Outline My NanoWriMo Book With Me

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► E-mail: [e-mail] WHERE TO FIND ME:
► My Patreon: / merphynapier
► Instagram: / merphynapier
► E-mail: [e-mail]

[@UdyKumra]

Wow Merphy is so intense while describing her story. That's the mark of a true writer.

[@edmontonboy99]

Oh, this whole time I thought I was going insane explaining my book plot to my friends and relatives.

[@joecallamezzo3693]

@@edmontonboy99 same here 😂👍

[@luna_eclipse7953]

If you want a dragon book then Inheritance Cycle is very good. It does really well to capture dragons as proper characters with human flaws and weaknesses rather than just big cool flying things.

[@KrystinaLiberty]

I sooo relate to this. Everything comes to me more easily than the plot.

[@ravenbellebooks5665]

My daughter read and loved a middle grade series called Wings of Fire where the Dragons are the characters. And there are several different types of them based on their environment.

[@taliw7736]

Amazing cant wait to read something by the fabulous Merphy

[@Showren13]

Dragons of Autumn Twilight doesnt feature dragons significantly. I would recommend The Pern books by Ann Mcaffery Dragon Champion series by E.E. Knight I havent read it in a long while But I remember Dragon's Milk by Susan Fletcher being good as well as its sequels.

[@avsambart]

I'm also doing Nano. But I'm sure you'll ace it better than me! I always drop off about 20-30k in every nanowrimo 😂 You should definitely do this sister story! Seeing you be so motivatingly freaking out over your story and it's development gives me so much energy!

[@hayeslundry]

Start asking simple questions like do you want them to work together or against each other? What do they want? What else exists in this world?

[@jamesmaster3333]

I like that there’s other authors besides me that go through this series of events while outlining a story lol

[@writingoncactusjuice3421]

*Sees Merphy struggling to pick what to write* Oh, yep, she's a writer kids.

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

Oh hey! Sokka on Cactus Juice from Discord!

[@QuillASMR]

*FRIENDLY MUSHROOM!*

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

@@QuillASMR I Fucking Read that in my mind In Jack De Sana's Voice. Avatar is Ingrained in my brain!!!!!!!!!

[@shosty575]

Hii sokka! Also, yeah exactly

[@mireilleoppenheimer6662]

@@atharvadeshpande4749 loool

[@RICHIEV333]

I think the problem is, you don't have enough pencils

[@merphynapier42]

you win comment of the day

[@carystras9248]

His Majesty's Dragon is significantly about a dragon. The dragon is in fact the best character in the book. It has practically no magic though. The dragons are the only fantastical element and they're approached fairly scientifically, so I don't know if it's going to be very inpiring for what sounds like a story with more magic.

[@pemryjanes5789]

Was about to chime in as well with that. No magic, but a great dragon character.

[@harrybudgeiv349]

I forgot I finished that out at Half Price. It was an interesting concept but i didn't get to reading it. Sounds like my next book to read!

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

Merphy: Reading Vlogs are gone. This Video: I am sorry ma'am I would beg to differ This video is a vlog just Writing Vlog instead of Reading, anyway I am a sucker of Merphy's Vlogs.

[@tirill452]

The only thing you need to know about Preptober is: -no one knows what they're doing -28th-31st is panic days -the general snack graph goes up -social life goes down Remember to -hydrate -sleep -eat -bathe

[@williambrown2135]

...I didnt know preptober was a thing.. I've always taken the first 5 to 10 days of November to plan and plo and then had a mental breakdown trying to average like 4k a day to catch up.

[@UdyKumra]

drinking game: take a shot every time Merphy's memory card fills up

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

Watch all her Vlogs Back to Back and then Take a shot at Everytime her Memory card fills Up. You'd be drunk for Lifetime.😂😂😂

[@aqm5239]

Lol!

[@UdyKumra]

@@atharvadeshpande4749 no, I’d be dead

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

10:01 20:20 29:18

[@rawneae9225]

Lol I'm seeing Merph go through the exact same process I went through and realizing I must have looked so crazy then. and now the world is built, the magic system--I'm in love with. the characters I know who they are, what they'll do, what they'll suffer and how they'll die. I know who they meet, what their goals are, what pains them. I know what the world will go through, who will save it, and the question of whether it deserves to be saved and who will ask it. I know who the villains are and those who will become villains and who the heroes will be. and the more I write, the more vivid the world and the story becomes. It grows on the page as I excavate it from my mind.

[@spiffybumbleteeth]

Just hearing the phrase “I’m enjoying myself quite a bit.” Made me smile warmly :)

[@tacobowler]

As a 6 year NaNo vet, there is literally no way to do Preptober “wrong.” Anything that helps you be excited for the 1st is doing it right.

[@briandoeslife7182]

What if the thing that excites you gets you in a coma for November :P And whew! 6 years is crazy.

[@natcommon]

That’s good to know. I haven’t outlined yet and I’m thinking I’m not doing Preptober right.

[@mercury4104]

@@natcommon there is no 'right' to preptober. personally, i outline my story a week or two before, or i choose one of my many outlines from my google drive. if you don't want to outline, you can pants, (which means go along with the story as you write it) but i think if you get the basic plot first it makes things easier

[@natcommon]

@@mercury4104 Thanks for the encouragement. I’m normally not a pantser. I think that’s why I’m freaking out a bit. But I think I figured out what I’m going to do after watching this. :)

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

3:38

[@i55y_mcn]

I can’t wait to see you do nanowrimo! I love using you dear authors series to write my stories to know what people will want to read

[@siennaluprano8573]

Omg sameeeeee ... on both points, but especially using the Dear Authors videos to help get ideas for writing.

[@zakirehman9023]

Oh EXACTLY!!!! exactly what i do!!

[@Hanedie1]

I do the same thing!!

[@mireilleoppenheimer6662]

I do the same!

[@i55y_mcn]

@@mireilleoppenheimer6662 Omg I love your profile pic!

[@janeb3483]

I never heard of NaNoWriMo until you mentioned it in a video and I looked into it and just signed up! I've been struggling to commit to writing my novel and I found this will be a great challenge. Thank you Merphy and good luck!

[@microdavid7098]

I don't love nanowrimo because it makes you rush a story.

[@Sunday-ex7px]

@@microdavid7098 It’s just supposed to be the first draft and sometimes actually getting the first draft down is a huge challenge for some people. So NaNoWriMo helps people with that

[@microdavid7098]

@@Sunday-ex7px Yeah, but still. I like fleshing ideas out as I write them. I plot out, then, as I write, I plot it out even further. That makes the ideas go up and up

[@microdavid7098]

@@Sunday-ex7px I learned it from Game design

[@nathanj3528]

Does the website work post November?

[@paulinagarzafernandez]

"I forgot about dinner! I forgot about dinner! I forgot about dinner!" hahahaha silly XD

[@ninoninonino981]

There's literally nothing else that could have gotten me more excited about NaNo Good luck Merph!

[@shadowofsephiran]

I know exactly what it’s like to have a magic system or have characters and no plot... Just the result of too many stories swirling around. Good luck Merph! Hopefully you can help inspire me to finally get back into my writing after this year we’ve had!

[@taliw7736]

SAME lol

[@Lynn-CA]

Shot for every time Merphy says "Memory card filled up" for a goooood time :)

[@litlbucky]

4 shots?

[@Lynn-CA]

@@litlbucky I didn't actually count, but 4 shots seems a reasonable amount to feel good and not tip you over to me.

[@voidsabre_]

"so many books have dragon in the title without dragons actually being a significant part of the story" *Glares at the dragon reborn*

[@alysonserenastone2917]

There is a lot of front loading when it comes to fantasy. I spent almost a year mapping mine out before I actually started writing it.

[@MeMySkirtandI]

I did not know you also wrote stories! This sister book sounds great.

[@lostschedule51]

I love the enthusiasm and that it looks fun (not a chore). Dragons are always welcome. Good luck!

[@Quillwithnoink]

I've read His Majesty's Dragon! I adore it: it's called Temeraire here in the UK (Temeraire is a central character - and a dragon), but it is FULL of dragons. I mean JAM PACKED. They are talking dragons, and they fight in the service of the British army in the war against Napoleon (and the French army's dragons). I adore books with dragons, and this is one of my favourite books of all time. It's not for everyone, but if you're looking for books featuring, dragons, you can't go wrong - there's a lot of information about their physique and personality ranging over multiple breeds. If you read it, I'd love to know what you think :)

[@UdyKumra]

Haven't read His Majesty's Dragon, but I know it's basically a "dude and his dragon" type of story, where a guy in the Napoleonic Wars becomes friends with a dragon. So the dragon features heavily. One friend described it to me as an adult How To Train Your Dragon.

[@ryanb3665]

Well, that’s another book for the TBR pile!

[@eclipse2028]

@@ryanb3665 I read the HTTAD books quite a few years ago and enjoyed them. Better than the movie, I think, but most books are.

[@Eric_McBrearty]

The plot could be it's a story about nothing. Just like Seinfeld... It's a show about nothing. Just life happening.

[@nickolasdiamond5619]

So slice of life?

[@yokaiyuko0-046]

The plot is sometimes tricky, I went thru like 5 before finding one I actually like

[@pyrrhicwins5101]

Mermaid horror: The great dugong-manatee war. Coming to patreon this 2020.

[@kathrynwigley6172]

I would read this. It would be even better if they worship the ancient and mysterious Steller's Sea Cow race that disappeared without a trace a few centuries ago.

[@quarrel79]

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent

[@kimbarbeaureads]

I love the part where her dad gives her a list of men who have good books. Good dad.

[@josiahfernandez3279]

10 minutes in and this all sounds a lot like the way I've been going about writing my book (just replace the magic system with dragons).

[@mathildehirth8408]

Have you tried plotting the character arcs first? Once you’ve found each character’s storyline, you can weave them into a plot. Just an idea...

[@lindsaymorrison7519]

I'm actually having a very similar problem! I have my setting, magic system, main characters... And no plot. Which is so bizarre for me. Normally I'm a by-the-pants person, but even I need a climax and ending in mind to aim at!

[@supriadimarthaen9113]

The premise of the story you began to write sound very interesting and have huge potential 👍👍Combined element of fantasy dragon and a little bit of post apocalyptic world with very nice world setting with many different tribes and dragons. Maybe you could combine a little bit element of pirates too (pirates that try to collect other tribe's dragon)? Hopefully it would became full-fledged novel 🙏 Wish u all the best👍👍

[@WJLMAROON]

Maybe give the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I read them as a little girl and my favourite part of that story was about the relationship between Eragon and his dragon, Saphira.

[@simonjonathan1730]

First of all, thanks a lot for wall stickies 💡. I've connected with all of you but one point, I always have magic/characters/world 1st. I still don't know how to outline, nor ever understood other peoples outline. I'm going on a whim and its flowing very fast until now. But I still think its quite long and a drag at times. Few points I do-if ur interested. 1.i always have my phone around me, so when ever an idea pops up, I will note them down in a specific note dedicated to that idea, while doing this, never check for grammer, spelling mistakes, let it all flow in ur mind and after its done, note it down. In that specific note, I make categories -action , drama, dialogues, romance etc. 2. Drawing out the world helped me expand it even more, drawing the characters, u don't have 2 be an expert, just a really good imagination. 3. Any picture can either target or Improve ur character or his design or the story, onces the certain pic collides with a story, attach it with the part were it did on ur draft, it helps to trigger and help enhance its previous use. 4. Marinating the characters, objects etc. I'm not sure this help everyone, but I keep getting ideas on a daily basics, so my phone is filled with notes, seperated by categories, script or novel ideas, I normally don't get at once, so I keep the chuncks and subconsciously think of them (I live them out by placing myself in them as I listen to music) you can do it in ur mind palace, it helped me get a deeper understanding & ideas to extend the universe/story. I still struggle with outline, I know stuff, but I'm not sure if I could end my book at the certain, I really want to, but I'm just scared about word count, if people would get too mad or even worst if they would get the point! -- if you could share ur thoughts on this last paragraph topic, it would be much appreciated.

[@nikkoleburns3213]

Correct me if I misunderstood, in that last part of your comment you said you were scared of possibly not making the correct word count by the end of the month? I like to think of NaNoWriMo as reaching a personal goal that you have set for yourself. I seen some say they just want to write everyday regardless if they reach 50-80k. Some aim to finish a whole first draft. Really it's all up to you. The challenge is suppose to help you grow as a writer. It not might be fun at times, but the end result will be satisfying. If it helps you any, my goal is to write as many short stories within my world as I can. Very loose and vague, but enough to get me excited to start writing. Thanks for reading my long reply and I hope it helped you in any way😁

[@simonjonathan1730]

@@nikkoleburns3213 no thats not what I meant 😅, thanks for the advice. What I meant to say was that I want to end my first book with a certain ending I have in mind. But I'm not sure that I would hit the required word count needed in an novel. So I was confused to if I should extended the first book even more! Hope it made sense 😅

[@jenniparks8539]

I’ve heard of a theory of asking why all the time. If you know how it’ll end then ask why did that happen, then ask why that event happened all the way to the start. Never tried it myself but may help with gaps X

[@zacharypastor8552]

Murphy describing her process for this story is literally every one of my stories. I can get absolutely everything but the plot down.

[@binibj582]

When you told about your world I was really reminded of The last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli. Especially the dragons and clans and the dragons leaving their clan.

[@user-nb2ub9hn8s]

1:53 That's why pantsing exists xP (pantsers where you at?)

[@amorky8391]

Woot! Preptober for what lol. Time for November 1st to bring the chaos

[@priyanshibagga4434]

I can totally relate. I always think about a character and the world first but I am never able to form a proper plot. And, when you say 2 sister I always think of Anna and Elsa

[@kayleighmarieedwards8965]

My scriptwriting teacher told us that great writers know "the rules" of story-telling and therefore know how to find great ways to contradict/change them. Sometimes I loosely plot according to the standard structure just to get my main points down and then from there I look at how I want to divert from it. I don't know if this is helpful but I relate to your frustration and wanted to share!

[@artbycallie6816]

I didn't even realize you were writing a story 😄

[@steammaniac314]

Hi Merphy! I don't think you need to be particularly worried about discovery writing; by the sound of it, you have a clear idea of the direction you want the story to go, and a basic idea of the ending, even if you don't know the exact details. Using those as the goals that drive your writing, and keeping track of everything you set up in the beginning should help keep your writing manageable and prevent you from falling into the traps you've identified in other books. I'm writing my murder mystery this way, too (thank you again for critiquing the first two chapters a couple of months ago!). I've known my characters and setting for almost 10 years, and I'm letting them write the plot for me, going by their decision-making as the agents of the story rather than my own as author. Before I add any new material, I always reread everything leading up to the point I've left off at to make sure I'm always aware of everything I've set up (I too hate it when books forget to touch on the things they've set up early on). It's leading me to have about 6 or 7 intertwining plots, which have vague resolution goals but nothing more concrete for now, but that's part of the fun!

[@Unindigenous]

Just found your channel, awesome NaNo video! I've never written a book in my life but have this wild world in my head I want to explore, so I signed up. But I am more of a math guy (gasp), and when I did write in school I NEVER used an outline. So now its Oct 29 and I have nothing outlined for NaNo and just a dumpster fire full of worldbuilding.... Thinking of waiting until next year so I can really dedicate a whole month to writing....

[@amorky8391]

Some nanowrimo winners just fly by the seat of their pants the whole time. No prep whatsoever. If you feel up to writing, go for it, doesn't matter if it makes sense in the end. Just throwing that out there because I've done this and every year I kept putting it off lol

[@lindsaymorrison7519]

I haven't read any of those books unfortunately, but I wish you had Seraphina! Dragons are absolutely integral to the plot, though they often take human form within the story... Still one of my favorites though. I really wish I had more dragon heavy books though!

[@BobbyRaymond]

Merphy I really love your channel, you always have a positive attitude and each morning I watch your new video while breakfast. Sorry for bad english

[@June_isYourFriend]

Personally, I feel like a slice of life fantasy would be really cool, just like, a group of friends in a fantastical medieval world just going about there daily life’s, am I the only one? Probably.

[@netaricker2343]

I'm sorry how did I not know that Merphy writes?????? I don't think you understand just how big of a revelation this is for me

[@clareclements6724]

write first, structure afterwards. With the number of books you read, the structure, rising action and pinch points between acts will come naturally. Don't sweat it.

[@alexanderwheeler3943]

As someone who doesn't have someone in my life to actually talk about all this kind of stuff with in my writing journey, I am enjoying seeing your journey and how it's going for you.

[@prabhusomasundaram5562]

Merphy .... how many days you are having this sisters story secretly.....???

[@taggartmaclay7710]

You might not be able to answer this without giving it away but are the dragons more European dragons or more Asian dragons (Based of looks and powers)?

[@lillia_venitaes3351]

One Dragon book series i highly recommend if you want a Story revolving around them is Dragonriders of pern

[@julietamoreyra4361]

If you're looking for More stories about dragons, check these novels: "dragonworld" by Byron Preiss, "dragonsbane" by Barbara Hambly, dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. In the earthsea series "Tehanu" , "the other wind" and the tale "dragonfly" by Úrsula K LeGuin

[@zollieberdy4405]

His majesty's dragon is pretty good. An Autumn book is for fantasy bingo on reddit, I think. Look it up. As for plotting: that's very much my personality, but every time I try to outline, I can't visualize the story well enough.So I start with a few major beats and discovery write my way through. Then heavily revise. As for the lack of payoffs in discovery written novels, I think they just centerfield enough. The story will be horrible, but at least I have the pump of clay to make something beautiful. Hope that's helpful.

[@Runerrs]

Tips for plotting (especially when discovery writing): Keep raising the stakes until the climax. Don't let your characters get too comfortable. When a character takes action, ask if they succeed or fail. If they succeed, make that success come at a cost. If they fail, add something else that goes wrong. This is the "Yes, but" "No, and" method of plotting. Make sure the events of the plot are tied to the character's inner conflict. If the character's conflict doesn't relate to the plot in any way, the story may feel disconnected. Don't worry about adhering to a specific structure. They are more useful in revision when you are trying to fix structural problems. If you start with a structure, then it can feel formulaic as you said. For discovery writing, it can be helpful to pinpoint a few key game-changing scenes (often called lamppost scenes) and then discovery write your way to those scenes. This can help make the book feel less daunting as you only have to fill in a few in between scenes rather than an entire book, and it can help you stay on track. I hope you found this helpful! Good luck with NaNo!

[@chiefpurrfect8389]

i'm only 9 minutes in but I can already identify with the struggling writer noises

[@mirnagabriel9079]

26:33 I agree with your friend maybe, for this particular project you should try to just start writing. Now that you know the world and the characters, I think the plot will come to you once you start writing.

[@armanisar-feinial1789]

As someone who pants his first novel: NEVER AGAIN! I'm willing to share my formula of an outline, but it is important to note to really treat your story as a living entity. Example, I had some characters in my current WIP: I'm not participating in Ninowrimo this year because I'm really focused on this story, and my other one called City of Dreams this season; anyhow, one of my characters decided she wanted a story to be told, and she took over the pages, essentially. It was one of those, your hands are now typing but you're no longer thinking about the words you're putting down, which is really fascinating. For those of you interested, I'm willing to share what my actual outline currently looks like. I generally write my chapters out in scenes. Chapter 1. Title a. b. c. d. e. The letters above basically, who does what and why? What are the themes you want to focus on. And I start plotting like a sandwich. You start with the beginning, and the end. As they teach you in sales, know where you are, and where you are going. I now plot out every single novel I write now, which at any given time is 3.

[@bhartikumari3012]

Well I have magic system wich is cool at least to me . And that's all! I am not a writer. What should I do?🤔

[@abig6762]

Do you have any friends you could ask to write it with you? Then you could get your magic system out there and have fun with a friend!

[@bhartikumari3012]

@@abig6762 write ! They don't like read at all. Our education system has scared them of pleasure of reading.

[@abig6762]

Ik, I love reading and most people I know wont even touch a book unless it's a picture book (I'm 13!) I hate how the school forces us to read really bad books which makes them think all books are bad

[@GideonCyn]

Merphy: "This is generic and formulaic and i have read it a thousand times" Also Merphy: "Dragons!"

[@arkstok]

The Sisters are at the head of two armies at War, right before it starts it tell the story of how they got there, maybe hint that their fight is inevitable but whether they fight or not at the end thats for the reader to tell

[@Masenken]

Merphy, sounds like you need to just start taking them keys and see what happens... The plot might just reveal itself while you write, then you can start adapting what you wrote to fit around it

[@lucaleone4331]

Most of my stories come to me as the way you described lol. I get the magic system first, then characters,(then I ususally imagine random scenes with the characters using the magic system), then the plot. Im nervous to beging NANOWRIMO, I think I was hoping the writing bug would bite me, since Im beginning the sequel for the novel I published this year. But Im still not in the mood to write. So Ill be battling that! Good luck to everyone participating!

[@nicolashernandezvidal6040]

Honestly I really want a to write a story and considering I’m 14 I’m a pretty good writer my problem is mostly with inspiration to make a story so I attempting to coauthor one with my friend

[@PsychologyandChillwMichi]

You are doing Nano? Yayyyy!! Im an ML for my region. Its all online this year so im excited!

[@norsekingcole]

This reminds me of me a year ago Keep it up merph!

[@joannaholden943]

Merphy: freaking out about book, jumbled, excited, confused, inspired. Me: I have never related to your videos more!

[@chloe7767]

I currently have this great idea in my head and am having the same problem as you 😂 although I’m always terrible at outlining so not that different from normal 😂

[@litlbucky]

Oh no! How did dinner turn out?? Looking forward to November’s mermaid story and this sister’s story once finished.

[@merphynapier42]

dinner was salvaged :)

[@lupaecainis]

Yay, I'm so thrilled you're doing NaNo and writing your first fantasy story. Your excitement is contagious (in a good way). Sisters, dragons and a dying culture sounds so cool. One thing that helps me to plot is to figure out the core conflict of the story and the Big Boss Troublemaker. Your characters want something. Who is stopping them from getting it and why.

[@DryBooks]

This was LITERALLY me yesterday with my friend on the phone... #relatable

[@sonam10107]

Hi Merphy I'm new, so a couple of questions - have you written books in the past? are these published? can I read them? - the mermaid manuscript that you mentioned, will that be available to the wider world...ever? have a lovely day!

[@nohagamal5233]

She talked about that in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2mwmpl5pdNqrrc

[@merphynapier42]

Hey! I'm not looking to publish, writing is more of a hobby to me, but I have recently started sharing stories on my patreon. Here's a video with more info on my writing! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2mwmpl5pdNqrrc

[@xedra]

Joust by Mercedes Lackey is totally about DRAGONS!!! I adored this book! Goodreads link: www.goodreads.com/book/show/13993.Joust

[@lucaleone4331]

24:14 I dont recall if the lighting always looked like this through the first part of this video. But when you started filming this section it looks like you have slits in your eyes, like a Dragon lol Way to be immersed in your story :P

[@laurenalyssa4677]

Dragon slippers are a great middle grade series about dragons! I LOVED it when I was younger, and one of the main characters basically only talk to dragons so maybe try that out?

[@annaarmstrong8525]

Yes! I LOVED that series when I was younger! I honestly don't know how many times I've read it. Edit: I just realized that I literally just said the exact same thing you did.... *sigh* my brain....

[@laurenalyssa4677]

Haha that’s okay that means my opinion is validated now

[@justonemorechapter1069]

this was such a fun video to watch, especially as I’m kind of freaking out about NaNoWriMo! I have never had a plot come to me first. Instead, my brain will randomly start to show me a character, who I’ll fall in love with, then the world they live in, and their friends and family, and some dialogue or a single scene. And then 90% of these go nowhere. It’s only if I really sit down and try to work out a story and then fit my characters into it that I ever get plots. Hopefully my NaNo project will still be ok despite this

[@moreamyb]

Love the writing vlog! Please keep doing them. They are really helpful to me as a writer to see other people’s journeys. ❤️ Also, I recommend “The Last Namsara” by Kristin Ciccarelli. I think it would be a lot of what you’re looking for. Dragons are a major part of the story and the world, and you gradually understand more and more as the story goes on. I actually seen some similarities with your story, just as you’ve described what you want to do so far. It’s one of my favorites.

[@LegendsWJ]

This came to me like a miracle! I have the same problem...and only three days to outline my book! :c

[@pm-wr5xv]

I've used the outline you showed on the NaNoWriMo website (or something very similar) and it worked much better than expected. Yes, the structure was very typical, but it flows very well and if the story and characters are good enough, I think it 'hides' how formulaic it is. It's super helpful and I think you should at least try framing your story in that outline. As someone who doubted it at first, it was surprisingly effective. But for my second story I found that I tried to stick to the outline too much and my character ended up doing something uncharacteristic for the sake of the plot, which readers jumped on and tore to shreds. I think that's the biggest weakness of the structure. Now I'm writing my third story using both planning and discovery writing and honestly I don't know how to feel about it. It's fun, chaotic, and led to a lot more character development than I planned, but the plot definitely started to wander. In my opinion, you should only do discovery writing if you're 100% confident that your characters are very strong and are willing to explore your world or be a more 'adventure' story. The best example of this is the Realm of the Elderlings books or the Name of the Wind, since both authors used discovery writing. If the story you're going for is more Sanderson-esque, then it will only lead to disaster. This is a lot of fun and I'd love to know more about your story. Please keep making videos like this and do let us know if you need beta readers!

[@CurrentChapter]

I've tried to use those formulas to figure out my plot also and I think I have a problem where I try too hard to fit my story in those "steps" and it ends up not being what i wanted it to be! I never tried to simply ignore the structure completely (it will always have "some" structure, but you know what I mean haha) and just create the story I want, which sounds stupid, but I that's my plan for this Nano! Haha to write what I want to write, even if it doesn't follow a specific formula! I'll be doing a lot of discovery writing with it, but I'm excited!!

[@74gould]

I’ve been thinking of tackling NaNoWriMo... This video has been hugely inspiring. :) You rock. That’s all I got.

[@JoanaSousaReads]

Hey Merphy. I think that The Priory of the Orange tree (adult) and House of Dragons (YA) could be good to help you get inspired. I think the YA book even more than the other.

[@becklebooks]

I loooove your confusion, your excitement and just general happy muddle of emotions about writing this new thing! It's making me happy cos I have noooo idea what I'm doing when it comes to writing and it's refreshing to realise that's not an alien feeling. :D

[@sistersauthorsfriendsincanada]

I used to HATE outlining! Seriously, it was the part about writing my story that I dreaded the most . . . then I read K.M. Weiland's How to Outline Your Novel! Never before had I read a how-to book that was both crazy-informative, AND a page-turner! She teaches an outlining process that is not only not strict but (believe it or not) FUN! I LOVE outlining now! I ENJOY outlining now! PS This is not me yelling, this is just me EXCITED!! LOL Anyway, you should definitely check out that book. Also, the audiobook is amazing, as well! It's narrated by Sonja Field, and I've listened to it before and during the writing of my last book as well as my current one for Nanowrimo. Anyway, sorry for all the caps, I just really love K.M. Weiland's how-to books! ;-)

[@CupCakeUnleashed]

"I don't know what to write" Ahahaha... ahahahahahahah.... AHAHAHAHHAHAHA HAHAAH A HAHHAHAHAHAHA Welcome to HELL. ANYWAY: I think you should really get into using Scriviner, it's only about $60 and totally worth it, as you can keep all your docs in the one file and switch between them like tabs. I'm tearing up watching Merphy getting so excited about writing.

[@TomDonahue]

On Discovery Writing, Writing Into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith is a great guide. It's a short read but it totally changed the way I think about writing. There's a KZbin video by AuthorLevelUp reviewing the book and summarizing some of the key principles too, if you want a quick summary of the process. Good luck!

[@juparula]

I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!! I am in a kinda similar place with my story, except I've been doing what you did in a few days over the course of a YEAR AND A HALF. But now, I'm finally starting to understand the first inklings of my plot. I know what happens in Act 1, and I know that there are much larger forces at work... Like you, I realllly wanted to have a nice snappy compelling outline before I started writing. But guess what! November 1 came around and I just had to start writing. I'm approaching the part in my story in which I don't know what happens next so.... wish me luck! Thanks for this video and your awesome excitement vibes!! Your dragon story sounds so unique and I really want to read it!

[@MerelyMolly]

I think there's a certain amount of discovery in writing even for a plot architect (of which I definitely am as well!). As much as I try to figure out EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of a story before diving in, I can't know what will *feel* right until the characters start to become individual, sentient beings and the world reveals its secrets--usually after they're already penned down (pun kind of intended? ). Story is an infuriatingly fluid thing, and only after revisions can it become a masterful ice sculpture, at least for me. (Can you tell that I just watched Frozen 2? XD) And another vote for His Majesty's Dragon! I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, since I wasn't a big fan of Uprooted.

[@butiamjustaperson8823]

Character based stories, not plot based, is what you might be looking for. My favorite quote related to that is "it's not about what happens, but about how what happens affects the characters." -Abbie Emmons :) (I recommend looking up Abbie Emmons on KZbin, btw, for writing related stuff, she's really helpful. She's also a self published author!)

[@ultravioletcatastrophe]

Meanwhile, I've been doing preptober (and failed attempts at actually writing) since April and I'm still not finished with an outline that I'm 100% happy with...

[@sandysleeper9969]

Oh, hun... :( That was painful. You're totally okay! YOu can do this! What I just watched is what authors go through. I would say fantasy writers all go through what you did in one way or another. Don't worry about being formulaic and buy "Save the Cat Writes a Novel". It explains why and how humans respond to this story structure. It's how our minds work as authors and how we respond, as humans, to story. Structure is just the skeleton. You provide the blood, flesh, and skin to the story. Good luck! I'm doing Nanowrimo, too. This should be fun. :P

[@imani1193]

I know this may sound crazy, but this thing... this excitement... that word that you used (fossil)... it's all CONTAGIOUS! Starting from the moment you uttered that word, all the way to the end of the video, so many ideas for the novel I've been working on flooded into my head! I had been kind of stuck for a long time and nothing was flowing. But I've just written so. Much. Lore! It could be that my idea for the novel came in the same way yours did. The magic system came first, along with some tidbits of history. Thank you so much for posting this video. I'm excited to find out more about what you're writing. 🙏💕

[@melodid5023]

Ohhh the first fantasy book... trust me Murphy... you are creating this world and this charakters and you will see you will need a plot for 5 books XD that's my experience at least. :) Very excited for you... loved to see this video :)

[@gaddipatilohit1591]

If you're having trouble just simply connect all the stories into a connected books😂😂😂😂😂 then you don't have to feel like you didn't write the story had since the beginning of time. 🤷🤷🤷 Just a suggestion