This is Killing Your Creativity

[@Mondomeyer]

Everyday reality is destroying my creativity; I'm so busy so often that on those rare moments when I have time to write, I'm too exhausted to think of anything.

[@SpookyWrites]

It can definitely be a challenge today to find the time to focus on writing.

[@stevecarter8810]

I feel your point. For me I'm exploring the idea that it's not everyday reality but my strategies and values. Last week I woke at 5 and wrote 2.5 hours before starting the day. The impact on work and family was notable, but there may be some tuning I can do. The nugget is: energy levels vary throughout the day, so try to match the activity to the energy level. Writing can take my best energy a couple days a week for now, there will be a trade off, but there always is.

[@aliceberethart]

I read The Count of Monte Cristo. It was 99% dialogue, 1% action, eleven hundred pages. Yet, despite that, still one of the most exciting reads I’ve ever had.

[@geordiejones5618]

The GOAT revenge story

[@maybelore]

I came down to the comments to make one about The Count of Monte Cristo and you already made one, this makes me so happy! But yes, I only counted one sword fight in the entire book and it was a character reading a letter written by a guy recalling the sword fight. But in the 2002 movie alone there's at least 6 sword fights probably more

[@stillbuyvhs]

Films have suffered from modern faster pacing as well. A quote comes to mind: "Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"" -Alfred Hitchcock

[@nabongobong9155]

This incredibly helps for young writers especially those who aren't experienced and always aim to write a stories based on what they saw in movies or tv series. Both are very different in presentation, and you cannot write in screenplay format if it is intended for the audience to read, and vice versa.

[@SpookyWrites]

Absolutely!

[@mrmarten9385]

There is creative mode and survival mode. Well living in society, it explains itself.

[@Paul-eb2cl]

The algorithm popped this one in my feed, and I'm glad it did. Super vid and one I definitely needed to hear. Thanks. Liked and Subbed.

[@SpookyWrites]

Really glad you enjoyed it.

[@Scaevola9449]

I explicitly write action fiction and even I find it impossible to do action all the time. Action all the time means no pacing.

[@SpookyWrites]

Exactly, you need to have a balance. No story should be happy all the time or sad all the time, you need to have moments of both throughout the writing.

[@fantasymagic97]

I agree that one of the most important things is to read books and pace according to books rather than movies. Giving stories time to breathe is one of the things I love most about books. But I don’t think that means that there aren’t things that we can learn about writing from movies and TV.

[@SpookyWrites]

I agree there are things that you can learn from movies and television, but I also believe you're better off learning it from books. Writing for film and television is a different skill than writing a novel or short story.

[@fantasymagic97]

@@SpookyWritesIt definitely is different!

[@hannobonanoart]

I would love an in-depth look as to why shutter Island is so well-written and how to write something similar to it, or find more media or books like it

[@SpookyWrites]

Unfortunately, I have never read nor seen the movie of Shutter Island, but I did meet Dennis Lehane when I was in grad school. I could certainly do some kind of deep dive into works and discuss what is done well in the writing.

[@hannobonanoart]

@@SpookyWrites that's perfect fortunately for you, it's even better when you know nothing about it. Watch the movie or read the book blind without knowing anything about it and let us know your thoughts, it blew my mind

[@interruptingPreempt]

"It's okay to have slow moments" I want more writers to understand this- I've abandoned otherwise engaging stories that are "all action, all the time" because there was no breathing room. And don't forget that even the good superhero shows have moments of lower energy. Allowing your story to modulate between low and high energy is important. Good video

[@SpookyWrites]

It's so important, I remember abandoning stories early on as well. Knowing when to allow space for your story or novel is vital. So many beginning writers kill their ideas because they think it has to be thrilling high action or else the reader will get bored.

[@latviandragon2718]

the intro is so late 2000s early 10s cinemassacre i love it

[@SpookyWrites]

I'll have to look that up.

[@mikelpelaez]

Contrast lies at the heart of most great stories

[@SpookyWrites]

There are certainly a lot of different ways to approach a story. Thank you.

[@crunchea622]

You’d probably benefit from watching films outside of Hollywood. I agree, there are differences between written and visual mediums and thus different depths and aesthetics can be achieved with each, but, and I say this with the best intentions, your use of the term “modern films” seems rather uninformed. If you want an extreme example of how internalized modern film can be, watch a film by Lucrecia Martel, like The Headless Woman. There’s a whole world of film outside of Hollywood and I find it very exciting. Hollywood has perpetuated the idea that the visual medium is a poor way to explore psychological phenomena . But then again, I agree that the closely internal experience of literature is unique and hard or nearly impossible to replicate on film.

[@SpookyWrites]

And I'd say the warning is for the majority that grow up watching Hollywood movies. Of course there are always outliers. Thank you for your insight.

[@crunchea622]

@@SpookyWrites🫡

[@buffalosnide]

Wow! This is pretty good advice. 😊

[@SpookyWrites]

I'm glad you found it useful. Thank you for watching!

[@noriringtail7428]

This was a frustrating video to watch, because it's a lot of really good advice sandwiched between some really dismissive attitudes toward the action genre and it makes you kind of come off as a pretentious writer who's jealous of more popular media- something you definitely don't want to give off when you're trying to capture the beginner's attention. I would remake this video with a bit more purposeful presentation and inflection because the information in it is really useful and worthwhile.

[@SpookyWrites]

I have nothing against the action genre as a whole, or other popular mediums, but my point is that beginning writers feel they need to have every moment be "Epic". People are allowed to like what they like. Beginning writers would be better off reading more books than emulating action films. Thank you for your feedback.

[@arcticpossi_schw1siantuntija42]

I like Dune the book because it's so detailed and nerdy and doesn't try to have something happen all the time. The movie sucks in comparison, because it's too hasty and can't explain all the lore and worldbuilding, which is what I liked about Dune. Hollywood pacing ruined Dune. My writing problem is that I can't think of any high tension events at all and I just tend to explain details, describe things and develop systems for the most part instead of telling a story. I just wanna worldbuild very much, but I'd also like to be able to write some stories too.

[@SpookyWrites]

I did an entire video where I talk about the concept of worldbuilding over storytelling. I think it's also an issue for beginning writers that think every scene has to be high tension. Every story has to have massive stakes or the reader will get bored. This is frankly not the case. Some of my favorite stories are about characters with very little immediate danger. Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River", for example. The world doesn't have to be in imminent danger. I'm glad this video seemed helpful for you.

[@williamerickson520]

Unless you are writing a screenplay for Hollywood, you should probably minimize the influence of movies in your work in general. Modern Hollywood is just terrible at writing, so it should be avoided anyway.

[@All4Tanuki]

Ouch. You need to balance the audio levels of your intro and various cutaways against the volume of the parts where you're speaking. I turned it up to try and hear you, then got deafened. You should probably also work on your recording setup - that room is too bare and the mic is picking up too much slap from the walls (i.e. sound waves bouncing back) and it makes your words less clear. I get the feeling you've turned up the gain on your recording to try and make your voice sound louder, but that's also boosting a lot of unwanted noise too. Ditch the lav mic and get something that will sit behind/alongside the camera and have it point directly at your mouth. Make sure you're "projecting your voice"/speaking from the diaphragm rather than mumbling the way you might in a personal conversation. Insulate your walls with something, whether it's foam or hung-up blankets, to lessen the unwanted noise. You could also try EQing your audio to reduce very low end frequencies. This might seem nitpicky, but these sorts of easily-fixed production mistakes will drive away viewers who might not be able to explain *why* they wanted to stop listening.

[@All4Tanuki]

Also, wrt editing: if you're going to put these film clips in at moments, script them ahead of time. Then, when you're performing, make sure you leave enough space in your speech to cue them in so they sound natural, rather than jarring, and make sure to trim them properly so that only the part you want is included (e.g. that trailing hiss at the start of the clip around 2:05). I'd also personally advise against including random clips unless they specifically support or demonstrate something you're talking about, but that's partly my personal preference. If you make a mistake while reading a line, avoid the temptation to try and keep going. Remember, you're not performing live - if you're going to cut, you can cut out as much as you want. Take a breath, then start the sentence over from the beginning. When you go to edit your takes together, don't cut in the middle of sentences and especially don't cut in the middle of words (2:18). Every sentence we read has a slightly different flow to it, and stitching two halves together sounds jarring to anybody who's paying attention. Make cuts between sentences, and leave enough space at the end of one and the beginning of the next so that it doesn't feel clumsy. I hope some of this advice helps you! Best of luck with your channel!

[@SpookyWrites]

Thank you, I'm always looking to continue improving.

[@AlexDavidkova]

Do you need an editor who is just starting but needs to practice in order to learn?

[@SpookyWrites]

Are you asking if you need an editor if you are just starting as a writer? Or just in general when do you need to work with an editor?