25 Years of FANTASY WRITING Advice in 30 Minutes

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00:00 25 Years of Fantasy Writing
00:43 Pitfalls to Avoid
05:46 Building Writing Habits
09:04 Storytelling Fundamentals
14:11 Mastering Drafting
20:20 Power of Revision
24:26 Leveraging Feedback
29:16 Overcoming Self-Doubt

[shawnlopez]

You don't need tones of exposition at the beginning, sometimes maybe just a little is all you need if any at all, I really like the Wizard's intro at the opening of the movie Conan the Barbarian "Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!" That gives you information to find your footing as well as wets the appetite with intrigued.

[absolutelycitron]

Omg that PH tip so good! Definitely using that for my next story

[dr.jekyll]

I can see you as a modern day gold standard story telling teacher. Keep the good work.

[KatAdVictoriam]

Excellent video! I do my writing at the kitchen table with my morning coffee and on my phone in between chores and chasing offspring since I have no desk. It works though. As you say, build the habit, show up and you will finish your manuscript. :)

[Edaxidous]

Great advice as always. I’m well underway to building my own world. listening to your videos while I’m brainstorming helps.

[mortalhordewarrior]

Great advice. My penmanship has always been very sloppy, I find it difficult to sign anything because it's always a different looking scribble. But thank you, I'm not afraid anymore of sending my manuscript to editors. They are pros and are used to reading messy handwriting all the time, I can't be so nervous about it

[ScarletFang]

Great work on this video!

I find it very straightforward and while everything is stuff that a lot of other people said already and nothing new in that regard. It's very easy to understand and process in the most digestible way and so on. That alone makes this video worth watching ^^.

For context: I am a novice writer and the last key point brought up on self doubt is something I definitely struggle with. I lack confidence in myself and always doubt my own ability to tell a true geninue story. But after hearing you mention the whole idea of making a folder for everytime somebody says something nice or positive about your work. It made sense and was a piece of information that I actually haven't heard.

Look forward to more of you're videos!!!

[iliveinthecountry]

Extremely well put together and informative video. Thanks.

[TheLonelynoname]

This is my 8th or 10th video I have watched from your channel. How are you not more popular with millions of subscribers?! Your analytical breakdown of character and world building is incredibly amazing. What books have you written? Because I want to buy them!

[nickjonesthenova]

Very inspirational, just got the idea for my opening while watching this. Very thankful

[Dragonmoon]

Great video. One of your best. Really appreciated the overall breakdown and keeping to the key points. Informative without being repetitive.

[allan]

Thx Tinkerer for making the process more human and more borken down. You as well as the other Writers on YT are hidden jemstones that guide the "will-be-authors" to their goals.
The advice of not overdoing the worldbuilding or at least 5min wrting each day, to make it a habit, makes sense and gives me joy to tackle it. Happy writing and see you on your next one.

[nickjonesthenova]

Great advice. Inspired me to grab my pen

[davide.schiaffino]

Pardon my language, but HOLY SHIT, THANK YOU.

[kiwilemontea]

Building a writing habit is so hard. As a single mom, my life is a constant barrage of responsibilities and distractions. Planning ahead for anything is a nightmare. I've tried writing during those moments in between my responsibilities, but frankly, it's not for me. When I'm not "in the zone, " my writing is so terrible, I immediately want to throw it out. I can't get into my characters heads and really figure out how they would act in the current scene, so I can't even do that thing you described where I outline the dialogue and events. What I've ended up doing is, once every week or two, I'll try to carve out a period at least five hours long in which I can write. I'm not always able to get that time, but when I do, my writing starts to flow faster and come out much better quality.

[eodrin]

I picture 'Toklien Temptation' as Tolkien literally showing up at your workspace in nothing more than some red lingerie and a feather boa as he whispers sweet nothings into your ear.

[tearstoneactual]

I just *loooove* when people say "write every day" but don't actually clarify what they are calling writing. Are you considering working on character information/design as "writing?" Are you considering working outline or plot points as writing? coming up with setting or world-building details as writing? Do you mean prose writing/drafting?

To me there's a distinct difference between getting all the building blocks together, and doing the drafting. And nobody ever seems to like lay out a distinction. Just "write every day." I can't do that, if you mean "draft every day." I need enough... clay... gathered up to start making my sculpture (story). Ideally with some shapes and pieces already in mind.

So what is "writing" in this case? What do you *actually* mean?

[Toztabud]

Can I have a writing buddy in a similar time zone to Queensland, Australia?

[hadeshades]

I ve written 2 walls of text in your comment section, showing a style of story I want to write but whenever I want to write everything falls flat. It’s like I need to listen to an idea and crafting it directly.
Besides what story’s did you write and were can I find them? I d like to give them a read/an ear.

[aliceberethart]

I struggle with the setting of my writing. Which is odd because I’m originally an artist, and i should be able to think of a setting, but i just get stuck, and it feels unimaginative.
I can’t get a feel for where the characters are in the story.
So now i use magazines, google images, and ai to give me ‘physical’ visualisation of the area the characters are occupying by a descriptive promt, and in doing that i’ve sort of alleviated a lot of energy wasted on trying to visualise the setting, and can now focus more on other things.
I do this with music too, it just has to be the right music at the right pace, too fast and the love scene turns into an action scene.