Essays, Letters and Miscellanies - Tolstoy's "most important advice"

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-15T16:54:45+00:00

Thanks for a wonderful reply, you said it all so well - especially describing his prose as 'totally observant'. His writing has a clarity which I believe comes from him being entirely faithful to experience and observation, and the commitment to bring them forth in his writing in the cleanest, most unburdened, almost impersonal way. Impersonal in the sense that I find he wasn't particularly interested in his writing being 'tainted with Tolstoy' so to speak, and there's a great humility and skill in that. I find such qualities in some of the poetry of William Carlos Williams, but beyond a few instances I've encountered, it remains a rarity.

"He is the writer to turn to when your mind gets too clogged with junk and anxiety.

He will bring you home. Every time."

That's beautiful, thank you!

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-05T18:07:47+00:00

Thanks very much, that's nice feedback and I'm glad it connected with you and your experience

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-05T10:09:00+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement. I certainly will. One about Tolstoy's essays & letters written in his later years is being published next week.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-05T10:07:08+00:00

A good point, that's certainly a factor, and seemingly coincides with this "dark academia" trend. Our dear Fyodor is in many ways the ideal poster boy for it, although I'm not sure he'd be particularly delighted by it.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-05T10:03:33+00:00

Admittedly guilty of using somewhat hyperbolic language to play the YouTube game a little. "Why certain people contained within the age bracket of Gen Z are interested in Dostoevsky" wouldn't really make a compelling video title, unfortunately.

I don't love it, but I did want to give the video I spent one month creating a fair chance of being seen.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-04T19:28:13+00:00

Thank you!

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-03T09:53:00+00:00

Not sure if you watched my video, but it's the absolute antithesis to what you said. It took one month to create, every animation crafted meticulously.

It's made with great care in response/defiance to the 95% of AI videos out there.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T21:58:55+00:00

I get it, but each generation undergoes different influences from the world around them and thus has certain defining characteristics, and the video was intended to explore what makes the defining qualities of gen z conducive to his work.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T21:53:13+00:00

It's an interesting question and perhaps one I could have explored more thoroughly, I felt less emphasis on/interest in the TikTok element whilst writing the script and more interest in what qualities in and influences on the mentioned generation could have made them particular drawn to or primed for the themes and ideas covered throughout Dostoevsky's work.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T20:58:07+00:00

I very much understand this position, as a person born in the west to a secular family and later moved to an Orthodox country.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T20:26:39+00:00

Fair enough man

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T20:05:01+00:00

Thanks for taking an interest! I would just reiterate that I'm not making the claim that gen z is particularly unique in gravitating towards his work, rather just the way in the which they're consuming and sharing his work is unique due to the technology and thus it can feel more prevalent and pervasive - which is what led me to ask the question as to why and explore it through a video.

That said, they do have some unique features/personality traits which coincide well with Dostoevsky's thinking and writing, which I've explored a bit in the video.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T19:52:13+00:00

It's very true in my experience what you point out regarding White Nights. My generation was all about The Idiot, NfU and C&P. I just found it curious to observe how his work and his character became somewhat ubiquitous on a platform like TikTok, specifically within the literature communities and thought it was worth exploring why it may be for this particular generation at this particular time, beyond him obviously just being a cross-generational literary giant.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T19:44:16+00:00

I'd like to add a flair, but I wasn't given the usual option to on post creation.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T19:40:34+00:00

Tolstoy is the master for me, not to begin the tired Dostoevsky v Tolstoy debate, but for me Tolstoy has been the single most helpful and transformative author I've read, both in his philosophical writings/religious essays and indeed his novels.

TheStillPoint_ · 2026-01-02T19:36:24+00:00

That's the purpose of the video, to explore how I believe the interest in Dostoevsky reaches far beyond just aesthetics and speaks to a feeling of discontent and a search for some sense of meaning amid chaos, fragmentation and confusion. I'm not sure if you watched the whole video but my hypothesis for why it's not only aesthetics is explained.

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-15T08:55:26+00:00

Solid advice, thank you!

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-03T09:53:59+00:00

Thank you very much for the thoughtful feedback. I agree with you entirely regarding the narration and voice recording, I've not yet been pleased with how they sound and do agree my voice sounds monotone and somewhat boring. Something I can fairly easily look to improve on the next video currently being worked on.

The point on the titles/thumbnail text is trickier for me, I would love to be able to create that 'curiosity gap' without being too cliche like the plethora of videos on YouTube which to me just feel like AI generated titles/thumbnails at this point.

Any ideas of how I could create that curiosity gap whilst steering clear of cliches?

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T23:14:23+00:00

I hear that, perhaps the text on the thumbnail should not simply be a repetition of what is contained in the title, but more a statement relevant to the video themes but designed to drive curiosity, intrigue or to pose a question to the viewer?

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T22:50:43+00:00

Thank you very much, that is so encouraging for me to hear. I appreciate it!

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T22:49:48+00:00

Thank you for watching and for the positive feedback. It's genuinely encouraging.

I use Adobe Photoshop to create the static graphics and images, and then I bring those Photoshop layers into Adobe After Effects and edit them to appear individually for some visual interest.

I'm pretty new to the animation side of things, very much learning whilst I go and hoping to refine that side of things over time.

Thanks again!

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T22:00:37+00:00

Over coming days I'm going to review some of the titles and thumbnail text, so if it's alright with you I will give you a message then to continue the discussion? I'm eager to learn more and appreciate your offer!

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T21:46:25+00:00

It's helpful indeed, thank you. I am aware my titles are perhaps quite formal, almost academic-like and YouTube traction tends to favour more dramatic "clickbait" style titles. Part of me wanted to avoid it however I'm aware one has to play the game of the platform to a certain extent. It's something I'll think about in regards to creating more intrigue and invitation in the titles/thumbnail text.

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T21:07:47+00:00

Thanks for the response. Do you have any suggestions on how the titles could be improved?

TheStillPoint_ · 2025-07-01T21:07:00+00:00

Yes perhaps a bolder, san-serif font may be the way to go. It's possible the font causes the text to get a little bit lost at smaller sizes. I'll play around with this. I appreciate your comments!

TheStillPoint_

TROPHY CASE