Failed Attempt, while the Princess (with less chapters overall) is still in the Midpoint and she'll catch up by the end anyway? Obviously you can't have the General in the late 3rd Quarter while the Son is still starting the 2nd Quarter, but how much wiggle room do you think one would have in this situation?

You have the best advice

I'm a mix of both intuitive pantser and methodological pantser :D

You're a life saver Ellen! Thank you!

Hey! So happy to see you back making content again after your long break from the channel. Love your videos, and have learned a lot. Was wondering if you could make a video or had any tips about how to create and add important detail's of one or more major historical event's that aren't the main focus of the story, but have a direct impact on the future events of the story, and help shape the current state of the world the character's are in?

THIS IS GOLD! Thank you 💐

Hi Ellen, do you happen to have a video on epilogues? I feel I need one in one of my novel ideas, as the climax will end the book sadly and an epilogue could fix it. I'm not sure if I am trying to force my idea of what happens to the characters after the climax onto the readers, try to force a happy ending or tie up any lose ends? The epilogue could be multiple chapters long if I let it and I'm wondering if I should put it aside in my brain and let it turn into a sequel or part two instead? I love your videos, you make the best writing tip videos out of anyone on youtube <3

Just a wonderful series Ellen! I keep coming back to you when I decide I want to have another crack at writing

Thank you so much for all your tips and insights for the different writer types. While I can`t say 100% which one I am because I find valuable tipps in all videos I probably tend more to the intuitive pantser. I start all of my books/ blogs/ texts just with a vague Idea and am instantly in my head movie. And whenever in writing classes I need to make a whole plot I feel totally paralized and my creativity goes dry. suddenly I question every idea and am totally confused. For me it is much better to just write a first draft and then editing the plot.

Got it. Time to sleep on it. 😊

Thank you

When the world needs her most, the queen returns!

I really appreciate how deep you go with your videos. This is such valuable content. You never post clickbait, nor go over the same tired simple points most creators in this space do. Cheers!

👏👏👏

Thanks Ellen, I needed to think about something else today <3

These have been very helpful for my current second quarter/mid-point related issues with one of my MCs. Thank you! 🎉

YAAAY!!!🎉❤

I would advice any writer to replace Hemingway with James Baldwin if you want to become a writer, not a white writer.

How does this video that you posted seven years ago pop up right when I'm trying to flesh out my big baddie? I mean, I know there's only so many novel writing topics but still.

Ellen, your videos are so excellent. I can't believe that they're free. Thank you for being here.

Great video. I'm not a fan of "Mark agreed with John." as a sentence structure. How did he agree? Did he talk, did he nod, did he reach into his mind telepathically?

I changed my type. I was an intuitive pantser, writing whatever, whenever. I had ideas and the farthest I ever got was 16k words? Not bad for a 12-year-old writing a fanfic, but none of my stories ever took off. My favorite author told me that the best method was to write everything down first. Everything. All the plotting. (I now realize that that’s just his best method, but I tried it anyway.) I sucked it up and started plotting! Started with a plot arc, moved to chapter outlines. Slowly, I try new things like character arcs, brainstorming sessions, and I delve more and more into the plot and worldbuilding. At first, changing my type was painful. But you must do hard things to reach success. I never thought of trying to work with my original style, I just tried the new one. And it worked! It made my writing so much easier, I wrote so much faster, and I actually finished my first draft. It was aggravating at first but with time, I have come to love the process. I’m definitely still a pantser at heart.

After watching your writer type video, I gathered that this is what I am, so I naturally arrived here. I feel so validated. The advice here helps me realize I'm on the right track for my type, and I feel like I can continue with more clarity and tools. I prefer to just go into writing without plotting or planning anything, because every time I try to outline first, I feel confined and frustrated and i question every little decision i make. What has been working for me lately is going back through a few structure systems (mixing and matching) and using them as a checklist or means of keeping me on a track or a guide to help me find what I'm missing in my rampages. I feel so much relief. ❤

I'm writing a first person story about a serial killer. It's going wrong. How do I keep in character when the killer's personality is very different to my own?

Oh sh!t... Im the method-pantser. 👹😵‍💫🥺 It may be my ADHD.

No hate PLEASE this is how I felt reading Manacled. It felt like the suffering had to get more and more severe to have impact and the impact got lost for me because there was no contrast

This helps immensely, thank you!

It's so good to know that my chaotic process is actually what I need to be doing. Thank you! When I "throw away" things that aren't currently working, I cut and paste them into what I call my graveyard. Sometimes I go back and retrieve pieces that end up being useful. I think there have been times I shared my work with others too soon. But luckily this time around, I had written my characters enough that I had a pretty good idea of who they are. I was able to sit my critique group down and say hey, yes, this is am adventure story, but my protagonist is not the action heroine you see in the movies all the time. She also isn't a guy. Here's her backstory and how it's affecting her and how much of a struggle it's going to take for her to resolve it. I'd like your help with getting her story across effectively, not someone else's story. I'm excited to try out the outlining before editing. I think that seeing the whole structure will really help me.

Great video, Ellen. I just got to my mid point and feel I understand it much better now. Thank you.

Thank you so much, i saw many video about this topic and this was far the best, I am gonna watch it again later, and propably many times more. You are an amazing teacher 🎉🎉🎉

Im a younger girl who hopes one day to be an author and novel editor, I love your content so much!! I'm curious as in a few years I'll be going to college, is there a specific degree that's good for becoming a novel editor? ❤

I usually bring a character to their ugliest then if it's negative leave them there, if it's positive I bring them back (not the whole way)

This is gold. Thanks. I've never quite heard it explained that way. It explains why a lot of novels bog down, even though you would not call them meandering. If the plot's too simple, it can easily become tedious.

What about an antagonist who skillfully hides his motives? Therefore, some of his actions don't make sense on the surface, but then, later on, once we've learned more about him, his actions make more sense. I suspect that could work, but my concern is that the reader would say "Oh, BS" as soon as the antagonist acts in ways that don't make immediate sense.

Most of the points are just personal opinion of yours. Nowadays everything is about making it short. Make short videos, make short sentences, do short exercises, etc. Most of the time it's just boring and feels very mechanical. Writing complex sentences and still conveying the intent properly is an art form which most people including the teachers don't have. That's why it's a standard prescription nowadays to write small sentences.

Àn excellent analysis. I'm glad I found this channel!

Thank you so much Ellen, these resources you produce are highly valuable and very much appreciated. I'm really enjoying learning from you and I value your directness as well as your editorial points of view :)

These are all great, but I'm not sure if I agree entirely with shorter sentences automatically speeding up the pace. I mean think about it, when you're reading you naturally make a full stop at the end of a sentence -- your brain sees a period, you have been trained that periods come at the end of a complete thought, so you pause briefly before starting the next thought. I would argue that how you structure the sentence & the punctuation you choose to use, as long as it's grammatically correct, matters more than just sentence length -- far more. Compared to... These are all great. I'm not sure if I agree entirely. Shorter sentences automatically speeding up the pace? I mean think about it. When you're reading, you naturally make a full stop at the end of a sentence. Your brain sees a period. You have been trained that periods come at the end of a complete thought. You pause briefly before starting the next thought. I would argue that how you structure the sentence & the punctuation you choose to use (as long as it's grammatically correct) matters more than just sentence length. Far more. See? That second part even has three fewer words in it, but man is it a slog to read. Someone who is a true master of punctuation in their prose is Guy Gavriel Kay. That man can paint a picture with a whole paragraph of prose, but it might only be two sentences.

Is there a video on voice and perspective?

Am I the only one who appreciates the idea of an unscripted video discussing rules as guidelines rather than laws? Ellen, you're more amazing than you know. Thank you so much for what you share with us.