One of my creative writing profs always finished class by assigning us a prompt for a poem. We wrote the poem, didn't put our name on it, and swapped them all around. Then, in addition to the new poem we had to write that night, we had to critique the poem we randomly got given. We then turned our critique in for him to assess and grade as homework. Later, we would get our own poems back with the critiques and we had to also turn in an assignment saying what we agreed with, what we didn't, and why. So the poems were not the point, the point was giving useful critique and learning how to accept useful criticism.

I once tried to implement a mini version of this as like a once a month thing at a local writers group and ohhhhhhh I don't wanna generalize but a lot of men in fedoras got really angry about it.

I really liked "the greatest enemies of getting it done are not getting it done and overworking it." It was really what I needed to hear right now.

I met someone for coffee that I met on a dating site, because she was interested in writing. She told me all about her brilliant world building and structural narrative ideas.... and then she told me she doesn't really like to read. That was it for me lol like what?

Come for the writing advice.

Stay for the saucy Lidiya arc.

Seeing people like this encounter a real professional/successful artist is absolutely horrifying. I was in an art class and we had a top industry artist join. I think he just wanted access to a nice studio space for sculpting as he was an oil painter. He was, like most professionals I’ve encountered, a total sweetheart and he worked like a machine, very focus and driven. And the “holier than thou” artists in that class were such jerks to him.

But how can I write without my writing shed?!  Since the dawn of civilization, there have been writers writing in writing sheds!

This runs contrary to so much of what you've talked about on the channel but I'd like to share it anyway.

I've had to prune my own ego around the realization that I don't actually want to be a published author, contrary to how so many of the conversations online tend to go. No shade to the people holding those conversations; I just want something different. I've begun to accept that my main goals with my writing projects are to have fun (?!?!), comfort myself and indulge in things I find interesting. I don't have the desire to do query letters, learn the ropes of the industry, market myself or make this anything more than a hobby. It's a sharp turn away from the pressure and lofty ideals that a lot of adults, including professional authors, projected onto me as a kid, and which I carried with me through my twenties under the assumption that it was my destiny or something. I guess they thought they were encouraging me, but getting projected onto like that actually made me more reluctant to write: pessimism, perfectionism, and puberty are not a good combination.

I think a lot of Difficult People in writing circles could afford to do some introspection along these lines. What is it that they actually want out of the act of creation? Do they actually want to publish or are they just farting around? (Farting around ain't bad. See Vonnegut.) Who are they trying to impress? (Who am I trying to impress?)

“If you comment this, you’re not going to be famous either.” OMG Lidiya I freaking LOVE you!!! LMFAO, bring on the sauce!

there's people like this in every creative field. anyone who spends more time talking about it than doing it is generally not worth the time

My favorite procrastination quote: "Working tomorrow for a better today." Sorry, I don't know who wrote it.

It's been a little strange writing a first book and learning the culture of writing groups and needing to find an appropriate writing group for the genre I'm writing.  When I was in art school, there were people with many art styles but we gave feedback across "genres".  The thought being that outside perspectives are important.  So the person who does moody gothic art can give a valuable perspective to someone painting pretty flowers

lol, the main reason I even stayed in university is because at the time (2005) many agents in Writer's Market said they wouldn't work with a writer without a B.A. or  Master's Degree in creative writing or similar subject.
The industry gave the impression this was the standard. But the reality was there were lots of authors without university writing skills, they just knew how to connect with people, not write that well, their writing improved with good editing.

But since editors aren't there anymore—overworked or literally not physically there because the publishing companies won't hire them— readers have seen a huge drop in quality.

I do ARC reviews, the story ideas are often good, but oof the writers seriously need  better editors.

Learning when to trust yourself and when to take advice is one of the hardest things. I have gotten better through time, trial, and error but it's still difficult ("Am I being too arrogant?" "Am I caving too easily?"). But the one rule I've found to be true, though it comes from Neil Gaiman, one of those authors who is probably a terrible person: "If someone tells you something in your book isn't working, they are almost always right. But if they tell you exactly what it is and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong."

In my somewhat outdated experience, the commercial aspects of the trade used to be strangely de-emphasized or ignored. Most of us did pore over the Writer's Market, but very few university classes or workshops I attended ever bothered to walk us through the practicalities of getting published. We were there to learn the art & craft; the nitty gritty business of producing a saleable work and learning the professional ropes was gestured toward, but only vaguely. If we were ambitious we'd figure it out on our own - which is MUCH easier to do these days with the internet at our fingertips.

I've encountered most of the types you describe here and been some of them myself. I don't aspire to publish any longer, but two things I learned about writing critiques. 1) after enough exposure, you can get a fairly quick feel for who's perceptive and genuinely engaged and who's not, who's savvy about craft, and who is doing their best to give feedback on the thing you're writing, not the thing they think you should write; and 2) figuring out which advice to take is a lot easier the clearer you are about what you're trying to do. If you don't know your own story, it can be hard to apply the feedback. (And if you don't know your own story, it's probably not going to sell.)

The worst for me were the guys (sorry, it was always a guy, and always a science fiction writer) who would submit a work they would defend to the death. The consensus of the group was usually that the story needed a lot of revising and problem-solving. Examples would be noted and suggestions made. Next time, the guy would turn up with the exact same story, no editing, no changes, and want all new feedback.

The jump scare with sound effects was hilarious! And thank you for the cat therapy at the end. Such ecstatic purring - and so much floof!

I was nodding along wisely until you got to the person who always needs one more writing course 😅 why did you have to call me out like that 😭😆

Thank you so much for making this video. It really checked my behaviors as an artist with being precious and needing conditions. More people need to hear that they don’t need to write at a coffee shop

"I put my blood, sweat, and tears into my writing - and no one will buy my book! 😡"

Sir, calm down, those are just coffee stains.

This is all very good advice, thank you for being a quality creator on this platform. I'm not gonna dog on anyone else so let's just say, the first thing a writer needs to figure out is who you should take advice from, there's a lot of very unexperienced people on authortube giving a lot of advice. You can learn from anyone, but you shouldn't really take advice from just anyone.

1. Stephen King [who I really like] says that he doesn't do outlines. Whether or not that's ACTUALLY true, he DOESN'T tell wannabe writers NOT to do outlines. He's more concerned about you grabbing that reader!
2. But, yes, there ARE wankers who show up at a writer's group and tell you that because "something" worked for them "Do it THIS WAY!" There are also those geniuses who show up with nothing of their own, but reserve the "right" to critique. [ Uh- NO.]
3. I had a writing instructor at Anderson U. who could best be described as a "Contemporary Regionalist Writer". He's good at what he does. Unfortunately, one of his "THINGS" in this class was that we were told to "NOT DO GENRE STUFF". Ex-squeeze me?! "Uh, Mr. Singleton: you DO know that ' Regionalist' is a GENRE, right?" [But I did a modern Southern Horror story and he was seemingly OK with THAT.]
4. That's MY 2 cents; thank you, C C , for your content.

I have an art degree, and in one class we were required to discuss our influences. One guy in my class got puffed up and announced “I have no influences! I’m completely original!”

He painted trees.

I feel like you’re talking about the writing equivalent of that guy.