HARSH WRITING ADVICE! (mostly for newer writers)

hello everyone alexa dunn here i am a traditionally published author and today i am coming at you with some harsh writing advice this is your tough love writing advice video specifically aimed at you guys who are newer writers who are thinking of writing a book or want to write a book i'm here to tell you the things you need to hear that you might not necessarily want to hear but let auntie alexa give it to you straight number one your first book is probably going to suck it's just not gonna be very good but you have to write it you can't write books if you don't write books and fear or failure is not a good excuse so just embrace that it's gonna suck and write the damn book thinking about writing or wanting to write isn't writing right two nothing is original so stop twisting yourself into pretzels over your idea being perfect or original or winning or you know worrying that oh god another author already did this i guarantee you another author or tv show or film already did this deep breath let it go and just seriously right what brings an original spark to a novel is how you write it and if you don't get it in your first go because your first book is probably going to suck that's fine by writing books you're going to teach yourself how to write books how to take tropes and twist them and make them interesting and original it's a process so don't worry too much about whether or not you're original because i promised you you're not right write your book three no one cares as much about your magnum opus as you do trust me like really they don't care so it's gonna be hard for you to get people to drum up any enthusiasm so when you're wasting your time on reddit being like what do you think of this no one cares we we just don't care and when you're done with it it's gonna be hard to find beta readers because no one cares your family and friends definitely don't care just kind of embrace that that it means more to you than it's going to mean to anyone else especially that first book which probably sucks eventually you can get people to care about your book as much as you do if not more but it takes time and it's definitely not gonna happen right away so just kind of let go of that desperate need for validation and attention and just write your book four on the topic of memoirs and non-fiction no one cares about your life no no seriously no one no one really cares you're fascinating life story i promise you is not that interesting at least not to strangers who don't know you and the reality of publishing specifically is that unless you're famous or have had something incredibly dramatic and famous making happen to you they really don't care they're not going to publish your memoir ready for you for kicks if you want to but get off reddit seriously i see you on reddit telling me about your memoir about your harrowing life experience and no one cares seriously that's that's some real harsh talk aside from fiction no one cares about your memoir because odds are you're 25 and it's just not that interesting but write it anyway because all writing is practice but you're probably not gonna get it published five all of your excuses including some of the ones i've already mentioned for not starting and not writing and not pushing through and not finishing your book are they're complete you're wasting time you're making excuses which brings me to reason number six writer's block is an illusion writer's block doesn't exist it's an excuse for not writing i know what you're saying but alexa sometimes i hit a block with writing it's hard yes because writing is hard writing is freaking hard writing a book is very very hard it's supposed to be hard and the thing is you can't always write when you're inspired inspiration is for people who don't finish books you have to form a writing habit and just force yourself to write even when you don't feel like it not feeling like it is this imaginary writer's block and professionals can teach themselves how to push through this so writer's block isn't real just get on with it sidebar though mental health is real and you should take care of yourself and every once in a while not wanting to write is a sign that you need a break but the rest of the time it's not real seven traditional publishing isn't evil they're not out to get you there aren't gatekeepers because it's like an evil capitalist system that wants to on your dreams sometimes you're just not good enough it's just though that we're getting real harsh and real real sometimes you're just not good enough but that doesn't mean you're not going to be good enough forever remember how i said that first book is probably going to suck sometimes your second or your third book will also suck and so on or just be wrong for the market wrong for the moment keep writing keep improving traditional publishing isn't evil self-publishing is sometimes the best solution for you but self-publishing shouldn't be your automatic go-to because you think there are a bunch of fat cats in new york smoking cigars burning money and books and dreams and writer's souls and laughing for funsies traditional publishing the industry love books trust me guys they're not making as much money as you think they are books are a labor of love they're just looking for good books that they think people will want to buy so don't play the victim and think of traditional publishing as the fat cat evil dude and just work on your writing try again turn that frustration inward and look at yourself maybe you just need to practice more or write another book or try a different idea which brings me to number eight which is rejection is a normal part of the process and you should actually welcome rejection because you're never going to get better unless you experience rejection you experience rejection you feel your feelings you look inward instead of blaming others and you go oh that isn't working let me revise this or write another book let me try again this is how you grow as a writer writers who are so afraid of rejection that they won't even put themselves out there they'll default to self-publishing instead of even trying traditional publishing or just never share their work with anyone it's a cowardly response to a very human and natural fear because it's really scary putting yourself out there but my harsh advice to you is if you aren't willing to put yourself out there experience rejection and grow you will grow you'll be stagnant and that first book that sucks because it's probably going to suck your subsequent books will also probably suck because you've learned nothing so put yourself out there and face rejection embrace it learn and grow number nine brainstorming endlessly about your book isn't writing asking questions on reddit about your writing isn't writing watching this video hi thank you for watching also isn't writing you can spin your wheels for weeks months years preparing to write talking about writing none of it is writing the thing is so many of us prefer having written to actually writing but you have to actually write to have written so stop procrastinating wait for the video to finish and then go right seriously the harshest advice i can give you is you have to write right which brings me to number 10 which isn't my harshest piece of advice but it is the realist writing is largely solitary you do it by yourself it's largely thankless because seriously no one cares as much as you do 95 to 99 of the time and it's full of rejection and disappointment because that's a natural part of the process you know people won't want to read it as a beta reader agents will reject it publishers will reject it you get a book deal and then reviewers don't like it it's just a constant cycle and it never goes away so you have to be in writing for the right reasons and those right reasons are not money or external validation from other people you accolades wanting accolades you have to like writing love writing even when you hate it and whether that's just this desire to do storytelling and so you deal with all the writing part of it i say someone who doesn't even really like drafting i love revising actually i love editing find the thing that you love and pursue that thing or try different strategies invent games to make writing the fun that you want to have because ultimately writing should be fun it should be pleasurable even when it's torture and it is often torture because it is solitary you're doing it by yourself and it's so thankless most of the time and disappointing and full of rejection so you have to stomach all of that stuff but still come back to it over and over and over again because you love it otherwise you're just someone who's sitting out there who likes the idea of being a writer more than being a writer and so you need to write right throw away all the and the fear and the excuses and write you can't be a writer unless you write and you can't get better unless you write so go do the thing that's my harsh advice here from me to you have a nice day i hope you enjoyed that i mean everything i said by the way even if i'm cranking the sarcasm up a little bit give this video a thumbs up if you liked it i have plenty of snark in my heart and advice to give i can make more videos like this subscribe to the channel if you're not already i post new videos two to three times a week all with craft advice and pep talks writing hacks information about the publishing industry and more thank you so much for watching and seriously guys as always happy writing write your book

Channel: Alexa Donne

Views: 579,258

Rating: 4.8299241 out of 5

Keywords: alexa donne, brightly burning, authortube, author tube, writing advice, how to write a book, jane eyre in space, booktube, publishing advice, harsh writing advice, honest writing advice, tough love for writers, kim chance, shaelinwrites, writing tips, alexa donne harsh writing advice

Id: rYqZjCsAJeg

Length: 10min 45sec (645 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 10 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/madsixtian]

Thank you, Alexa. Everything you said makes sense. I just subscribed to your channel.

[u/Nira_kawaii]

She is an AWESOME writing channel, if you don’t know her, check her out!

[u/MoonsMask]

I'm a very sensitive person so when I watched this first like a couple of months ago I thought I was going to cry, but I laughed and now I used it as a pep talk! Alexa is literally the best.