Victoria ‘V.E.’ Schwab on Cultivating Stubborn Hope & Earning Your Way Into The Tribe

I’m thrilled to share this week’s new episode featuring Victoria “V.E.” Schwab, the #1 NYT bestselling author of 12 books. Most of you know Victoria from The Shades of Magic series (“A Darker Shade of Magic“, “A Gathering of Shadows“, “A Conjuring of Light“) where an Entertainment Weekly article describes her writing as “addictive and immersive.”

In Victoria’s episode, we cover a whole lot about life and non-writing related topics including sexuality, tea, the fear of speaking, serial killers, etiquette camp, and S-Town. We of course discuss the creative process as well! I immediately clicked with Victoria and had the best time chatting away for over three hours. It was a difficult process for our co-producer, Moonlynn, having to edit it down to an hour and a half and present it to you in a more bite-sized format. There was just so much we wanted to keep in there and it was definitely hard to let go of many great bits throughout our conversation while remaining disciplined in highlighting more writing-related talk, so we really hope you enjoy the final edited version. Let us know your thoughts on twitter!

A bit more about what we cover over in the writing related avenue: We discuss why it’s crucial to create as few parameters as you can around your writing, and how working with a flexible schedule and freeing yourself from a strict writing place helps with productivity.

Victoria breaks down how she’s able to read 100 books a year and you’ll be able to apply her tips to your own habits to up your reading game. We touch on reading different genres and styles of writing and how that helps to strengthen your writing.

For my craft-focused listeners, this episode is a d-r-e-a-m. We unpack the differences in writing multiple genres, writing morally ambiguous characters, discovering the voices of your characters, and writing multiple points of views.

Happy listening!

Xo

Yin

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“No one has efficacy of 100%. You have to rebuild everything you’re tearing down. Creative output takes a toll and you have to compensate with creative input.”

-Victoria “V.E.” Schwab

“I’m a very, very firm believer that rejection exists in this industry not to test if whether your craft is ready but to test whether your ego is.”

-Victoria “V.E.” Schwab

“I sit down with each and every one of my characters and ask them, what do they want? What do they fear?  And those two questions and answers to the questions inform the entire character.”

-Victoria “V.E.” Schwab

“I do whatever that works. What works for one day does not have to be the same thing that works on another.”

-Victoria “V.E.” Schwab

“You can not fix a blank page.”

-Victoria “V.E.” Schwab

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• • How working with a flexible schedule and freeing yourself from a strict writing place helps with productivity
  • Why it’s crucial to create as few parameters around your writing as you can
  • Advice on writing morally ambiguous characters
  • The differences in writing multiple genres
  • Learn how Victoria reads 100 books a year!
  • Why reading different genres and styles of writing helps to strengthen your writing
  • Discovering the voices of your characters
  • Writing multiple points of views
  • Recognizing the differences between self doubt and knowing when your story has taken a wrong turn

Kell is one of the last Antari―magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes―Red London―and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

Learn More About Victoria “V.E.” Schwab