5 Phases of Growth for Creative Writers

[@ImCalebRosengard]

Dear Andrew, thank you for existing and creating this channel, it’s the best thing around here

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You're welcome--thanks for the kind words!

[@harmonys965]

Very helpful and encouraging video!! I’ve been feeling a bit down about my own work lately, and seeing this perspective helped me realize I’m moving through certain stages and I’m not “just a bad writer (forever, innately, etc)”

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Yes--exactly! There's no shame in being on your way (we all are!) Glad it helped 🙂

[@jam8444]

Thank you. I needed to hear that I shouldn't see my writing as a work in isolation but simply in a stage of broader, larger development. I often hate what I write in present reckoning, but now this makes me look forward to what I'll become.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You bet! I'm so glad to hear that!

[@ocdtdc]

Good video! Love your simple format.

[@FaithMcIntoshPomeloprose]

As both a teacher of younger students and a writer myself learning to write more complext works, this framework is so exciting. I am both experiencing the stages myself and observing it in my students. I loved every minute of this video!! Thankyou so much.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks for the kind words--I'm glad you find it helpful!

[@B4CKWARDS_CH4RM]

This is so helpful! I’m fairly new to creative writing, and it’s very helpful to know that I shouldn’t expect very much out of my early work, that simply mirroring other works, or inserting myself into a fantasy is good experience. My gripe with creative writing advice online is the lack of short term goals combined with long term ones, and I think this has helped fill in the short term goals I was looking for.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Do it!

[@jeffstone5554]

Thanks, Andrew.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Anytime!

[@jeffstone5554]

This is a practical guide. A piece of advice that has stuck with my has been to “give the reader a break,” suppose that was when I was in the self indulgence phase, which, if I’m honest, I’m probably still in ;)

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Ha--I like that advice

[@jeffstone5554]

I would say it dovetails with your very helpful, a tale of two readers, video

[@WritingwithAndrew]

@@jeffstone5554 Ooh, nice connection! (I might have to rewatch that one lol)

[@pezeron24]

Thank you for all your insights.

[@Marios_CG]

New to your channel. Subbed and enjoying your content! One bit of feedback: when doing to speech bubble there’s no need for those eerie background voices, a simple bell tune or something would be better. Listening to your video on audio only makes it feel like a haunted video 😅

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks! (...but what if it is a haunted video...? 😖)

[@ab1otic222]

@@WritingwithAndrew I agree. I really love your videos, but when that sound comes on it makes it difficult to hear you. I know that it's because I have some auditory processing issues. If the volume of the haunted sound was a bit lower, and maybe the pitch were a little deeper, I think that would be easier. I do love your skull's asides, though. They are very funny.

[@saulcervantes1975]

I just found your channel, but I'm subscribing after this video alone. Also, like you mentioned, I also see myself through these stages. It's nice to see it structured in such a way that tells me that, yes, there is still a path forward and that there is always a way to grow and improve my writing.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks a bunch--I'm glad to hear it!

[@Tommy_007]

Interesting video. When it comes to developing "a critical eye" in stage 5, I believe that reading a lot (good and bad literature) is probably more important than writing.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

It's a common line that reading is essential. It has its place, but passive reading won't help as much, and reading and writing are just different skills. The best training for my critical eye was (and is) giving other writers feedback: that's a kind of purposeful, intentional reading that can make a big difference

[@fabianflorez5228]

Dear Andrew, thanks for this guide to self-gauge the writing progress. Is there any way to get copy of your paper? Regards

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You know, you might be able to find a copy online. I've got a print copy, so I haven't thought to look

[@niraakara]

TL;Dr: Thank you for all the work you’ve put into these helpful and encouraging videos! Would you please consider making a video on Haiku writing? Would appreciate any reading suggestions for improving one’s writing. I haven’t written much and perhaps not even qualified enough to be in any of these stages and always feel my writing is %$#@! Even at times when folks I consider to be super talented and admire have told me that I do write well, I doubt if it could be out of kindness or because I come from a different background or something else… While I can look objectively at someone’s writing and even critique somewhat sensibly at times (for my own analytical purposes) it baffles me why I can’t look at something I wrote more objectively than just dismissively and improve upon it? Could it be the system that declared me unfit to follow a career in literature and humanities and channeled me into a different career path (although perhaps I should be grateful for it 😅). Or I just plainly %&$! I still harbor a desire to write (even if for myself / self expression if not self-indulgence), which most likely could be Creative Nonfiction with some Haiku sprinkled in. The latter is strangely the only thing I am not so embarrassed about (there’s also some ghastly poetry which should perhaps never come out of the closet). The predominant phase/state that I seem to be in forever is that of embarrassment. Perhaps that’s Phase 0? 😂 Well, I am reading and watching helpful content such as these but I don’t know if I’ll ever overcome my self-deprecative phase and move forward. Hopefully this channel helps me in some way.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You're welcome--thanks, and I'll put haiku on the list! For what it's worth, what you describe isn't so strange: I think it's generally much easier to see where other people's writing is working or not. With lots of practice, I've gotten better at seeing my own writing that way. One thing that always helps me, though, is to just set things aside for a while. If I haven't looked at a piece of writing for a long time, it's easier to get that critical distance and look at my work the way I'd look at someone else's--something to try if you want. Also, if you are at phase 0 (which I sincerely doubt!), at least there's nowhere to go but up 😁

[@niraakara]

@@WritingwithAndrew Thank you so much for your consideration! Looking forward to it! Nowhere to go but up is perhaps the most positive thing about it! Being in a non-literary career(thankfully for the world including myself!), having to look at my “scribbles” buried in some apple notes to improve upon is I suppose the least of my concerns, and being overly negative at everything that one has written might be just as bad as being in love with one’s writing. Comparison and self-depreciation has been the biggest killer so far 😅 Btw, your own writing examples are so lovely as well (in your assignment video). If I ever get to writing in one style decently, I can try to approach that 😂 Quite the treasure trove, this channel!

[@derpfaddesweisen]

Thank you for your videos. It is very encouraging to continue writing. I have no clue in which stage i am ... my writings are overly symbolical and psychological, which probably means i'm in the self-indulgent phase. One issue i have is that my texts always sound like they have been written during the age of german romanticism (not the quality of course, just the way it is written). It kind of is my style. Is it bad if it sounds way too old to be written today and how can i change it?

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You're welcome! I find that my writing style tends to pick up qualities of whatever I've been reading the most lately (if you happen to like german romanticism, it wouldn't be surprising that your style would reflect it). An older kind of style might sound like an affectation to some readers, but it could also become a personal trademark. If you're looking to change, deliberate practice could help--but just reading more contemporary things could also help to train your "ear" so to speak

[@derpfaddesweisen]

@@WritingwithAndrew Yes, i like german romanticism very much and most of the things i read stem from this period or adjacent ones. I'll pick up some newer works then, thank you. I don't want to annihilate this style completely, just shape it in a way that is more than an anachronistic copy of it.

[@Randy_Batswinger]

You "picked up a portfolio of poems"? Blistering barnacles, I like it. 👍

[@WritingwithAndrew]

A life without alliteration is not a life worth living

[@emilyjensenius4289]

​@@WritingwithAndrew😊000000

[@markstarhaven]

hello! im new to the channel, looking for some guidance as I aim to write, revise, and edit my poems and maybe publish them some day. im really enjoying the content ive consumed so far. thank you! just wanted to note that i resonate with the phenomenon of reaching that highest state when you taught other students in tandem with being a student yourself. i teach dance/performing arts to high schoolers, and ive learned over the past few years that even though i have not been a student or performer in a while myself, my choreographing and technique still improved because of the teaching process. having to educate my students the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of movement and expression allowed me to be reflective of my own deep understanding (or lack thereof) of those movements and expressive qualities. indeed, this is my counterargument to the saying "those who can't do, teach" because a true master of a craft is able to both "do" and "teach" others who are in lower stages and guide them to a higher stage of growth.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks a bunch! And I love that insight and connection to dance--very cool!

[@mikesmithz]

I don't know which category I'm in - I seem to be at the stage where I know enough to know I suck.

[@Randy_Batswinger]

Vampire fan fiction stage? 😉

[@mikesmithz]

​@charliegreyfriars3691 hahah I wish I could write at that level, it would be a step up! I'm still at the "it was a dark and stormy night" stage...

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Ha! That level of self-awareness is probably a good sign actually: it means you're moving past flattering yourself and thinking about the quality of your craft!

[@ElliotBrownJingles]

How depressing. I am at the Doppelganger stage. That means I have to move UP to the Self Indulgent phase. I wonder if I can just skip ahead to the ones with more dignified names... but all that aside, another great video!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

I believe in you! If you know what the pitfalls are, you can avoid them with aplomb!