My new video is about passion for your novel/series over the long haul, when the typical “just write!” advice doesn’t cut it.
Here are my secrets to staying motivated on long projects (2–20 years)!
⏱ Chapters:
00:00 What does an “excited author” look like?
00:16 Why passion matters for long-term creative projects
00:38 The two extremes: “navel gazing” vs. mercenary writing
01:28 The balance between loving your work and thinking about audience
01:50 The joy of writing novels (worldbuilding + characters)
02:29 Storytelling as taking your reader on a ride
03:06 Mastery: controlling emotion, pacing, and reader experience
04:21 Where passion really comes from (themes, exploration, obsession)
Completing a big project is not just a matter of slavish discipline. At the core of it all, you need passion for the project.
Royal Road is the biggest web serial platform in fantasy and sci-fi.
If you want a real shot at traction there, you need to write with the audience in mind. Because Royal Road is not Amazon, Webnovel, or Wattpad. It has its own culture and its own reader expectations. Some stories are an easy sell to the RR audience, and some are a hard sell no matter how talented you are.
Here are 7 likely reasons why Royal Road readers quit reading your story.
📌 In this video, you’ll learn:
✅ What Royal Road readers consider “amateur writing”
✅ What genres are easiest to sell on Royal Road
✅ Why power progression dominates the platform
✅ Why infodumps and slow openings kill retention
✅ Why multiPOV is a bigger risk than most writers realize
✅ The hidden reason “too much suffering” turns readers off
✅ What kind of romance and comedy works (and what doesn’t)
I’ve read many of the top trending Royal Road series (and I rate them on Goodreads), and I’ve personally hit #4 on Rising Stars. This is my analysis of what the platform rewards right now, and which writing styles (including multi-POV, present tense, and overly literary prose) might quietly sabotage your launch.
00:00 – Easy Sell vs Hard Sell on Royal Road
00:56 – #1: Amateur Signals That Kill Reader Trust
02:34 – #2: Genres That Don’t Belong on Royal Road
03:28 – What Genres Perform Best on Royal Road
04:13 – #3: Literary Prose vs Reader Expectations
05:15 – #4: Romance (What Works and What Doesn’t)
05:40 – #5: Comedy Done Right vs “Trying Too Hard”
06:21 – #6: Why Readers Hate MC Suffering
07:16 – #7: Multi-POV and Present Tense = Hard Mode
08:05 – Final Advice: Study Top Stories Without Selling Out
🔥 Happy writing! And good luck reaching for Rising Stars.
Do you daydream so much it feels like a problem? What if it’s actually your greatest writing superpower?
0:00 Introduction: Vivid Imagination as a Creative Superpower
0:16 What Is Maladaptive Daydreaming?
0:41 How Daydreaming Fuels Epic Storytelling & World Building
1:24 The Daily Walk Method: Visualizing Scenes Before You Write
1:54 Crafting Emotional Waves in Your Story
2:18 Building Characters You’re Obsessed With
3:07 Using Music Playlists as Creative Cues
3:33 Keyword Triggers & Getting Into the Zone
4:12 You Don’t Have to Walk, Other Routine Activities That Work
4:27 When Daydreaming Bleeds Into Lucid Dreams
5:18 Keeping a Healthy Boundary Between Fiction and Reality
5:47 Let Excitement & Characters Lead
6:08 Pantser vs. Plotter: Why Daydreaming Is Both
Are you a creative with a vivid imagination, or maybe even a daydreamer who can’t seem to turn it off? In this video, author and artist Abby shares how she transformed her lifelong habit of intense daydreaming into a powerful writing tool. From daily walk-and-daydream sessions to mood-cueing playlists and lucid dreaming, she breaks down her exact process for visualizing scenes, building emotionally resonant story arcs, and crafting characters you can’t stop thinking about. Whether you’re a pantser, a plotter, or something in between, this video will help you unlock the storytelling superpower hiding inside your own imagination.
If you’ve ever thought about quitting your job to pursue your creative work full time, this video is going to save you a lot of pain. I’ve done it. I know people who’ve done it. And there are things I wish someone had told me first.
Whether you’re a novelist, artist, game developer, or any kind of maker, this is the financial literacy crash course built for how creatives actually live and work.
0:00 Introduction: financial mindset for creatives
0:47 Quitting your day job: what nobody tells you
1:43 The real competition you’re up against today
2:42 How algorithms favor rapid content generation and volume over quality
4:04 The psychological trap: passion becoming pressure
5:19 What successful creators actually do differently
6:09 Finding the right day job as a serious creative
7:11 Sustainable creative habits that actually last
7:47 Passive income reality check for artists
9:01 Basic investing: ETFs, Vanguard, dividends
10:37 Tracking your creative income like a business
The honest truth: your creative work and your financial health don’t have to be enemies. This video explores how to make money as an artist while striving for financial freedom, acknowledging that everyone’s personal journey is unique.
“Students who read for fun on their own time fell from 27% to 14% in 2012 to 2023. Those who never or hardly ever read for fun on their own jumped from 22% to 31%.”
Rereading FIRESTARTER. Does Stephen King’s Classic Hold Up?
00:00 Some casual sexism, a bit dated due to it being published in 1980
01:10 When the ordinary is horrific
01:34 When supernatural superpowers was weird and inconceivable
02:32 SPOILERS from here on out!
02:43 Setting audience expectations astronomically high, and ratcheting up the tension
03:06 Stephen King’s self-insert, and who the story is really about
04:06 Overcoming addiction as a mental trick
05:33 Acting like a stoned idiot as an act of heroism
06:08 Government agency versus a normal father and daughter
07:00 Overreliance on a computer instead of using common sense
07:41 It’s one of my favorites by Stephen King
Here’s a literary analysis of the novel “Firestarter,” reflecting on its themes, its era, its audience, and its impact.
Here’s my take on Stranger Things, spoiler-free… from an author who vaguely remembers the 1980s!
This video examines the divided reception of the show, acknowledging criticism for characters Eleven and Will Byers while praising interpersonal dynamics and side characters with strong personalities.
Timing a great launch window for your fantasy or sci-fi novel series.
00:00 When should you launch a novel series?
01:03 Launching during the Royal Road Writathon, or avoiding it
03:19 Which month is best for a Royal Road launch?
04:36 Is there an ideal time zone for chapter releases on Royal Road?
05:08 Weekends or Weekdays for a Royal Road launch?
