Ive been trying to finish a story...any story...for about 12 years, so I consumed hundreds of hours of how-to's, books, podcasts, and more. This has left me so paralyzed by indecision that I haven't been able to write ANYTHING for over a year. After watching several of your videos, I'm starting to feel like the Tin Man after Dorothy gives him some oil. Thank you. Please keep them coming.
Friend, I don't know if this will help you, but: No work is ever wasted. Even if you publish a "bad story", it will help you. You will learn, you will improve. Rome wasn't built in a single day, and the same goes for a pristine story, and I'm sure it will take me several books to come to a level with which I'm satisfied. I'm very young, writing my first book, but at this point I've grown to realize that failure does not matter. I will not stop writing. If you fail, but keep going, you will ultimately never have failed. I wish and pray you well on your writing process, I'm sure you will overcome your obstacles.
That’s great to hear I’m glad for you. These videos are helping me too :) But yea, I'm mainly replying here because I’m a Christian and wanted to share the gospel with you! Please consider the Gospel message. To anyone reading this, there is a loving God who wants to save you. And because He loves us, He (Jesus) died on the cross and resurrected 3 days later so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Repent and believe the Gospel! Please consider the state of your soul and don't let this chance pass you by. Believe in Jesus and follow Him so you can have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today before its too late. Jesus loves you.
I love how you take an anti-formulaic approach to writing. It’s exactly the opposite of what you tube is full of. No recipe, no “five steps to creating the perfect life”, just solid exposition of the ingredients.
Formulas, in my opinion, are a fast way to kill the creative process. I prefer to build my own story structure. I genuinely believe that that's the best way to approach storytelling. Thank you for watching!
This channel is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Genuine, honest and intelligent advice about the creative process and not just “Top 10 tips for…” with a load a character sheets and formulaic resources. This is the most useful channel I’ve come across in about 4 years of attempting to write a first draft.
Not only are you videos extremely helpful and educational, but also really fun to watch. You have officially joined the club of youtube channels that I specifically search for by name.
That's really wonderful to hear! I have a lot of fun talking about these topics, so it's nice to know that my videos are fun to watch, as well. Thank you for taking the time to tell me! I'm glad my channel has been able to help you! Thank you for your support!
I had never liked my characters, so I started working on a new character creation system recently, and it turns out it's a lot like this, just somewhat simplified so far. One thing I'd add about consistency is that it's important for character arcs. If a character is consistently inconsistent, the character arc can look like simply some more inconsistency.
That's an excellent point, I completely agree! You have to have a very consistent image of your character in order to plan a development arc using their traits, etc. And that consistency helps the audience maintain a clear idea of the character so they can see and appreciate the character's growth or evolution along that development arc. Thank you for watching!
if you were a professor I'd sit in the front row pen in hand!!! OMG! I can feel your enthusiasm for the topic through the screen and it makes all of the difference.
Enthusiasm might be putting it too mildly... I'm a little obsessed with stories and storytelling! I'm glad my videos have been helping you so much! If I was a professor, I'd love having a student as enthusiastic as I am! Thank you for watching!
I'll never tire of the different ways people internalise and produce tools, heuristics and principles around writing. Hope to see some more stuff which challenges how I think and hopefully be able to relay it to other people who find it useful!
Visited for the title, stayed for the content, subscribed for the relatable coffee addiction, and became a Patreon because of the exasperated sighs. Keep up the brilliant work and delightful delivery!
I’m an artist, not a writer, but this really helped me understand general character development! I’ve always been jealous of my peers when it came to characters because I’ve personally never made one but this gave me a little more hope to getting to my first Original Character : )
There's so much storytelling involved in art, especially when it comes to characters! I'm glad my video could help you with your first character. Hopefully the first of many! Thank you for watching!
What a brilliant approach to character development / creation. I’m especially fond of the personalized interview, already seeing two different versions of Hellen; One who’d prefer her roof to be over dealing with a stranger coming by her house in the forest, and one with the opposite dispositions - And I already kind of love them both, because those simple dispositions says so much so simply about a ‘person’ in s very humane way! Thanks!
Thank you! I'm glad this method was so inspiring! It is really interesting (and fun!) to make little tweaks to character traits and watch fascinating new people come about. Thank you for watching!
Character creation has always been a bit of a difficult subject for me, but you explained it in a digestible way and broke it down into actionable steps that I'm going to be using as a template for all my characters. Thanks for the awesome content!
I'm so glad that my video was so helpful to you! I wish you the best of luck in your future character creation. And thank you so much for your support! Happy writing!
I'd love to hear more about character arcs, and how those would be weaved into the pacing/plot you talked about previously. Also, great videos, they're quite different from other videos of this kind that are out there.
Yes I very much look forward to making a video about character arcs... Or videos, honestly. There's so much to explore there! Thank you so much for watching! And for your support!
It's insane how much basic knowledge and how many important hints and spins on seemingly straighforward premises of character creation you managed to fit into a mere half-hour video. I've watched my fair share of writing advice videos, but your concise and logical way of putting things is something I've rarely seen elsewhere. I especially like your organic approach to creating characters, i.e. paying attention to the interplay of various traits and how strengths and weaknesses derive from one another, as well as your advice not to simply run down a checklist of non-relevant questions. For a beginner, this is a goldmine, but even experienced writers will glean something from this. Thank you for sharing, I'm looking forward to any future videos you might make!
Thank you very much for this comment! It means so much to me to know that my videos can be of help to other writers. I've always loved creating characters because the process was so organic and interesting. I hoped sharing that process with others would spread that enjoyment. Thank you again for your support, it means a lot!
I don’t know if it’s the colors or the lighting but you just look like a well done character design. I don’t really know how to put it into words but for whatever reason your appearance stood out to me in a “these colors are nice” kinda way. I think it’s a combo of the lighting and the different whites contrasting with red hair. Dunno it’s not something I’ve ever seen before on a real person but the feeling was immediate.
I always try to write characters as real people, but I think I also see most real people as characters filling a particular narrative. It's frustrating. Your video made me feel sorta valid. Thanks. Might go start a cult now.
This is S-tier advice. I've seen a lot of creators, and it's a rare few who stand out as exemplary like this. Really looking forward to seeing more content. And you know what? It's for the same reasons that you've outlined. It's deep and insightful, but also tinged with the color of your own identity. Although I'm looking forward to whatever you make next I know that that's an utterly unhelpful suggestion. I'd take anything in regards to characters, especially the relationship between characters and the self. I feel like my own identity is rather multitudinous, and as I attempt to express myself through characters I realize that there's still much that I don't understand about myself. It's a very interesting study, but not at all conducive to getting writing done.
Thank you very much for your support and your kind words! I hope to be able to continue making helpful videos. What you've said about character and self is very interesting. I remember examining this link myself along my writing journey. At the time, as an experiment, I wrote a kind of prose poetry faux journal. The situation was fictional, the life was fictional, but the "I" writing the journal was meant to be me. And the aim was to examine myself and come to understand myself better. I, myself personally, wanted to avoid making the characters in my regular stories into too much of an examination or expression of self as I've found that this can limit my creative decision making. So I let this exercise be entirely that. I spent about two years writing this and I learned a lot about myself and about how to convey emotional identity with literary economy. It was also an excellent writing exercise as I forced myself to do at least one entry a week and focused a lot on my actual writing. I also saw my skill improve as I went along, both in terms of understanding myself -- and therefore other characters -- and in terms of my prose. I do intend to do a lot of videos in the future on characters, but I thought this suggestion might be helpful food for thought for you. Perhaps you could give it a try, if you're so inclined. Maybe it will be as helpful for you and is it was for me. Thank you again, and happy writing!
I seriously love your videos, super helpful advice, especially enjoyed the one about the first draft. Just wanted to react to your line here "Write the character the way you want to, the only expectations you should be considering are yours." That's actually exactly what I am currently doing. I love love love crime fiction / mysteries but contemporary crime literature is straight-up trash. Terribly written naval gazy struggle sessions and lazy plots, or a plot twist you can see coming from at least midway through. So I decided to write a good one that I would want to read. It is actually insane that people want to force mysteries into formulas when the point of the story literally is the unpredictable outcome. (I might fail miserably but at least I'll know I gave it a shot.)
I’m around 5 minutes in and while I find you interesting to listen to, I do feel like it was a lot of what NOT to do and I almost clicked away. I felt a little overwhelmed, taking it in but not being able to imagine what the process might look like. As a complete beginner, I actually haven’t come across much of what you mentioned (questionnaires, interviews, archetypes). Just general feedback as a complete beginner so please don’t take me too seriously, I just look forward to seeing more of your valuable content. I felt your confidence and ability to explain conflicting concepts makes you stand out amongst the few videos I have seen. Thank you for sharing!
I love those AHA moments so much! I'm really glad my video had helpful information for you, thank you for taking the time to tell me in a comment, it really means a lot! Thank you for watching, and for your support! Happy writing!
I have been enjoying watching this channel grow and learning about storytelling in a more intuitive and appealing way because of your perspective and passion. A future video about story concepts would be interesting. Not necessarily the dreaded “where do you get your story ideas” but more along the lines of what elements of an idea or combination of elements help you feel like you have a strong enough concept to move forward, how you choose situations to put characters in that make sense or how you take your inspirations and actually turn them into a story. I’m always fascinated when writers talk about the more abstract conceptual part of taking ideas and turning it solid. Thanks for all the great work you’re doing on this channel!
Thank you very much for your support! It has been a very surprising adventure and all the support has been very encouraging, so thank you so much! I have been wondering for a little while if there was a way to do a video like that, something about how to find stories and how to build them from small seeds of ideas. I do think that every writer does that in a different way, but I've been wondering if it would be helpful to try to explain my own personal way. Thank you very much for the suggestion. And again, thank you so much for your encouraging words and for your support!
About the "expectations" in the "creativity" section: That advice isn't about making industry slop, but to meet expectations people have in certain genres. A better word would be "promises". A massive part writers ignore is actually delivering the goods for why the reader is reading the book. If you a writing a mystery and you don't deliver a mystery, you have failed to meet expectations. It's so super simple and obvious that you'd think that doesn't need to be said, but clearly these editors and publishers have seen A LOT of people try to release in romance with no satisfying romance that hits the marks of romance people want in order for the story to be satisfying. This still leaves a lot of room for creativity as these "marks" are typically just general themes. And the reason publishers and editors give this advice is that releasing a book in a genre increases your odds at success tenfold. Readers already know what they're looking for and probably have read extensively in that genre. So seeing a new release might be a must-pick for some. Compare this to you releasing in a more generic genre like "suspense" a book that kinda has romance and mystery, the likelihood of readers ever picking your book are narrow. Anyways: What I've found out is that you shouldn't start with a formula/archetype/trope, but you will eventually end up in one. Now this can either be bad or good, but if I just kept writing out the basics for the character and some scenes, an archetype starts to form. It won't be 1 simple one (hero), but a more precisise and descriptive (unwilling despodent hero). Now these formulas work as good sign posts of "what people expect". This allows for subersion of those expectations, but also delivering on the promises. then tropes or traits were not delivered. These "formulas" help you hone in on those 3 Cs you mentioned from all the other colours of your character. Complexity probably comes from the contradictions your non-simple archetype offers. Creativity doesn't come from the archetype, but what situations you choose to put them in and how they deal with them, how they deal with people. And of course, these archetypes and tropes ensure consistency as you always have a lot of material and examples of them. You can keep them on the path, next to it, or completely away in the forest, but still going in the same direction.
Love your videos, thank you for posting. I’ve been having doubts about some of my characters and this video has helped settle those doubts. I didn’t follow character formulas, they just came alive as I was writing them. I only found out who these characters were towards the end of my novel 🤩
Thank you! It sounds like you had a good handle on it. Though it does help sometimes to hear someone else reinforce what you already know. I'm glad I could help! Thank you for watching! Good luck with your writing!
I really like your approach and advice for character creation. I tend to struggle with figuring out what I want to do with my characters and what traits they should have. So, having this informative yet concise video is extremely helpful to develop a more guided and focused creation process. Thank you for your unique perspective on all this.
This is the kind of video that you have to watch (and want to watch) multiple times to fully assimilate all the concepts (oh look, another C) presented. Your style is so soothing and your editing and humor make watching very enjoyable. Congrats on gaining such momentum with the channel so quickly!
Thank you so much for your support and your kind words! I'm really glad that my video could help you. And thank you for the taking the time to provide your thoughts on the homework and polls! It really helps! Happy writing!
refreshing video. I'm working on finishing up this horror screenplay and I already have all of the characters thought up and the plot and their relationships with eachother, so I went to youtube to find writing videos to help inspire me with fleshing these characters out. SO MANY TIMES I would just get told about archetypes and since I already made the foundation of my characters, and since the screenplay story is a bit new, the hero or villian archetype just didnt fit so it felt like i was on my own. This channel seems to be a great resource for creatives. thank you much for sharing! the bit about generating a flaw by taking one of their traits to the extreme is very neat
Just watched your Plot video. You're a breath of fresh air from the framework tutorials. A lot of creative is about strong sense of direction and allowing options which your videos reflect really well. I'm looking forward to watching your videos. Newly Subbed❤😊
You’re a genius! Thank you so much for taking this mountain I’ve been facing and turning into a mole hill. The way you explain concepts comes across so simple and easy to digest!
Great idea about emphasising a positive to be a negative. An idea for a video I'd like is how to write emotions of my characters without repeating the same thing over and over. Great video
I'm no writer, but coming up with stories and imaginary people makes me want to draw. It helps a lot with ideas in front of the blank page. I took a long art break, but the creative impulses have been back for a few months now. The itch to come up with a new character has been creeping up on me. So truly, this video had perfect timing and RUclips algorithm didn't mess this one up.
Ah I so envy the ability to draw character designs! I've been trying to teach myself to draw in my free time so I can draw my own characters, just for myself. I've often heard that there's a lot of narrative and storytelling involved in planning a drawing, no matter how simple. It's wonderful to hear that my video could somehow help with that. Good luck character creating! And drawing (so envious)! Thank you for watching!
New to your channel and I think within the first 7 minutes you had me smiling and laughing! I especially enjoyed the sighs at character archetypes, I’m not a fan of them either. Brilliant video and certainly cleared up my questions on character creation, thank you.
If this can help anyone, I usually start by defining a "core node of tension" for my characters (I approach it from the angle of the game master and live action roleplayer, so my necessity is specific, keep in mind) or, in other words, what contrast do I want them to tackle. That's *always* a question. - How does the every man cope with being summoned to a gathering of heroes and given responsibility? - Where does the mask end and the person begins? - Where is the line between an act of beneficial rebellion and one of selfishness? - What is the price of "Beware an old man in a profession that kills them young"? And so on. Note, all of them I have actually used in real play characters xD quite fun ones to play, too! When I know that core tension node, I then build their take on that contrast (whether they are aware of it or not), find an event or sequence of events that led them to having that take and then Yeet them into the world to interact with other characters and see what happens.
Your videos are refreshing. I find your way of talking about story resonates with how I naturally write. Although some of the other ways as you touched on briefly are helpful in a way, they seem confining and predictable. This is the 2nd video of yours I've watched and I will def be watching more.
Thank you for another insightful video! You're one of the few channels that I actually come away with the fee feeling I learned something and a drive to try it out, rather the than empty advice with no guidance for application.
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad my videos can help you, that's an incredible feeling. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Good luck with your writing, and thank you for watching!
Hands down one of the best character videos I've ever seen. Very succinct, and very correct. Everything I've seen with very few exceptions peddles these cookie cutter, card board cut outs of similar character after similar character.
This video and your channel is wonderful! I am particularly fond of your editing. I take part in a recreation of Titanic's voyage every year and creating a fully fleshed out character for it is always a struggle for me. I would love to see videos about character development, character arcs and good dialogue!
Thank you! That sounds incredible! I've never heard of such a thing, what a delightful challenge! Those topics are very important to me, as well. They are very high on my list. It's wonderful to know that others would also be interested in talking about them! Good luck with your character creation this year, I hope it goes well! Thank you for watching!
I love these style of videos, breaking down concepts to make a character are always great. What would be cool is if your video uploads “follow” the creation of a story and characters leading up to a finished story. They are amazing either way, and I love how eloquent you are, it makes the video thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, thank you so much.🙏
That would be such a fun series of videos, what a great suggestion! Now I want to find a way to do that... Thank you very much for this comment, and thank you for watching!
This was so amazingly helpful, thank you so much! With both this video and the previous one, I feel like my third eye is slowly opening lol. I’ve always wondered why I found those typical plot and character formulas so frustrating and crushing. Anything I tried created with them was always so flat and dead, and it always felt like pulling teeth. I thought something was fundamentally wrong with me, like I was just never ment to create. But using the things you’ve said has really unlocked it and now I’m actually beginning to create something that works, that’s functional, and also fills me with life. Every connection I make with my characters and the story, it slowly piecing together. I’m so happy. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It means the world to me that my videos could help bring you back to writing. I remember going through that same struggle, being unsure whether or not I "had what it takes" to be a writer. Everything that seemed to be innate knowledge to other writers eluded me completely and I could never make sense of their somewhat abstract, esoteric attempts to explain. I once heard a writing teacher say that the way you can tell if someone is a writer is that they write. If you love stories, then you can create them. Anyone can learn to do anything. I wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors. And thank you for watching!
I use the basic humors to map the temperament of the character, so the laid-back, reliable and calm character is phlegmatic. The sanguine (blooded) character is fun loving, sociable and has qualities of leadership. There's just four simple temperaments so it's just a word or two in the notes. The personality modifies or showcases the temperament imo, or at least give us a chance to do so. So I'll jot down something like "boring good", "deadpan dnarker", "control freak" or "big fun". Basically translated: Luke Skywalker, Daria, Prospero and Ray from Ghostbusters. The function of the character is worth considering too:" the Lancer" is a foil to the hero, so Luke and Han Solo or Cyclops & Wolverine. Or sat "the big guy" who is a gentle giant or "quiet stud" like Chewbacca or Pantero. They're usually a "fix it guy" too. "The funny guy" ("funny? Funny how? Ha-ha!") or "the smart guy" like Spock and they bring technical expertise. There are secondary functions as well, like "the heart", ""the face", "the cunning linguist/communicator", "the medic" and "the engineer". So your "old guy" function of the grizzled veteran or mentor who comes along for the ride could also be the cunning linguist or "the medic". I am coming from the realm of D&D or table top games, but my current project is "game books" or "choose your own adventure" books. So I'm not as interested in "hitting those marks and selling those lines" as a serious writer might be. "Keep it simple stupid" is my thing, but I love literature and reading. Two cents nobody asked for and fwiw. Thanks for the fine video production.
Please keep this up. I find your videos among the best I've come across. Your previous video, as well as this one, opened up a whole lot of potential and possibilities for my fantasy story. I particularly thought the advice on characters' flaws was brilliant. Once you explained that, I instantly came up with much better flaws for my main heroes. The multiple mini-arcs advice also helped a lot, and it makes the writing/story more complicated, but more manageable at the same time. Definitely more interesting too. In short, your approach/advice feels out of the box, but at the same time it makes so much sense
Thank you very much for this comment! It really does mean a lot to me to know that my videos are helping other writers. That's one of the things I really like about the approach of mini-arcs. I feel like I can create something a little more complex but that I've got a strategy to plan it well. I'm glad the note about flaws was helpful. When I realized that myself, I found that it made defining and understanding my characters so much easier. Thank you again for watching! Good luck with your story, and happy writing!
I would love to see a video on character weaknesses/disabilities and how to work them into a story. Your videos are so insightful and clever. Thank you for giving examples to your points, it’s easy to get a feel for the process!
Enjoyed the practical approach to the process, trying to steer folks away from the swamp of gimmicks out there. Nicely presented. I also had a look at your catalog and will be checking out more of your posts. Liked and subscribed - welcome to my recommendation list (for what that's worth)!
This is an amazing video. It really opened my eyes to a different way of writing characters. I often don't do this much planning, before the writing starts, for the characters. I often have the characters conform to the story I'm trying to tell. I consider them a part of the plot, which is an artefact of the way i see a good story, abd why i focus a lot on character development (in the sense you didn't cover here). The character development serves as the driving force of the plot. The character is only a tool to tell the story i intend to tell. The channel, Local Script Man talks about it a lot better than i do. The character while supposed to feel real, are in the end characters, and fake and as such can and should be made to serve the story you're trying to tell. Some traits aren't necessary because you don't really see it in the story you're trying to tell. But awesome video. I loved it.
Another banger! You've made 35 minutes feel like five! Character sheets and archetypes always clashed against my artistic sensibilities. Also the bit about only reading in your genre and following industry standard. All that advice is given with good intent, but it only served to make me feel like some literary orphan if that makes sense. Unkept and ill-mannered. But how did all those archetypes and formulas come to be without experimentation? Your advice makes so much more sense. Again, thank you so much for putting it so succinctly and giving form to arbitrary concepts! This story and the one from your previous video were actually compelling enough to make me want to read them, lol. I'll be working on that homework now! :)
I agree, I think people are genuinely trying to be helpful when they provide that advice. And in their defense, I think a lot of the big industry literary agents have to approach the job like managers of product development. But I'm like you, it made me feel very out of place. My problem was that I didn't particularly like a lot of the books in my target genre and was, in fact, writing largely because I wanted to "write the book I wanted to read" and all that. I confess I spent some time wondering if I was properly suited for this whole writing thing. Luckily I made it through that phase. Good luck on your homework! I hope it helps. And thank you for watching!
Your videos are awesome ma'am. Thanks a lot for making such eye opening videos. Please make a detailed video on the development of characters or character arcs.
Thank you, and thank you for the support! I intend to. Characters arcs and characters in general are definitely going to be the subject of more than one video in the future. (Hopefully the near future!)
I subscribed to your channel because of the last video - it’s was incredibly insightful for my own narrative. Can’t wait to see what this one has to offer
This was so awesome. I have a main character I have been struggling with far a while now because she didn't seem realistic(she's a fae but you know what I mean). There was something missing. I'm definitely going to take what I have and put her through this process
This is by far one of the most helpful videos I’ve seen about character creation (shoutout scrivner mentioned lol) I am so looking forward to more character focused vids
Scrivener is pretty incredible, definitely. I'm not sure what I'd do without it. And thank you! I'm glad it could help you! I definitely plan to make more videos on characters in the future!
The worst thing I did for my character was makeing it a self insert, and because of that, I slowly came to terms with the fact that I had to develop an interesting character.
You're absolutely right. Self-insert characters are definitely to be avoided. A lot of writers don't realize that among other problems that also makes it very hard to give your characters interesting flaws or allow them to make mistakes. It's a common mistake but it's wonderful that you figured out that problem yourself! There's so much more possibility for your characters now! Thank you for watching and happy writing!
Thank you so much for the breakdown on creating interesting characters. I recently discovered your channel, and I love it. Please keep the videos coming!
I was looking forward for your next video. Your approach is the most interesting and genuine I came across and the way you present it is of a very pleasant kind of soft. Once again, thank you.
A little adjacent to story writing, but I feel like this approach would work fantastically for creating characters for tabletop roleplay games, like D&D, for example. Especially that reminder that flaws stem from an extreme of a giving trait. In many of these games, character creations is a bit of a grab bag of behaviours, backstory etc, and the challenge is in finding a consistent character that justifies all of those random elements, which often leads to overly complicated (not complex) characters. It starts with the branches and asks you to draw the tree. But the idea of saying to players "Come up with three core traits for your character, and another pick another that maybe seems a little contradictory. Now pick one of those four traits and push it to the extreme to find your flaw" not only keeps the character easy to hold in your brain whilst playing, but all parts of the character make sense and stem from those core traits, making roleplay easier still! You've made the tree, so it's easier to see what direction the branches will grow. Fabulous work, yet again.
That's a really good idea! I wouldn't have thought of using this approach in that way, but it sounds really effective! Thank you very much for watching!
I've recently gotten into fiction writing and i happened to find that the mental process i use for creating characters and arcs for them is nearly identical to the process i use at coming up for the characters of rpgs
Thanks for the advice about creativity, I needed it since I always try to come up with a fully new idea that’s never been done before, great video, you look amazing btw
yea gotta rewatch this and use some advice you gave, im not much of writer, but i get so frustrated with writing characters and i feel like i dont even know anything about writing characters or what makes the characters in media good or bad. writing is soo hard but i think i can fix the dumpster fire of a story i wrote with these types of beginners guides.
Just don't give up! Writing is often just a matter of one step at a time. Just figure out one or two traits of one character and then a few more traits. And then find the flaw. And then experiment with how this character you've created would react to your plot based on the traits you gave them. Just one step at a time. And then with practice, it all gets a little easier. Good luck with your writing!
The lady who showed up at her doorstep is a much younger version of herself, and she now understands why that old lady was so shocked and kind all those years ago...
Thank you for this comment! It means a lot to know that my videos are helping. I've got more in the works, but hopefully I can gradually get a little faster at the process, we'll see. In the meantime, thank you so much for your support!
Again, I am so happy I came across your channel ( I say again because I saw your previous video an hour ago hahaha). I really feel the way you are approaching these subjects feels compatible and helpful and natural to me and the way I would like to go about doing things, or how I even instinctively started approaching them in my amateur, hatching pre-beginner ways. Also, strange things happening out in the forest.. I was immediately hooked 😅😅
Such a lovely surprise, to wake up to one of your videos! And, I'd really love you to talk about weaknesses. I'm particularly stuck on that with my current WIP.
Thank you for mentioning that! I'd really enjoy making a video about weaknesses, I hoped it would be of interest so I'd have an excuse. Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Thank you so much! I like your approach. It's more organic and so much more fun. But, can you revisit the character development topic and explain how you'd handle characters in a historical fiction scenario?
Thank you! I'm glad you found this helpful! (and fun!) I might be misunderstanding your question, but I don't believe there is any difference in the character creation process based on genre. This simple method could be used to create a Han Dynasty warrior, a Regency England noblewoman, an alien child from the planet Neptune, an old rusty robot, or a guy living in a Midwestern farming town in 2024. The only limit is your imagination and what your story needs specifically. If you need characters that fit into an historical setting, you might need to do a little research about the time period, but ultimately the method will remain the same. I hope that helps answer your question. Thanks for watching!
Thank you! I'm glad the process was helpful, and thanks for letting me know it helped you. I'm never completely sure what will help and what won't. Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Hearing you mention Mei Changsu completely caught me off-guard! It's so rare for me to see examples from media less popular over here in the west. Consider me subscribed!
I couldn't help myself, really. Nirvana In Fire is a big favorite of mine. I'm always looking for a way to work it into a conversation. There's so much incredible storytelling in China (and South Korea and Japan and...!), and I'll follow good storytelling anywhere. I hope more people come to discover the wonderful stories that are out there (starting with Nirvana In Fire, of course). Thank you for watching, and for your support!
@@The-Second-Story It was so refreshing to see. I'm the same. Eveyone says "read widely" and then only list off western stories as examples in their videos, it was great to see someone actually "reading" widely.
Thank you! I very much look forward to making more videos about characters, especially character arcs. That's very high on my video list! Thank you so much for watching!
I was just looking at your channel the other day, wondering if there's any new content. I'll definitely do a rewatch and take notes, although I liked the style of your last video more. Looking forward to future videos. Thanks for sharing! 🌼
Ive been trying to finish a story...any story...for about 12 years, so I consumed hundreds of hours of how-to's, books, podcasts, and more. This has left me so paralyzed by indecision that I haven't been able to write ANYTHING for over a year.
After watching several of your videos, I'm starting to feel like the Tin Man after Dorothy gives him some oil.
Thank you. Please keep them coming.
Friend, I don't know if this will help you, but:
No work is ever wasted. Even if you publish a "bad story", it will help you. You will learn, you will improve. Rome wasn't built in a single day, and the same goes for a pristine story, and I'm sure it will take me several books to come to a level with which I'm satisfied. I'm very young, writing my first book, but at this point I've grown to realize that failure does not matter. I will not stop writing.
If you fail, but keep going, you will ultimately never have failed.
I wish and pray you well on your writing process, I'm sure you will overcome your obstacles.
That’s great to hear I’m glad for you. These videos are helping me too :)
But yea, I'm mainly replying here because I’m a Christian and wanted to share the gospel with you! Please consider the Gospel message.
To anyone reading this, there is a loving God who wants to save you. And because He loves us, He (Jesus) died on the cross and resurrected 3 days later so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Repent and believe the Gospel! Please consider the state of your soul and don't let this chance pass you by. Believe in Jesus and follow Him so you can have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today before its too late. Jesus loves you.
I love how you take an anti-formulaic approach to writing. It’s exactly the opposite of what you tube is full of. No recipe, no “five steps to creating the perfect life”, just solid exposition of the ingredients.
Formulas, in my opinion, are a fast way to kill the creative process. I prefer to build my own story structure. I genuinely believe that that's the best way to approach storytelling. Thank you for watching!
This exactly!
This is now the second time in a row you've gotten me unstuck in my writing.
This channel is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Genuine, honest and intelligent advice about the creative process and not just “Top 10 tips for…” with a load a character sheets and formulaic resources. This is the most useful channel I’ve come across in about 4 years of attempting to write a first draft.
Agree!
Not only are you videos extremely helpful and educational, but also really fun to watch. You have officially joined the club of youtube channels that I specifically search for by name.
That's really wonderful to hear! I have a lot of fun talking about these topics, so it's nice to know that my videos are fun to watch, as well. Thank you for taking the time to tell me! I'm glad my channel has been able to help you! Thank you for your support!
I had never liked my characters, so I started working on a new character creation system recently, and it turns out it's a lot like this, just somewhat simplified so far.
One thing I'd add about consistency is that it's important for character arcs. If a character is consistently inconsistent, the character arc can look like simply some more inconsistency.
That's an excellent point, I completely agree! You have to have a very consistent image of your character in order to plan a development arc using their traits, etc. And that consistency helps the audience maintain a clear idea of the character so they can see and appreciate the character's growth or evolution along that development arc.
Thank you for watching!
if you were a professor I'd sit in the front row pen in hand!!! OMG! I can feel your enthusiasm for the topic through the screen and it makes all of the difference.
Enthusiasm might be putting it too mildly... I'm a little obsessed with stories and storytelling! I'm glad my videos have been helping you so much! If I was a professor, I'd love having a student as enthusiastic as I am! Thank you for watching!
I'll never tire of the different ways people internalise and produce tools, heuristics and principles around writing. Hope to see some more stuff which challenges how I think and hopefully be able to relay it to other people who find it useful!
As with your video on plot, your dry humor and nuanced sarcasm won me over. I laughed and learned. Liked and subscribed! Don’t stop.
Visited for the title, stayed for the content, subscribed for the relatable coffee addiction, and became a Patreon because of the exasperated sighs. Keep up the brilliant work and delightful delivery!
Welcome, fellow coffee addict! And thank you very much for your support, it is very encouraging!
I’m an artist, not a writer, but this really helped me understand general character development! I’ve always been jealous of my peers when it came to characters because I’ve personally never made one but this gave me a little more hope to getting to my first Original Character : )
There's so much storytelling involved in art, especially when it comes to characters! I'm glad my video could help you with your first character. Hopefully the first of many! Thank you for watching!
What a brilliant approach to character development / creation. I’m especially fond of the personalized interview, already seeing two different versions of Hellen; One who’d prefer her roof to be over dealing with a stranger coming by her house in the forest, and one with the opposite dispositions - And I already kind of love them both, because those simple dispositions says so much so simply about a ‘person’ in s very humane way!
Thanks!
Thank you! I'm glad this method was so inspiring! It is really interesting (and fun!) to make little tweaks to character traits and watch fascinating new people come about. Thank you for watching!
The clarity. I really appreciate the clarity and conciseness of your topics.
It makes things so much easier to absorb.
Not me leaping for joy as soon as I saw you uploaded a new video (I mean i was sitting down but i did 'whoop whoop' in my head👀)
No one can be expected to do any leaping on a Friday!
Thank you for watching! And for your support!
Character creation has always been a bit of a difficult subject for me, but you explained it in a digestible way and broke it down into actionable steps that I'm going to be using as a template for all my characters. Thanks for the awesome content!
I'm so glad that my video was so helpful to you! I wish you the best of luck in your future character creation. And thank you so much for your support! Happy writing!
I'd love to hear more about character arcs, and how those would be weaved into the pacing/plot you talked about previously.
Also, great videos, they're quite different from other videos of this kind that are out there.
Yes I very much look forward to making a video about character arcs... Or videos, honestly. There's so much to explore there!
Thank you so much for watching! And for your support!
It's insane how much basic knowledge and how many important hints and spins on seemingly straighforward premises of character creation you managed to fit into a mere half-hour video. I've watched my fair share of writing advice videos, but your concise and logical way of putting things is something I've rarely seen elsewhere. I especially like your organic approach to creating characters, i.e. paying attention to the interplay of various traits and how strengths and weaknesses derive from one another, as well as your advice not to simply run down a checklist of non-relevant questions. For a beginner, this is a goldmine, but even experienced writers will glean something from this. Thank you for sharing, I'm looking forward to any future videos you might make!
Thank you very much for this comment! It means so much to me to know that my videos can be of help to other writers. I've always loved creating characters because the process was so organic and interesting. I hoped sharing that process with others would spread that enjoyment.
Thank you again for your support, it means a lot!
TQ for being an independent thinker - you are an oasis in the desert of writing coaches~~~
I have never seen anyone explain character creation in such a digestible way GOSH THANK YOUUUU!!! this helped so incredibly much
I don’t know if it’s the colors or the lighting but you just look like a well done character design. I don’t really know how to put it into words but for whatever reason your appearance stood out to me in a “these colors are nice” kinda way. I think it’s a combo of the lighting and the different whites contrasting with red hair.
Dunno it’s not something I’ve ever seen before on a real person but the feeling was immediate.
I always try to write characters as real people, but I think I also see most real people as characters filling a particular narrative. It's frustrating. Your video made me feel sorta valid. Thanks. Might go start a cult now.
this is too real
Jesus Christ calls that "The Book of Life."
@@bobhart6656cults are creepy harmful offshoots of Christianity. Christ is Lord✝️❤️
Lovely to see you back.
This is S-tier advice. I've seen a lot of creators, and it's a rare few who stand out as exemplary like this. Really looking forward to seeing more content.
And you know what? It's for the same reasons that you've outlined. It's deep and insightful, but also tinged with the color of your own identity.
Although I'm looking forward to whatever you make next I know that that's an utterly unhelpful suggestion. I'd take anything in regards to characters, especially the relationship between characters and the self. I feel like my own identity is rather multitudinous, and as I attempt to express myself through characters I realize that there's still much that I don't understand about myself. It's a very interesting study, but not at all conducive to getting writing done.
Thank you very much for your support and your kind words! I hope to be able to continue making helpful videos.
What you've said about character and self is very interesting. I remember examining this link myself along my writing journey. At the time, as an experiment, I wrote a kind of prose poetry faux journal. The situation was fictional, the life was fictional, but the "I" writing the journal was meant to be me. And the aim was to examine myself and come to understand myself better. I, myself personally, wanted to avoid making the characters in my regular stories into too much of an examination or expression of self as I've found that this can limit my creative decision making. So I let this exercise be entirely that. I spent about two years writing this and I learned a lot about myself and about how to convey emotional identity with literary economy. It was also an excellent writing exercise as I forced myself to do at least one entry a week and focused a lot on my actual writing. I also saw my skill improve as I went along, both in terms of understanding myself -- and therefore other characters -- and in terms of my prose.
I do intend to do a lot of videos in the future on characters, but I thought this suggestion might be helpful food for thought for you. Perhaps you could give it a try, if you're so inclined. Maybe it will be as helpful for you and is it was for me.
Thank you again, and happy writing!
I feel like I've learned more from this video about writing than I have the past 3 years of reading about writing 😂 It's because you're good!!!
I seriously love your videos, super helpful advice, especially enjoyed the one about the first draft. Just wanted to react to your line here "Write the character the way you want to, the only expectations you should be considering are yours." That's actually exactly what I am currently doing. I love love love crime fiction / mysteries but contemporary crime literature is straight-up trash. Terribly written naval gazy struggle sessions and lazy plots, or a plot twist you can see coming from at least midway through. So I decided to write a good one that I would want to read. It is actually insane that people want to force mysteries into formulas when the point of the story literally is the unpredictable outcome. (I might fail miserably but at least I'll know I gave it a shot.)
I’m around 5 minutes in and while I find you interesting to listen to, I do feel like it was a lot of what NOT to do and I almost clicked away. I felt a little overwhelmed, taking it in but not being able to imagine what the process might look like.
As a complete beginner, I actually haven’t come across much of what you mentioned (questionnaires, interviews, archetypes).
Just general feedback as a complete beginner so please don’t take me too seriously, I just look forward to seeing more of your valuable content. I felt your confidence and ability to explain conflicting concepts makes you stand out amongst the few videos I have seen. Thank you for sharing!
I had the same thoughts. I value the nots but that wasn’t what I wanted first when i clicked the video based on the title
10:11 I litterally shouted a joyful "OOOOOOH" In this section, it makes so much sense. You have my thanks
I love those AHA moments so much! I'm really glad my video had helpful information for you, thank you for taking the time to tell me in a comment, it really means a lot! Thank you for watching, and for your support! Happy writing!
I have been enjoying watching this channel grow and learning about storytelling in a more intuitive and appealing way because of your perspective and passion. A future video about story concepts would be interesting. Not necessarily the dreaded “where do you get your story ideas” but more along the lines of what elements of an idea or combination of elements help you feel like you have a strong enough concept to move forward, how you choose situations to put characters in that make sense or how you take your inspirations and actually turn them into a story. I’m always fascinated when writers talk about the more abstract conceptual part of taking ideas and turning it solid. Thanks for all the great work you’re doing on this channel!
Thank you very much for your support! It has been a very surprising adventure and all the support has been very encouraging, so thank you so much!
I have been wondering for a little while if there was a way to do a video like that, something about how to find stories and how to build them from small seeds of ideas. I do think that every writer does that in a different way, but I've been wondering if it would be helpful to try to explain my own personal way. Thank you very much for the suggestion. And again, thank you so much for your encouraging words and for your support!
About the "expectations" in the "creativity" section: That advice isn't about making industry slop, but to meet expectations people have in certain genres. A better word would be "promises". A massive part writers ignore is actually delivering the goods for why the reader is reading the book. If you a writing a mystery and you don't deliver a mystery, you have failed to meet expectations. It's so super simple and obvious that you'd think that doesn't need to be said, but clearly these editors and publishers have seen A LOT of people try to release in romance with no satisfying romance that hits the marks of romance people want in order for the story to be satisfying. This still leaves a lot of room for creativity as these "marks" are typically just general themes.
And the reason publishers and editors give this advice is that releasing a book in a genre increases your odds at success tenfold. Readers already know what they're looking for and probably have read extensively in that genre. So seeing a new release might be a must-pick for some. Compare this to you releasing in a more generic genre like "suspense" a book that kinda has romance and mystery, the likelihood of readers ever picking your book are narrow.
Anyways: What I've found out is that you shouldn't start with a formula/archetype/trope, but you will eventually end up in one. Now this can either be bad or good, but if I just kept writing out the basics for the character and some scenes, an archetype starts to form. It won't be 1 simple one (hero), but a more precisise and descriptive (unwilling despodent hero). Now these formulas work as good sign posts of "what people expect". This allows for subersion of those expectations, but also delivering on the promises. then tropes or traits were not delivered. These "formulas" help you hone in on those 3 Cs you mentioned from all the other colours of your character. Complexity probably comes from the contradictions your non-simple archetype offers. Creativity doesn't come from the archetype, but what situations you choose to put them in and how they deal with them, how they deal with people. And of course, these archetypes and tropes ensure consistency as you always have a lot of material and examples of them. You can keep them on the path, next to it, or completely away in the forest, but still going in the same direction.
This is exactly what I needed! I would love a series on all character related aspects. It is my favorite part as well.
I hope to make many videos on characters! As long as there's interest, I'll make them. It's such a rich topic!
Love your videos, thank you for posting. I’ve been having doubts about some of my characters and this video has helped settle those doubts. I didn’t follow character formulas, they just came alive as I was writing them. I only found out who these characters were towards the end of my novel 🤩
Thank you! It sounds like you had a good handle on it. Though it does help sometimes to hear someone else reinforce what you already know. I'm glad I could help!
Thank you for watching! Good luck with your writing!
I’m an aspiring short film creator and the channel has been so educational and inspirational. Thank you!
I really like your approach and advice for character creation. I tend to struggle with figuring out what I want to do with my characters and what traits they should have. So, having this informative yet concise video is extremely helpful to develop a more guided and focused creation process. Thank you for your unique perspective on all this.
That's wonderful! I'm so glad my video could help you with your characters! Good luck with your writing and thank you for watching!
A video about Character development and Character arcs would be incredible!
I'm very much looking forward to making multiple videos on both topics in the future, hopefully soon! Thank you for watching!
This is the kind of video that you have to watch (and want to watch) multiple times to fully assimilate all the concepts (oh look, another C) presented. Your style is so soothing and your editing and humor make watching very enjoyable. Congrats on gaining such momentum with the channel so quickly!
(And Yes to homework opinions, and Yes to video topic polls!)
Thank you so much for your support and your kind words! I'm really glad that my video could help you. And thank you for the taking the time to provide your thoughts on the homework and polls! It really helps!
Happy writing!
refreshing video. I'm working on finishing up this horror screenplay and I already have all of the characters thought up and the plot and their relationships with eachother, so I went to youtube to find writing videos to help inspire me with fleshing these characters out. SO MANY TIMES I would just get told about archetypes and since I already made the foundation of my characters, and since the screenplay story is a bit new, the hero or villian archetype just didnt fit so it felt like i was on my own. This channel seems to be a great resource for creatives. thank you much for sharing!
the bit about generating a flaw by taking one of their traits to the extreme is very neat
Thank you, I'm glad it could help! Good luck with your screenplay and thank you for watching!
The material you covered was as engaging as it was thoughtful, so grateful that you shared . Sharing is caring! So Please keep Sharing. Thanks!!
Just watched your Plot video. You're a breath of fresh air from the framework tutorials. A lot of creative is about strong sense of direction and allowing options which your videos reflect really well. I'm looking forward to watching your videos. Newly Subbed❤😊
Thank you so much for your support! I'm glad my videos have been able to resonate with you. Thank you for watching!
I swear both of the videos of yours I’ve watched are more informative than college classes and hours of videos. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I'm so glad they've been that helpful! I hope I can continue making helpful videos. I certainly love the subject. Thank you for watching!
You’re a genius! Thank you so much for taking this mountain I’ve been facing and turning into a mole hill. The way you explain concepts comes across so simple and easy to digest!
I'm glad this could help you so much! Good luck with your writing! And thank you for watching!
Your video guided me so easily to create the perfect flaw for my characters.
Great idea about emphasising a positive to be a negative. An idea for a video I'd like is how to write emotions of my characters without repeating the same thing over and over. Great video
I'm no writer, but coming up with stories and imaginary people makes me want to draw. It helps a lot with ideas in front of the blank page. I took a long art break, but the creative impulses have been back for a few months now. The itch to come up with a new character has been creeping up on me. So truly, this video had perfect timing and RUclips algorithm didn't mess this one up.
Ah I so envy the ability to draw character designs! I've been trying to teach myself to draw in my free time so I can draw my own characters, just for myself. I've often heard that there's a lot of narrative and storytelling involved in planning a drawing, no matter how simple. It's wonderful to hear that my video could somehow help with that. Good luck character creating! And drawing (so envious)!
Thank you for watching!
New to your channel and I think within the first 7 minutes you had me smiling and laughing! I especially enjoyed the sighs at character archetypes, I’m not a fan of them either.
Brilliant video and certainly cleared up my questions on character creation, thank you.
If this can help anyone, I usually start by defining a "core node of tension" for my characters (I approach it from the angle of the game master and live action roleplayer, so my necessity is specific, keep in mind) or, in other words, what contrast do I want them to tackle. That's *always* a question.
- How does the every man cope with being summoned to a gathering of heroes and given responsibility?
- Where does the mask end and the person begins?
- Where is the line between an act of beneficial rebellion and one of selfishness?
- What is the price of "Beware an old man in a profession that kills them young"?
And so on. Note, all of them I have actually used in real play characters xD quite fun ones to play, too!
When I know that core tension node, I then build their take on that contrast (whether they are aware of it or not), find an event or sequence of events that led them to having that take and then Yeet them into the world to interact with other characters and see what happens.
Your videos are refreshing. I find your way of talking about story resonates with how I naturally write. Although some of the other ways as you touched on briefly are helpful in a way, they seem confining and predictable. This is the 2nd video of yours I've watched and I will def be watching more.
Thank you for another insightful video! You're one of the few channels that I actually come away with the fee feeling I learned something and a drive to try it out, rather the than empty advice with no guidance for application.
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad my videos can help you, that's an incredible feeling. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Good luck with your writing, and thank you for watching!
Hands down one of the best character videos I've ever seen. Very succinct, and very correct. Everything I've seen with very few exceptions peddles these cookie cutter, card board cut outs of similar character after similar character.
This video and your channel is wonderful! I am particularly fond of your editing.
I take part in a recreation of Titanic's voyage every year and creating a fully fleshed out character for it is always a struggle for me. I would love to see videos about character development, character arcs and good dialogue!
Thank you! That sounds incredible! I've never heard of such a thing, what a delightful challenge! Those topics are very important to me, as well. They are very high on my list. It's wonderful to know that others would also be interested in talking about them!
Good luck with your character creation this year, I hope it goes well! Thank you for watching!
Another knock out! I look forward to more of your videos.
So... when I put on my self-evaluation form “too awesome” as a flaw, it wasn't actually a joke?
I love these style of videos, breaking down concepts to make a character are always great. What would be cool is if your video uploads “follow” the creation of a story and characters leading up to a finished story. They are amazing either way, and I love how eloquent you are, it makes the video thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, thank you so much.🙏
That would be such a fun series of videos, what a great suggestion! Now I want to find a way to do that... Thank you very much for this comment, and thank you for watching!
This was so amazingly helpful, thank you so much! With both this video and the previous one, I feel like my third eye is slowly opening lol. I’ve always wondered why I found those typical plot and character formulas so frustrating and crushing. Anything I tried created with them was always so flat and dead, and it always felt like pulling teeth. I thought something was fundamentally wrong with me, like I was just never ment to create. But using the things you’ve said has really unlocked it and now I’m actually beginning to create something that works, that’s functional, and also fills me with life. Every connection I make with my characters and the story, it slowly piecing together. I’m so happy. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It means the world to me that my videos could help bring you back to writing. I remember going through that same struggle, being unsure whether or not I "had what it takes" to be a writer. Everything that seemed to be innate knowledge to other writers eluded me completely and I could never make sense of their somewhat abstract, esoteric attempts to explain. I once heard a writing teacher say that the way you can tell if someone is a writer is that they write. If you love stories, then you can create them. Anyone can learn to do anything. I wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors.
And thank you for watching!
Thank You so much this makes so much more sense as a practical approach to building characters than everything else I’ve heard and read!
I use the basic humors to map the temperament of the character, so the laid-back, reliable and calm character is phlegmatic. The sanguine (blooded) character is fun loving, sociable and has qualities of leadership. There's just four simple temperaments so it's just a word or two in the notes.
The personality modifies or showcases the temperament imo, or at least give us a chance to do so. So I'll jot down something like "boring good", "deadpan dnarker", "control freak" or "big fun". Basically translated: Luke Skywalker, Daria, Prospero and Ray from Ghostbusters.
The function of the character is worth considering too:" the Lancer" is a foil to the hero, so Luke and Han Solo or Cyclops & Wolverine. Or sat "the big guy" who is a gentle giant or "quiet stud" like Chewbacca or Pantero. They're usually a "fix it guy" too.
"The funny guy" ("funny? Funny how? Ha-ha!") or "the smart guy" like Spock and they bring technical expertise.
There are secondary functions as well, like "the heart", ""the face", "the cunning linguist/communicator", "the medic" and "the engineer". So your "old guy" function of the grizzled veteran or mentor who comes along for the ride could also be the cunning linguist or "the medic".
I am coming from the realm of D&D or table top games, but my current project is "game books" or "choose your own adventure" books. So I'm not as interested in "hitting those marks and selling those lines" as a serious writer might be. "Keep it simple stupid" is my thing, but I love literature and reading.
Two cents nobody asked for and fwiw. Thanks for the fine video production.
Happy to see you keep uploading videos, please keep it up, we're all really greatful
I'm expecting to see that whole list of ideas in videos because you're one of the greatest youtubers to have tackled storytelling on this platform
Please keep this up. I find your videos among the best I've come across. Your previous video, as well as this one, opened up a whole lot of potential and possibilities for my fantasy story. I particularly thought the advice on characters' flaws was brilliant. Once you explained that, I instantly came up with much better flaws for my main heroes. The multiple mini-arcs advice also helped a lot, and it makes the writing/story more complicated, but more manageable at the same time. Definitely more interesting too. In short, your approach/advice feels out of the box, but at the same time it makes so much sense
Thank you very much for this comment! It really does mean a lot to me to know that my videos are helping other writers.
That's one of the things I really like about the approach of mini-arcs. I feel like I can create something a little more complex but that I've got a strategy to plan it well. I'm glad the note about flaws was helpful. When I realized that myself, I found that it made defining and understanding my characters so much easier.
Thank you again for watching! Good luck with your story, and happy writing!
This and the last video have been truly remarkable. Wonderfully explained.
I would love to see a video on character weaknesses/disabilities and how to work them into a story. Your videos are so insightful and clever. Thank you for giving examples to your points, it’s easy to get a feel for the process!
I would love to make such a video, so it's wonderful to know that there would be some interest! I will definitely add it to the list now. Thank you!
Best video so far. I’ve watched it twice.
I'm glad you've found it so helpful! Thank you for your support!
Enjoyed the practical approach to the process, trying to steer folks away from the swamp of gimmicks out there. Nicely presented. I also had a look at your catalog and will be checking out more of your posts. Liked and subscribed - welcome to my recommendation list (for what that's worth)!
Thank you very much for your support. It means a great deal! And thank you for watching!
thank you. Just keep it going!!!Huge help
Thank you, I'm glad it was helpful! I'm almost done with the next video. Your comment is very encouraging, thank you again!
Great content, please keep it going. Character arc for sure.
1:22 please do them all! 😅
That's certainly the plan!
Thanks for watching!
i agree, please do, your video was very comprehensible and enjoyable, i would look forward to more!
This is an amazing video. It really opened my eyes to a different way of writing characters.
I often don't do this much planning, before the writing starts, for the characters. I often have the characters conform to the story I'm trying to tell. I consider them a part of the plot, which is an artefact of the way i see a good story, abd why i focus a lot on character development (in the sense you didn't cover here). The character development serves as the driving force of the plot. The character is only a tool to tell the story i intend to tell.
The channel, Local Script Man talks about it a lot better than i do. The character while supposed to feel real, are in the end characters, and fake and as such can and should be made to serve the story you're trying to tell. Some traits aren't necessary because you don't really see it in the story you're trying to tell.
But awesome video. I loved it.
This is a great explanation. Thanks! ❤
That was really interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humour. Thank you.
I like your voice. It's so soothing.
Another banger! You've made 35 minutes feel like five!
Character sheets and archetypes always clashed against my artistic sensibilities. Also the bit about only reading in your genre and following industry standard. All that advice is given with good intent, but it only served to make me feel like some literary orphan if that makes sense. Unkept and ill-mannered. But how did all those archetypes and formulas come to be without experimentation? Your advice makes so much more sense. Again, thank you so much for putting it so succinctly and giving form to arbitrary concepts! This story and the one from your previous video were actually compelling enough to make me want to read them, lol.
I'll be working on that homework now! :)
I agree, I think people are genuinely trying to be helpful when they provide that advice. And in their defense, I think a lot of the big industry literary agents have to approach the job like managers of product development. But I'm like you, it made me feel very out of place. My problem was that I didn't particularly like a lot of the books in my target genre and was, in fact, writing largely because I wanted to "write the book I wanted to read" and all that. I confess I spent some time wondering if I was properly suited for this whole writing thing. Luckily I made it through that phase.
Good luck on your homework! I hope it helps. And thank you for watching!
@@The-Second-Story Yes! I'm glad you pushed through it, because even from what little I've seen, you seem very skilled at storytelling.
You have a knack for making complex topics easy to digest. Also the video has great aesthetics.
Your videos are awesome ma'am. Thanks a lot for making such eye opening videos. Please make a detailed video on the development of characters or character arcs.
Thank you, and thank you for the support! I intend to. Characters arcs and characters in general are definitely going to be the subject of more than one video in the future. (Hopefully the near future!)
@@The-Second-Story thanks ma'am
I subscribed to your channel because of the last video - it’s was incredibly insightful for my own narrative. Can’t wait to see what this one has to offer
Thank you very much for your support! I hope there's something in it that can be helpful to you!
This was so awesome. I have a main character I have been struggling with far a while now because she didn't seem realistic(she's a fae but you know what I mean). There was something missing. I'm definitely going to take what I have and put her through this process
This is by far one of the most helpful videos I’ve seen about character creation (shoutout scrivner mentioned lol)
I am so looking forward to more character focused vids
Scrivener is pretty incredible, definitely. I'm not sure what I'd do without it. And thank you! I'm glad it could help you! I definitely plan to make more videos on characters in the future!
I like the 'nitwit' from your example. Main character of fantasy book im writing came from a life of goat herding. ❤
Oh! Perhaps they're distant cousins?
The worst thing I did for my character was makeing it a self insert, and because of that, I slowly came to terms with the fact that I had to develop an interesting character.
You're absolutely right. Self-insert characters are definitely to be avoided. A lot of writers don't realize that among other problems that also makes it very hard to give your characters interesting flaws or allow them to make mistakes. It's a common mistake but it's wonderful that you figured out that problem yourself! There's so much more possibility for your characters now!
Thank you for watching and happy writing!
Thank you so much for the breakdown on creating interesting characters. I recently discovered your channel, and I love it. Please keep the videos coming!
I was looking forward for your next video. Your approach is the most interesting and genuine I came across and the way you present it is of a very pleasant kind of soft.
Once again, thank you.
A little adjacent to story writing, but I feel like this approach would work fantastically for creating characters for tabletop roleplay games, like D&D, for example. Especially that reminder that flaws stem from an extreme of a giving trait. In many of these games, character creations is a bit of a grab bag of behaviours, backstory etc, and the challenge is in finding a consistent character that justifies all of those random elements, which often leads to overly complicated (not complex) characters. It starts with the branches and asks you to draw the tree.
But the idea of saying to players "Come up with three core traits for your character, and another pick another that maybe seems a little contradictory. Now pick one of those four traits and push it to the extreme to find your flaw" not only keeps the character easy to hold in your brain whilst playing, but all parts of the character make sense and stem from those core traits, making roleplay easier still! You've made the tree, so it's easier to see what direction the branches will grow.
Fabulous work, yet again.
That's a really good idea! I wouldn't have thought of using this approach in that way, but it sounds really effective!
Thank you very much for watching!
I've recently gotten into fiction writing and i happened to find that the mental process i use for creating characters and arcs for them is nearly identical to the process i use at coming up for the characters of rpgs
Probably the best video I’ve seen on character creation. Awesome! 👏
Yes...please. Please make all those videos on that list. 🙏
That is definitely the plan! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the advice about creativity, I needed it since I always try to come up with a fully new idea that’s never been done before, great video, you look amazing btw
Love the practical example in the second half of the video, helps take all those ideas and advice and make them more physical.
Thank you, that's very helpful to know! Examples are very helpful to me, but I wasn't really sure about it.
Thank you for watching!
Great video with good practical advice.
This channel is the whole package?
yea gotta rewatch this and use some advice you gave, im not much of writer, but i get so frustrated with writing characters and i feel like i dont even know anything about writing characters or what makes the characters in media good or bad. writing is soo hard but i think i can fix the dumpster fire of a story i wrote with these types of beginners guides.
Just don't give up! Writing is often just a matter of one step at a time. Just figure out one or two traits of one character and then a few more traits. And then find the flaw. And then experiment with how this character you've created would react to your plot based on the traits you gave them. Just one step at a time. And then with practice, it all gets a little easier. Good luck with your writing!
The lady who showed up at her doorstep is a much younger version of herself, and she now understands why that old lady was so shocked and kind all those years ago...
I *Love* it!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Keep these videos coming please, I've learnt so much in only two videos, thank you :)
Thank you for this comment! It means a lot to know that my videos are helping. I've got more in the works, but hopefully I can gradually get a little faster at the process, we'll see. In the meantime, thank you so much for your support!
Again, I am so happy I came across your channel ( I say again because I saw your previous video an hour ago hahaha). I really feel the way you are approaching these subjects feels compatible and helpful and natural to me and the way I would like to go about doing things, or how I even instinctively started approaching them in my amateur, hatching pre-beginner ways.
Also, strange things happening out in the forest.. I was immediately hooked 😅😅
Such a lovely surprise, to wake up to one of your videos! And, I'd really love you to talk about weaknesses. I'm particularly stuck on that with my current WIP.
Thank you for mentioning that! I'd really enjoy making a video about weaknesses, I hoped it would be of interest so I'd have an excuse.
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Thank you so much! I like your approach. It's more organic and so much more fun. But, can you revisit the character development topic and explain how you'd handle characters in a historical fiction scenario?
Thank you! I'm glad you found this helpful! (and fun!)
I might be misunderstanding your question, but I don't believe there is any difference in the character creation process based on genre. This simple method could be used to create a Han Dynasty warrior, a Regency England noblewoman, an alien child from the planet Neptune, an old rusty robot, or a guy living in a Midwestern farming town in 2024. The only limit is your imagination and what your story needs specifically. If you need characters that fit into an historical setting, you might need to do a little research about the time period, but ultimately the method will remain the same. I hope that helps answer your question. Thanks for watching!
Not getting escorted by security 😭🤣 I just found your channel! 😊 this is the first time I heard about this process. Thank you!!
So helpful, thank you!! :) 💗
I really like your videos. It gives such a different perspective while looking at the same problem.
Watched this one 3x, thank you! Great tips and suggestions. Love seeing the process, it helps me understand how I can apply it to my own.
Thank you! I'm glad the process was helpful, and thanks for letting me know it helped you. I'm never completely sure what will help and what won't.
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Hearing you mention Mei Changsu completely caught me off-guard! It's so rare for me to see examples from media less popular over here in the west. Consider me subscribed!
I couldn't help myself, really. Nirvana In Fire is a big favorite of mine. I'm always looking for a way to work it into a conversation. There's so much incredible storytelling in China (and South Korea and Japan and...!), and I'll follow good storytelling anywhere. I hope more people come to discover the wonderful stories that are out there (starting with Nirvana In Fire, of course).
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
@@The-Second-Story It was so refreshing to see. I'm the same.
Eveyone says "read widely" and then only list off western stories as examples in their videos, it was great to see someone actually "reading" widely.
Great video!!!! Thank you! Would love to see more content related to character creation and arc. Keep up the great content.
Thank you! I very much look forward to making more videos about characters, especially character arcs. That's very high on my video list! Thank you so much for watching!
Another great video! A lot to think about in this one!
I was just looking at your channel the other day, wondering if there's any new content. I'll definitely do a rewatch and take notes, although I liked the style of your last video more. Looking forward to future videos. Thanks for sharing! 🌼