Answering Writing Questions from Reddit (/r/writing)

[@AlexaDonne]

Thanks for watching guys! Did you like this one? Should I do it again? Timestamps: 01:18 Does social media help or hurt your writing process 01:52 I've run out of ideas/my ideas aren't good 02:42 How can authors afford to publish?! 02:59 What materials should you send to beta readers? 03:48 How to write a story w/o dialogue? 04:15 Get off Reddit and write lol 04:48 Do you agree w/ Stephen King that if you are a bad writer you can't become a good one? 06:14 What is great worldbuilding? 07:19 How do you write a book set in Russia but character all speak English? 08:48 How many books do you need to sell to be successful? 10:35 Can you have a superhero in a novel? 11:58 When it is appropriate to take a break from writing your novel? 13:16 My first draft is garbage 13:26 Should I enter a writing contest? 13:47 How should I start writing? 14:37 How can a teen improve their writing? 16:36 Do you have an idea that's greater than your current writing level/skills 17:38 How to overcome procrastination? 18:33 I didn't mean to kill a character, it just happened! 18:57 Could I be a writer & actor? 19:15 Do you have to follow grammar rules when writing? 20:03 Is it unprofessional to use Microsoft Word? 20:17 Writing software? 20:31 Does anyone else hate the word incredulously? 20:40 What makes you fall in love with an idea? 21:17 Should you make a website for your book before you query? 22:02 What is the summary on the inside of the book called? 22:15 How to break free of brainstorming and start writing? 23:51 How to write slice of life story w/o it getting boring 24:06 YA novels and character ages 24:30 How to accurately write high school students if you're an adult (asker is 22) 26:14 Is it selling out to avoid writing about "controversial topics"? 26:57 Is switching from 1st to 3rd person in one book always bad?

[@SmileyGamer13]

haven't even watched the full thing, but yes more pls

[@Bobbiethejean]

Yes. Very much enjoyed it. Would love to see more.

[@paulallen8304]

I would say yes, so long as the questions are legitimately interesting. Just split the more complex ones off onto their own longer form videos.

[@RashmikaLikesBooks]

Yeah, i love this format.

[@liberpolo5540]

I love it that you do Timestamps! It helps a LOT!

[@dylantd9189]

"Write for Fun & Read a Ton." - Alexa Donne 2019 Love that quote.

[@katiestewart7926]

I had one of those "I'll write this when I'm better" ideas in my head for so long. Once I realized I had to take a break from my main novel (because I'm not emotionally ready to dive into another revision), I've been planning and yesterday, started the first few chapters. It's so ambitious, I don't know if it'll work, it's harder than what I've wrote before. I'm loving it.

[@AlexaDonne]

My debut was a book I didn't think I could write, and I not only loved the challenge, but it got published! Go for it!

[@javathebookjunkie]

"I didn't mean to kill a character, it just happened." Omg this happens to me all the time! Not necessarily killing a character, but a character making a decision that I didn't, as the writer, expect them to make. Or an event occurs I didn't anticipate and just alters the entire course of the story. Needless to say nothing I've written has been fully completed yet. But, it is a lot of fun to allow the characters to drive the story and see where they take it even if I ultimately have to rein things in and get them back on track. #revision

[@alyssa.h]

Im 15 and currently working on my second novel. This was honestly so beneficial for me! Thanks for this video 😊

[@lavenderrosecosplay5639]

Congratulations! That's amazing that you are writing young. I did finish a novel in HS to prove I could. Hope your writing goes well!

[@alyssa.h]

@@lavenderrosecosplay5639 thanks!

[@vivienmadlen]

Hey Same! Well i'm im 15 And i am currently working on two books at The Same time only first drafts so far tho

[@promeni9132]

me too! except this is my first novel

[@leafhoff4321]

@@promeni9132 Same

[@rabidraviv]

the irony of procrastinating by watching this video where you call out procrastinating, and you’re so right😂

[@Isa.bellevie]

yesyesyesyesyesyes.

[@ArtAnimeEmerly]

When I was 14 I wrote my first novel length story. It was garbage and nobody will ever read it but it taught me so much about the writing process. I love your advise to young writers to just have fun and also keep reading! I'm 25 now and finally feel ready to actually write a plot that's been in my head for a decade with the aim of publishing it. Your videos have encouraged me to just start and after a couple of days I'm 6000 words into the first draft

[@ethanfritts5100]

That’s awesome

[@esperanzaa7381]

"It's a place where a lot of writers and wannabe writers go to procrastinate" I feel so called out

[@samyboynton6129]

As for the Stephen King question, I do think some people are more naturally gifted than others with words and writing. However, even those talented people need time and practice to really improve their craft. Such a fun video, please make more of these in the future!

[@eloisenewman3814]

You can do so many subtle things if you know a language! My nan is German, I speak German at an ok kinda level, and the first thing that jumps to mind is the "time, manner, place" structure of sentences. You can do that without having to write in terrible accents. In fact, my nan has been living here so long that her accent is very subtle, but she still structures her sentences with the "time, manner, place" word order. I'm sure there are things like this for all languages that can be carried across into dialogue. It's realistic without treading the line of being offensive.

[@carole5648]

i also love when the story takes over as you're writing. i just reached a point a couple days ago where i realized this guy is probably gonna die in the next chapter, then i spent all week worrying about it. but he didn't die, almost but not, phew!

[@leafhoff4321]

I just realized that one of my favorite side characters die at the end of the book (motivation for another character if there is a second book)

[@avivastudios2311]

what? So you found a way to let him live?

[@nanab.1738]

I would really appreciate a video for teen writers! Right now I really don't think about publishing, I know I have time, and a lot of room for improvement. I'm focusing on the fun side of it, and I think that's what we should do at this age.

[@GuessWho195]

Ahhhhhh your videos are always amazing! You always seem to have answers for every question I have about the industry, even questions I didn't know I needed to ask. This one was definitely a fun one. Love you!

[@Amanda-sn4ii]

I wish I had known all of this when I was 13-14 starting a novel. I was so focused on publication, critique, and it being perfect that I wasn’t able to finish my novels. I did read a lot. Like A LOT. Now I’m just, I just want to write. All of the stories in my head. Love your channel! Helps me so much!

[@macronencer]

Well, that was fun! Thanks for sharing your answers. I have a 'white whale' at the moment... I wrote about 40,000 words of a novel, before realising that I was writing the *second* book in a trilogy. That was quite frustrating because now I have to work out how to write the first one without destroying the great idea I had for the second. I've shelved the whole project until I have more experience, and I've started something else instead (the good news is that the new one is going very well, 90,000 words so far and I'm excited about it).

[@MxSangy]

I watched this video the minute it came out, but 22:15 was such a good slap to the face that it's taken me a few days to recover. I am on the 2nd draft of my novel, and I keep poking at the outline, shuffling scenes, brainstorming, repeat... An ENDLESS cycle. And then when you told me to just stop the nonsense and write the book, I realized something: these scenes I've been so focused on getting perfect... THEY'RE NOT EVEN *THAT* IMPORTANT. They're not VITAL to the story; they just NEED to happen. Goodness gracious... Anyway. I just wanted to thank you. Thank you SO SO SO much for opening my eyes to that. You are the best! Please never ever stop making videos! :)

[@EndoLP]

I really loved this!! I have a feeling you lucked out, though, because normally when I go through /r/writing I laboriously sigh far more often, haha. I'd love to see another one of these in the future!! One suggestion, actually, would be to maybe record your phone screen and have it next to your face in the video so we can read the questions and follow along as though we were there with you? Something I had to do a few times (before I noticed the time stamp comment with all the questions listed out - thank you!!) was rewind the video so I could re-hear the question again as you were answering. Otherwise, though, I absolutely loved your no-nonsense approach to answering these questions! Maybe if you do enough of these you'll have enough beleaguered sighs to edit into a full-length video compilation. 😂

[@camilledelapena8404]

I've spent the last few days binge-watching your videos, thank you so much for all the information!! I'm looking into someday writing a story I've had in my mind for a while now but the story seems so complex due to the fantastical world it's set in, I'm not sure if it should be split into a series or if it should be written into one hefty book. I've never written an actual book before, so I'm struggling on which route would be the most practical for a newcomer.

[@NicoleCreates]

"Do you have any ideas that are beyond your skill level?" YES. OMG. I started "the book" years ago and realized, 3/4 of the way thru, that I didn't have the chops to make the book what I wanted it to be. It's been on the shelf since then, waiting for me become a better writer so I can finally finish it. I feel like I'm getting close, at last, and I can't WAIT to finish my current trilogy so I can pick it up and bring the world back to life. This was super fun to watch, look forward to more of these

[@DesperationLasts]

When I was 14, I wrote a book that was 20,000 words and I thought I had killed it. Went back and read it as an adult and, oh man. It was so bad.

[@Elizabeth-rp8kz]

I have several composition notebooks from when I was in high school and the writing in them causes me physical pain when I go back to them

[@SydneyFaithAuthor]

Lots of interesting questions! Really enjoyed this video and hearing your thoughts on these things 👍

[@jillhbaudhaan]

YES, make this a series where maybe every whatever day of each month is snarky Reddit response day.

[@liberpolo5540]

Alexa: "... Aw, this person is almost 14!" Me, a 14 year old: **ears perks up* Alexa: " ... I love to mentor teen writers!" Me: *Immediately begins to fantasize being mentored by Alexa!*

[@ryankennedy2657]

lol, that would be great. I am 14 right now and that part stood out to me too

[@persephone3892]

I dont think stephen king ever said that. He's always said to be a good writer, you need to write and read a lot. I did google and im really only commenting in case an aspiring writer looks up to him.

[@AlexaDonne]

I was definitely just going off Reddit! Didn't crosscheck it :)

[@persephone3892]

@@AlexaDonne i totally understand. :) Hes just such a popular author and so many look up to him, didnt want any to be discouraged. Personally, i think people can do anything they set their mind to with enough hard work. A bad writer can become a great writer, just my opinion.

[@SashaStar10]

That was a misquote from something he said in On Writing, but the thought was similar. He said a bad writer can't become a "Great" writer, but he didn't say a bad writer couldn't improve and become a better writer. Alexa covers the gist of what he really said.

[@AlexaDonne]

@@SashaStar10 Well, I mean if this doesn't prove my point about Reddit haha. The person who posted that misleading post sucks! But glad I have something in common with Stephen King :D Goals!

[@persephone3892]

@@SashaStar10 Ive never read On writing myself, but heres a quote i found from a reader: King posits that one’s ability to write correlates with the frequency with which they write than their natural born talent and that even bad writers can become good writers with enough practice.

[@ryankennedy2657]

on the note of "know the rules so you can break them." I love the way she explains it, and there are rules that you should follow even just to make it readable. I remember looking through books that might be good to add to my school's library, and came across one where none of the dialogue had quotes on it. It made me laugh so hard because of how hard it was to read it 😅

[@avivastudios2311]

All your advice is incredible. This is my favourite writing channel

[@caseygibson5422]

I always get distracted at least once by your Battlestar Galactica DVDs in the background. I just love that show so much lol

[@SysterYster]

Being a pantser is immensely fun. I said this to my friend once, then I thought it sounded kinda fun so I wrote it down. "I had a plan, then my MC woke up and met a boy and a book happened. When their adventure was done, I could continue with the story I had intended." That's pretty much how it went. :P

[@adriethealchemist]

I want to know the average age that MOST people seriously start writing. Like..not just for fun but when you go: hey I want to do this for a living.

[@lazarusgray1188]

It's a hard question. Many young writers are really good, but never get anywhere when they try it as a career because it's such a hard market. I think having something to say is at least as important as the way it's communicated to the reader, and processing the 'having something to say' bit is kind of like tempering steel. It takes a long time to gain perspective on certain things, so it's likely that even if you're a good young writer, you might have to stick at it until you're older before it's possible to make a living at it. Of course there are exceptions. In the end I think you get out of writing what you put into it, and if you plan to make it a career, there are many ways young people can start climbing the ladder - journalism and other jobs that involve writing copy are a hard slog, but good training... If you're young, and you want to be successful, you can work towards that, and if you're lucky and dedicated, you might not have to wait till you get old.

[@dirkspotproductions3834]

It differs on the people and their goals. I started writing when I was twelve, but I didn't become serious until I was nearly sixteen. I became serious at this age because I had realized that if I wanted to be published one, I would have to start writing well, and in order to do that, I had to improve. *Shrugs* But I know of people who don't become serious until later in life such as their 30s and 40s and they may do it for various reasons.

[@wannabeall]

I wouldn't do it for a living, writing would be my part time job, but I started taking writing seriously when I was 13 or so and 14 when I decided that I want to publish at least one book.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Hi Alexa! Love your channel (and so pleased to see it's growing so fast--you definitely deserve it). A quick search of your channel didn't turn up any videos on this topic, so I was wondering if you could do a video on how to write action scenes (fight scenes in particular). I'm asking because it's probably one of my biggest areas of weakness, and I really just have no idea how to go about it.

[@nerdmommy7114]

Hi Alexa! I’m also following Reddit and had a questioned, searched it in the group, and wow, there are like more than 10 topics about it, of the same question. Try searching “Reading while writing”. Seems like not one answer is satisfying so people kept on asking? I didn’t find it satisfying too. But it would be fun to hear from you, and more about the most asked (like probably there’s a post per month) about some topics in r/writing. This was a fun video!

[@addygold4204]

you defiantly should do a video giving advice to young authors. (coming from someone who is almost 16) It is really hard to find information specifically for teen writers, and while all advice can be helpful, I think a lot of teens probably struggle with finding time, between school, homework, sports, and social life time seems to be non-existent.

[@Rina-xt9yh]

It's only the third video of yours I'm watching and I'm already in love with your charisma!

[@KayeSpivey]

I love what you said about young writers~! I feel that so strongly. There's so much value in writing what you want without pressure and building your enjoyment and exploring and crafting ideas while you're still young, but so much pressure that everyone who wants to write needs to act like a professional writer and make it a job right away. So much writing advice is overwhelming and young writers have so much potential to just love the craft at its core that I hate hearing that they're feeling pressured or that they're making writing a chore. Please definitely make a video about your advice for teen writers! I think it will help so many people.

[@ness.ness.]

I'm a young writer, and thank you so much for reminding me I just need to have fun and write 💕

[@KatSperlingBooks]

"There's always a bit of ridiculousness"... To be honest, this was my feeling with Reddit overall. I can't get into it, it seems to be full of mean people. Maybe I just went to the wrong subreddits? Should I give it another try?

[@AlexaDonne]

Oh, you're not wrong. A lot of them are mean. The average Reddit user is male and like 18--and we know how young men are on the Internet! It's a cesspool lol. There are some good pockets though! I (technically) mod the /r/YAwriters subreddit which has WAY more women, a much higher median age, and we're more educated overall as well (we did a demographic survey). /r/pubtips isn't bad, either. And then /r/writing is just such a severely mixed bag. I really did catch it on a good day. I frequent the sub but it's super frustrating. A lot of the users are young, white, male, super entitled (though there are entitled women too, huzzah!)... so people can be pretty obtuse in their questions. And because people ask the same basic bitch questions over and over again (DOES NO ONE IN THIS GENERATION KNOW HOW TO GOOGLE?!), the veteran userbase has become more hardened and snarky overtime. So yeah I think that's why it seems mean. I honestly thought I'd be meaner in this video and then I wasn't haha.

[@KatSperlingBooks]

@@AlexaDonne Haha, I'm glad I'm not alone with my impression. I'll check out the subreddits you mentioned. Despite my negative experience, I still have hope for these people 😅! I think the Google skills will improve with age and so will the feeling of entitlement ;). I was like that when I was 18...

[@AlexaDonne]

@@KatSperlingBooks I think it's partly generational, tbh. People my age (lol so old) grew up having to search card catalogs and clunky digital catalogs at the library, which were finicky and required very smart search term combinations to get the information you wanted. And when online search came about it was shiny and new and we learned how to use it... now it's taken for granted. No one teaches people how to search smart, how to analyze search results, etc. Digital literacy is a really fascinating thing, IMO... and a lot of individuals just don't have it! It's easier to pop a question on a forum than to take a minute to search for it yourself and compile your own research. This is why Reddit drives me insane. LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU, she screams into the void :P

[@paulapoetry]

Reddit can be great, but you do get people who are rude - more so than on other sites, because of the anonymity factor. It is a good resource, though. Alexa may have inspired me to give it another try myself. 💝

[@avivastudios2311]

every social media platform has mean people on it. What exactly are u reading?

[@PomegranateStaindGrn]

I wonder if plotters find their characters doing their own thing as often as we pantsers do? It’s one of the things I love about pantsing but imagine plotting is too controlled to allow for the happy changes the characters can bring. I don’t know - I’m not a plotter. 🤷‍♀️

[@lavenderrosecosplay5639]

I am a plotter, but I learned the hard way that characters aren't puppets and eventually are going to change things. That's homestly when my characters become "real" to me. They start changing things about how I understood them or even major plot stuff usually.

[@wearewyldstallynz]

I'm not sure which I am. I start off pantsing scene vignettes while exploring a general idea to get a vibe for the characters. Then I backup to find and outline or treatment the story around them in 3rd person omniscent, and then plot it out, then rewrite the scene from their POV to fit. It often makes the scene feel better, but sometimes it doesn't and I feel stuck. It's probably not the best method for writing, but seem great for worldbuilding.

[@nootnewt9323]

I have a rough outline of the plot, but characters do often act in ways that I have to change some things. I have an attention disorder so I need to bounce around, and if I have no plot then I cannot bounce around like I do. But yeah my characters do change the story. The plot responds to them and not the other way around

[@toxicsugarart2103]

ccbib same!

[@leafhoff4321]

I think I’m mostly a plotter, but I have to write a scene (or part of it) to know what’s going to happen. If I try to come up with the plot in my head it becomes completely unnatural (for the characters and so on). I generally start writing a scene in a chapter to figure out exactly what’s going to happen and then I plan the whole chapter (I’ve already plotted the overarching plot for the whole book) before writing the rest of it.

[@chickencurry420]

When it comes to stories that take place in another country and the characters are supposed to speak another language, think about Pokemon: When I was a kid, I read a book adaptation of the original Pokenon series (not a manga, a book) And in the world of Pokemon, (for those who somehow don't know) each Pokemon only says their own name when speaking. And in the book, there was a scene of only Pokemon that had a lot of dialogue and it gave a very brief explanation that, despite only saying their own name, each Pokemon can understand what they're saying and all the dialogue was written in English. It was very easily to believe that the characters were only saying "Ekans, ekans ekans" but I, as the reader, could understand them because the story needed me to

[@Unti1tmrw]

Well I guess my dream for a superhero novel is gonna go up in smoke. Jokes aside I don’t think a straight up superhero novel would work it has to have a twist or it has to shy away from the formula. Most superhero media is just superheroes saving people, which is why I like the show “The Boys” it’s a superhero story with a twist, the heroes are the villains and it handles social issues greatly. when I do decide to write my superhero novel I want to make it with a twist, that’s why superhero novels fail, they’re trying to be like other superhero media but, in novel form. My idea is my novel will be about problems in society and how media twists things, and it will also handle social issues. I will definitely getting some inspiration from “The Boys” although it was a comic book series before a show, I definitely think it could’ve worked as a book series as well.

[@farahalmonsury]

This may be a broad question... but, how do you know if you’re a bad writer?

[@jessicagrzado8664]

Whyyyyy are you so smart!?! In all seriousness though, you are amazing and I could listen to you talk about writing all day.

[@AnnaMae41194]

My cousin is 17 and has started working on a story, I'm so proud of her and when she was working on chapter 2 she asked me for critique and to read it and I was so flattered and I had a hard time holding back criticisms because I'm used to giving critiques to other people around my level... not a beginner that I don't want to discourage... so after giving her the sandwich approach, I sent her to youtubers with writing advice and success :)

[@lazarusgray1188]

I have haunted the facebook groups for years - there are a few serious ones out there that attempt to teach writing, and things are pretty much the same there. I used to moderate in a group the had 16k+ members, but in the end I had writing to do, and just didn't have time to walk through the same questions over and over, though I learned a lot along the way, too. Most of the subtext is the same... "Is there an easy way to be a good, successful writer?" to which the answer should be obvious to anyone who watches Alexa's videos. (It's no. Writing is hard. Everyone has to push this rock uphill if they expect any sort of success.)

[@catkelly]

It's really good to hear your opinion on some of these. In the part "if you're a bad writer, then you cannot become a good one," though you agree, I'm glad you think there's some "nuance." It gives me hope within myself that, as long as I practice and try to improve my skills in writing, I can at least become a good writer. Maybe not JK-Rowling-great, but good, which is what I want. I didn't study writing or literature in school. In fact, I had learning problems when it came to reading and writing, yet I was always complimented on presenting amazing stories. When I'm not being graded or judged, I feel more at ease in doing something, which is what happened. I started writing for myself alone and for no one else, filling up notebooks and journals with my stories. Reviewing these books, stories I wrote twelve years ago compared to my stories I've recently written, I can see a vast improvement. I agree with what you said, writing is a skill that needs to be worked on. So, work on it before passing it by. I would like to hear more about what you think of this in another video.

[@claireholliday6721]

Super cool idea, I love that reddit thread. And yes, do more!!

[@Brindlebrother]

19-year-olds be like: I remember the good ol' high school days. _looks off into the sunset reminiscing in nostalgia_

[@paleranga4168]

A little off topic, but yay for The 10th Kingdom on your shelf

[@SAVYWRITESBOOKS]

lol this is great... i am on reddit all the time but i never look at /r/writing, i guess because i see reddit as a distraction while i'm on transit rather than something i should be learning from, haha... i also agree with your social media point! i'm always using pinterest to create writing vision boards. i also get inspired by bad books!! :)

[@paulallen8304]

Honestly when it comes to ANY advice forum most of the questions could be answered with the answer, "Did you even bother to google this?" It is SO frustrating, especially when you are trying to get honest advice about more advanced topics.

[@AlexaDonne]

I am tempted to reply LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU for so many questions on Reddit :)

[@soniaballada]

Jumping back in and catching up with your videos!

[@kingkolbae1580]

Okay so I write separate scenes that are roughly 700+ words and one has hit over 1000 but my question is how do you organize scenes into chapters and how do you tell if the scenes should be split into their own individual chapters vs putting them all into one scene.

[@paulapoetry]

Yes, I know that Subreddit. Great video and idea. Would love to see more of these. 😃👍💝💖

[@halahsback]

I got a question you may have some insight on. At 21:50 ish there was a reddit question about making a website before querying. What about artwork? Do you know/think agents will care if an author does art for or related to their story and posts those on social media BEFORE or after querying, book deal, etc.?

[@nocturnus009]

I’m convinced you emanated energy requesting the best questions & the universe acquiesced. It’s possible the flood of questions is a result of people following the 8 week rule following National Novel Writing Month? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

[@amy-suewisniewski6451]

Oh, I'd love another video like this in the future.

[@santanasg8445]

Alexa, thank you so much for all the knowlegde and wisdowm you always share!

[@Unti1tmrw]

I’m going to disagree with if a bad writer can become good. I think they can and can’t at the same time. What I mean is a writer can’t go from bad to great straight away they have to be level up gradually. Which is I think what you meant. A bad writer become good or great eventually with patience and practice.

[@noelcrist7109]

No clue if you’ll look at this after 2 year but about superhero books. Brandon Sanderson wrote ‘the Reckoner’ series about corrupt super heroes. I’ve only read the first book, Stealheart, and it was pretty good.

[@LydaYangNubci]

I've been writing since I was 13 when I was cleaning out the storage room in my house so I could get a bigger room and found a binder with a printed online story in it. I hated reading then, but I read that 50 page long story in one night, and I started my writing journey. For some reason, I actually hand wrote all my short stories (about 7 of them), and then I finally moved onto typing them. I'm 23 now, but my writing still sucks. 😂

[@AkiShiroi]

Scrivener is the greatest fucking thing ever. Amazing advice as ever, Alexa!

[@BrianaMorganBooks]

This is a great video idea! I loved this!

[@cenedra20]

Yes please, do more of this. I enjoyed it😁

[@SysterYster]

I've actually been helping a teenager (though he's 19, so not for long now) to finish his book and edit it. He has published that book now. I thought that was pretty cool. Even funnier, it's a superhero YA story. XD But it's kinda disguised as a mystery type story with kidnappings and stuff. The Unwanted by Soyoye. He self-published. I think that's pretty well done by such a young guy.

[@sandylynn4205]

Hello! I’ve been absolutely loving your videos lately- I found you while I was searching for some writing tips, and you’ve really helped me. I have a question about my situation at the moment with writing. I haven’t written on my own for a few years (I was battling with numerous mental health and physical issues), but before that, I was an avid writer. Even looking back on my writing at age 13 I can tell that I was talented- however, I have absolutely gone backwards in my skills. I’ve been listening to more audiobooks during work and trying to read on my own to catch up some on my knowledge. I’ve had an idea for a novel for a while, and I feel like I’m in the right mindset and place in my life to write it- but I don’t have the skills to at the moment. I have been thinking about writing fanfiction again (Harry Potter specifically, as you did, yay!) to practice, but I’m not sure if that counts as “practice”, as I do find that my voice and overall writing style changes compared to writing completely from my own ideas. (I typically did OC centric, long fics- 90k+ words). Sorry for the long-winded explanation. But I guess to summarize, is writing fanfiction good/adequate practice with the long term goal of writing novels?

[@AlexaDonne]

I say do whatever gets you back into the groove! I've totally been where you are, where I have felt that my writing has atrophied, or at least changed, and I had to learn to kind of mold my skill in the direction I wanted. (Going to college for journalism really shifted my writing style, for instance) I do personally think fanfic is a really good idea--it was writing a ton of it that helped to exercise my fiction-writing muscles after j-school. The other thing that helped me a lot was reading voraciously. While audiobooks count as reading, I do think there is something to reading words physically on the page to kind of ingest writing rhythms. It's also valid to try to write original stuff--throwing yourself into a "fun" writing project like short stories, or even a novel. Do whatever works for you!

[@sandylynn4205]

Thank you so much! I’m actually just waiting on either an acceptance or rejection letter from university for English, so I’m very excited about that. I definitely will be putting more time aside to read on my own as well, so thank you. Also, random and unrelated, but I’ve been wondering if you’ve ever read the supernatural fanfic “Twist and Shout”? If not, I would very highly recommend it. To be honest I read it less as a fanfiction and more as a stand alone story, and you definitely don’t have to have watched it to read it. Honestly it’s one of the best pieces I’ve ever read, and it has stuck with me for years.

[@angelxxsin]

Alexa, can you do a video about writing a book chronologically or writing scenes out of order and the pitfalls of each? I realize everyone has a different method and it's what works for you, but I'd be interested in your experience or the experiences of authors you know.

[@kathrynlouise7884]

This is going to be the video I did not know I needed UPDATE: It was :)

[@JoeyPaulOnline]

I really enjoyed this! Loved the answers!

[@jessmddn]

Side note: Superhero book that's so good - Renegades by Marissa Meyer!

[@Kaejennings]

I have an idea for a book but I'm seriously not sure at all if 1: anyone would read it and 2: if an agent could sell it. How would I generally go about finding out? Should I just write it and worry about that later?

[@bethanyteel132]

You say to stop procrastinating and just write and what do I do... I see another one of your videos. Maybe after this one I will write.

[@missmermade9331]

I'm halfway through the first draft of an urban fantasy and it's really close to my heart. Do you think, in about a year the genre will get more popular again?

[@AlexaDonne]

You never know! The YA market is definitely shifting a bit, but who knows. I think it's always worth writing books we love that teach us something about writing, regardless of sales outcome.

[@cydd1866]

I used to love Scrivener until it lost 10,000ish words. No doubt it was my fault, but doesn't change the fact that I couldn't recover those words. Sadly I'm going back to word, can't have that happen again. Thank you for your videos Alexa.

[@SysterYster]

I think I hit my first "block" at around... 150k words or so. And I had like 4-5 through my entire book. And the longest lasted 3 days. :P The others were more like... an afternoon, or almost a day. XD I had such a blast writing, I don't ever wanna do anything else! :O

[@admiral_red_shirt]

I'm 40 and still in high school. I don't live or work in a school. My coworkers, and myself, just have that mentality.

[@musicbyella3769]

Oof the book I’m writing at the mo is a YA book kind of superhero based. But it’s more about an ex superhero trying to recover her memories after losing them and finding out why she lost them? So it’s not exactly a superhero novel because there’s not going to be much actual action? Do you think that would have appeal?

[@lexalina132]

awesome video as always! :D

[@Alexandra-ro3yf]

Hi Alexa! I want to write about a book that references many real 90’s tv shows. Is this considered plagiarism? I am going to be referencing scenes throughout the book and maybe throw out quotes here and there.

[@luckybomber]

My problem is I don't know how to start it, I have key scenes outlined but I can't decide which one I want to start with.

[@katiewelikanna3588]

Will you do a comparison video between the three act structure and the five act structure?

[@mical7582]

Thank you for this video. I would like to know what advice you would give to someone who wants to write (it's a big dream) but they won't allow themselves to be creative and just write. So they are self-sabotaging themselves for months.

[@lukyanoppedisano1130]

The craziest thing I ever saw on Reddit was that someone didn't know whether their romance was Adult, Yound Adult, or Middle Grade. Umm....

[@fireinateacup89]

Superhero stories kind of already have their own genre in graphic novels and comics... right?

[@Robinem]

Isn’t the general long shot dream for authors for their books to be -a big hit and translated into many languages? Meaning books are being read in every language they are written or translated in anyway? So if it is a success worldwide those characters who should be speaking Russian may actually be read in Russian in certain parts of the world.

[@LadyofLetters]

Great video!

[@AnnaMae41194]

how do you write a highschool age person when you didn't do anything in highschool and barely remember the meaningless blur that was highschool... and had no friends. No afterschool activities, no clubs, just woke-up, went to class, bullshitted my way through every assignment, ate food, spaced out, went home. every day for 4 years... yeah that's pretty much all I remember from school. I remember lunch time.

[@elrancho8700]

you are soo inspiring!

[@angelxxsin]

I didn’t catch what you said about transliterating Chinese. Did you say to not use pinyin English? I’m curious because the project I’m working on is actually set in China.

[@AlexaDonne]

I said pidgin English, meaning broken English. Sometimes in media the choice is made to take a character from a country like China or Russia and have them speak in halted, grammatically incorrect English and it can easily be overdone, and perpetuate negative stereotypes. So I just advise writers don't do that! If something is set in China but written in English, people should speak fluently to indicate fluency in their native language.

[@angelxxsin]

oh gotcha! That makes sense. Thanks for responding. I fully agree.

[@FeeBee3001]

I want to eventually write a superhero novel because I love reading then. I want to write it for me.

[@valcarias19]

So I believe it's true that your next book will always be better than your last but what if I only want to write one book? Is it possible to just keep rewriting it and rewriting it until it's a really good book even though it's still my first one? P.S: I've been told by teachers that I do have a talent for writing so at least I know I wouldn't be one of those bad writers that can't get good like Stephen King claims hehe

[@NadineCharleson604]

White Whale! Yes!!!.... Definitely not starting that one yet...

[@Ersia]

Ohhhh, you mentioned TJ Klune! That I did not expect. Btw, he's not a "debut" author. He's been publishing since 2011 and has over 20 novels published. So yeah, he's pretty well-known. Just not by MF readers, since all his novels are MM/Queer. The Extraordinaries series is him dipping his feet in YA literature under a new pseudonym. But, anyway, he's got the big following already built, so I don't think he'll have a hard time succeeding. Having that in mind, you may have a point when saying that established authors manage to pull off more risky genres/ideas than unknown/debut authors :(

[@AlexaDonne]

I didn't say anything about TJ Klune? Where? Like seriously I'm confused.

[@AlexaDonne]

Sorry I just looked up what you meant. Honestly I mentally cataloged that deal but didn't even note the author's name, nor did I look them up when I saw it last year. Honestly, I assumed it was a debut BUT this gives my argument even more weight: debuts don't get to sell superhero books. How depressing to be correct lol. Sorry for my confusion!

[@Ersia]

Alexa Donne You mentioned a superheroe novel being published by Tor and I know TJ Klune is publishing one next year under that same house :P

[@Ersia]

Alexa Donne No problem! My bad for not specifying. But yes, you're pretty on point and, ouch, that's kind of discouraging as well.

[@AlexaDonne]

@@Ersia I'm going to go drink haha. (that said: every time one comes out, I want it to blow up! So they'll buy more! So I will certainly be checking out this one :D)

[@gracestowe6713]

About Stephen King's point that if you are a bad writer you can't become a good writer. Why would you say that is? Everyone's bad when they start out, so what would make someone incapable of improving their work to a certain standard?

[@keiths2902]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@nocturnus009]

About 10:35 the real problems is a vocal minority. Unfortunately sometimes toxic because they have a delusion about their perceived size. I love comics, I live in NYC & if this city can’t support small comic book shops [IT CANNOT] the exactly how commercial is the genre?! The numbers from Marvel Image & Detective Comics where never that great. Too much of the sales where it was great was speculative into some fantasized future where catalogs of issues would sell in the future. Not enough people purchased the books to read the stories. The real value in comics is in the same IP that fantasy & sci-fi stories in potential television, streaming & movie deals. Marvel is where it is because someone loved the IP enough to pull storylines from years of canon to best fit a direction. As Kevin Smith will confess: watching the current slate of movies is 🤫shhh my stories [soaps] are on! In a great way we have returned to the serialized films that inspired Lucas & Spielberg.

[@poisonedyoyo]

I have trouble defining "superhero." I don't watch any Marvel or DC movies, I have seen X-Men Evolution but honestly they're hunted more than helping. I have also seen the Incredibles, but the thing I'm trying to say here is I have a story idea with characters with superpowers, are you telling me it's not likely to be looked at even though I'm not sure it fits the "superhero" mold? I guess you could just call them powers, the "super" is unnecessary.

[@missmermade9331]

I believe you are discribing the genre of urban fantasy. Characters with special powers set in our regular world. That is not considered a superhero novel, but currently the genre is not that popular unfortunately, but it is slowly coming back! I hope it will be back on the market much more in about a year. Good luck with your project! :)

[@cactus.3157]

I’m so nervous to write poc side characters. I feel like I’ll accidentally be offensive or ignorant. Especially since the character I want to write is indigenous and it’s hard to find modern resources on that culture. (Especially Written from someone in that culture) but I don’t want to pussy out on it and make her white. I want a diverse cast of characters.

[@th_0ru]

I hate diagraming sentences too !

[@paigegilson3855]

Does only writing on the weekends count as a writing routine?

[@AlexaDonne]

Certainly! That was my routine for a while. It generally won't work once you have a book contract unless you net 10K a weekend, but it certainly still a good routine to have!

[@AnnaMae41194]

I feel like when a book is set in a non-English speaking country you should instead of force translating things, actually have phrases in the native language - especially if they're a hard to translate phrase.

[@anjahoger-busch8579]

Every time you say superhero books don't sell my heart breaks a little. Not because I'm writing one; because I love reading queer YA superhero books. There might be some awesome books I'd love to read and they never get published. 😩

[@carole5648]

i've noticed her say that alot too. But if that's what you're interested in reading and writing then do that. Honestly i find the line between "superhero" and "modern urban fantasy with magic" very fuzzy. just call something magic and it's a different genre? That's my opinion anyway. Sub a few words and you're set.

[@AlexaDonne]

@@carole5648 I mean, I just honestly share the realities of the traditional publishing industry. I've analyzed the sales and market trends going back a decade since I myself wrote a book that is literally unsellable. I dealt with a lot of heartbreak and I like to warn people! There are just some sub-genres that have NEVER sold well in traditional publishing--like going back decades. Superheros and time travel have just sunk like stones in YA almost across the board, so publishers almost never buy them. YMMV. The lines, re: magic are fuzzy, and in fact making things magic instead of powers can often make a big difference. However, urban fantasy has ALSO been dead in traditionally published YA for the last 9 years, so going for UF wouldn't help (my book wasn't superheroes, and it was UF--still DOA). These books are being published though-self-published. A reader can find them if they look in indie spaces, but then you have to sort through a lot of under-edited/mediocrely written books to find the gems.