Prepping to Launch a YouTube Channel…and My Horrible Habits
Some people might remember that I posted 1 video on YouTube … 3 years ago.
Yeah.
I actually recorded partial footage for a few others, but I decided not to edit or post them. I had a reason. But it wasn’t a good reason.
At its core it was me wanting to remain invisible.
(I’m a major introvert, OK?)
This year I started having a lot of ideas for potential videos. And although I feel like an awkward giraffe in front of video cameras, I really enjoy the editing process.
Then, while watching a YouTuber, I was reminded of something.
It can be hard to feel like you know people through reading text. (I’m not talking about novels. That’s entirely different.) I love seeing people through their blogs and social media posts, but the connection I feel to them is different from the connection I feel when watching people’s videos.
Watching a real person, hearing a “live” voice, makes you feel like you know them on a more personal level.
Someone can discover your videos 5 years later and still feel like it’s in the moment and personal. They still see you being you. In that way videos are like “evergreen content.”
So I’m going to launch a YouTube channel because I enjoy it, it will help me grow, it will be a more “personal” way to interact with others, and it will motivate me to keep trekking on this writing journey. ;)
So far I have 4 videos ready to go. I wanted to have a “backlist” prepped to launch one after another. I’ve even created their 
thumbnails. Want to see?
The first 4 videos to launch will be:
Cover Letters for Short Stories
High Fantasy Query Letter
Author Mail: Opening my Magazine Copies
Selling Books at Writing Conferences
The channel will always have to do with books, writing, or author stuff, but will have a wide variety from How To, Writing Craft, Vlog-ish, About (conferences, working with editors, etc), Author Readings, Recommendations, and Interviews. Basically anything remotely related to writing that strikes my fancy. ;)
With that said, seeing myself play back on video has…enlightened me to some of my habits.
1. My lips always feel dry. If I don’t put chap-stick on multiple times a day, they peel. What I never realized was the habit this made me form. I lick my lips. A lot. It looks funny on video.
Which probably means it looks funny in person. Fantastic.
2. When I take a breath before I speak, I open my mouth before I actually start talking. This habit likely formed because when I’m in public I’m never quite sure when it’s “OK” for me to insert a comment into a conversation. (Major introvert, remember?) I think I started opening my mouth on a breath as a way to see if others would pause for me to say something, or to make sure the last person really had finished speaking so I wouldn’t talk over them.
If you can’t tell, I’m a reserved conversationalist in social settings…
This habit made for interesting clip splicing in my first video. In my next recordings I had to consciously remind myself to breathe through my nose and not open my mouth unless I was ready to start speaking.
3. I feel so awkward talking to a video camera that I move a lot. In the first video I was constantly rocking back and forth or shifting side to side. This also made for interesting splicing. You’ll see it in the first video I post, “Cover Letters for Short Stories.” Don’t laugh too much.
If you ever want to see what you look like to other people, take a video of yourself. You’ll be horrified and (possibly) amused.
Warning: Don’t pause playback at random moments. Your face will be in a hilarious…or terrible…expression.
Like this:
You can find my soon-to-be YouTube channel here. ;)
Just B. Jordan is an award-winning author of fantasy and sci-fi. She graduated high school a year early and received her first publishing contract at the age of 18. To Ashes We Run is her most recent novel. Find it here.
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