Pratique du Shadowing: How I write for 4+ hours a day with no distractions - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

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Hello my friend.

Today we're going to talk about the writing process.

Today I spent about five or six hours writing without any distractions,

without wanting to go on my phone,

without wanting to do something else,

just totally immersed in the page.

I got 12 pages handwritten and that was a pretty good day for me.

I write and perform short stories on the internet.

I have been writing consistently for a number of years now,

I think three years.

and that all started with a very basic journaling practice.

What I want to share with you today is how to start writing,

why you should, and yeah let's start with that.

My writing practice started as just journaling.

I bought a physical journal from the store,

I bought a pen, and I started just recording my thoughts.

My goal was to write stories but that was really hard.

Like it was just difficult to take an idea in my head and make it exist on the page.

I really overestimated, or I'm sorry,

underestimated the gap between idea and execution.

Very different things.

And so the only thing I was capable of writing in the beginning was just my thoughts.

What was going on in my world?

My feelings, what happened to me that day,

what I was thinking about,

what my goals were for the next day.

I just started writing it down.

It wasn't anything fancy.

It wasn't anything that I thought I would publish anywhere.

I just got used to the feeling of putting pen to paper,

the actual sensation of writing.

And over time, just by continuing to do that,

having a little ritual of journaling in the morning and sometimes at night,

I fell in love with it.

I started to crave it.

I would be on the train and I wanted to take out my journal and write what was going on.

Nothing crazy, just like what sounds was I hearing on the train?

What did I see around me?

What day was it?

What period of my life was I in?

And I think it's really important to touch on this

because most people stop writing or stop journaling because they have a really high expectation of

creating something right they want it to be a thing

that they can share or they want it to be good and it's like no That's not what it is.

It's a digestive process of your brain.

Does that make sense?

It's the same like you know you you take in information

and then you Expel it

and that's really what writing is in the beginning what journaling

is you're just getting stuff out of your body What needs to come out?

You are slowly training your ability to observe the world around you.

And that's a really important skill,

especially in today's day and age where people are really distracted, right?

The norm nowadays is to be caught up in your phone or to be caught up in some,

you know, something that doesn't matter.

Most people are not going about their lives actually paying attention,

trying to pay attention to what's happening.

Training your ability to pay attention is a very important skill

and and journaling in the morning and at night is a great way to do that.

It's hard to give advice on it because you really don't wanna be thinking about tactics.

You really just want to get the feeling in your body.

So I wake up in the morning,

I go to the gym,

I come back and I sit down and I fill pages for the first half of the day.

It's not perfect right away,

but then I kind of settle into it and I just stay patient with myself.

I notice my attention drifting,

thinking about something else, thinking about what the finished product is gonna be like.

Oh, how many views is this gonna get?

Oh, are people gonna like it?

What are my grandparents gonna say when I become successful?

I just catch that train of thought and I bring myself back to the page.

Not with punishment, not like,

oh, you're so bad at this,

you're so, you know, brain rotted.

No, just bringing myself right back here and I'm gonna keep writing.

It's a very calm, very loving self-talk.

Took some time to practice that.

But, you know, I wrote like two stories today.

I drafted two stories.

That feels great.

It's very important for me to share this because I've talked very generally about this practice for the last couple years,

replacing consumption with creativity, becoming a creator as an antidote to the consumption cheap dopamine lifestyle.

I am in it right now, like proper.

I am exercising, I am doing the thing that I've spent so much time talking about.

I am practicing what I've preached,

and that feels great, and I just wanna share that.

So I know this might be a little bit all over the place.

Bear with me, okay.

Let's talk about the writing process itself.

I've gotten some questions on this.

Like what, you know, I write by hand and I have some reasons I do that.

I wanna talk to you about how I do it.

So I write by hand first and foremost.

When I'm drafting a story,

specifically fiction, I wanna write by hand.

This is a practice I first learned from Neil Gaiman,

who's the author of American Gods,

the Graveyard Book, Coraline, as well as Chuck Palahniuk,

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author of Fight Club, Choke,

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Survivor, a number of other great books.

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Those are two big inspirations for me.

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And I discovered their advice a few years ago when I first started journaling.

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They talk about writing by hand for a number of reasons.

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Neil Gaiman writes by hand because there's no distractions.

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He can go with a notebook into a cafe

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or a public place and just sit and write

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and on days where he doesn't feel like writing he doesn't have email to check,

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he doesn't have YouTube to watch,

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he doesn't have music to listen to.

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He is able to to get himself bored.

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Bored to the point that writing is more interesting than sitting and doing nothing.

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The rule he gives himself is that you don't have to write,

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you don't have to do anything,

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but you can't do anything except for write.

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And so that's how that goes.

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And then Chuck Palahniuk, I haven't heard him talk extensively about it,

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but he was on the Joe Rogan podcast famously,

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and was talking about the writing process with Joe,

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and Joe was talking about the writing by keyboard,

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And he was like, oh,

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that's not writing, that's typing.

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Typing is a thing you do in airports or,

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you know, when you can't do anything else.

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Writing is by hand.

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And there was something about that that resonated with me.

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Because this is a little bit ooey-gooey-woo-woo.

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But, like, there's something magical,

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kind of sacred about writing by hand.

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It's just a very human thing.

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I think there's magic that happens when you do that.

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There's something about the tactile sensation, right?

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Of feeling an actual pen,

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the instrument in your hands as you're writing.

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you know, feeling the words make themselves.

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I like it a lot.

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And right now I'm using a fountain pen that I really like.

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I fill it up with a little ink bottle and I write in these big Moleskine notebooks.

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None of this is sponsored,

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although I would love to partner with that because I love their products.

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But yeah, it just feels like magic when you're doing it.

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That's a good reason.

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Um, when I was a child,

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hang on, let me grab my pencil.

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So when I was a kid,

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I, um, would spend hours in my room thinking up stories and twiddling with,

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like, a little pencil.

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At first it was like a wand,

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like a magician's wand, but then it became a pencil, like this.

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And I would, like, make little figure-eight motions and become hypnotized by the images,

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by the vision, the sight of the pencil waving.

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Anyway, I think it's a form of stimming.

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I don't know, but I would do that and I would imagine stories

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and I would go deep into my imagination and I would spend hours doing this as a child.

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This is what I did instead of playing video games.

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Like I just genuinely wanted to be doing that.

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By writing by hand, by using this pen,

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I tap into that a little bit.

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So I get sucked into the story,

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sucked into what I'm writing through the tact,

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the combination of the sensation of writing and then the actual,

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the visual stimuli of the words appearing on the page.

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This is so in the weeds.

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I don't know how relevant this is for you,

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but like that's, that's how I start.

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I crave the feeling of pen on paper because I've spent so much time doing it.

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There is an emotional release that happens.

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There's like, there's satisfaction that comes from bringing your ideas out of your brain and onto the page.

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And then you combine that with the tactile sensation and your brain creates an association.

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So you associate the writing sensation with the thinking and literally bringing your ideas to life,

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which is magic, right?

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And then you become addicted to doing magic.

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Okay, so that's the drafting process.

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When I'm drafting, it's a fast, furious thing.

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I want to get the idea out of me as quickly as possible.

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I try to do it without editing,

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without, you know, I'm not thinking,

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I'm not working backwards at all.

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I just keep moving.

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I take the idea and I try to take it to its natural end as quickly as possible.

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That's an idea I got from Joyce Carol Oates,

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who's one of the most accomplished story writers of all time.

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And really, I'm so inspired by how prolific her career has been.

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She just writes with a blue-collar work ethic, like constantly.

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Writes eight to ten hours a day, every day.

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Doesn't talk about it, just does it.

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And she talks about finishing your first draft very quickly.

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I recommend this for anyone who's writing.

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No matter what it is,

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whether it is a short story or an essay you're doing for school,

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school get the first draft done quickly don't try to get

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it perfect don't try to perfect the first paragraph right away just get the rough draft

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and then go back and edit it it just really helps

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because once you start editing you start second guessing yourself you get too much in your head

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and it's you you can't really you lose the magic a little bit

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because you're trying to you're in editing mode you're in architect

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mode as opposed to magician mode i'm hoping this makes sense to to you,

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Ray Bradbury, author of, what did he write?

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Bunch of things.

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He wrote Fahrenheit 451, good lord.

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And a number of other things that I'm blanking on right now.

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Number of short stories.

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Part of his advice is don't think, right?

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When you're drafting, when you're writing the first draft,

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don't think, sit down and feel.

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That's what writing is, is it's honest feeling.

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Now this obviously is different if you're a technical writer,

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if you're writing a technical document with a series of steps,

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you're not gonna feel your way through that.

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But for a personal essay or something that requires your perspective,

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your humanity, which is super important to write,

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we need that in the age of AI.

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You gotta just feel it out first and then you can make it make sense later.

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That's the drafting process.

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I feel, I feel, and then I take that draft and I transcribe it into my computer without thinking.

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So I'm still not editing yet.

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I literally just write word for word everything that I wrote.

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This is between seven and 10 pages of drafted material,

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so I get some good typing practice.

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I'm not thinking at all,

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I'm thinking about other stuff as I'm doing this.

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Or sometimes, actually no that's not true.

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As I'm typing it out into my computer,

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that's the first time that I read back through what I just wrote.

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So I'm slowing down now,

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I'm like reading the sentences and noticing what's gonna have to change

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and what my feeling is on the second pass through it and I don't change anything yet,

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except for like a period here,

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maybe a word change here and there.

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But the bulk of it,

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I'm just typing it out,

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getting the material loaded in.

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So I've like mined the raw material,

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the raw ore, and now I'm gonna carry it over into the facility,

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it's a metaphor, and then I'm gonna refine it,

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and that's the editing process, the refining process.

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And that's where I am editing.

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And this part is currently,

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I wanna say least favorite,

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it's just, it's not, it's harder.

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It's probably the hardest part,

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is taking this raw material that I've felt and intuited out of my subconscious and working it,

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reworking it, performing surgery on it,

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moving this piece over here,

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expanding this part, shortening this,

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trying to read, and you just read it over and over and over again from the perspective of a reader,

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trying to hold the reader's hand as you go through the draft.

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You know, making it fun,

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making it not boring, making it exciting,

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taking people on a journey.

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There's so much of that.

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Like it just is, it's a very,

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it's a pretty tedious process.

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And it requires a great deal of focus.

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If the drafting process is like fast and kind of in the moment and breathless almost,

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the drafting is like, it's like,

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it's more like, I don't even know what to compare it to.

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I don't do many other things.

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It's just tedious, you know, it's like coding probably.

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You like have to just get it right.

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And there's still some feeling in that.

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There's still rewriting and you know,

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Sometimes you're expanding sections out and you really see what the story wants to be.

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This is an idea from George Saunders who's been a phenomenal inspiration for me,

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one of the great short story writers of our time,

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is that you can't really control what a story is.

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You might have an idea for what it needs to be,

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or I'm sorry, what you want it to be in the beginning,

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but you have to accept that it might be something completely different.

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The story that you're bringing out of your subconscious mind might have a life of its own.

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It might be something completely different

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and it's your job as the writer to get out of the way and let it become what it needs to be.

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You have to kind of hold its hand as it grows up and becomes this living,

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breathing thing that might be very different.

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So you might have an idea of how you want it to end

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or what a certain way you want it to go or the specific moment you're building to.

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And it might not, it might feel forced to do that.

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And when you notice that,

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when you notice that you're trying to force it into a box that doesn't work for it,

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you have to take a step back and ask yourself what the story wants to be.

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You'll notice when you're trying to force a story or an essay or something to be something it's not

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It's no longer fun.

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You feel all of this pressure and you don't feel any magic

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And I think that's a really important point is

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when you feel yourself distanced from the magic the magic

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that you felt When you were drafting it's this very childlike excitement of getting this idea out of you

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When you start losing that you need to pause because if you're losing it,

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the audience is going to lose it.

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Your reader is going to lose it for sure. So pause.

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Look at the story again.

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What does it want to be?

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So I do that in the editing process as well.

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The editing process lasts anywhere from like a day to a few days.

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I typically work very fast and that's because I know that I just want to get stories out quickly.

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I don't think that a long editing timeline will make them that much better at the skill level I'm at right now.

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I think I will learn a lot more by producing a lot of stories very quickly and improving with each one.

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So as opposed to raising my ceiling and becoming as making a story as good as it possibly can be,

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I'd rather raise my floor by producing as many stories as I can within reason while still making them,

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you know, pretty good.

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And the raw material getting better over time.

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That's the working theory.

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So I edit pretty quickly.

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And then also there's a comfort in that, which is

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that even though the deadlines can be pretty stressful wanting to

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put a story out in over the course of three days or a week.

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Like it's stressful because the deadline is looming but it's nice because you know that once the deadline's over it's done.

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You can move on.

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So sometimes you're chasing the excitement of a story being something really special

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and sometimes you're just chasing the relief of it being over and that's fine because your feelings are a very,

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they're a shifting thing.

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You know in the moment sometimes you're like I don't like this.

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I think this is really bad,

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but if you just stick with it and just kind of get the story over the hump,

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get it done, get it finished,

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get it out to the world so that you can move on to the next one,

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you find that it actually turns out really well,

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or people really like it.

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I've had that experience a number of times over the last 20-something stories I've written and performed and published.

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Sometimes the work you think is horrible performs really well,

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which is interesting, or people resonate with it.

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So you never really know.

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That's why where I'm at in the process now,

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I'm just trying to finish as much as I can and get it out and that's my process right now.

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I Thought I would share that in case it's helpful If you have any other questions about the process my current process specifically,

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let me know I think the last point for today's little

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video journal is just talking about the concept of the creative athlete Which I talk about all the time now No,

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I don't I've talked about it a few times and we're gonna talk about it today Today,

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becoming a creative athlete, this is what we're aiming at.

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For those of us who are tired of consuming mindlessly,

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who are tired of being consumers in the age of cheap dopamine and endless content that's only going to get worse,

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we need an alternative.

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We need something to give our attention to.

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And for a long time I didn't know exactly what that was until,

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like I've laid out in this video,

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I discovered, painstakingly built over time,

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a process that works for me.

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a creative athlete is the option.

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You find a creative practice that fires you up,

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that you enjoy, that channels your soul,

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and then you practice it the way an athlete practices their sport.

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You show up and you train.

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You understand that there is a great deal of challenge and rigor that goes into this.

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It's not just playtime all the time.

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It's like you have to show up and work out.

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There is a very direct parallel between creative work and physical training,

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you know, and getting in good shape.

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Both practices are very important in my life,

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and I think as a creative athlete You should have both.

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So, you know, training for me resistance training calisthenics bodyweight training.

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I love that.

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That's a big part of my life That's how I feel like it,

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you know, healthy and strong and it plays right into the creative stuff as well

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When I sit down to write that's like my creative workout for the day

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And I really give myself to that and not every workout is perfect.

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Some days are stronger than others.

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Some days I break personal records I would say today was like a PR day in terms of writing.

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This is all over the place.

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Good Lord.

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Yeah, so everything I've talked about today is part of being a creative athlete.

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If you're here for the journey,

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I just am inviting you to join me.

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This is it.

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This is what we're aiming at.

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This is what we're going to give the next 10,

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20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years of our life to,

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is finding a replacement to consumption,

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to endless consumption and entertainment and external satisfaction, short-term gratification.

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An alternative that is better than that,

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which is, in my view, is creative work.

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And then sharing that creative work.

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And then eventually getting to the point that we're doing this in person,

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around a fire, or in a room,

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in a physical space where we can perform and share stories.

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That's what humanity is all about.

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I think that's deep down what we want.

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We want to share this human experience with each other.

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And we've become so distanced from that in the last decade

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or so with this technology that we haven't been psychologically prepared for.

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So a lot of it isn't our fault,

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but it is our responsibility,

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you and me, to figure it out now in the modern age so that our kids have something better to live for,

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so that we have something better to live for.

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I can tell you confidently from the front lines,

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I am getting closer to it every day.

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I love what I'm doing.

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I'm grateful for it.

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I'm grateful to have you here for the journey,

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and I am cordially, warmly,

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ecstatically inviting you to join me.

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I'll see you on the front lines.

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Have a great day.

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Pratique du Shadowing: How I write for 4+ hours a day with no distractions - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

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Pratique du Shadowing: How I write for 4+ hours a day with no distractions - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

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About This Lesson

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Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?