I tried Neil Gaiman's writing routine 🖋️📖
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Hello and welcome to another author routine attempt! We've previously tried the writing routines of Haruki Murakami, Virginia Woolf and Donna Tartt and today we are finally trying out Neil Gaiman's writing routine~
Neil Gaiman, as many of you know, is my favourite living writer. I can't believe I forgot to mention it in this video, but I actually met him a few years ago and he was LOVELY. Anyway, this is my trying to write like Neil Gaiman for a whole (work) week. I hope you enjoy it 💛
PREVIOUS AUTHOR ROUTINE ATTEMPTS:
I tried Haruki Murakami's 4AM writing routine ☁️☕ • I tried Haruki Murakam...
I tried Virginia Woolf's journaling routine for a MONTH 📖 • I tried Virginia Woolf...
I tried Donna Tartt's writing routine 🖋️📖 • I tried Donna Tartt's ...
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Thank you so much for watching! 💛I just put up an ask over on my IG stories, so feel free to let me know what author routine / writing challenge you'd like to see next: instagram.com/christyannejones/
wow your writing is mesmerizing!
Hi Christy, would you consider doing an Oscar Wilde writing routine? You've expressed a few times that The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of your favourite books. I'm not sure how much information is out there, but it could be really interesting. I really enjoy watching these videos and I find them to be very helpful for my own writing. Neil Gaiman's is working well for me actually. I can get all my annoying real life stuff out the way in the morning and write in the afternoon until the evening. Thank you for making these videos.
I checked my phone several times while you were writing
@christy-anne-jones can you please do Terry Pratchett's routine I dont think I've seen you do it...if u have can u link me?
The whole "I give myself permission to do nothing" reminded me a lot of a person telling me that creativity is made from boredom. You can only come up with stories if you have the capacity in your mind to do it. I have recently had a lot of free time and for whatever reason I discovered so much of my creative capacities I never thought I had. Before that I always thought that doing nothing is a waste of time. "Do nothing or write" is probably on of the best advice I ever got for writing
Neil Gaiman is one of those authors where you can never know what he's gonna do next, he has such a wide variety and I swear everytime I'm at a bookstore I manage to see more novels that I didn't see before.
Jealous. I'm at the point where I have every book in every edition that I want. 😭
😂😂❤
I sang during Neil Gaiman’s honorary doctorate ceremony and he came up to me after, shook my hand, and told me I had the voice of an angel 🥹 I nearly passed out, especially as a BaHons Creative Writing student who was studying American Gods at the time 😂
Wait--not the one at UniSA? 👀
Similar thing happened to me when I met him after a panel talk at Sydney Opera House. I gave him something I had drawn; he said 'thank you' and kissed me on the cheek. My brain crashed and took several seconds to come back online. He asked me to write my email address on the back of my drawing, another fan gave me a fountain pen and I thought I would wreck both the nib and my drawing, my hand was shaking so hard as I tried to write. I don't think my feet touched the ground for several weeks after XD
I have discovered one great thing about journals: you don't need to fill with text every bit of space from top to bottom and left to right. You can 1) write on one half or two thirds of a page and leave the rest for comments 2) dedicate one page to one paragraph. 3) write only on uneven pages, leaving even for comments. I love this way particularly. Plus I use stickers of different colours :-)
I had that revelation during a domestika writing course. It revolutionized the way I use blank pages in notebooks.
Odd-numbered pages = the recto (as opposed to the verso). New chapters start on the recto.
"Writing is actually more interesting than doing nothing, after a while." Love this quote! Great video, thank you!
“And you guys seem to be enjoying this series.” ……..EXCUSE ME WHAT?!? Um no m’am, we LIVE for this series. LIVE FOR IT
also I like that he's pretty active on tumblr so looking at his blog, a lot of questions are answered even though he has THOUSANDS lined up.
He's still active ?
@@danielcoffeend yup, still answering questions
I love writing by hand - your hand hurts by the end of the day, but it’s so much fun just to grab a pen and let loose. Also, now I feel like both Neil and Christy should be sponsored by Lamy for shouting them out so much 😂
As a writer and fountain pen lover, I love Lamy Safari (the type of Lamy uses here) because it’s so comfortable to use. Lamy Safari is designed to be lightweight and ergonomic, so your hand hurts less than other pens even after prolonged writing. For this reason, this has been my daily driver fountain pen for decades.
My hands hurt after typing all day. :)
I haven’t written by hand since school really. Like actual writing not just small notes. Kinda nervous to write by hand again tho. What if my hand writing isn’t good anymore lol
This was great, thank you... I'd love to see Ursula K Le Guin's writing routine, that would be fabulous.
Yes please
Charles Dickens routine next. 🤭
You are very lucky to live somewhere outside the Middle East. I am a girl from Iran and currently we girls are fighting with the government to get the right to wear optional clothing. Because they force us to wear headscarves and this revolution started last year when a girl was killed in the guidance patrol (by moral security police). Currently, as a girl who wants to have the right to dress herself without interference, I am not allowed to go to the library and many places like you. Of course, some cafes allow entry without hijab, but most of them are closed from the government for serve us. I traveled to Europe for a while and tasted freedom. Life is strangely calmer and less annoying when you do what you want and the road is smooth for you and no one constantly interferes in your life and work, does not humiliate you and does not deprive you of your most basic rights. Please become a good writer ❤
I'm so, so sorry. You deserve the very basic right of having the freedom to dress yourself as you please 💛
@@christy-anne-jones 🙏🪷❤️
No its not true!i live in iran we got great big libraries and fancy bookshops here and they are open to everyone!but yes publishing your book is really hard and mostly impossible here cause of censorships!
Don't you think these days we've really lost the ability to "do nothing" as we just automatically just reach for our phones, it's sad! I really enjoyed the part that you read out and would love to read the whole thing 😊📖 Ps - Hilary Mantel's writing routine
The edict to write or do nothing seems rather perfect: you can avoid distractions without putting too much pressure on yourself to produce words.
I keep hearing about Neil Gaiman's Routine but I am also afraid to go off computer, since I write so much slower in my journals than on the computer. Thank you for trying it out and sharing your thoughts.
I don't know if that is still a problem for you, but I think that is kinda the point I think. To slow down
“To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.”-Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
There's a story (non-fiction) I've been trying to get myself to write for a while. Recently I tried writing it by hand in a notebook. No computer, no notes, no worrying about editing as I go. It felt so freeing. It was the key that finally unlocked everything.
I see first drafts as just tossing sand into a sandbox and then second drafts as making the sand castle so working in a notebook is great for me. It's garbage but I love having the initial ideas of my stories in pen form. It's just fun and it is great for just getting those ideas out of my head. I don't use fountain pen though just a really nice jotter parker ball point pen is good for me.
It is such a talent to be able to write in different formats, I really admire him. Not all writers can do a screenplay and viceversa. PS. Love your series makes me wanna try the routines as well
It's a lot of fun! You should give it a go 💛
You reading the first part of the story made me realize how nice it would be if one day you could narrate an audiobook of one of your stories!
That would be such a dream come true 😭😭
My school made us write all of our notes in fountain pen back in the day and I can very much relate to the ink-stained hands 😅 A word of warning though, I found that after 5-10 years all of my school notes had started fading, some of them just completely disappearing, so make sure you do your research and and get some better-lasting ink or at least not use fountain pen for something you are going to be sad to lose in a decade! 😕
Lightfast. Waterproof. Indelible. Worst way to learn ink isn't waterproof is spilled coffee.
Acid free paper is your friend. That's how we still have ancient manuscripts written in ink.
@@lizziebkennedy7505 well, yes and not. ancient inks were also, in general, pigment inks. often lamp black or some other carbon based black, which does not fade, ever, or iron gall ink which will eat your paper. acid free won't help you much if your pigment is not stable
You Dutch? I grew up in the Netherlands and we were forced to learn how to write in cursive with a fountain pen, that was how we were introduced to reading and writing. We were punished for not writing cursive and were only allowed to stop using cursive in middle school.
@@3choblast3r4 I'm from Spain, but I went to a German school! I definitely had a similar experience. I actually still write cursive these days (though not with a fountain pen), cause I just got used to it eventually 😅
Pls do the Ursula K LeGuin's routine next! This was a great vid, thanks! Made me want to add this routine to my writing to help me out of the slump♡ I also have a LAMMY so it works well lol Btw, about that. Idk if you knew this, but these pens come with a refillable ink cartridge. You just have to buy the flask of ink and you'll have infinite supply (until the flask empties, that is).
I write with my iPad. It’s all the benefits of writing by hand but with the flexibility of editing
I’m less than five minutes in but the “do nothing or write” thing is ABSOLUTELY going to help with my process. What an amazing guy
I recently read Neverwhere and omg his writing is really good! It's got so many layers. It's got a lot of plot but the pacing is very slow and that's usually not something I like but the way in which he pairs his fast plot and slow pacing is seriously addictive for some reason. I absolutely loved it and I will be reading more of his books! And now I want to try this routine!
Would love to see a Philip Pullman writing routine!
He does something similar, right? I remember hearing in one of his interviews that he also writes his first draft by hand and he goes on walks outside.
Growing up my family had one tabletop computer at which my mom usually worked, so I wrote many many of my first stories in a spare notebook. After I got a laptop all of my creative process migrated there. I don't write much now but I kind of miss sitting down at the dinner table in the evening after school and just writing for an hour or two, getting mad if I forgot to add something I wanted, sucking it up and arrowing the additional paragraphs left and right, doodling full page illustrations when I got stuck, and just writing everything out of my mind freely. I feel like if I ended up being a writer I'd love this routine. (Also because of the afternoon timeframe and the No Distractions rule, I would definitely make use of those.) Thanks for doing this video, it was great to see your process and opinions on the routine!
Could you do Fredrik Backman's next? I think he has a very unique process of writing; he also takes the thinking part so seriously (he says he has a thinking-routine) and overall, very relatable characters. Great author haha
I was writing by hand my first book and a bit of the second one. In train to work, during my break, in the car or in cafe. I really, really enjoyed it and this experience is so special to me. I had a feeling I'm creating all the time, it was so productive. Made me feel like an oldfashioned writer lol. Now I prefer typing but when I can't access my laptop, i'm taking out my notebook because i'm always carring it with me :)
I love this series. I think writing or any form of art can always benefit from attempting different forms/methods. It is great as a creator to try something and say "that's not for me" than to never try and feel stuck. There is always a chance for growth in the attempt. ❤
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors and he’s very inspiring as a creative. I work pretty much the same way. But I do it at my desk. Writing longhand is something that takes time to develop. You wouldn’t feel comfortable in a few days. You can then type your work in and edit, by the day if you wish. Great video. ❤❤❤
Love this series! I vote for both Sanderson & Le Guin, doesn’t matter to me which comes first 😊
Yes! I love this writing routine series! I’m going to try Gaiman’s I think. Id love to see Ursula K Le Guin’s routine.
Random, but the shot of the rain was a lovely surprise--really enjoy these writer routine videos.
"If it starts raining, I'm just gonna head back to the library" *cut to pouring rain* Lool what a cinematic moment. :p Love the writing routine vids!
you should DEFINITELY publish the story one day !! I'd definitely buy the book and devour it lol 😭 i love the concept and the story itself, it's so creative and has your essence in it, like it's crazy how authors leave a piece of their beings in their stories
Your choice of Sleep Token's The Summoning made me laugh out loud - their music has been my playlist for this last month and they've permeated my house completely! I didn't expect to see them on such a cosy video, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same! :)
I've been absolutely obsessed with them ever since The Summoning came out 😅
@@christy-anne-jones If you ever get a chance to see them live, I'd recommend it - they're phenomenal. Best of luck with your ongoing short story, sounds really intriguing!
This series is so cosy and motivating! 🤎 I’d love to see you try V.E Schwab’s routine for the next episode!
i love this video! what you said about not being able to insert a paragraph before the one you've just written, or swap sentences around, when i need to do that, i use arrows and/or asterixes--who cares if it's messy? it's a first draft!
Wow this routine is really great! My favourite part is really the "allowing yourself to do nothing". I can't wait to hear more about this short story :) I really enjoy those authors routines videos! Thanks for sharing that with us! 🙂 (Also it's funny because I recognised some of the places because I visited them today!)
This is such a great idea. I love Neil Gaiman and read his book Stardust at uni. I really enjoyed both the book and the movie and have yet to read/watch the Sandman. I loved his Good Omens collaboration with Terry Pratchett.
Personally love doing first draft in longhand because I find myself prone to starting sentences with he/she, names or his/her. It's just easier to gloss over when you're typing, but when I'm writing I'm very selfaware of my own inclinations and so it allows me to pretty up my prose a little.
This is so inspiring, thank you!
Writing by hand or on the computer is really up to the type of person but also how we grew up. I had my first computer at 16 years old and it took ages before I would even think of using it for writing. Writing on paper feels more authentic to me because of it, the computer sterilizes my stories or poems somehow. My grandmother, who grew up before even rotary phones were a thing, loved the computer- she was all about futuristic things, but when it came to editing she had to print the whole book out and edit by hand by scribbling on the manuscript. This series is fun, seeing how different processes we all use and different tools to write.
Another fascinating video!
I love this series! thanks so much!
So excited to watch this video! ❤
Definitely gonna try this on my writing routine!❤️
This video was so calming. Keep up the great work!
These are fantastic! Following another writers process is such a great idea.
Loving these videos
Hey Christy! I recently discovered your KZhead Account and since then I am binge watching all of your previous videos. I love everything about them: the aesthetics, your calming voice and of course the content itself 🥹 Please never stop creating stuff like that! Just wanted to tell you, now I’ll watch the new video. Have a nice day! ♥️
Awwwh thank you so much! 💛
I tried writing one of my stories that way and I liked it-and I think I need to do it again
Please keep doing this series. I AM IN LOVEEE
I'm loving this series :-)
I love your writing experiments. They're so fun. 🥰 Also, that short story sounds awesome! Can't wait to read it one day.
I love this routine!!! The video it was so relaxing and lovely
This really is inspiring,🙏💗😊 thank you for sharing this process with the world ❤
I'm excited for the short story! ❤ I'm a big fan of mythology
Love your author routines! Inspired me to try Haruki's and document it myself. Keep up the great work👍🏻👍🏻
I find it interesting that you prefer writing on your computer. I love putting it on paper first, especially since I don;t always have my computer with me. Then I type it up later.
Christy @christyannejones, I have to tell you this video really motivated me to go back to my writing schedule. Lately, I have been struggling a lot with my physical and mental health so creative writing hasn't been a priority for a while now. However, watching this video made me realize how writing has always been an effective and the most productive coping mechanism for me. So why not go back to it? I feel all jazzed up and motivated rn in the best ways. Thanks for giving me so many ideas and for motivating me to just go and do the thing I love the most!
This is such an interesting video. I picked back up a novel I was writing a while back. There was one chapter that I had written in a notebook with a pen in a library, the rest had been typed first. Rereading it, I was struck by how that chapter was by far my favourite and how it conveyed best my thoughts. Watching this, I am defintely having a “A-ha!” Moment. But yeah, it was a painful writing experience, hence why the rest was typed.
I'm glad this went well for you! I just wanted to say thank you so much for the videos you create, your aesthetic is so inspirational, I refer beck to your aesthetic and how you format your videos whenever I feel I need that boost of motivation ✨️
Love that you’re writing with sleep token-the summoning blasting OH MY LOOOVE!
Very interesting-- thanks for making a video about this! I've heard about Gaiman's writing routine but haven't tried it. I can see that there are benefits to his method and at least implementing parts of it for myself. Cutting distractions is the biggest part I need to word on!
Love his MasterClass and just his voice. I love when he does audiobooks
Just fell in love with you and your channel ❤ You have a fantastic energy!
The short story sounds like it would make a great book, definitely something I would eat up!!!
Hi! I just discovered your channel and found this video amazing! 🖤 I love the way this experiment transformed into a cozy and magical routine. I think that nowadays giving ourselves permission to do nothing can be difficult and strange, but it’s a blessing, a liberation from the distractions we’re all used to (social media, notifications, emails…). I think I’m going to try this experiment too! 😁 Thank you so much for sharing this!
Love the video series, it's a joy to see your videos every sundays, so good for my soul. Thank you, hope your stories come to our hands in beautiful books one day ;) Best regards from Portugal
Your voice and your content calms me in a very special way after tough days. Thank you for doing what you do 🤍
Thank you for choosing Neil Gaiman's writing routine! Watching you go through and seeing your success it has inspired me to try it myself. Also, I'd love to see you tackle Brandon Sanderson's routine. 😊
I just stumbled across this video and this is my first time finiding your page. I absolutely adored this video and it was incredibly inspiring and now i just want to write
Loved watching another writers routine video! Looking forward to the next Project Teacup video.
Loved this video! I think I’m going to try to adjust it a bit and make this routine work on my schedule, at least trying it out for this week Also, I loved your snippet of that short story! That was so good!
Hello Christy, keep up the great job with your writing! Keep practicing and practicing. You are going to be one hell of a writer for sure! Be safe and thanks for another episode!
I do a similar routine to Gaiman and personally consider my handwritten draft my first draft. There’s still a lot of work that goes into it and the process of transposing it to the computer is the biggest editing process. He says in that podcast interview and his masterclass that he edits as he types to “make it look like he knew what he was doing all along”. It’s a line by line, even word by word, editing process and even though it’s not an exact copy, the point of it is to make the next draft better than the first. I’m a huge advocate to handwritten first drafts.
I really love this series! They are always motivating me to get myself writing! I'd love to see you try Brandon Sanderson's routine next!
I love these writing routine videos. I like learning about the author's routine and then seeing how it works out for you. I feel like I learn a bit about the author you're modeling. I'd love to see you try Brandon Sanderson's writing routine next!
I'm enjoying this series. I like process videos. Thanks for sharing.
This is so good!! Do nothing or write is such a great concept, I love it. All of your writing routine videos are great but I think this one is my favorite. I would love to see you try Brandon Sanderson's writing routine since he's one of my favorite author ♡
Literally just binged your previous author routine series! 😊 Thank you for all the cozy vibes Christy! AND for the sigma lens recommendation! 🌻
Would love love to see you do Brandon Sanderson's writing routine. One of my fav authors!
I loved this. I just discovered you and will go back and watch your other videos! I loved especially the "doing nothing" and that Neil writes in the afternoon. So much writing advice says start in the morning, first thing in the morning, get up early, wake up at 4 or 5, etc...and I am so not a morning person. And it's so practical--"do email, blog, and take care of emergencies"...THEN he writes. There are always emergencies. So I feel I now have the permission to do "nothing" and let my brain settle down. I've been feeling like I need to do something like that. And validation that I can still write in the afternoon. Thank you, Christy Anne (and Neil!).
So cool!! Loved watching this writing process. Also loved that teacup at 9:42!
Same, I'd love to know where it is from.
This series is so cosy and motivating! I’d love to see you try V.E Schwab’s routine for the next episode!
I love this series!! It's so cool how every work has a different routine. I would love to see Brandon Sanderson's routine
I love how you went to the library for the calm and silence, all in a soothing light with a sweet mood, we can hear a gentle piano in the video...and you're actually listening to Sleep Token' "The Summoning" in one of the best albums ever
Watch your videos during exams is really relaxing. Hi from Colombia ✨
I also recently discovered that writing all my notes and ideas in a notebook works very well. Because on computer I tend to throw everything in a document and than I sometimes have 20+ pages with a lot of nothing. And it always feels like to much to edit and to read again. But I have one cardinal rule for writing in a notebook: Let it be ugly. So I go to a store, buy a ugly sheep notebook and just write. With different pens, in different colors, mark stuff, draw lines, conect stuff with arrows. To neglect every bit of "aesthetic" helped me a lot to focus on just the ideas and the story.
When one of the five spare pens came in handy
I love this series. I think writing or any form of art can always benefit from attempting different forms/methods. It is great as a creator to try something and say "that's not for me" than to never try and feel stuck. There is always a chance for growth in the attempt.
I recently found your channel, and in fact, I have been listening to it a lot. Thank you for providing useful videos like this. As for the difficulties you faced in handwriting, I think that -as you explained- it is because you are accustomed to typing . This is completely the opposite of my attempt, for example, as it was enjoyable because I am accustomed to using papers and a notebook. Since my typing is not the fastest thing at all, thanks again for this content i really enjoy it - also sorry for my poor English im not a native speaker-
Just got through one of Neil Gaiman's short story collections! Excited to watch this video as I have no idea what his creative process/routine is!
I found this video very enlightening. Thank you for your time. I am someone who handwrites everything, and I actually have difficulty writing on a computer. It's very interesting to listen to the perspective of someone who prefers the opposite. Also saw that you also have Frixion pens. Love that. That's my number one go to. The second is PaperMate Ink Joy.
Hello, Christy! I discovered your videos through Virginia Woolf's routine, and I absolutely love the way you approach writing. For lots of youtubers, it's very much about "sharing knowledge", giving advice, etc, but I love how yours are much more about the journey, trying different things out and finding what works best. It makes the writing journey much more what it is-a constant STRUGGLE! I wanted to ask if you have any videos, though, where you share about the changes in first draft, second draft, etc. I know what my first draft looks like, but I would like to see what other writers understand by it! Thank you very much
I love Neil Gaiman, will try this routine!
I love a fountain pen, but I fell for the story of Steinbeck using a Blackwing Pencil. I am now hooked on them. The act of writing is so much more satisfying for my mind. I like the idea of this timing too. Get everything done, then write, not shoehorning it into the day.
I love writing outside of my normal living space. My favorite locations are always cafes. It feels “writery” but also helps me focus
I love your videos ❤ I love the music and ambiance. I recently discovered Neil Gaiman