Happy Rainy Tuesday everyone! Down here in Southern New York were getting the last of the lingering effects from Hurricane Florence. I don't mind the rain. It always makes me want to listen to The Lumineers, The Shins, & other soft rock artists. Also, it gives me the perfect excuse to stay in and write.
Over the past year and half I completed my first novel. It's still crazy to me to say the words out loud. I wrote a book. It's a dream I've always had since I was a kid and damn it was hard. I'm not exactly sure if I would be considered a "Pantser", but I did take an initial scene and spiral out from there letting the story take me where it wanted to go. About 50k words in...I had to start outlining and writing plot points down and backstories to the characters, when I realized I had a lot more to go. I guess I'm a hybrid of Pantser and Outliner...a P.O. without the box...lol.
I would never have been able to finish my hybrid work without watching fellow writers on Youtube, giving out extremely helpful tips, trying to keep their meowing cats out of the camera frame, battling the dreaded show vs tell argument, and most importantly relating to the struggles of becoming a writer. We all took high school English, but seriously listening to these amazing ladies has helped so much.
Here are my
Five Favorite Helpful Writing Youtube Channels
1. Jenna Moreci
She was the first Youtube Vlogger I found when I started googling how to not use the same words over and over and my goodness did I hit the treasure trove. Jenna is hilarious, knowledgeable, realistic, and conquers a wide range of topics in many different aspects of writing. She is not afraid to curse and tell you how it really is, which frankly is exactly what I was looking for in a channel.
She is a self-published author and along with great tips, she shares her experiences of this journey. It takes work to self publish and she makes sure you know it. I have not read her new book - The Savior's Champion - but it is on my Goodreads "To Read" list.
2. Alexa Donne
Once I finished almost all of Jenna Moreci's videos I needed more...I branched out and found Alexa Donne. Even though she writes Young Adult Fantasy Romance, her videos reach out far beyond her writing genre. She highlights how there are so many different parts that come with writing and it's great to get advice from a fellow pantser.
Where her videos differ from others, she shares her agent stories and a personal breakdown of traditional publishing. Even if you get a book deal you can't quit your day job and Ms. Donne's step through processes to accomplish your writing goals has shed a lot of light on a potential publishing journey.
Her Novel "Brightly Burning" is currently ready and waiting in my Kindle.
3. Kristen Martin
I'm new to her channel and super happy I found her! Her Youtube channel is more of a "Writing Lifestyle" approach to the daunting task of becoming a writer and she refers to herself as a creative entrepreneur. Even with the few videos I have watched/listened I already have taken some of her friendly advice. She shares how she writes the same time everyday, throws perfection out the window and dedicates herself to living her dream. I feel so inspired by her attainable goals and aspirations.
4. Vivien Reis
Sometimes you cant' find your Elements of Style book and go on a hunt for writing grammar videos and she is my go-to gal. Her channel has a great selection of grammar help especially overused words, writer's life videos, and more fundamental writing a book videos. Even if I don't take every bit of advice she gives she makes me take a second look at the structure of my novel in ways I didn't readily think about. I have to avoid a mushy middle! I need great characters! I can't overuse the same words over and over and over!
Her novel "The Elysian Prophecy (The Deian Chronicles)Volume 1" is on my to read list!
Her novel "The Elysian Prophecy (The Deian Chronicles)Volume 1" is on my to read list!
5. Heart Breathings by Sara Cannon
I recently discovered Sara Cannon's channel and I'm in utter awe of her journaling!! She is an outliner when it comes to writing style and even though I'm a mixture of both, the benefits of outlining is appearing to be a much easier way to go. Of course you have to come up with the ideas to do your outline and her series of videos "How to plot your Novel" has helped me immensely start planning out my series of books I'm hoping to write.
I'm very interested in reading her "The Shadow Demons Saga".
I'm very interested in reading her "The Shadow Demons Saga".
There you have it. Five helpful Writing Help Vloggers on Youtube to start you off. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to these talented ladies shed a much needed light on the writing process.
Do you have any Youtube Channels you subscribe to for Writing?
I'd love to hear...
I'm always so impressed by people who have managed to write a book! Such an achievement. I'm glad you have had such inspiration from others and thanks for sharing with #bloggersbest x
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