- What's up, my friend? Abbie here, and welcome back to Ask Abbie, where I answer your writing questions and help you make your story matter. Wow, it's been a while since I sat down and actually filmed one of these videos. New location, location change again. I know, I keep changing locations on you. And, I've been writing like crazy lately, so if I'm at all like,
"Where the heck is Abbie?" on social media and stuff, it's probably because of my book, I'm probably just locked
away with my laptop writing, because I've been writing like crazy. So the book has been
coming along well for me, and that is really exciting because I wasn't expecting
to write it this quickly. I've really been writing it
quite a lot, quite often. But that's all I'm gonna
say about the book for now, because it's kind of a surprise, you know this, you know
how I deal with my books, how I talk to you guys about them, I just kinda vaguely
mention some vague stuff and I never really give much detail until it's time to
share the book with you. So, comment below and tell me
what is your writing update, what are you working on at the
moment, and how is it going? And let's get into the
questions for today. Roll that intro, and let's get started. Why does your story matter? Good question. What if I told you that there's a science behind every great story? I don't just teach you how to write; I teach you how to change
the world with your story and make your author dreams come true. (shimmering) Okay, in case you're new around here and you don't know how this
show works, here's the deal. You post your writing questions in the Writer's Life Wednesday
Inner Circle Facebook group, and hashtag it #AskAbbie, and
every other week, pretty much, I show up here on YouTube
to answer those questions. I don't answer them all because
of the constraints of time, but I try to answer as
many as I possibly can, and just give you guys
some organic discussion about your books specifically
and your writing questions. So, to get inside this
secret Facebook group and post a question, plus get a bunch of
awesome exclusive content, head on over to patreon.com/abbieemmons. Okay, let's get to the questions. First question is from Jae. "I was wondering if you had any advice for writing more immersive
scenes with all senses. I feel like there are times
when I'm forcing it in, and I'm unsure of how
much information to give, so I'd love your thoughts
on finding that balance. Thanks." That's a great question,
describing scenes. Now, I made a whole video, and I'm gonna recommend you watch it, I made a whole video about
writing descriptions and pacing. Which, seems like those two
things wouldn't go together, but they actually do,
they go hand in hand. Because, here's the thing. You can write as immersive as you want to, you can write as
descriptive as you want to, your descriptions can be
as wordy and descriptive... (laughs) Descriptive as you want them to be. But here's the thing: it's
going to affect your pacing. So here's the thing that I talk about in that description video, check it out for a better explanation, but basically what I talk about is how, when you read a book, it is going by at the pace at which you read, so you see everything happening at the pace at which you read. So if you go into a really lengthy, wordy description about something, your reader is going to
be seeing that happen at the pace at which their brain can read the words that describe the thing and process it into an
image in your mind, okay? But, a lot of writers
don't think about that. They're just like, "I
wanna describe this thing, I wanna describe every single part of it," and then they expect the reader to be reading that description and see it just instantly in their mind. And we don't, it takes a little while to read that description. So, that's all fine and good,
but you have to remember that the reader is seeing that
in slow motion in their mind. So if it was a movie, say it was a movie, say it was a screenplay, and you took just as much
time, just as many words, to describe what you're looking at, it would end up lasting several minutes just looking at one shot. So if it takes somebody
minutes and minutes to read a description,
or even one full minute, that's like staying on one
shot for one full minute. So you have to think
about, do I want the reader to really be seeing this that slowly? So that's one side of it. But if you're struggling with
making it more immersive, you feel like your
descriptions are falling flat, or they're too short, or
they're not wordy enough, then first think about the senses that you really want to emphasize. So most people's primary senses are sight and sound, especially sight. So I would recommend
first focusing on that, what is the sight and
the sound aspect of it, what does it look like,
what does it sound like? And then, if you have time and if you want to make the description
more slow and detailed seen, then think about adding in more senses. The senses that
immediately come to my mind that immerse me in a scene right away is sight, what does it look like, sound, what does it sound like, and this one sounds kinda weird, but temperature, what does it feel like, but especially the
temperature of the location. I don't know, something
about the temperature thing just really, I really like that because it really immerses me in a scene if I can feel what the
characters are feeling when they're in this location. So sight, what they're
seeing, what they're hearing, and how they feel in this location. And you can also get kind of metaphorical with a lot of this stuff. I mean, it's up to you, all of it's so based on your writing style that I don't wanna say this
is the only way to do it, but these are just some pointers to kind of push you in
the right direction. But definitely check out that video on description and pacing, because I think it will help you a lot. And it also highlights how you don't have to use a lot of words to describe something really specific. Okay, next question is from Crystal. "My question is, how does
one come up with a mystery? My main character finds out that, on her 27th birthday, she's
inherited a bookstore, she'll discover later that it's magical, and her parents have been
holding onto a mysterious box that they received years
before when they adopted her. But how do I figure out the meat of the mystery
I'm wanting to develop? I hope this makes sense. Help!" So the thing about
mysteries is really this: At the root of all mysteries, all mystery really is,
is missing information. So you can take all the
ideas that you have, all of the concepts, all of the thoughts that
you've had about the plot, and where you want this story to go, and make it work as a mystery by simply having missing information that's missing from the protagonist, not from you as the author. You don't want missing information
from you as the author. The thing is this. There are really only a few types of mystery stories out there, and they're just kind of all recycled and have some subtle differences with the plots and the characters, but they're really like... You can find so many patterns of the same thing over and over again. Which is kinda cool, because it means that you can find ones
that you really like. This is what I recommend doing, and this is what I do all the
time for developing stories, is I look at what are the similarities in stories I really like. So for this case, look
at only mystery stories. What are some of your
top favorite mysteries? Pick as many as you possibly can, and look at the similarities
in all of these mysteries. There will be patterns,
there will be things that carry over across all
of them that you're like, "Huh, that's a coincidence,
they all have this element, and I really, really love that element." Whether it's a really
specific type of plot twist, or a particular motive that
the villain always has, or a villain that's hidden in plain sight, something that they all have
in common that you love. Now, this is not stealing, it's not plagiarizing
somebody else's stuff, it's just paying attention
to what you enjoy in a story, and then taking that concept
and making it your own, with your own characters,
your own plot, your own ideas. What it really provides
you with is a structure, or something of a structure, to follow. Just like with the
three-act story structure, I can point to hundreds of stories that use the three-act story structure. Does that mean they all stole from each other
and copied each other? No, they're all very different stories. But the cool thing is that you
can find these similarities and be like, "Oh, they all
have an inciting incident that pushes the protagonist
outside their comfort zone based on their misbelief. Wow, I can use that for my story, with my own unique character
and my own unique ideas." So again, there's no
one-size-fits-all method here. If you just Google "how
to write a mystery", "how do I come up with a mystery", you might find some ideas, but they might not resonate with you, which is why I always recommend to writers that you go out and study
stories that you love, and find the patterns,
find the similarities. And it's good to have these principles, like everything I talk
about on my channel, it's awesome to have those
principles to fall back on, but at the end of the day, you
have to write what you love. That's the most important part. I really wanna do more
videos in the future specifically about mystery stories, and even adapting the
three-act story structure to be more for a mystery story, I'm actually in the middle of doing that. So maybe I'll make a video
about that when I finish it. Okay, next question is from Sabrina. "Hi Abbie, back again
for another question. What do you suggest doing when you experience writer fatigue? That is to say, when you
have a world and characters, but struggle to get started because nothing sounds or feels right. I've drafted too many openings to count, and none feel just right. I've been told I'm overthinking it, and just go with it once I start, but I feel defeated too quickly, and immediately think what I
start isn't worth continuing because it isn't leaving me satisfied. Am I just seriously overthinking it? Love your advice as always!" Yes and no. You're kind of overthinking it, but also you are
experiencing writer fatigue, like you said at the
beginning of the question. The real question is, what do you do when you
experience writer fatigue? Because that's what this is. So, you might be overthinking
it a little bit too much, but I think you also are
just too close to it. This is just what's
happened to me in the past, when I start a story or I'm outlining something really hardcore, and I'm just thinking
about it night and day, and every time that I find myself not thinking about something, I'm like, "I have to think about the story, have to think about the story, have to work out this plot point," and you obsess over it so much. So I guess you are kind
of overthinking it, but deliberately, it's not like your thoughts are just running away with themselves, you're kind of forcing yourself. You're forcing this story upon yourself, does that make sense? And when I do that too much, it starts to wear me out,
it starts to tire me out, and then I feel like maybe
this story just isn't good, maybe I just need to write something else. And that's really the answer. Which is kind of annoying and sad, I know, but I think you need to set
this story aside for the moment and write something else. This is a protocol that I'm
not a big fan of when I do it, but I'm always happy
that I did it afterwards, and I don't regret it. Because what happens is,
when you set this book aside and you start working on
something else for a little while, even if that other thing, you totally get carried away with it, and you love it, and you write a new book, and this one's just over
here chilling out for now, that is honestly one of the
best things that you can do. In my experience, I've done
this time and time again, and every time I make the decision to set this other project aside
and work on something else, it's like, "I don't wanna do
that, I want this one to work!" But it doesn't, and trying to
make it work is almost like just hitting something
broken to make it work, and it's not working, you're
just making it more broken. (chuckles) You need more time to really consider what you wanna do with this story. That's just what I personally can see in your question when
you asked your question. That nothing feels right, and you drafted too
many openings to count, it's just not working. Something about it is just not working, and when you set it aside, and you go work on something
else for a little while, even if that something
else is a poetry book or a short story or something, it doesn't even have to be a big project, but it could be a big project, it really gives you a break
to satisfy your fatigue, 'cause that's really what it is. You're fatigued, you're tired, you're worn out from thinking
about this book so much, and you need a break. Okay, last question is from
Sarah, it's a short one. "Can you give advice on what to do when you hate what you're writing, like it's just so cringe?" (laughs) I've definitely
felt like that in the past. It's been a while since I
was cringing at my writing, because with practice and
with writing all the time, you start to not hate your writing, you start to not only improve, but just improve in the way
that you talk to yourself, and treat your writing,
and look at first drafts. Just the whole way that you
look at your writing process, it changes and develops over time, okay? So it will change, you won't always feel this
way about your writing. It can really good, and very encouraging, to have somebody else read
your work and give feedback. Not necessarily for critique purposes, but literally just so that
somebody can encourage you. Because the thing about writing is this. If you continue writing, and you continue practicing your art, you will become a better writer. So it's insanity for somebody to shut down the process
of something beautiful before it turns into something beautiful, you know what I mean? So when it's in the early stages and you don't really like how it sounds, it's ridiculous to shut
that down, and stop, and be like, "I hate this,
I'm bad at it, I'm done." Don't, don't, because
that's a tragedy honestly. Kinda what I'm trying to say is that everybody hates their
own work at some point, especially when you're first starting out and you feel like you're
not that great yet. But you have to stick
with it for the long term, you have to stick with it for the endgame, which is it's going to be amazing one day if I just keep at it. In fact, I often wonder how many people would
be incredible writers, and incredible artists, and painters, and dancers, and musicians,
and all kinds of things, just everything you can possibly list, if they hadn't given up early on because they hated the way
that it was turning out, they were cringing at it, they were like, "This is just bad, I'm a terrible dancer, I'm a terrible pianist,
I'm a terrible writer." If you had stopped before you became great... Look at any of the greats, any of them. Stick with it for the long game, have somebody encourage you, okay? Tell them, "I'm not
looking for critiques." Tell them outright, "I am not looking for you to
critique this piece of writing, I'm not looking for advice, all I want is for somebody to
encourage me and inspire me." And even if that person is me, let me be it right now for you. Keep going, keep going and don't quit, and I'm talking to everybody
out there right now who is cringing at their writing or like, "I don't like it, I just..." Don't give up on yourself. Why would you do that? It's ridiculous. Stop, stop that right there, stop. You have to be positive, you have to speak to yourself in a way that you would speak to a
great writer that you admire. On their first piece of writing that they cringed at and hated, if they gave up at that point, they never would've created the
thing that you love so much. Whether that's a book, or a
screenplay, whatever it is. If that person that you
admire, that great writer, had given up before they wrote the thing that you love so much because they thought
their writing was rubbish, that would be so sad, wouldn't it? Sarah, and everybody else,
don't let that be you. Okay guys, awesome questions, I know I got a little
bit motivational speaker at the end there, but
it couldn't be helped. I hope you got something
valuable out of this video, and if you would like to post a question on the Facebook group, and perhaps I will sit here
and answer it on YouTube, head on over to patreon.com/abbieemmons, get yourself inside that Facebook group, post a question, hashtag it #AskAbbie. And you're gonna love it in
the Facebook group, guys, it's grown to such an
amazing community of writers, and I'm so, so blessed and
happy to have you all in there. Smash that Like button
if you liked this video, and be sure to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already, because I post writing
videos and publishing videos every single Wednesday, and I would love to have
you here in the community. Until next week, my friend, rock on. (vocalizes) (beep)
I hope I don't look like I'm literally just melting, because it is so hot in here. (beep)
I feel like my camera's not focusing me properly. (beep)
Abbie, you're rambling, you're rambling on and
on, would you just stop, would you just finish
answering this question? (laughs)
