Throughout the process, I'll be putting different templates, tools, structures and tidbits of writing advice to the unscientific test. So if this sounds like something you're interested in... hit that subscribe button and come along for the ride!
I think creating or using a solid world base is key, having a deep world lore can lead to being able to create many many stories based within this "real" world. Character creation is usually comes for me as a story to story thing, where they impact the world they exist within, so knowledge and events that happen in one story written in the world set 100 years past will impact events within another story set later down the timeline. whether it be how different groups of people treat each other and so on (just like real history which I'm a huge fan of reading about.) I think it helps to have a concise superdoc/wiki that encapsulates for the most part, the world you are going to work within to spawn many stories. Character sheets are useful for keeping track of the base character which you wish to evolve, and perhaps to keep track of where they have gone. Certain details you can always fill in later if you want to simply because certain details like eye color usually aren't the most important thing people will remember about characters in books but can help cement certain key details like scars, special relevant tattoos, perhaps relevant information can be attributed to these details to keep track of certain things like a scar given to a character by another character. (useful if you find yourself having gaps in writing and don't want to come back and lose continuity) I don't think with lore, it should be heavily pushed to the reader early even if there is a lot of lore to be had, you can supplement this by instead shifting certain exposition from dumps to organic dialogue where the reader gets clued into things going on in the world you have built from the words and actions by the characters within the world. (character is passing in a city square and a town crier is overheard detailing some issue going on in the region, the character seeks more details, and that issue becomes relevant later on, or they arrive with some details into town and ask a bartender about XYZ who overheard someone mention something, A boss giving someone an assignment telling them what they want done.) Continuity in writing is key, because if characters change description from one part of the book to another, it can break the immersion, so while the writer may know what the character looks like, describing them can help the reader understand. Useless or over-description is a problem; some authors over-describe the size of breasts, or describe skin in microscopic details. This is a trend to try and avoid as it just bloats the prose. It helps to kind of play on the line between vague in some scenes and detailed descriptions in others where perhaps detail is more important (mental maps for say a fight scene) vs more vague dreamlike descriptive flow in a sort of flash fiction feel for say a tense scary high stakes chase between a vulnerable character and some bad guys; this is how you can convey a sort of confusion onto the reader, by taking away details they can use as "senses" and can get caught up in the moment. I'm what you would call a very strong visualizer mentally so its interesting how similar in style I have to you. Themes and messages for me, I usually just write and sure I may pour some of my own personal beliefs sprinkled throughout the world and story and characters, I stay aways from heavy handed messaging because that usually always turns people away, I do tackle topics people may relate to on various levels, but I never lean one way or the other and leave a lot of that up to the reader to agree or disagree with. Like you said, its best to leave it up to the reader what your underlying message is because that's more important than conveying some secret truth only you know (It sounds bad when put like that.) It's better to view stories (especially fantasy) as a very Personal insight into the heart of the writer without preaching their beliefs onto everyone. Or at least my favourite stories are like that. I very much agree with a lot of what you said.
So many good points, thank you so much for sharing! I particularly love your discussion of using varying styles of description to reflect different tones and atmospheres in the story, that’s such a good point and yet another way we can use description to convey much more than just the physical details being described. I do suspect of all the opinions I expressed here… not liking world building is the one I might be quite wrong about. Wouldn’t have thought that prior to doing the world building videos the last couple of weeks… but, well, I’ve really been enjoying it 😂 I will be very conscious of incorporating the world building into the draft organically though, will be fun to experiment and fine tune that side of things. I mustn’t get too ahead of myself thinking about drafting as still a lot of planning to be done, but lots of fun ahead ☺️
I'm a mix with my style, I write a lot of world building and lore backstory for the various locations and events in the past that shape the current world setting. I find I don't do to much plot outlining beyond major things I want to see happen while most of the inbetween if more character driven where the story develops as I write it as each character changes the events. I really like Fantasia Archive because of how it links all together and makes the process much more streamlined while maintaining the offline element (before I would have a master doc hyperlinking to everything, very complex.) I have tried other programs like personal wikibuilders but they were a bit to unfocused for worldbuilding off the cup. I never have been a fan of subscription services that host your data on some server in another country where anything can happen and you will be locked out permanently where as with fantasia I can create multiple backups and store them locally on external harddrives or sdcards. watching you have fun working on this project is inspiring and I personally am intrigued to see where your story goes. I wish you the best luck and am happy to have found this Channel.
I’m a bit similar with the plot planning, usually do some thinking before starting writing about what happened before page one and then work out the actual events that occur in the story as I draft. And then fix everything in the subsequent (many) structural edits 😂 Fantasia archive makes keeping everything in alignment so much easier! (so long as you keep your naming consistent, I did accidentally create a few duplicate entries as I went but it wasn’t hard to tidy that up). And all offline too! I wasn’t planning on doing two videos using the same tool but I enjoyed myself too much 😂 I will have to explore other world building techniques as well tho
Enjoyable opinions! I was schooled on Thomas Hardy who describes endlessly. I think description is best terse and if it can be used at the same time to add to characterisation, so much the better!
Yes! I love the challenge of working out the descriptive details that convey the most, and if the description can contribute to the characterisations or establishing the world and societal norms... definitely all the better! I'm also guilty as a reader of eyes glazing over when the style is too endlessly descriptive... Still could be fun to do some experimenting with styles and approaches. Maybe i take things a little too far with my bare bones approach... ill have to put some thinking into fun ways to experiment with it
And the ending of the first movie isn't undermined at all, it literally just picks up exactly where that ending left off. It does so in the most logical way, the telling of this feels real (minus the shooting in the eyes, but everything about this and how it happens feels like real life)
I like how you can link things together very intuitively (used to have a bunch of hyperlinked documents in a master file back in the day, this has replaced that.)
Good point and my apologies if I implied I thought the framework was designed or intended for that section to be filler. Not at all. My concern was more to the risk of it ending up filler if I wasn’t careful and didn’t, as you say, add the layers of development and ensure the section was an important part in the character’s journey. For the fun and games in my own plan, I want to come back once I’ve spent some time working on my characters as I don’t think I’m quite hitting the mark yet.
@@DerpyGooseWrites Not going to lie the Save the Cat isn't my favorite outline. My biggest problem with most outlines is they omit the cursed artifact. Here is a rough sketch of the outline I use. Something you may find interesting is that I don't write the first chapter until after the rest of the story is finished. The first chapter I write as a micro account of the story foreshadowing major events. The Catalyst Crossing the River Meeting Allies and Enemies Tests and Challenges Uncovering Secrets The Cursed Artifact Crossing the Second River Confronting the Curse The Curse is Defeated or Accommodated. Rebuilding Post-Curse Inner Growth The Road Home Redemption or Excommunication at home. The Final Journey The Road to Hell The Last defeat Final Victory Resolution The First Chapter
Thanks for sharing! Different approaches to outlining is quite the rabbit hole and I’m interested in playing around with a few different ones as part of trying my hand at a more planned approach to my usual pantsing : ) I usually end up completely rewriting the first chapter so definitely understand how leaving it to the end could be helpful : )
I remember mentioning Save the Cat to you many weeks ago! As it happens, I am planning at the moment. I have 24 pages in the ring binder for the 24 chapters. I thought I'd dreamed up a catalyst/inciting incident and a midpoint, but when I wrote it down it turned out to be two inciting incidents and now I need a new midpoint! That's probably good. I'm a planner and love these frameworks, but I think one can play around and tweak them a bit.
Yes definitely scope to play around with the frameworks and make them your own, do what makes sense for your story. I was expecting to find working to a framework hard (and it was, but coming up with ideas in a short time frame in general can be hard) but it was a lot more fun than I was anticipating! The structure I came up with definitely has a way to go, but I think the framework helped with getting some thoughts started and keeping some structure even if I wasn’t quite hitting every beat perfectly.
@@DerpyGooseWrites Yes, I have thought up a new midpoint (false victory) since an hour ago, which may have legs, so you are so right about how it gets thoughts started!
The dream/flashback sequence does serve a purpose. I've seen many Avatar reactions and it's timed really well to when the audience asks, "how did Aang end up in the iceberg?" It provides just enough information to answer the audience's question but limits the information leaving the audience wanting more so the audience becomes more invested early on. In the beginning, Aang's bending abilities completely outclass Zuko's. When Zuko asks Iroh to teach him the advanced set, Iroh responds that Zuko hasn't even mastered the basics yet. During the Zuko/Aang fight on the ship, the only reason the fight lasts so long is because Aang only uses evasion but he's stuck in a small room so he can't flee which is his first instinct. The fight is intended to show that although Aang is capable of using airbending offensively, Aang's fighting style is primarily evasive and defensive so he chooses to delay the use of offensive moves. The moment Aang uses an offensive move, it only takes one move to knock Zuko down (note that although Aang uses two moves, Zuko is knocked down on the first mattress hit). We see this again during "the Warriors of Kioshi", when Aang uses his airbending with fans offensively to knock Zuko down in one hit. The only reason Zuko gets the hit off of Aang that sends Aang off the ship and into the ocean at the end is because Aang is distracted when Zuko strikes (and this allows the show to introduce the avatar state and reinforce to the audience that Aang is the avatar). Zuko's skill level does catch up with Aang's later on (contrast the two early fights with the fight in "Bato of the Water Tribe" where Aang outmatches Zuko only when Aang includes waterbending and with the Season two finale "the Crossroads of Destiny" where they are more evenly matched) because he's presumably continuing to train while pursuing Aang.
Completely agreee re Aang and Zuko - Zuko’s abilities are way ahead of Katara’s at this stage and he is focused and serious about training which contrasts against Aang riding penguins. Aang’s abilities when we see them in full action, completely allow him to easily evade Zuko’s attacks which is a show of far greater control in and of itself. And yeah agree that the avatar state was used in order to show that aspect of the series and set up questions, Aang is able to defeat Zuko in a one on one at this stage but having Aang get distracted and pushed off does work well to show his weaknesses too. The fight scenes communicate so much about the world and characters, I was editing this up and just making tones of notes with each rewatch about more things 😂 Dream sequence was well timed and answered a question that had been set up and in the context of getting the story moving, ensuring the audience who is intended to be young isn’t too confused and having visually interesting scenes, works fine. Is it 100% needed - I don’t think so, I think the information could have been weaved in without a conveniently placed dream sequence but can see why this approach was chosen given the format, intended audience and time constraints.
Even speeding the footage up like crazy I could only fit the indicative constructions into a minute 😂 Add imperatives, conditionals and subjunctives into the mix and there's even more of them
This advice originally comes from a video about pantsing: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fjtabfKP0z4.html. If you have already done extensive brainstorming during your planning and already have a lay of the land this might not be so relevant. At the end of the day what works, works. Editing as I go doesn't work for me and my pantsing-heavy style and yet, the temptation to do it can be hard to fight!
I write a perfect chapter and then move on to the next chapter! I love the creativity of improving. It's what I enjoy. The book as a whole only needs minor tweaking once finished.
Whatever works, works! Especially with motivation and enjoyment, and really everything else will follow if you’re motivated to put in the time and keep improving. Can I ask, do you plan your works?
@@DerpyGooseWrites Yep I'm a planner not a pantster. Last time I followed the novel template provided by Abbie Emmons and also ended up with 24 pages with ideas for the 24 chapters (though chapter numbers kept changing during the writing) One or two chapter plans were skimpy so provided some pantsing fun too.
Haha pesky chapter breaks and numbers do tend to like to shift! I’ve only written one manuscript where I thoroughly planned and had the same thing happen, I was able to edit much more as I went and needed less revisions but yeah the chapter numbers changed like crazy from first draft to most recent edit! I’ll have to check out the Abbie Emmons template - you have me thinking it might be a bit of fun as more of a ‘pantser’ to trial a few different planning templates and see how they feel and how they compare…
Just so you know…. The Halloween series has 4 different storylines. 1. H1 and H2 2. H1, H2, H4, H5, H6 3. H1, H2, H H20, H Resurrection 4. H1, H 2018, H Kills, H Ends The Halloween series originally meant to be a anthology which is why Halloween 3 is a different story. But when H3 was released they realized people wanted more Michael Myers. Also it’s 2 complete remakes by a director named Rob Zombie who came out with H 2007 and H2 2009.
Don't even worry about the timelines in the middle bulletpoints lol All that matter is this one (and the first Halloween also) and then Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills
Lol!! I’d consider the term cheesy to have a bit more affection in it than that but maybe that’s a more regional use of the term. I quite like a good cheesy movie, something not taking itself too seriously, a bit outlandish and dramatic and fun. I don’t know if this movie was necessarily aiming for that tho so yeah, it’s an insult in that sense and so was my surrounding discussion of the pacing and plotting not quite working for me. I think i also described one of the jump scares as cartoonish as one point? Whoops. Still enjoyed the movie in its own way tho, it was fun.
No worries, you are great! Tank you for your eloquent response and the forthright description of your feelings. You are very genuine and that's hard to find nowadays. I happily subscribe! :0)@@DerpyGooseWrites
I think the angle of “experiencing the world how your characters are experiencing it by making up things on the spot” is such a motivational thing to remark on! Thank you!
On first view, I was really knocked by "when did they set up that trap?" For me, the story could not recover after that! Also, how come Dan is suddenly an Olympic swimmer (to get to the ship) and Yaz and Dan are suddenly gifted at sword fights? Why does the Sea Devil leader spill the beans to the Doctor about the Sea Devils' plan?
So many inconsistencies… would have been interesting being a fly on the wall for the first read through. And to see how much last minute chopping and changing went on. Squeezing the episode into a shorter time slot certainly explains some of the issues and rushed pace… but not everything
It's horses for courses! I love planning - I'm using the template from "Save the Cat Writes A Novel" this time around - I find templates useful for sparking inspiration and identifying the blank segments I need to fill. Good idea to plan a rough pitch.
i know the majority think this is the worst christmas movie ever that's how i found out that this movie is unpopular there are some unpopular movies i love better i prefer over most popular movies that's just me but only the miniroty think this is the best christmas movie everyone is entitled to there own difference opinions i respect that i also wanna share that i have to be competely honest what i'm about the say is going to be unpopular with my unpopular way of thinking tha'ts ok this is my favorite christmas movie the polar express is not the wrost christmas movie to me because i had no problems with the movie at all i love everything about it i think it was a great fun best underrated movie to me for me it's a 10 out of 10 masterprice i enjoy so much in my honest unpopular opinion
Excellent point about how the "best of three" does not work! If you watch the last few minutes of the original "The Celestial Toymaker" then that serves to emphasise your point.
The writing has been a let down for doctor who in the past couple of seasons, some episodes are great but the flux was really bad i hope they keep the consequences of the flux the universe beeing only a quarter or third of size it was etc. i love Jodie Whittaker as the doctor but the writing has to get better. I hope she remains the doctor for more seasons.
Lol! My bad, I watched it back three times in a row to check but i guess was too busy hyperfixating on whether he looked at her or whether there was any reflection he could have seen, to register that the monitor has a diagram of an arm on it... whoops
_Comparatively good_ is more commentary on what it is compared to. I have been binging on the brouhaha over the 60th anniversary. To cleanse my cortex, I started watching "World Enough and Time." I think everybody has forgotten this, especially one scene where Capaldi says he had a man-crush on The Master
To the haters, Again, if you don't like it don't watch. As far as the bigotry, and hatred towards people who are different, you really do not understand what Doctor Who has been about for 60 years. ACCEPTANCE. No matter what you think, this show is not about you.
You are free to have any opinion you like.....as long as it is ours, otherwise you are sexist, misogynist or whatever other rock they decide to throw at people. I always find it funny how people who are meant to be so super inclusive can spout more vitriol, spite and hatred than any other members of a fanbase I have ever known. There is no middle ground in the slightest, it is either their way or the highway. The viewing figures are already going down, and they will continue to, there might be a bit of a jump as people watch to see the new Doctor, but once that is out of the way, I see the viewing figures heading towards Jodie era territory very quickly.
Maybe they are doing a multiverse thing where this isn't the timeline we know. Maybe this universe is similar to our current one where it's en vogue to belittle men and devalue them especially if they are a certain ethnicity in order to punish them for centuries of what is now seen as poor ancestral behaviour.
The thing with the sonic... Are we supposed to be thinking after regenerating, Tennant immediately took the TARDIS to London at the start of this episode? The TARDIS having changed by the time he got back would sorry that. B In which case, where did this new sonic come from, and how does he know the "new features". If he has been going around for a while, then some of the other dialogue, and the new TARDIS interior scene doesn't make sense. Could this be actually NOT the doctor! But maybe the toymaker has switched someone's places with the doctor, and put someone else there, wiped part of their memory (metacrisis fixture?). That would also explain the clothes changing part. If the doctor was "beamed"away, and instantly swapped, regenerated into Ncuti, who were will catch up with later, but for the meantime we're following the swap out? It's a possibility, but hopefully whatever the answer is, it isn't just that RYD didn't bother writing some of the explanations on and just let that plot holes hanging because he can't write so well.
I'm happy they are broaching subjects and introducing varied characters etc. But some parts of this episode was just written in a very cringey way. Overall I thought the episode was just ok. Not amazing, and not crap. The worst bit was how the lava coming up through cracks in the ground, all over London, just reversed, disappeared and then the cracks healed themselves... like WTF Russel?!?! We finally got rid of Chinball and his crap writing, we don't need you to continue it! Anyway - the things some might call "Woke issues" - I am usually defending things like that - but the way it was written, was like an overly preachy, sledghammer effect, almost as if looking down the camera lense, and telling everyone they're wrong. For the people that already understand, or at least try to understand, it's more likely to just feel like "mansplaining", or being talked down to - for not doing something that they already actually are doing. So it just comes off all wrong. For those that would never understand anyway - they are already not going to listen, probably not even watching, and if they are they will turn off, and never come back. So who exactly was the over the top stuff for? "you're male presenting, so you would never understand"... he's only JUST regenerated from being "female presenting" for a start, and the on camera explanation of " we just let it go" to resolve a huge problem that was supposed to be a thing that would lead to death, was cringe of the highest order. Come on - we NEED better writing. So I know I built that up - but those were the niggles of the episode - the rest of the story was fairly good overall. The part where the kids were being mean to Rose in the street - that was a good scene, because it showed us everything we needed to know. (we didn't need later to be beaten over the head with the same point in a way that was just bad writing - this is NOT Eastenders featuring a sci fi element). That scene was written well, as was Rose's grandmother making a mistake and saying "whoops- I need to try harder". I'm sure that's what a lot of people are like, who are trying to do their best - it gets less easy to change and adapt as we get older, and mistakes happen - as long as people say sorry and try, that's all that matters for most people. So it seems RTD CAN actually write a good scene when it comes to it. Someone definitely needs to proof-read the scripts for cringiness though!
@@colinharbinson8284 The moment I see someone use the word "woke".. I immediately know they are a bigoted piece of crap. I loved the episode and find the "woke nonsense," as you put it, that you are crying over very enjoyable. So, as you are crying like a baby, I'll be over here drinking your tears and loving life. The "Let It go" scene was a bit clunky especially the fact that they were just stealing 10's Idea when he didn't want to regenerate where as they just tossed it on the ground (Letting it go) where as he put it in the bin (the hand.) But I just took their comment of "male presenting" Time Lord as Time Lady arrogance. You can't tell me you can't see Romana 1 saying something like that to 4. She was always taking jabs at his intelligence.
@@briangressett902 Thanks for the abusive reply, your incoherent rant is fairly predictable. No doubt we can look forward to the Daleks claiming their pronouns and growing feet, so as not to disrespect the 'pedestrianly challenged'. continue to love life, or whatever passes for it in your wokey world.
@@briangressett902I,too, have been a fun of the show for over 40 years and I, too, loved this special. Personally, I'm so sick of hearing the word "woke", and tired of it becoming the buzz word that gets thrown around so much.
Thank you so much for this! Especially the bit at the end about THAT line! I remember my heart sinking to hear the line too, and I'm glad to know it's not just me being a man - it's really stereotypical and mean, and just a lazy retcon for the tragic ending that series 4 had. Speaking of retcons, there have been a lot of those in Doctor Who in the last 5 years, and that's really tragic. There were a whole 15 years or so between the 20th century series ending and the 21st century reboot starting, but during Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant's (original) runs, they were on-point with the continuity and put so much thought into what they would or wouldn't keep as canon in the series! If you watch the credits of the first few series, there's even a person credited as just "continuity", presumably just fact-checking with the lore to see which retcons would or wouldn't be necessary! Nowadays, what is and isn't established as canon in Doctor Who means pretty much nothing - RTD even said so in the Doctor Who Unleashed episode that came out after the special. It's really weird, because David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston, and even Matt Smith's Doctor Who actually feels like it belongs with the original series more than it belongs with Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who onwards. Also I totally agree with you about the Meep story! I generally liked it, found a lot of fun with it, and I think the whole special would have been so much better if it was a closer adaption to the original 90s comic it was based off!
I liked most of it. I didn't like the pretty lazy resolution. the infamous sentence wasn't great, but I would'Ve let it slip. In combination cringy sentence and lazy resolution it was just a bad scene. The new sonic I kind a like, the drawn display is just a fancy way to visualize what it is doing for a new generation of Whovians. The force field I don't like particularly but at least the drawing and moving around is pretty slow, so he cannot do it on the spot. In any scenario where the Doctor lacks cover he can't pause to draw a shield. I didn't like, that they pushed the non-binary-theme on Rose at the end. Rose was established as clearly binary. She was called her dead name not her birth name. and yes it may be possible. that a trans character is non-binary, it wasn't a think before the resolution of this episode. I like badass wheelchair-lady as long as it means we can keep badass wheelchair villain. I hope RTD didn't mean to write out all bad tropes and instead meant to enrich the whoniverse with positive examples instead to create a more vivid and realistic universe where bad and good people can appear in all sizes and shapes.
