How to Create a Writing Process That Works for You

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
1:22 - There's no right way
2:06 - What motivates you?
3:35 - How do you think?
5:37 - Where are you struggling?
6:33 - Keep a process log
7:25 - Prioritize effectiveness, not speed
9:40 - Be practical
11:00 - Don't try to copy someone's process exactly
11:47 - Adjust along the way
15:04 - Embrace your quirks
15:33 - Make it fun
FAQS
→How old are you? - 24
→How long have you been writing? - Since I was 8
→Where do you live? - I keep that private for safety reasons, but I grew up in Vancouver.
→Where did you go to university and what did you study? - I keep my university information private, but I majored in writing with a concentration in fiction.
→What are your pronouns? - They/them or she/her
→Where can I read your books? - None of my books are published yet, but you can read my published short fiction in my linktree (linked above!)
→So when will your book be published? - I don’t know! I’m in the revision process right now, but I can’t predict exactly when I’ll have a book published. But I’m working on it!
→Do you plan to traditionally publish or self publish? - Traditionally publish
→Will you read my book/story/chapter/mentor me? - Unfortunately I cannot accommodate these requests because editing/critiquing is a labour intensive task that I can’t afford to do for free alongside my job, my own writing, and running this platform. If you would like to hire me for paid editing work, contact me privately on twitter or instagram.
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[@leeandrarickard5509]

My little quirk that gets me energized to write is to hear other people talk excitedly about writing. I need a little cheerleading and then I go and get ‘em 😋 Thanks Shaelin

[@missjaninemorgan]

"The only wrong way to write a book is plagiarism." Haha! Yes, exactly. Loved this video soo much.

[@lesliemoiseauthor]

My father recommended taking the first line from a piece similar to yours, changing it to reflect your own story, and using it to get into it. Later you cut out the first line.

[@Kira6311]

For writing quirks - I wrote a short story for competition few months ago and while writing I always had to listen to Saman by Olafur Arnalds on loop. It is like 2,5 minute song but it was the PERFECT song for the story and it's atmosphere. I wrote about 70% with it in background. When I'd get tired I switched to Fur Elise (reimagined) by Alexander Joseph.

[@emxry]

This is genuinely PERFECT timing.

[@unclephlegm]

Sameeeee

[@bluemacaroons]

Ikr honestly

[@bluemacaroons]

Also love these usernames

[@jankyfluffy898]

This is a needed video. Many authors become obsessed with their planning method they think are the only one that works. Planting and semi-discovery writing works best for me. When I started, I was an obsessive planner, writing almost full chapters in a notebook before typing them. I still plan, but I find it's easier for me to change what isn't working if I plan in an email or use old book chapters as templates. Even when I am not writing, I create stories in my head for fun. I'm a fast first drafter with a slight learning disability, so a messy first draft doesn't bother me, but my second draft is usually working on grammar and continuity. My editing slows the process down.

[@violetrain2850]

Yeah, I don't get the obsession over how a person creates a story let alone the obsession over how someone else creates the work. Every time I hear someone negatively criticize a person's process, that person just comes around as either incredibly insecure or embarrassingly full of themselves.

[@annaconsta]

"What makes you love writing?" Word! I don't know if this is quirky or not. But, whenever I write a POV character, I try to "enter" their mind and become one with them.

[@hollyb6866]

I feel like i needed this, thank you. i consider myself a pantser, but for my current novel I've been doing a tiny bit more planning (roadmapping the major events, character motivations etc before finishing the first draft). It's comforting to know other writer's methods can change with each book, and that it's okay to embrace it.

[@maya-gur695]

Your timing is always immaculate. I'm getting back to writing on a regular basis after a long time and really struggling with finding a process that works for me. Thank you so much for this video, it really helped me to get a perspective on things.

[@ShaelinWrites]

Hope your return to writing goes well!

[@yohomie4098]

How to generate ideas: pacing around my room while talking to myself. It is so much fun. Genuinely one of my favorite activities; don't even question me. I'll stay up at night for hours just pacing (and dancing) and listening to music. If I'm pacing around and talking to myself in the morning, I'll also drink coffee which is fun.

[@AppleCore360]

I also love using Garamond!! Just looks nice 😋 My writing quirk, and also my writing process; I need to dip out of the story every now and again and do something completely different. Work on my DND plot, work on a game I've been creating, physically design escaperooms for my day job... I just need a part of my creativity to go elsewhere to refule my creativity for writing. It sounds distracting, and I'm sure for most it is. But I've finished a few books this way. It's my writing process, and it's not for everyone. But my ADHD brain needs to have several unrelated projects. I enjoy my work this way much more than I would if I would focus on one singular project. I've been insecure about this in the past, none of my projects finish particularly fast. But I can honestly say I do get the job done and feel very happy with the results. So I've learned and accepted I'm just a slow but steady kind of writer because of the way I stay creative for my writing. Don't let anyone dictate your process, everyone has to find their way.

[@chaaaargh]

very much agree! good point, and i can sort of relate. i think diverting your creativity towards other things really does work as sort of a refuel. i only wish i had more hobbies that i don't procrastinate as much as writing lol.

[@diegoluccas7026]

Shaelin, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Your videos help me a lot!

[@justinedse3314]

I love hearing about different people's writing processes, it's fascinating like some unique magical puzzle box. I get a lot of ideas when I go on walks and keep a notepad app to jot down sentences and phrases. I get so many built up that when I sit down to write, the story is already complete in my head! 😀 I used to try and follow other people's writing processes but then figured out it didn't work for me. It almost seems like a rite of passage for you to research famous authors, learn their routines, only to discover they don't work for everyone.😅

[@ShaelinWrites]

Okay but going for a walk = most underrated writing tool ???

[@SeanDuranMusic]

Question mark ??? Maybe more a statement then ???= escapism...which is what you want to draw readers into your stories is all about.

[@justinedse3314]

@@ShaelinWritesHaha, for me it does! It's one of the few ways I can turn off the logical part of my brain and being out in nature helps me. And hey, hey, Ray Bradbury got the main inspiration for Fahrenheit 451 while on a night walk. 😏👍

[@johnhaggerty4396]

@@justinedse3314 Ray Bradbury's essays *Zen in the Art of Writing* is a must read. Bradbury met Christopher Isherwood in a bookshop in Los Angeles and gave him a copy of *The Martian Chronicles*. Isherwood was not impressed by this young American writer pushing his novel. A week later he called Bradbury at his home. 'Your publisher gave me your number and I had to tell you how much I liked your extraordinary novel,' said Isherwood.

[@justinedse3314]

@@johnhaggerty4396Yes! I was browsing the audible selections last year and saw Zen in the Art of Writing.😁 Listened to it on a road trip it was one of the most inspiring, uplifting things I've ever heard! I loved it!!

[@bloop6111]

Working on a graphic novel :) One thing that’s become a habit is getting home and eating dinner while watching a writing video that’s relevant to something I’m trying to work out in my story. It’ll get me thinking and then ideas come and I get started writing. Sometimes a scene idea or plot point might pop into my head and I quickly write it down, then add it to the script when I get home. But one thing’s for sure. I don’t like writing in a linear way. For me, it’s a puzzle.

[@____uncompetative]

_Literature Devil's 12 Rules for Writing_ is essential viewing for anyone working on a graphic novel as he is a comic book author: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGqUq6Wnl9N8lZY

[@rachelthompson9324]

what is important is understanding the rules, structures and methods of the craft. How one applies them is the process. Once mastered, the rules can be broken but know them before you break them. One can learn three cords and play songs on the guitar or one can master the guitar and play professionally. Understanding enhances style and story, it doesn't detract from it.

[@AuthorElliot]

For me, i think my strangest writing habit thing that i enjoy is designing myself a cover when I'm feeling a lul, just to get excited again and feel like it's a real _book_ .

[@gamewriteeye769]

15:55 speaks facts. I've spent the last month or two really embracing the craft, art, and process of writing. The best way I have fun writing is by accepting the process of what works (in this case, write every day, train myself to utilize different tools to help as I self-edit so I don't get stuck along the way). For me, get some caffeine, throw on some rain sounds or whatever music fits the vibes, find a comfortable place with no distractions, and get to work. I find limiting yourself to the creative work you're trying to make doesn't allow you explore all the possibilities; make the most of the time you're given! *One side quirk I find with my process, is I want to obsessively meander about my story with someone and perhaps get some feedback or ideas since I love the works I pour passion into(although, I treat my process as an independent, slow method of ironing out the gears).

[@ZoesWeirdThoughts]

The ‘clearing the fog to find the story’ analogy was quite similar to some I have made up about my writing process. The ‘the story was there all along, I just had to find it’ feeling is definitely something I relate to. Luckily for my writing process I’ve never had much trouble disregarding the ‘rules’.

[@NagisaNiki]

The “thinking about how you think,” translates to me as overthinking my overthinking 😂😂😂. All jokes aside, I’m definitely the big picture zero drafter girl.

[@janeyannachicken9053]

My process feels like I'm an archeologist digging up a mosaic and trying to put together the image. I find pieces in odd succession, I put them together, extrapolating where they're most likely to fit and what's missing, sketching over holes, reordering stuff etc. and regularly being surprised by how wrong I was about how the mosaic actually looked, once upon a time.

[@janeyannachicken9053]

My stuff is always written in Helvetica and I have it read by my computer's TTS function. I dislike distractions.

[@ness.ness.]

Ah perfect timing ! I feel like ive been beating myself up lately what with not writing due to school taking up so much time, and it’s really dampening my mood - thank u for reminding me it’s ok to change things up

[@ShaelinWrites]

Wow your strength, I could never comic sans is my kryptonite

[@PuffPets]

Quirky writing habit: I work under a table with a blanket over it :) every day, no joke, i'm there now

[@valeriehayne]

A thing that I never understood about these so called "writing tips" was no editing until you're done, like why? why will you subject to your work not making any sense when you're gonna finally edit? I get that people may be tempted to edit as a form of procrastination but I do it while I'm writing and I also procrastinate a lot (I'm probably the queen of procrastination) but I have never spent so many time editing a chapter that I've been unable to finish a draft, ever. Realizing that was probably a lie to make you productive (if you don't edit, you write faster) was life changing, suddenly I was like "I can do whatever I want, there are no rules in writing", that was amazing. Also, my quirk is similar to yours, I always have to write in Times New Roman 12 or other wise I will despair the whole time and my titles have to be in bold, centered and in capital letters.

[@MerweenTheWitch]

Thank you for video, always a delight to see the notification! My weirdest writing quirk, I think, is that I discovered I really prefer writing as non-lineraly as possible. I will write scenes in any order, sentences in any order, dialogue beats with no prose attached... I slowly slid into the habit, and now I can't go back. It's really fun too, because I get to discover what the whole story feels like piece by piece, and finishing the project rewards me with the full picture for the first time!

[@trinaq]

Thanks for your tips, Shaelin, they have definitely helped me to get into a more solid writing routine, as opposed to simply procrastinating!

[@tharo4390]

I think my weirdest quirk may be choosing a tea blend to go with my project, and drink it every time I write and only when I write. It works, and helps me crave writing even as the project gets difficult! I'm also the kind of person who will hide a finished draft for a given amount of time, so drinking that tea again when I start revising helps me get back into it.

[@johnhaggerty4396]

Henry James said Afternoon Tea was the nicest expression in the English language: Henry fled Boston for England. The toffs in those days had to wait till 8 o'clock before Dinner, so Afternoon Tea was an occasion to nibble on bread and butter and gossip. I like Teapigs Green Tea, Clipper Organic Green Tea, and Matcha and Sensa varieties. Herbal teas are non-diuretic and mostly caffeine-free. Balzac drank 50 cups of coffee a day, 50, 000 in his lifetime: I have two cups in the morning and after that water, juice, green tea. In his book *Truth and Lies in Literature* Stephen Vizinczey has an essay on why the writer must renounce hard liquor and recreational drugs. Wine with dinner should be a treat and never a habit, the same with a beer. Alcohol ruined more good writers than anything else.

[@angelaking9619]

Great video! Your thoughtfulness and great advice is so helpful. I've been trying to be a morning writer, because it fits better with my schedule, but actually I feel most creative and uninhibited at night. My best writing sessions have happened at night with most lights off, just the faint glow of the laptop screen and maybe a candle. I put the real world away and soak into the fictional one.

[@SillverBel]

The beginning of my process is all about the characters' goals, motives, conflicts, and their archetype/personality. I spend a lot of time thinking about possible fun conflicts to add, and ways that my character may react to said conflicts. Then I pick a few of those to keep in the story. Then I plot the story events in order. So, character introductions, inciting incident, rising action, character decisions and consequences, and resolution. I find that delaying the plotting until the very end helps me to not get stuck because by then, I'm just putting events in order. But thats just me.

[@diamondsforcigarettes]

I think that 90-95% off my novel was created at the pub. Thank you for yet another grate video.

[@rev6215]

Best part of my Friday

[@immortaljanus]

I've recently discovered that creating a story and writing a story are two different skills. I was very good in creating a story but I was poor in writing it down. I'm very organic in creating a story, had to resort to engineering approaches to figure out the skill of actual writing. I will use different zoom-ins for different draft. Worry about the broad scope of the story, the development of characters, what new places I will have to define. I will not even consider to add descriptions (of place, characters, etc.) until I know who is the POV character for this particular scene. Then I will ask myself: how does this character see the world and the people around them? The vocabulary I will use in that scene will be very dependant on the POV character. My favourite font: Bookman Old Style.

[@rizzypizzy]

You are psychic in knowing what people need!! 🙂

[@cjpreach]

My quirky process. . . I brainstorm emotionally charged scenes based on my main characters' goals, believes and personality. Then I develop the story using the scenes developed when my creativity was "hot." This way I know I have key scenes that work, even before the whole plot comes together. Emotional impact becomes the spine of the novel.

[@MyssihBlack]

It's amazing how her advices can be applied in other aspects of the life

[@violetrain2850]

The whole outward/inward thing is a good way to explain why someone can think about theme/plot first, because they are seeing the broad framework of a story (both internal and external), while for others, they feel that is "inauthentic" because this broad framework for them comes from pulling and tugging at all all the little details until they've seemingly created something (plot/theme) out of "nothing" (those little details). But for inward writers, the pulling/tugging is done out of the large elements(plot/theme) and what is created from inside the work itself ARE those little intricate details that authors just start with. So each writer starts with something big or small and then pulls and pulls until they get to the other side. It seems quite clear that no matter what process you take, you're always bringing something to the table from without and then the work is giving you something from within.

[@TimRG]

While in film school, during script class the common thing said was each project is different. Trying to write a film the same way as you did the last is not smart. They are different from each other and out what works for that project.

[@stanleyrunyon1342]

You convey information and ideas in a way that truly speaks to me. Your logic and approach to writing parallels mine almost perfectly especially in finding your own methods and holding the rule book at arms length. The best way to describe my writing method is to imagine my story as being a place or picture in the middle of my soul and any thoughts or ideas that help bring the feeling of my story into focus is the direction I need to follow. Thank you for your honesty and advice.

[@Similaar]

This was so incredibly helpful jesus christ, I've been struggling with writers block for a long while, and your insights made me realise why. I've just been forcing other methods onto myself that don't work for me, and it has sucked my motivation away. The idea of analysing what works for me, and trying new things such as discovery writing, is super motivating. Thank you!!!

[@willowthetree9847]

My quirk is that, whenever I read over my work, I put stupid comments on my google docs. They're utterly useless and shouldn't even be that funny but it's so fun to be reading along with this serious scene and see something off to the side that slaps me in the face with how utterly out of place it is, e.x. That time I called a character a furry while he was having a mental crisis Thanks for making this video, even if it's a year old. I've been struggling to write for the past half a year I think, and this helped me realize that I've been approaching writing from a professional perspective instead of just exploring and letting myself do whatever the heck I want. I'm trying to change my mindset, but it's really hard after thinking that way for so long. Wish me luck :,)

[@shannonquinn5261]

This was exactly what I needed to hear! I knew that my "Writing Practice" wasn't working, or actually, that I just didn't have one, though I was always searching. I also did a great deal of writing when I could get out of the house, and with that not being an option these last 2+ years, have been hard for me to be as productive and motivated as I had been. Middle of the night sessions have often been my go-to, but that creates other problems. Your insights, and advice to search, and test, tweak and adapt, and accept the quirks, are all exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!

[@writerducky2589]

Since my room looks like a hoarder home, I’ve carved out a corner on the floor behind the tv, where I sit with my computer and write. The best thing I can do to keep me focused is to leave my other electronic devices out of reach - only problem is, that’s where most of my notes are 😅 My best (read: most efficient), writing however, tends to happen in the middle of the night when going to bed, because then: I’m completely relaxed, I have a pending reward (sleeping), and my inner critic is too tired to criticize what I’m doing so I can have fun doing it. And it’s usually not half-bad when I wake up in the morning, which is great 🤔 Great video!

[@llamaslemonade9133]

I can relate hard to leaving devices far away to avoid distraction and then practically instantly needing to check my notes 😂

[@tomlewis4748]

All your videos are terrific. This one really stands out. Since I think very much like you do, this video helps to confirm maybe my thinking is proper (wouldn't that be something!) It also seems you've really thought this through. It's comforting to me that there are people in the world who think things through, and are this motivated to do it, and this equipped to do it well. So thank you for sharing. It really means a lot. Garamond is a fine font. I think fonts with serifs are best for reading long documents like novels. I use Bookman Old Style for a couple of reasons: I'm digital only, and if my novels are opened in iBooks it normally defaults to Georgia, and if they're opened on a Kindle, it normally defaults to Bookerly. Both of these fonts are very similar to Bookman, implying that the reader will get a similar experience to what I am intending for them. The rules are murky but I'm pretty sure it's in the public domain. I'm not quite as sure about Garamond. Garamond and Bookman are actually very similar. So, go Garamond!

[@l.36125]

Thank you for this video!! Your comment about editing while writing made me realize that I'm the opposite. I think it's what stops me from finishing bigger projects. I get too caught up on making one section perfect and "readable" for myself and procrastinate putting words on the page. Editing is the easiest for me (and it's my favorite part), so I'm going to try banning myself from rereading until I've hit a certain high word count-- then I'll go back and revise. (fingers crossed it works out this is gonna be weird lol)

[@Hermit_mouse]

Listening to you motivates me and watching your vids has become part of my process.

[@Seraphelle13]

Big same on the specific moments/lines/details thing! That's where my ideas start too!

[@pianoismyeverything]

I just finished my first draft of 110000+ words today and i needed this

[@juliarose3826]

Very helpful vid! Still working on figuring out my writing process and probably always will be but for me one consistant thing is that I HAVE to know the setting layout inside and out in order to write, if I dont I completely shut down, or get bogged down with questions or end up hating what I write. Setting will always be the most important and most fun thing to me and its nice to finally be realizing that and getting out of my own way. I used to always think I needed to write and get more and more words on the page...high production output always seemed to be the thing everyone else priortized. Nowadays I much prefer to write less and actually enjoy the words that I do write

[@ShaelinWrites]

That perspective on setting is super interesting!!

[@johnhaggerty4396]

*The setting layout inside and out* is often what makes a novel so agreeable, like visiting a foreign city and feeling at home. Two spring to mind: Kay Boyle *Plagued by the Nightingale* *A Fine of Two Hundred Francs* Elsa Triolet. Both pre-WWII France. I like novels with a strong sense of place, streets where I feel I can walk, like Cheltenham, England, where my sister lives. Edinburgh has a medieval district (the Old Town) and a pre-Victorian Georgian district (the New Town). Both very historic. When streets and houses in a novel can be seen and touched, the characters can behave chaotically as in Dostoevsky's *The Idiot*. I hope one day Shaelin will take us out into the districts of Vancouver and talk about how the city shaped its imaginary writers. Visit KZbin videos *Fran's Bookshop* set in London ... Interview with Sharon Horgan, Interview with Elizabeth Day etc.

[@juliarose3826]

@@johnhaggerty4396 oh yes, completely agree! Feeling the setting come alive around you is one of the best things about fiction, and its definitely one of the things if not the thing I enjoy most when reading or writing...I'm sure I really captured that in my origional comment. Like, I want to know the details of the world, thats why I'm here, I want to see and feel it. Some writers are character driven and some are plot driven, I am defintely setting driven. Setting is just the place where everything begins. I find my characters by asking what kind of person would this place make? I get my plot by asking what problems would come from the world being set up this way and being as it is? Part of that is due to my uni degree studying ancient civilizations and just history in general, from what I've learned and how I view it, people and situations always arise first from place.

[@johnhaggerty4396]

@@juliarose3826 With your background in ancient history you will have read *Memoirs of Hadrian* by Marguerite Yourcenar. Her memoirs of her life in France were published in Virago paperback. She was reading Racine and Virgil in junior school. I see from Wiki that she published essays with the intriguing title *The Dark Brain of Piranesi* and another on Mishima. Allan Massie has written a number of novels set in later antiquity, Augustus, Tiberias. And *The Ragged Lion* on Walter Scott. You can hear him on KZbin: *Allan Massie - Toast to Sir Walter 1990.* The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club. His 20th Century history novels: *A Question of Loyalties* *The Sins of the Father* *Shadow of Empire* have a strong sense of place. Read *The Blind Spot: An Essay on the Novel* by Javier Cercas and *The Naive and Sentimental Novelist* by Orhan Pamuk. The first celebrates 'open' novels (which I suspect you want to write) and the second on what the reader brings to *Anna Karenina*. Essential: Nabokov's published lectures on European & English writers; and the two-volume biography of Vlad by Brian Boyd. *The Written World and the Unwritten World* Italo Calvino. *The Art of the Novel* Milan Kundera. *The Half Known World: On Writing Fiction* Robert Boswell. *The Art of Voice* Tony Hoagland. *Writing A Novel* John Braine. *Becoming A Writer* Dorothea Brande. *The Art of Fiction* and *On Becoming A Novelist* both by John Gardner. *The Journals of Arnold Bennett* in an abridged one volume or 3 volumes. *Living To Tell the Tale* Gabriel Garcia Marquez. *A Sort of Life* *Ways of Escape* *Getting to Know the General* *In Search of A Character: Two African Journals* Graham Greene. *How Fiction Works* *The Fun Stuff* *The Broken Estate* James Wood. *My Secret History* Paul Theroux. *No Passion Spent* and *Tolstoy or Dostoevsky: An Essay in Contrast* both by George Steiner. *Bouvard and Pecuchet* Flaubert. *Flaubert's Parrot* Julian Barnes. *The Wind Spirit* the memoirs of Michel Tournier. *A Writer's Diary* by Virginia Woolf (Persephone). *A Writer's Notebook* Somerset Maugham. *When I Was Old* George Simenon. Simenon restricted himself to the vocabulary of a French tabloid newspaper. *City of Words: American Fiction 1950-1970* Tony Tanner. *The War Against Cliche* Martin Amis. *England Have My Bones* and *The Godstone and the Blackymore* T.H. White. *Writing Without Teachers* Peter Elbow. *Conversations on Writing* Ursula Le Guin. *The Writing Life* Annie Dillard. *On Writing* George V Higgins. *Speak Silence In Search of WG Sebald* Carole Angier. *Pessoa An Experimental Life* Richard Zenith. Pessoa said that when he finished a mediocre novel he thought of all the things the writer did NOT put into it. Be one of those writers who see what other writers only THINK they see. This is what Rimbaud said to Verlaine. I have just read *Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories* by Akutagawa, Penguin Classic + Penguin De Luxe. I was delighted by his story *The Life of A Stupid Man* and only wish I had read it when I was young. It has the shiver which Nabokov, Allan Massie and Marina Tsvetaeva all saw as the lightning stroke of literature.

[@johnhaggerty4396]

Online *The Poetics of A Sentence: Examining Gordon Lish's Literary Legacy.* Tim Groenland. Irish Journal of American Studies. I cannot untangle the Gordon Lish-Raymond Carver controversy or disagreement or however one defines it. Lish said Carver was just another mediocre writer and that he, Lish, created the Carver style. Later Lish said he regretted those words but did add that the Carver style was a result of his editing. Philip Roth was infuriated when his publisher handed over his MS to Lish: Roth ordered its immediate withdrawal from Lish. I reread Roth's novel *An American Pastoral* and I suspect his masterpiece needed minimum editing. Still the value of a great editor can be seen in *Here But Not Here* the memoir of William Shawn of the New Yorker by Lillian Ross. As for Mr Lish, I am near the end of *What I Know So Far* and it has delighted me. Difficulties with editors: *Helen De Witt's First Time* KZbin. She wrote *The Last Samurai* which I read three times. Final word on place as character in fiction: *Volcano - An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry* KZbin. Tom Maschler the legendary London editor speaks on Lowry's work. Maschler died in 2020 at a ripe age.

[@billyalarie929]

to answer the question, though. here's my biggest quirk (or at least my intended quirk, when i don't get overwhelmed by the prospect of doing the quirk, and can ACTUALLY do the quirk): i steal. EVERYTHING. i steal from everywhere. my intent, in taking those things, is to ultimately replace EVERY WORD with an adjacent word (whether it be synonym or word that sounds like the word i lifted). then write a sentence around that word, or even a particularly nice sentence i have come across. and then once i do that, i will rewrite the nice sentence into something that resembles the probable original intent of the sentence i lifted. then i'll probably divide the sentence up into multiple sentences, write a sentence or 3 in between those, and suddenly the original pieces that became their own sentences, they no longer make sense. so i have to rewrite those, possibly taking an argumentative tack, meaning that i respond to what the message of the original sentence or sentence fragment was, and go from there. yep, reading that back..... that's insane. i'm insane.

[@maisteffcreations2826]

My weird riding quirk is that I always fire up a hookah as I start writing. I don't brag on being a smoker and sometimes I feel very shameful about it, but it helps me so much to get into the mood. Sadly it's not something which can be shared with a lot of fun because - understandably - it envokes health concerns in most of my peers. Then again - most of us do some unhealthy things. Or have unhealthy habits. I don't drink alcohol, that's how I trick my brain sometimes, when I feel bad about always smoking while writing.

[@BetweenSunAndMoon]

Last semester, I took a class on typography. One of our assignments was to do a presentation on an influential type designer. I chose Claude Garamond in your honor.

[@ShaelinWrites]

I have literally never felt more honoured in my life

[@AuthorElliot]

Oh i love this video, it feels like a pep talk!

[@btsbwl7264]

‘Gary my king’ lmfaaaoooo I love your channel.❤️

[@AndreGarzia]

This was great! Thanks a ton! :D

[@thelittlespanishgirl]

PERFECT TIMING

[@antoniodossantos5960]

Greetings from Colombia. The Venezuelan Immigrant writer 🇻🇪

[@hannahnames2239]

As both a visual artist and writer, it's interesting to compare how process is viewed in each community. With writing it is much more emphasized and at times, prescriptive - while with art, nobody really cares. I always approach each visual piece differently depending on what I'm going for, and overall don't think about it too much. I should definitely try to align my writing process more with my art process, because it's intuitive and based on being engaged and enjoying the "journey."

[@apollomoon1]

I agree that the story is already there. It’s up to me to tell it. The fog metaphor is clever.

[@annlillyjose356]

The whole video feels like a hug! 😭

[@brunokagawa6287]

For the past 400 days or so I have been writing around 300 words a day, on whatever story ideas that came to my mind. It takes an hour or so ('cause that's the maximum amount of time I could spare). Sometimes they came with coherent plots and all that, but most of the time I had nothing, which meant I had to come up with something out of nothing. The process was prohibitively difficult at times, but it has been working. I've had plenty of fun expanding my creative horizon, and more often than not the end products surprised me in a good way (not that they aren't complete garbage objectively speaking). The end goal is to have the ability to write about anything and make it compelling.

[@SillverBel]

I find that I run into writers' block a lot when I TRY too hard to hold on to ideas that just aren't working. Being flexible enough to change course and throw away ideas instead of treating them preciously helps free up the flow of my process a lot.

[@kolbe231]

Any tips for how to get started? Not finding inspiration or ideas, but getting over the procrastination-like aspect that prevents executing on those ideas.

[@jankyfluffy898]

I am not Shaelin, but here are some ideas. 1. Dreams. 2. Daydreams. 3. your life. A simple method is to write 25-chapter headings and each header is what you plan to do in the chapter. Change chapter titles in the second or third draft. I don't plan each novel the same way each time.

[@kolbe231]

@@jankyfluffy898 Thanks, that's good advice, I appreciate it. I guess I mis-phrased my question though. I can come up with idea's and find inspiration... then I just sit around and don't do anything with them. I end up going down the rabbit hole of getting lost on youtube or tiktok etc and never execute on my ideas although I want to.

[@jankyfluffy898]

@@kolbe231 That is my problem as well. Especially now that there are so many good and useful videos out there. I make a special time for writing. For the new drafts I have to do a fast draft, but I carve a special time because I have teens. But for editing, I have a special time for it. I like the mornings, but some writers work late at night. You can even use the KZbin writing videos as a treat for finishing an hour's worth of writing.

[@jankyfluffy898]

@@kolbe231 my first reply disappeared. I have the same issue. Videos are fun. KZbin writing videos can be the prize for doing an hour's worth of work. I carve special times to write new novels. Editing takes a while.

[@yuu_rei]

When I find myself procrastinating, I ask myself what's causing this delay? Usually it's some kind of a bigger issue somewhere within the story, like a plot point that's just not sitting right, or a character who's not making sense on paper. Then I up and take all that mush from my brain and pour it in a notebook or a doc, be as messy as I can, and I count those words for a little motivation. Do this every day until I'm ready to face my story again. Other times I'm just bored or burnt out, then I let myself nap for a while (no going down the internet hole, instead just lay down and think about my story) and start back slow. x Good luck with writing!

[@nocturnus009]

One billion times YES, I have been reading whatever the NYPL/WNYC Get Lit with all of it podcast Virtual Book Club selection since December 2020 and this month’s selection, I was better last night by Harvey Fierstein. It is ALL the writing community Fire we need. I have been dragging my feet about ready Mr King’s On Writing, I needed this memoir (and if I’m honest, Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook) assimilated before going there. So many way we can go from ideation to exorcising our drafts into tangibility.

[@clo2221]

Thanks so much for the video! I found the tip about finding your own writing process through other writers so helpful, I looked up Sally Rooney and Zadie Smith on KZbin and just listening to them has been interesting and never thought to try before. Thank you I love your videos :)

[@tomaria100]

So helpful! Thank you!

[@ren-il1iw]

this is definitely what i needed rn ive been so lost w my process rn D:

[@Teckno72]

Editing, for me, used to be more per chapter. My new project has me revising more as a now-I-revise-the-whole-thing. It seems easier to make serious changes and keep continuity. The former book was like a bunch of short stories. This seems more like a novel and tends to be more fun to me that way. 🤓

[@antoniodossantos5960]

Thanks 🌎 to have fun, to enjoy the Journey...I really like to listen to Jazz and Blues in a nice café...I can write more, more inspiration and fun

[@belaubekiis]

Bookman old style is my go to font. Garamond is my second favorite tho

[@PuffPets]

I did nano one time (the only time I forced word count). Never again. The editing was so daunting. I just wanted to write a different book entirely. Now I work slowwww and edit as I go. Trial and error :)

[@cindymiller8950]

I've always loved choosing fonts for each story. And I like to write with a candle burning on my desk. Safely of course...

[@thewordweaver]

I love this lady!

[@johnhaggerty4396]

*The idea hidden behind a pane of fog.* This phrase of yours must be true of so many writers, whether seasoned hands or tyros. (*For now we see through a glass, darkly.* William Tyndale translated it as *a dark saying* which Harold Bloom thought superior.) Martin Amis said he begins a novel with a sense of endless space but ends feeling he is crawling through a narrow tunnel. Having a horror of suffocation I shudder at Amis's metaphor, but I like your phrase *an uncovering* : like a Howard Hodgkin painting (KZbin). Writing outside is freeing. Nigel Tranter, historical novelist, wrote in notebooks while walking on the beach, Aberlady Bay, East Lothian. As I get older I am starting to think there is no such thing as the imagination (a critic's word) just new ways of seeing, thinking, feeling, dreaming. *Ed McBain - Romance is Romance.* *The Writer in America Ross Macdonald.* Both KZbin.

[@johnhaggerty4396]

There is no copy of Tyndale in my study, but I think the Pauline phrase which tickled Bloom's ear may have been *a dark speaking*. We should remember that St Paul took the word *mystery* from the Mystery Religions: today's version would be Freemasonry. The deep stuff comes from the unconscious: it leads us to certain people, landscapes, music, journeys, illuminations ... moments. Yeats said he could not have written his poems if not for his interest in Enochian Magick: the word occult means hidden, an uncovering. *Our Secret Discipline - Yeats and Lyric Form* by Helen Vendler* provides insight into poems like The Man Who Dreamed of Fairyland. *Darkness Visible - Awakening Spiritual Light Through Darkness Meditation* (2005) by Ross Heaven and Simon Buxton. *William Tyndale A Biography* by David Daniell: the man who gave God an English voice had to flee from his enemies to France. I should add that I am not an occultist myself : my theology is Reformed, but I have a large library on esotericism from my youth. Peter Ackroyd writes brilliantly on London's occult past: *Hawksmoor* *The House of Doctor Dee* *Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem*.

[@coryosnows]

You are unfairly underrated!

[@vpnightshadepersonal]

My process and your process is nearly exactly alike.

[@porky1118]

This motivates me: - watching/reading/playing something, so I want to do something similar, but better or with a twist - horny fantasies. I often lie down in bed and imagine a whole fantasy worlds around a simple kink - ideas from a dream - a rule system I came up with, which forbids me from writing a scene of the story I want until I've written a scene for a story, which I also want to have written, but aren't motivated right now. If I didn't forbid myself to write the story I want, I might would quickly lose interest, but when I had to do some work to be able to write what I want, I'm much more motivated when I actually start to write it. It's more lkie a reward to me then. - the same rule system, which only allows me to publish something I've already written when I wrote enough in advance. The more I've written in advance, the more I'm allowed to publish. And especially if I'm proud on something, I want to publish it as soon as possible.

[@Michelle-kw8dc]

I don't think this is unique to me, but I always go back and forth between handwriting and typing. I'll handwrite first and then type up the draft and then copy it down again to do edits by hand. I don't use a printer. I do this over and over and over again. It takes forever but it's fun. My ideas are usually for a tone, relationship dynamic, or something like "character who is a 9-headed bird". I write that down and let it percolate. When I write drafts, I go very quickly. But between waiting for ideas to become clear enough to work with, and going back and forth in the revision process a billion times, I am a very, very slow writer. (Insert Ent quote here.) But I enjoy feeling like I'm living in a nest of the work's bones for a long, long time. I also prefer to be in public spaces to write, but when I haven't been able to go I like to set up an ambient sound set-up, or a quiet zoom call with a crackling fire video and no chatting, or go in the other room to write when my partner has friends over. Sometimes I'll bring a poem to edit at my parents' house while they're watching TV.

[@mparker6278]

I needed this, thank you! and for the reminder that my brain is kinda the opposite of yours and I shouldn’t try to emulate your writing process, lol. I defs like to start big and slowly layer in detail; I’ve been thinking of myself as a “structural” thinker. most of my projects start with ideas for character arcs (not even the characters themselves 😂). Plot is my weak spot though. I can hold the structure in my mind but plot is the structure that holds the book together for readers, sooooo 🤣 also, unrelated, but this look is SO GOOD I love it 🤩

[@glasfedernsprung]

Omg I do this with the font too!

[@AlexAppleby]

When I write my books in scrivener, I always compile my stuff on paperback because it makes the process feel more real to me and spurs me to push on.

[@calebsimpson7527]

This is what I need right now

[@feirceraven1249]

That's interesting, I also usually use Garamond. I prefer Ebrima, but that font usually isn't available to me.

[@justto4588]

I always start writing storys by hand, bun when I begin to transfer them to a digital format, I always mark sentences or words that I don't really like or I'm not sure about in a differen colour. This colour really depends on what feeling the story gives me. Most of the time it's a very desaturated blue or green or orange (never red though! That reminds me too much of how it was bakc then in school xD) Idk the colours of the story are just really important to me ^^' (Sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language...)

[@wonderlust1308]

I'm very particular with my writing font, too! And I don't know what it is about it, but since I'm writing in first person I have to find a font that suits my protagonist's voice if that makes any sense lmao

[@thesamuraiman]

💜⚡

[@DillyBlue]

garamond, my beloved

[@azriel9499]

Dang, I'm sure I have some weird writing quirks but I can't think of them. I mean, whether I'm writing from an outline or pantsing my first draft always is with a few thousand of the word count I had in mind (never very much beyond it or below it). But maybe that's normal?

[@lukekosel9902]

I’m the same way about Garamond honestly 😂

[@dan4606]

The way you explained uncovering the story through the fog describes it pretty well. I feel like the perfect version of my story exists and I’m just trying to figure it out. It can get tedious at times cause I’m constantly filtering out any ideas I have that don’t align with the vision I have for the book. The struggle to outline when you’re determined to make it perfect is real

[@amouramarie]

I'm the same way re: editing as I go. SO MUCH advice is like You Must NOT Edit until the whole draft is done! And I can not do that. If I'm sitting there, looking at a shite piece of writing, all I can feel is "This stinks. Why am I wasting my time when garbage like this is what I produce?" I NEED to feel proud of what I'm doing, or I'll lose all passion and motivation for it.

[@jankyfluffy898]

My quirk is that I have to use bold instead of italics. Italics are hard to read for people with learning disabilities and they can mess up eBook formatting. I want my books as easy to read as possible.

[@kolbe231]

I can come up with idea's and find inspiration... then I just sit around and don't do anything with them. I end up going down the rabbit hole of getting lost on youtube or tiktok etc and never execute on my ideas although I want to. Any tips?

[@arcadelinkauthor]

Quirkiest writing habit? I'm just really structured, and do things the same way all the time. (Admittedly I'm considering changing the actual font/formatting of my writing to see if it changes anything.) Pretty much all my stories feature a non-binary and polyamorous main character. The stories are usually sort of contemporary with a genre twist, be it some weird paranormal thing, or sci fi, or horror. I find it really hard to get away from realtionships though, I think I'm just naturally a romantic or something. I add all my major ideas to a doc called "Books To Write" lol. Each idea has a page, and each page has links to other docs related to that book, so there will be links to the outline, general notes, the manuscript, character ideas, etc etc. I also like to do all my tracking of things by myself. I made my own word count spreadsheet and such. I'm a bit of a spreadsheet nerd. I write every story with the same format on Google Docs. Double spaced, courier new, size 11. Each chapter title starts 8 lines down, then properly begins 2 more lines further. Chapter titles use "Heading 3" The title page has a number of reminders, such as which draft I'm on, my target word count range (which changes depending on what I'm writing), it also contains the total words, last updated date. There is a table that has 27 chapters (this can change, but i generally outline with 27 chapters to start), and the word count for each. At the bottom of the title page I have a reminder of what my draft numbers mean (1 means original first draft, sometimes its more of a zero draft. 2.x is restructuring and important additions of foreshadowing and greater subtext etc. 3.x is killing my darlings, removing anything unncessesary, tidying up. 4.x is a line edit that I do myself. (after I do draft 4.x it goes to beta readers). 5.x is all the post beta reader edits. Depending on the nature of the edits needed, i might go back through the process with 6.x being the same as 1 and so on. The next page is the dedication page which will remain the same for all my books, but I haven't published any yet, so I can't say what it is. lmao Then the next page is the table of contents, which is generated by using the Headings in Google Docs for chapter titles. Then the story starts. Sometimes I will have appendices at the end, that may or may not end up in the published versions of the books, but they're definitely there for me. **exhales**

[@ShaelinWrites]

Wow, super cool to hear from someone with such a structured, well-laid out process!! You clearly know your process really well to have found something that works for you so effectively in a repeatable way--not many people can say that!

[@arcadelinkauthor]

@@ShaelinWrites It really took me years to nail this down. I only realized I had ADHD at 31 years old, and it was the cause of a lot of problems. STRUCTURE is really important to me where I'm able to have it. Now, I just need to sort out my sleep schedule and my motivation. 😅😂

[@billyalarie929]

this was, yet again, vital, and also, yet again, perfect timing. you're literally perfect at this and i kinda feel like i love you? is that too much. :x well. at the VERY lest, you're pretty strongly a mentor-esque figure in my writing life.

[@marissa17489234]

I can only write laying down, on my back, typing on my phone, like I’m texting someone. For hours I’ll be like that.

[@robertsouth6971]

Write first drafts in notepad, one file per chapter or section. Different versions, why not, it's just notepad. Notepad doesn't distract you about errors as you go the way Word does. Such a momentum breaker. Later, pick the best and paste it all into Word in order,. Once you have that, read through, revising and fixing all the red squiggles.

[@xensonar9652]

Use whatever process you fell in love with.

[@shastasilverchairsg]

Last point is the most important.

[@Hermit_mouse]

Writing a story is the process an archaeologist goes through digging up a city. Most writers make shit up. I read the bones of an ancient city like a hunter reads tracks in the woods.

[@JuliaChiarelli]

My circumstances to make me want to write: have a genius idea😅

[@jacquecortez5014]

I hardly wrote anything in a long time. My writing process is Freewriting. But when characters start talking that's when the story really picks up.

[@currentlyearth8867]

❤️❤️❤️