I’ve got a lot of ideas. Things I should work on. Things I shouldn’t work on. A lot of these seem to be either things I should work on and don’t or things I should not work on but do……yeah………..

Anyway, so lately I’ve been toying around with the idea of starting a YouTube channel about fiction writing. Now, when I talk about fiction writing, I’m not talking about mechanics. Sure, there would be some mechanics and technicalities because there kind of have to be by definition, but these are not my goals. There are countless books and resources that can tell a person all about how to write well and how to craft a story arc from that technical perspective. I also believe that all of those people that do that are much better suited to tell you those things.

When I talk about a blog about fiction writing, I mean the actual plot. How do you make up a world for your setting? How do you know if you want things to happen over days, months, or years? How do you create a character? What should the background lore of my world be? Should I plan everything out or just start writing? These are the kinds of things that I would want to discuss. The technicalities of writing, while obviously important and not able to be cast aside, are rather boring. No one is going to make the best seller list just because they were within all of the rules and guidelines for how a piece of fiction should be written. People that make the best seller lists do the technical side right, but they also have one hell of a story that gets people invested.

In case you’re not clear on the distinction, here’s kind of a quick example. From a technical perspective, it is imperative to create a protagonist that connects with your audience. That is what must be done. This is the technical side of it. You could answer the question of how you do that as part of the technical side too. You do it by putting your character in situations that mirror what people go through in real life. You have to make the character relatable by making them believable and real. This entire description is the technical side of writing fiction. The concepts all of story telling is built upon.

Here is what I would talk about. You make your character relatable by finding something in your own life that you feel is relatable. Maybe you understand what it’s like to be bullied, so you make a character that is going to be bullied. If he’s bullied, you need a bully. You need an antagonist. Okay, so why does the bully torment our hero? Maybe a more appropriate question is why is our hero bullied? Let’s make the hero bullied because he is a little socially awkward. It doesn’t have to be something like autism (although that is certainly something you could use if your story fits that idea) or some other disability. It could just be someone who is reserved, shy, has very specific and uncommon interests, and gets enthusiastic about things that no one around them seems to like. We have the beginnings of a character, and not just someone that is a cookie cutter image or someone that is exaggerated beyond believability. We basically have a high school student who is shy, doesn’t talk to people he or she doesn’t know, and doesn’t know how to express herself to others. Obviously this character isn’t finished, but this is a good starting point. We have created someone that could resonate with anyone that felt out of place or rejected in high school, even if this protagonist doesn’t share our same exact interests or goals.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts. If I did a YouTube channel, it wouldn’t be the best thing right away. The only camera equipment I have is the built in camera on my laptop or my iPhone. I’m also wondering if I should do a Patreon kind of thing with it, although I’m thinking I probably wouldn’t for the time being.

If you have any thoughts, let me know in the comments or send me an email at therealandthemakebelieve@gmail.com. Thanks!