to strive, to write, to edit, and not to yield ☕️ high fantasy writing vlog ep. 3 🌙✨

Deadlines. A writer’s best friend, or worst enemy? In today’s episode of “The Writing Diaries,” our intrepid heroine finds herself faced with a looming deadline of five chapters, due in a mere three weeks. In a harrowing quest through the realms of productivity and procrastination, she tackles fight scenes and berry pies. Will she make it out alive?!
If you’re new here, hi! I’m Olivia, and this vlog series is a way for me to document the process of revising draft 4 of my fantasy novel from beginning to end. Project Amaranth (as I’m calling it, for now) is a high fantasy novel, the first of a trilogy, set in a world of myth and magic. It’s an epic tale of love and loss, hope, grief, and the bonds of friendship forged through fire.
↠ CHAPTERS ↞
0:00 - she’s BACK
0:34 - a tale of two plotlines
1:37 - off to a good start
2:04 - on the nature of fight scenes
2:40 - a gift is bestowed upon me
4:59 - things aren’t looking good
5:33 - motivational writing montage
6:28 - the struggle gets real
7:44 - berry pie shenanigans
8:17 - a (brief) weekend recap
8:49 - elements of cadence duology review
9:49 - delirium slowly sets in
10:51 - one day until deadline
11:13 - a heavy round of edits
12:01 - deadlines are (not) our friend
14:06 - (another) motivational writing montage
14:46 - by jove, it’s done!
15:14 - I run away to the park
15:47 - the jury is in: my advisor’s feedback
18:05 - until next time
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↠ MUSIC ↞
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April Sky (Instrumental Version) // Ten Towers
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Slow Day // Franz Gordon
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In Your Dreams // Million Eyes
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↠ ABOUT ME ↞
If we haven’t met yet, hi! 👋 I’m Olivia, a twenty-something writer living on the central coast of California. After studying English literature in college, I’m now pursuing my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in creative writing. Through documenting my writing journey and sharing about all things books, creativity, travel, and life design, I’m here to inspire and encourage you on your journey to creating a beautiful life. Thanks for stopping by! ☀️
↠ KEY WORDS ↞
booktube, authortube, writing, writer, author, fantasy books, fantasy writer, authortok, novel writing, writing advice, writing tips, how to write a novel, life as a writer, routine as a writer, writing routine, writing life, writing vlog, write with me, five act structure, three act structure, writing reflection, writing inspiration, publication, how to publish, write with me, everything i wrote, original characters, high fantasy, adult fantasy, genre fiction, traditional publishing, querying, revisions, drafting, writers, writertube, writers community, elements of cadence, rebecca ross, project amaranth, procrastination, deadlines
#writers #writertube #writerscommunity #writing #writerslife #author #booktube #books #reading

[@Exayevie]

Getting your brothers to act out your fantasy sword fights for accuracy and readability is some serious Little Women-level sibling shenanigans and I love it.

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

YES! 😊 So true. Little Women for the win! 🙌

[@MarcDonders]

The KZbin algorithm brought me here 😀 My experience is basically the same in the process of writing my book. Put the words on paper first - edit and redo later. It seems silly because we want it to be good the first time. But it's easier to work from something than to stare at a blank page when a difficult parts needs to be written. Especially in my case when it just takes a few drafts 😅 Currently on the 3rd draft and while progress is (very) slow I finally feel that the story starts to make sense. Every writer's journey is personal, but it's nice to see that on some level we encounter the same challenges. Thanks for sharing. And you have the best brothers for helping you out like that👏

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you, Marc! I'm so glad you're here. And thanks for sharing your experience; it sounds like our writing processes are pretty similar. Way to go on tackling your third draft! 🙌

[@nicolemarcinawrites]

Deadlines can really motivate you to finish your book. But it can also destroy your mental health as a writer O.O You did a great job!

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

So true! Thank you, Nicole! 😊

[@nicolemarcinawrites]

@@olivia.grace.cook. You're very welcome 💙💙💙💙

[@Ebony.B]

Ahh I can relate to being a slower writer.. and writing extra scenes. I’ve found myself having to make notes whilst drafting 😂 these videos are encouraging me to finish drafting so I can get into the editing 🤍

[@hannah_masters]

I LOVE IT!!!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO READ AHHHH!!

[@Ebony.B]

Ikr it sounds so good!

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you, Hannah! 💕😊

[@iheartoldbooks]

I'm writing a fantasy novella, though also trying to write more poems and short stories where I can. Your videos are so calming to relax and always motivate me to write in such a pleasant way!

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

It's so lovely to meet you, Lucia! Best of luck with your fantasy novella! And thanks for saying that about my videos; I'm so glad you enjoy them. 😊 ✨

[@_soggy]

i love hearing about your writing process! I'm currently writing a small town contemporary

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Ahhh, I'm excited already! I love small town contemporary novels. 💕 Can't wait to read it someday!

[@vdavi12]

Realy enjoyed the vlog 😊. Looking forward to the next

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you so much, Violetta! 💛😊

[@morleywritesbooks]

i'm the same way with fights scenes. Lately i'd been listening to some of the remix tracks by Samuel Kim on youtube to help me find a rhythm. Reading the fight scenes in the Witcher books helped a lot, and someone smarter than me described writing a fight as "explaining order amid chaos" You got this ;)

[@Ebony.B]

That is a genius quote

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Love this! I'll have to check out these suggestions. 🙌

[@jettash0720]

Watched a few of your videos after discovering your channel today and subscribed! I, myself, am currently working on several stories of different genres (mostly just my way of not burning out my brain being stuck to one world/genre constantly) but the biggest project is something I call TRA (literally just the initials of the arc/series title lol) and long story short it focuses on a world where the inhabitants can shapeshift between being human and animal - when in their animal form, they have access to an elemental power

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Hi Jett-Ash, it's great to meet you! 🥳 First of all, I love that you work on multiple projects at once. But also, your TRA series sounds so intriguing! How many books do you have planned for the series?

[@jettash0720]

@@olivia.grace.cook. Thank you! So far TRA has five books planned for the series, but if all goes well then I might do another arc with new characters in a different part of the same world and keep that to another five books just to stay consistent

[@BlueBelle277]

I just finished divine rivals!! Diving into ruthless vows after I read Abbie Emmons The Other World

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Yessss, Divine Rivals!!! 🙌 ✨ What did you think of it?

[@Ebony.B]

Ong it’s been on my tbr

[@bluebookstufff]

omg youre so underrated! This is so aesthetic💕

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you so much! 🥹 💛 I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[@bluebookstufff]

@@olivia.grace.cook. of course!!

[@morganmoore6455]

As a MFA: Creative Writing graduate myself, I have found this series so relatable and inspiring. Thank you for making them! I hope you continue to vlog your aesthetic writing experiences even when you're graduated! I'm currently in the midst of my thesis project as well, and I was wondering if you could explain what you mean when you have to annotate your work? I think my program does something similar but calls it by a different term, lol. My current WIP for my graduate studies is a psychological screenplay hybrid. :) I look forward to the day I get to hold your book because it sounds so great! And the brothers acting out your scene . . . that sounds like my brothers. 😆

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Morgan, thank you so much for saying this! It's lovely to meet a fellow MFA student. And dang, a psychological screenplay?! That sounds so intriguing! I'm curious...what do you mean by hybrid? Is it a novel/screenplay combination? Sounds like our programs are pretty similar! So basically, in addition to creative work, my MFA program requires students to complete "reading annotations," which are basically a paragraph or two about a book we're reading, exploring some element of craft that we're learning (i.e. dialogue, pacing, scene structure, etc) by reading it. I usually write 4-5 of these per packet, and they always take wayyyy longer than I expect. 😅

[@morganmoore6455]

Thank you for your reply and answering my question! That makes sense now and sounds like something I’m doing. Sorry for not putting that together, lol! And yes, it’s a blend of novel and sceeenplay writing. 😊 Thank you for your kind words! I wish you the best as you wrap up your thesis, work on your novel that I can’t wait to read, and making these videos that are lovely.

[@sianna7259]

Saw your video in my recommendations (I'm not even a writer, just a composer), but oh my- your vlog is beautiful 😍watched the whole video, so relatable and cozy at the same time:) please never stop💛

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Sianna, thank you so much for saying this! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. 😊💛

[@ZPrince]

lol you literally uploaded this video at the perfect time for me because i needed some inspiration!!! oof it sucks when we don't feel the best when turning in for deadlines but at least you got (most) of the words out! i'm currently working on the second draft of a queer fantasy (might be romantasy, might be romantic fantasy, not sure yet lmao) novel :))))

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Way to go on your second draft! 🙌 Hope it's going smoothly. How far through the manuscript are you so far?

[@ZPrince]

@@olivia.grace.cook. i only just started at the beginning of this month, but it's going really well!! i jump around a bit when writing and this is basically a rewrite because i'm switching it from YA to adult, so i only have one scene done and almost the first chapter lol :)

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

@@ZPrince That's amazing! Keep up the good work! 🥳

[@shemsguellouz4654]

I love your writing vlogs, I've been watching them every morning for motivation! ☁ You have a very calming voice and even though I know absolutely nothing about your book yet, I'm already super invested! Can't wait for the next vlog! I'm also writing a high fantasy story, but unlike Project Amaranth mine is still in development stage. Just a wee baby story for now. I usually write historical fiction so this is a huge change for me, and I'm super excited! 🧚‍♂ I'm reading "A Day of Fallen Night" by Samantha Shannon and absolutely adoring it.

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Shems, thank you so much for saying this! You made my day. 😊 I'm so glad you enjoy these videos. And congrats on jumping into your first high fantasy novel! I feel like the development stage is always the most fun part of the process, because anything is possible, and you're just getting to know the book for the first time. That's so exciting! Best of luck! 🙌

[@AndreaHecklerWriter]

Really enjoyed this vlog! ☺️ I’m a fantasy writer too, currently diving into the first draft of a new project. Also, Rebecca Ross has been on my TBR for a while, but now you’ve made me really curious to read something by her!

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Hey Andrea, thank you so much! 😊 Yeah, if you like fantasy, you should definitely check out Rebecca Ross. I really enjoyed her YA series (first book is "Divine Rivals") but her adult fantasy (Elements of Cadence) might be my favorite. And way to go on tackling the first draft of a new fantasy project! That's so exciting. 🥳 🙌

[@malikamaybe]

This was lovely! And omg I am the same about action scenes. It takes me so, so long to write through them. They are truly my Achilles' heel lol. That's so sweet that your brothers act out the fight scenes while you narrate. I used to get up and try to act out movements myself too. I'm currently incorporating beta notes on my YA fantasy. Gonna take it chapter-by-chapter until June 1st when I send it to more betas. Thanks for sharing your journey with us!

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you, Malika! 💛 I know, those darn action scenes! 😂 And wow, congrats on editing your way through beta reader feedback! That's amazing. Keep up the good work! 🙌

[@malikamaybe]

@@olivia.grace.cook. you too 💕 Rooting for you!

[@JadeJuniiper]

ADORED this video and your candid reaction to edits. It can be so hard even when you KNOW the place has issues. But it sounds like she had great advice! I about MELTED at your brothers acting out your fight scene. Like my whole-ass heart: a puddle. I also write! (Although my channel is more focused on reading) My first book is being proof read and I’m working on book 2! I actually just struggled through a fight scene on a ship and didn’t feel the best about it. Might actually take a look with YOUR feedback to see if I also made my actions too short. ✨

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Let's goooo!!! Thanks so much for all your encouraging words, Jade. 😊 And yeah, I don't know where I'd be without my brothers to help me plot my action scenes.😅 Wow, way to go on diving into book two! That's so exciting. What genre is it? Is it a duology, or will there be a series?

[@JadeJuniiper]

@@olivia.grace.cook. it’s a trilogy! Cozy political fantasy with found family and a dollop of romance ✨

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

@@JadeJuniiper AHHH it sounds perfect. I love it already. 💕

[@mariaharutyunyan1742]

It’s past midnight in my town and I’m just happy to have found this channel🤍

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Thank you, Maria! I'm so glad you're here! 💛

[@deltaniris6898]

I’m a fantasy writer, though I’m writing in my native language :) Right now I’m waiting for feedback from my editor for the debut book, the first part of the duology. I also have the first draft of the second volume done, but it’s on hold until we finish the structural editing of vol. 1, so I jumped into the new story in the meantime - and have my honeymoon phase when it’s still more fun and excitement than bitting the keyboard out of frustration ;D When I was listening to you, the comment about sentence length caught my attention. I'm more accustomed to writing in Polish, but I think this works similarly in both languages. So the advice to use short sentences in fight scenes comes from the belief that short sentences are more punchy and convey the action better - but the more important is “why” they are. For me the way the sentences are structured is mimicking how the reader would perceive the action if he would witness it in person. When you are calm, observing the world around you or pondering on something it’s more likely to see more details and follow the connections between different elements/actions easily, so longer and “reacher” sentences are ideal to show this. But in situations when you are in a high-alert state the focus is so, so much narrowed, because details don't matter for the brain - it’s looking for the most important information. “Wolves attacked.” gets the job done. But the tricky thing is that people can’t stay in high-alert state for long. Think about a car crash for example - the moment the vehicle hits the trees is maybe a few seconds long. So when you lean heavily to the short sentences, you can end with a really jarring description that feels off, because you have all the punchlines without building or releasing a tension - ten minutes of car hugging the pine, but no slippery road winding through the mountains, squeezing sound of breaks that should had been fixed a month ago, or the driver slowly crawling out of the bended front door. (And in dialogues or descriptions of emotions short sentences usually work the same - as a focus mark.) Without reading your text I can’t say if that was the problem, of course, but I hope that maybe it will help a little anyway :)

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Yes! This is so helpful, thank you Delta! 🙌 And way to go with finishing the first draft of your duology; that's an incredible accomplishment. Best of luck with your new project! 💛

[@deltaniris6898]

@@olivia.grace.cook. Thank you! Yesterday I finally got an e-mail from my editor, and I have a few things to rewrite in volume 1 - but I'm so excited we've started working together :D Also, I'm looking forward to your new vlog. Your style of filmmaking is so cozy.

[@marielajacobo21]

hi! my name's mariela. nice to meet you! ur name reminds me of an actress, olivia cooke! anyways, i'm also a writer and i love to write. i enjoy it deeply, but how do i stop overcomplicating my stories? how do i just write them and then worry about making them better later? i'd appreciate any advice. thanks in advance! have a good one! ✌

[@olivia.grace.cook.]

Mariela, it’s so lovely to meet you! This is a great question, and I’ve been mulling it over for awhile. 💛 In one of my favorite books about the craft of writing, “The Craft of Revision,” Donald Murray talks about how the idea that all writing is rewriting. Your first draft is the worst your story will ever be, and every draft makes it better and better. When you approach writing with that mindset, a first draft feels a lot more manageable! Another tip that’s kind of silly but has really helped me--at the start of every scene, write “dumbest version” at the top. It’s an easy hack that gives you permission to write the worst possible version of the scene, knowing that later you can always go back and refine it. And honestly, my biggest encouragement would be to trust yourself. Trust that with practice, you’ll get good enough to do justice to the story you want to tell. You’ve got this! Writing and storytelling take practice, but so does everything else. And when the story feels bigger than you- that’s exactly where you want to be. ✨ Hope that helps! 💛

[@marielajacobo21]

​@@olivia.grace.cook. thank you so much! will keep that in mind! and i might just give reading the book you mentioned a chance! again, thanks so much and i hope all goes well in your upcoming/ongoing semester, your writing projects, your mental health; everything! g'night! 🌙