@monolithichashies7477
The "show don't tell" criticism usually comes up because writers have characters say something about a character instead of showing it naturally. I haven't seen anyone use show don't tell to argue against good dialogue. Rather it's a critique of lazy writers who can't think of a natural way to characterize so instead resort to telling the audience something directly, usually through awkward dialogue instead of showing the audience and letting them infer a quality. For example, if you're establishing the charisma of a thief character, telling would be equivalent to having two characters talk and say "oh man, thief character is so charismatic I bet he could sweet talk his way out of a bear trap" and showing would be writing a scene where the charismatic thief talks his way out of a sticky situation. See you can use dialogue to show, the criticism is targeted at lazy writing where you just say characters have all these traits and never actually behave like a character with that trait.
@NgaMarsters
That "it's not about the audience" hit me so hard. I legit have been working cosmic horror western concept for about five years. And I'm just too scared to actually show anyone. All the art, character descriptions/bios are all tucked away neatly in a little folder just waiting to one day be opened.
@ariarrini
honestly, fanfiction and fanfiction tropes work because the character already exist in a plot. You go into a fanfiction already knowing everything you need to know about this character's personality therefore, the storytelling surely does gets affected by that. You are not building anything from the start its solely for the excitement of imagining this character (which you are already attached to) in very different escenarios, playing with that, with cliches, with the original plot, doing little change, solely bc you are a fan of this character and bc its fun
@kenobean
9:45 i think show don't tell isn't about having less dialogue, it's about having better dialogue. Effective use of subtext and characterization in dialogue is essential when telling a good story.
@vesey986
12 Angry Men is a timeless example of the “words are action” mantra
@lazy_biscuits08
The second one is soo real. I've never been able to create "OCs". The only way I can ever create a character have atleast a premise tied to them. This is even more important to me as an artist. I want to tell why my character looks so funky by adding a funky background with lots of things going on. Maybe they love chaos. Maybe this character is a messy artist like me. The point is a character is incomplete without even a hint of story to them.
@mikegonz040
I’m 16. Earlier today, I sat down with a black document, trying to find the purpose of my story. You’re very well-spoken, and this helped me a lot, on finding the right direction. I hope you don’t quit YouTube. I’ve already watched most of your videos and I want more. Thank you.
@Srioll
I love how the "How to make a character's death sadder" post image (7:24) starts off with "Don't let them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life" and yet the character I cried most over when he died, was Hazel from Watership Down (I cried when my dad read it to me aged 8, and I cried even more when I read it again aged 27). Goals all fulfilled, long life, all that. But it was the saddest death I have ever read still...
@paddyq3235
I feel like every video of yours that I watch changes my perspective on my own writing. I've been in the process of writing a book for years but I feel like your videos have fundamentally changed my perspective on my story and characters and the process in which I create them. So long story short, thank you, your work is incredible and I really hope you know how meaningful it has been and I am extremely excited to see everything else you create.
@didelphidae5228
Creating characters based on a narrative which then produces conflict is completely revolutionary for Me. I'm a "casual" writer and have messed around with a few different ideas, but I have always tried to produce characters to fit into a story rather than characters which fit into a narrative. It all comes together now.
@justthereed5593
Every video you make is fantastic. As a fanfiction writer, who tries to avoid what you criticize, thank you.
@brobruh7850
2:30 something my art teacher said something that really stuck with me “it doesn’t need to be realistic, it just needs to be believable.” And I think that applies to writing as well, your characters and their reactions just need to be something you could see happening in real life, even if it is absurd.
@indiecrowarts
“What do you think a plot is? A pinball machine you can throw your fully developed character into?!” This line had me cackling and absolutely tore my own script to shreds because I’m doing exactly that and I needed the wake up call. You’ve pulled one more writer out of their own bs and I can’t wait to go burn my current layout (which at this point is just a string of scenes to develop my character’s development arc without the world being attached to them) and actually do some world building. This series is awesome and I’m binging all your videos today
@wyldetimesreviews
The latter half of your "Purpose Before Personality" segment spoke to me on a personal level. I'm currently in the developmental stage of writing a project, and right now I haven't settled on a protagonist. I've always struggled with finding a natural protagonist and the mere idea of finding out where everyone's place in the story is and then a protagonist might emerge was really eye-opening to me.
@klaatubaradanikto2563
I can objectively predict that your Avatar video will earn the sequel $2 billion and will singlehandedly save Cameron's reputation. Well done.
@garyprimmjr7392
My biggest project suddenly changed protagonists recently. I was originally writing a story about a character’s son and how he was sent to a different dimension, but as I was outlining and organizing it, I realized that it had become a story about the father himself, his grief, and how it paralleled his best friend’s journey of grief. And then I realized that before it was a spy thriller, it was a double murder mystery, in a way. TLDR; let your characters do the work because they will as soon as you give them the space to work and the pen to do so.
@alexanderdavid9549
DONT STOP PLEASE OMFG THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHANNEL IVE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS YOUR ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVE IS EXTREMELY UNIQUE AND INFORMATIVE WHILE STILL BEING FUN AND ITS A HUGE FEAT
@Blackcatninja09
The irony of "show, don't tell" is that 80% of the people who tell you that don't "show" you what they mean. Telling and showing are both important tools that the writer needs to know how to use efficiently to move a story. You can't and shouldn't show everything because then you'll never get though the story and if you tell everything, well you just have a plot summery. Knowing when to show and when to tell is the true skill of a storyteller.
@thesunthrone
Letting characters do their thing is very important. I've written so many short outlines for chapters, only to later sit down to write them proper and have the characters just take the whole thing in a completely different direction, because with what I've established, there is absolutely zero chance they will do X or Y the way I drafted earlier. There is this spark of agency to well motivated characters that truly feels like you're breaking their legs by forcing them to do the plot - so screw the plot, let's instead see where the characters take this scene. Let them steal the story and go for a joyride, let them go wild - but also keep in mind the new consequences their actions create. This is the really fun part, because this is where the writing will surprise you, the writer. Because you didn't think about what would happen if the two quarreling siblings ended up crashing this plot of yours, and ended up causing a ripple effect across the whole story. The bad guys still keep going as planned, but now, instead of being foiled, they've gathered even more forces, and a week later they've taken over the place! And oh no, now your quarreling siblings realize it's all their fault - and all of a sudden one may deeply wish to atone, while the other falls in despair, and... you get the picture. Outlines are cool, but no artist draws with ink right away unless they really know what they're doing and are confident in it. Most just go in with pencil first, are loose with shapes, and often explore in this stage various what-ifs. And then, when it comes to the inking of the picture, they have found the image. Not everyone likes this garderner type approach and may prefer instead architect-style plot building and plot execution. Architect writing is faster, it is more efficient, it gets novels and scripts done on schedule. That's totally cool! But in my personal experience, I've found taking the time to garden your characters and plots to result in a much more captivating story. The time also gives you some distance, where I pick up some older piece of writing to edit it, then spend three hours absorbed into just reading it it because of how engaging it ends up - as a few months down the line I have already half-forgotten the details of that writing and it feels fresh again (and the errors much more obvious for editing). There are obviously still some loose plot threads to cut, and some narrative folding to do in order to really reinforce it, but with this method, there's no writers block in sight because you already have the characters, you have the situation - now you just need their reactions and followup actions to it.
@Isabelleagirlwhoeatswalls