Dishonored

I find myself struggling with this in almost every first draft I write. I think “I’ll withhold this now so I can make a big reveal later or reveal it piecemeal over time” and then every time there’s just huge chunks of context missing and I regret it every time.

You’re saying what we’re all thinking!

I haven't really noticed this happening in other stories, but I will be on the look out now!

I've learned from that lesson and I learned to create a sort of "zipline" from the midpoint to the third act and remember that this beat is much shorter than the "fun and games" section, so there's less room to meander lest you let the tension sag.

I experienced this with my first story, there was a huge climax at the midpoint that left the main character with nothing, and it was in the desolation that he started picking up the pieces and building toward the end, but that totally killed the pacing, leaving me with said slump in the 60% mark.

Fair enough, I think the raw, uncut vibe is in now anyway 👍

What editing software are you thinking about using? I’m gearing up to do YT vids too but not sure what software is best for beginners 😩