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MAKE. BELIEVE.

2021-12-14 · letter vlog · John · 3:53 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: civic or action cta, recurring series

Formerly titled I Remembered Why I Love Writing.

Back from his sabbatical, John says he rediscovered how much he enjoys writing: all writing is rewriting, both in revision and in translating thought into language, writing brings him calm, and working on a story gives his wandering mind the joy of make-believe; he updates on his foot and asks viewers to take the Census.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Writing since age eight, re-realizing he loves it during the sabbatical; Sarah and the line that all writing is rewriting

  • ★★ John has written stories fairly consistently since about age eight, yet over the last six weeks he re-realized that he really enjoys writing. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ During his semi-secret sabbatical John got a fair amount of writing done and loved it in a way he had kind of forgotten. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ In 2003, while working on the story that became Looking for Alaska and first becoming friends with Sarah, John learned from her the old line that all writing is rewriting. — 00:00:00 · Looking for Alaska (novel), Sarah Urist Green, writing is rewriting

00:00:29 — All writing is rewriting: revision, and translating thought into language; flow and calm outweigh frustration

  • ★★★ John says all writing is rewriting first because most of what is good in a story emerges in revision: he has never written a paragraph, let alone a novel, that didn't need extensive revision. — 00:00:29 · writing is rewriting
  • ★★ John deleted about 95% of the draft he wrote in 2003 on the way to writing Looking for Alaska. — 00:00:29 · Looking for Alaska (novel)

  • ★★★ John says even first writing is rewriting: finding language for ideas in your mind is revision in its most basic sense, a revisioning of thought into language. — 00:00:58 · writing is rewriting

    “It is a revisioning of thought into language.”

  • ★★ When writing works, John enters a flow state and feels absolutely engrossed, which he calls a terrible word for a beautiful feeling. — 00:00:58

  • ★★ John thinks we want what we don't have; what he lacks is calm, and writing makes him calm the way puzzling or crafting might. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Writing brings frustrations, plot corners and the limits of his talent, but for John the engrossed calm more than makes up for them. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ What John had forgotten is how much he enjoys writing stories even when not writing them, because a story in progress gives him something to think about. — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Enjoying stories while not writing them: a mind to wander, terrible ideas, the joy of make-believe; family, work and his foot

  • ★★ When his thoughts race at bedtime, John is less likely to get stuck on obsessive fears because he can think about what might happen in the story. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ Driving along, John doesn't need podcasts to distract him; he wants to be alone with his thoughts and let his mind drift. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ Most of John's wandering thoughts are terrible: the first draft of The Fault in Our Stars had a girl and her favorite author team up to take down a drug lord, and he never thought it stupid. (playful) — 00:02:26 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★★ A gift writing stories gives John, more than nonfiction does, is the joy of pure imagination, what his childhood called make-believe. — 00:02:55

  • ★★ John loves the phrase make-believe because it feels like an order: Make. Believe. — 00:02:55

    “It feels like an order. Make. Believe.”

  • ★★ Over the six weeks John had a lot of family stuff and work, and rehabbed his foot, now in a normal shoe instead of a boot, though not totally recovered. — 00:02:55

  • ★★ John filled out the semi-annual Nerdfighteria Census and tells Hank it was unusually wonderful, and not only because it included a playful question about Waluigi. (playful) — 00:02:55 · Hank Green

00:03:24 — The semi-annual Nerdfighteria Census and the ask to fill it out

  • ★★ John says the census helps them understand the community's values and priorities and has hugely affected everything from Crash Course to their work with Partners In Health. — 00:03:24 · Crash Course, Partners In Health
  • ★★★ John thanks those who have filled out the census and points the rest to the link in the doobly-doo. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★ In a comment John thanks people for sharing The Anthropocene Reviewed, which is suddenly finding many new readers, and says he loved writing nonfiction too. — creator comment · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★ In a comment John says the drug-lord draft of The Fault in Our Stars is probably among his papers at the University of Southern Mississippi. (hedged) — creator comment · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★ In a comment John says his next book is years away; it usually takes him four to six years between books. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: pretend play · writing is rewriting

Also: Crash Course · flow (psychology) · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Nerdfighteria Census · Partners In Health · Sarah Urist Green · The Fault in Our Stars · Waluigi

Only in the description or credits: The Anthropocene Reviewed (book) · University of Southern Mississippi

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