I Wrote an Entire First Draft Live on YouTube — Here’s What I Learned

I wrote the entire first draft of Upstream live on YouTube. Across 11 livestreams and 23 writing sprints, I drafted 12,387 words in public, usually working in two 25-minute sessions at a time. The story itself is an epistolary tale following a young prospector deeper into the forrest as he searches for gold. It is told through a found journal and takes place in a low fantasy setting. In this video, I look back at what worked, what did not, what I learned from writing live, and whether the experiment was actually worth doing. I also talk about the practical side of the process. Using Notepad during the streams, tracking word counts afterward, writing through mistakes in public, and what it was like turning those rough sessions into a finished novelette. Upstream is now available free to read through the Retinue of House Walker. The Retinue of House Walker is a free-to-read literary and storytelling project built around original fiction, narrated stories, historical swordplay, crafts, and the creative process behind the work. If you want to support the project, the biggest help right now is to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and share our stories with someone who might enjoy them. Upstream: https://www.retinueofhousewalker.com/post/upstream #WritingSprints #WritingProcess #AmWriting #Upstream #RetinueOfHouseWalker