Okay, so today i'm going to be chatting with you about writing. Specifically my writing. So one
question that i get a lot on the channel is people asking me if i like to write. If i write stories
at all or if i've ever considered it. I think it's a pretty reasonable question because generally
someone that's really really into something; a lot of times will try their hand at it. If someone's
an avid reader they might try writing here and there. If someone absolutely loves music and
feels passionately about music, they'll likely try to pick up an instrument at some point in
their life. Someone loves watching sports they'll likely try... you you get it. You understand what
i'm saying. So i think it's pretty normal if you're really into a hobby to also try to create
in some way in that hobby. The answer is yes. I really really enjoy writing. Am i good at it?
The thing is, just because you have picked up an instrument and are really passionate about music
and now enjoy creating music does not mean that you will ever become a rock store...star, or even
that that is something that appeals to you. Much the same i love writing and i really enjoy
sharing stories. The career of author doesn't necessarily appeal to me. It's really just
something i like doing more as a hobby. Not to mention the fact that i'm frankly just not good
enough to publish at this point in my life, but i have started sharing stories. Actually, let
me back up a little bit. A long time ago when my channel for... actually, before my channel started
i wrote this book. It was called Perfection. When my channel was a baby i decided to share it and i
didn't like the way i shared it and it was kind of a mess. So that's a whole whole side tangent, but
i essentially stopped talking about writing after that because i probably overreacted a little bit,
got really concerned that people were getting the wrong impression about me and thinking that i was
a published author, when i was really just like trying trying to share a story that i enjoyed
writing. But i'm gonna stop doing that and i'm going to start sharing stories again because i
enjoy doing it. It's fun. So what have i been writing lately? Well, i am finishing up the
final revisions for this light horror (not not on the heavy end of the horror spectrum) light
horror story about killer mermaids. I'm super into the mythology of mermaids. I'm super into
the mythology of them drowning people and being these brutal, terrible killers. And
i'm not really into the more romanticized version of mermaids and i've been looking for the evil,
dark creatures in books for a long time and it's really hard to find. Even books that are
marketed as "dark siren" or "dark mermaid," it's really, it's not. They might start dark
and then they have a redemption arc or something like that which is really frustrating. So i've
had this story in my head for a long time. I've finally written it. I'm going through revisions.
It's been a blast to write. It's about these three divers that go looking for mermaids and
they find them... and it's brutal. And i've had so much fun writing it and i have several other
stories that i'm dying to get out. I'm trying to decide, i have, i'm... okay. I've been exploring a
lot of different genres. This one is light horror. I have a fantasy that i'm really excited to write.
I have a murder mystery that i'm really excited to write. There's a gothic thriller that i've out,
like i've outlined all these stories and i'm just having fun exploring a bunch of different
genres. And i'm just having fun writing different tones and different feelings that i want people to
experience in my stories and i've just been having a blast with it. Am i going to publish these? No,
probably not. But what i have been doing is i've started sharing them over on my Patreon.
I started out with a short story that i wrote that was a contemporary about a father and son
that got separated, came back together. It's like a contemporary general fiction/short
story/novellette, because i can't write a short story apparently. I need more words! That was
the first thing that i shared over on my Patreon because it was the first short story that i ever
wrote so it was symbolic, but it was also really nerve-wracking because, you know,
a lot has changed with me over the last six years as how i write things. And then next is
going to be this mermaid story and then i think i really want to write the fantasy next. Anyway,
i'm sharing it over there because again, writing for me is a hobby. It's something that
i'm passionate about and i love doing and it's so much fun and i want to share the stories, but
i want to share it in a really contained space so that i can be sharing these things that i'm proud
of and i can also be getting critical feedback to help me improve and get better. Plus, all the
money from Patreon that we raise goes straight into our adoption fund. Helps us to be able to
adopt. If you do decide to check it out, just know that i am not publishable at this point. I'm still
uh trying to get better while also having a lot of fun with the stories i'm writing. But writing
for me is such a fun release. I love exploring different stories in different genres, but also
different themes that i'm trying to weave into the story. I love pushing myself to try to figure out
how far i can go as far as like, how much emotion can i put into this and and how deep and different
can i make this go from where i usually see this sort of thing go. And it's really pushing my brain
a lot and i'm having so much fun with it. I'm going to show you my setup a little bit because
why not? This is a writing video. I don't know what you're supposed to do with the writing video.
So i have this little desk that's too small for a desk, but on top of that i have a laptop that
the keyboard doesn't work correctly on, so i need an external keyboard and an external mouse. But
now this too small desk is really too small so i have to pull the drawer out and prop my arms
on the drawer in order to be able to type. It's ridiculous, but i'm not replacing it because my
Papa built me this desk and i have been enjoying so much just dedicating an hour or two a day to
trying to create something/ Like i said, i'm not an amazing writer at this point. I feel like there
definitely is some sort of idea like, because i'm a critical reviewer that means i must be able to
write something, right? And the answer is no! It's a really different skill set to actually be able
to create something differently than to be able to have opinions on something. But i am having
so much fun and i feel like i'm getting better and that's really great. This is a weird video
for me to make because i've spent so much time on my channel really just focusing on reading
and not really wanting to talk about me having the hobby of writing as well. And so it's weird to
transition that, but realistically this is a hobby channel at its heart. I'm talking about reading so
i guess talking about writing is appropriate too, but man i just, i've been having so much
fun exploring different types of stories and exploring how to write them. And now i'm starting
to share them, which is also really really fun. Especially because i can only go so far
you know, writing for myself which is super super fun. But then having other eyes on it and having
other people say, "but what about this?" helps me to view it in other angles and make it stronger,
which is so much fun! Anyway, i get this question so often and it is something that i've been
dedicating a lot of my time to and that has been getting a lot of my happiness. A lot of my joy has
been coming from this lately and so i figured it was time to finally just make a video, respond to
people's questions. Yes, i do write, but i'm not really looking to publish (at least at this point)
no time soon. Maybe not ever. It's... i view it more as this really really fun hobby that i have
a great time doing and that i do want to share, so i'm sharing in a very contained space. I'll go
ahead and preemptively answer the questions that i know will be all over the comments because of the
time of the year it is. Am i planning on doing Nanowrimo? And the answer to that is yes! But
i'm probably gonna fail and that's fine. 50,000 words in one month doesn't seem possible to me
especially not when you work a good amount of your day. How do you also write 50,000 words?
Between work and family life and the adoption and all that kind of stuff, an hour to a day
is about what i have and i cannot write, what is it? 2,700 words per day? I can't, can't do
that. But i am going to do Nanowrimo because by the end of this month i'll be completely done
with the mermaid story that i'm doing and i'll be sharing that and while i'm sharing it i will be
drafting out the the first draft of the next book that i'm gonna be doing. So yes to Nanowrimo.
Definitely not gonna win it and i'm i'm really cool with that. But it will be fun to write in
a community setting. So what's the point of this video? i really don't know. I guess just answering
the question and finally chatting a little bit about like yeah, i love writing. It's super fun.
Will i ever try to publish? Honestly, i don't, i don't know. Probably not. It's not something that
appeals to me that much. Maybe someday way in the future if i get good enough and i decide at that
point that i want to, but i don't even know that that's ever going to be something that i view that
way. It may always just be something that i like doing in a contained space. If you do decide to go
check out some of my work over on Patreon, again just remember, this is more of a hobby for me
and i'm not publishable at this point. But i would love feedback on what i can do to improve. Anyway,
thanks for watching. Be sure to chat with me more about this in the comments. What are you
currently writing? Do you enjoy writing? Is it a fun hobby for you? Are you trying to make it into
a career? (which is also awesome) My Patreon is linked in the description if you want to check it
out. I post videos every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'll see you guys again soon. Bye.