Oops No Plot: The Raw Power of Episodic Storytelling 

Serial: Now might be a good time to add some filler. Episodic: That's my secret, Cap. I'm always filler.

Kima is the type of person who could survive in another planet just by watching foraging classes on skillshare

The college degree does have a use: should, despite all effort, the creative endeavors ultimately fail, the college degree allows you to transform into the depressed office clerk. The highest of all Purpose

This guy is by far my favorite youtuber rn, and my biggest inspiration when it comes to storytelling. The only reason I got into it, is because of this cool ass dude.

I used to be very against episodic storytelling, but this video made me realize that telling stories episodically is more accurate to life. There’s isn’t a true “hero’s journey” in reality, instead just small little stories where we learn something significant, but it doesn’t exactly culminate into anything huge at the end.

“And if you’re into that, consider subscribing. And if you’re not into that, consider subscribing _ironically_ “ shit he got me

I’ve been working on a novel for the past two years, trying and failing to progress it in a way that feels narratively fulfilling, but then I stumbled upon your channel and everything sort of clicked in my mind. I have Autism, and the way you explain plot and themes and the crafting of characters is precise and straight to the point, which really helped me understand my own failings and how to correct them. You have singlehandedly eradicated writers block! Thank you, Local

Your transitions into sponsorships are the literal best i have ever watched.

I'm someone who absolutely hates the whole "seamless transition inti ads" thing RU-vidrs do But I'm somehow now really invested in that characters that you've had for 2 scenes to do your ads... How did that happen...

I feel like there's something deeply profound about saying your show either ends or gets cancelled. I also appreciate how efficient these videos are. Already 7 minutes in and you've covered a typical 20 minute video essay.

"There are two kinds of shows, The kind that end, and the kind that get canceled." such an apt metaphor for life.

Well now i know why my characters were bland despite being proactive and tied to the plot. They had no core view on the world I placed them in, a view or an opinion that was purposefully written. Not a random one. Weird how some of them actually do have it, but some ended up not having one because I never focused on this aspect when I created them. Thank you, you made me gain another insight into writing. It's weird how whenever you put out a video with some advice or a discussion, I always agree and say " Duh! Of course your character needs a core belief and not just a well put together personality" but then I look at my story and scowl "Oh. I didn't actually do it, did I?"

You should cover, opposite of this, non-episodic shows. I find it interesting how every episode can have its own story and theme whilst still contributing to the larger plot of the series. Like The Owl House, where every episode is following a story yet they all have their own little episodic-like adventures

Okay, that Kima callback actually drew me in hard, and what a good time to put the ad in. Masterful. Bravo!

I think one big benefit of episodic storytelling is that you get to have a sense of what the character is like in their average day. You get to see how they handle lower stakes problems and how they handle themselves normally. In a serialized story you’re just seeing some of the most important moments of a character’s life. But there are some sides to a character you can only appreciate if you see them how they are for most of their life. An episodic story lets you figure out “what would it be like if I got to hang out with this character for a day?”

as an artist coming from the oc community, ive always struggled with this exact problem. your videos have solved a lot of my story writing stress ❤

Doctor who is actually one of my favourite shows and I’m so glad that you touched on it during this video

I’ve been writing since I could read, and out of all the writing channels I’ve learned from, yours is by far the most insightful, easy to understand, and apply that I’ve EVER come across. I’ve never been happier to be humbled! I'm telling everyone I know about this channel and its wonders. Thanks for making such top-notch content and helping me, along with many others. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors.

>local releases video >it solves a writing problem i didn't even realize i had >again best channel out there, keep up the amazing content

I love this explanation of episodic storytelling and characters, but it got me thinking about Arcane. It's a show that is serialized, and yet was entirely built to show off preexisting characters. It has 2 major themes, and many different characters embodying different parts of each theme. I really want to know what you feel on how arcane fits into this if it does at all. One thing I thought of while writing this is that they did some pretty distinct changes to the preexisting characters to make the story work, which is something you mentioned to do.

The timing of this video’s release is almost prophetic for my own writing journey. I can’t thank you enough.

The Icarus Planet character coming back only to get used again for the sponsorship segment was the one thing I did not expect lol I love this channel

Me: oh hey i like this guy, let's subcribe so that I don't miss any new interesting video essays Local: **literally posts 10 minutes later** Me: 😀

Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are episodic shows I love so much , Characters are so well fleshed out and it’s their decisions and actions that keep the show moving

i think all the things you mentioned in this video are the exact reasons why adventure time stands out to me so much as my #1 favorite show of all time, especially beyond a personal level and more on how the show is designed. thank you for uploading this :)

I'm an artist who's decent at drawing but a novice at writing, so your videos help me really think about my previous approaches and why I kept most stories as WIPs. Now I'm in the process of learning and applying your advice, thank you!

Always a pleasure to see myself in one of these 😎 Thanks for nurturing my pandemic baby into something 3-dimensional with me. The story and concept took on a new life in those months. I will always credit 208X for reminding me why I love making films.

I’m glad you were forced to make an already existing character work for another thing. I do it all the time but sometimes it trips me up. Also I think I’m addicted to your writing advice videos.

The absolute meta level of storytelling in these sponsorship transitions is god tier

I love Doctor Who for this. The constant filler makes the episodes so much fun, and they do a lot of character development stuff in them. And then the finale plot revolves around that character and the other small details they threw in each episode throughout the season

Local's videos are episodic with the only serialized through-line so far being a traumatized lady plugging Skillshare. I love it.

I tend to create my characters in clusters around a specific story and I didn’t exactly have a rhyme or reason behind how I do it, but I’m starting to realize I actually do create them with different perspectives on the theme. I’m just really bad at naming what a theme is. Like I’ve had a story for so long where the theme is loss, and the three main characters are all dealing with different losses but have kind of turned to the same coping mechanism which is what brings them together, but the ways they came to that were different. But for so long I had no idea that was what the story was about, because I write stories something like throwing big globs of clay together and then later molding it down. This video helped me realize that a bit bc I love episodic storytelling but I very rarely create anything that I don’t expect to have a narrative end.

Writing a novel rn and it has become so different because of these videos. For starters, it's good now.

Love your content, especially the longer bits. Idk if you’ve already touched on it yet, but red herrings would be an interesting topic. How to avoid writing yourself into a corner that specifically needs a red herring to escape, or ways to do it successfully- if any such way exists.

i thought the "art is subjective" bit was interesting. something i heard a very long time ago when i was first starting to draw is that yes, art is subjective. you can make any stylistic choice you want. however, not every stylistic choice is good. it depends on your purpose. say you draw something with very detailed anatomy. sometimes this can make your art look somewhat eerie when used with specific styles of lining, colouring, whatever. it can also just look cool and realistic. if either of these are what you're going for, great. but maybe you're trying to draw something cute. do you want it to look eerie and/or cool at the same time? this is just a really basic example of course, maybe you can make it work, the point is that if you're told something that could improve your workflow and you hit it with "art is subjective" then, well, you're not going to improve your work flow. if you're told something that isn't going to improve how you work because it doesn't fit why you work, then that's fine, you don't need to prove it to anyone. from what i have seen these videos are specifically for people trying to make full stories. that's what i like doing, so these help me a lot. if you like making cool designs and writing random stuff for them because it's fun, you don't have to watch these. you can make whatever you want, for fun or for any other purpose

Excellent job on the writing of this video, Local. The reincorporation of Kima worked not only as an example of serialized storytelling and the importance of a character's purpose, but your approach also had me wheezing. "He's literally written to not love you." 😆

I would love to be a writer, but for the most part I just watch your videos to get a better understanding of storytelling and characters so I can better critique movies, which is my main hobby. Every video is so informative

Your focus on the value of hanging out with characters and seeing their reactions to normal things particularly stood out to me, I’ve been imagining one of my own stories as potentially-animated episodic show like Adventure Time and you summarize my feelings about the value of episodic storytelling succinctly.

"Honestly it's just really hard creating a cohesive story from a grab-bag of fully-formed but disparate elements." Since you touched on Doctor Who, the Weeping Angels are a fantastic example of this. They first appear in the story Blink, with their various weird attributes (they can't move while you're looking at them, they feed on "time energy" which involves sending their victims back in time rather than killing them etc) basically tailored to make the plot of Blink work. Now Blink was *phenomenally* popular; it's not an uncommon opinion that it's the show's best ever episode - and remember, we're picking from over 800 episodes here. So inevitably the Weeping Angels were going to come back for more stories. But even in their second-ever story, the Time of Angels, the writers mess with the established lore of the Angels. Now they *don't* send you back in time, they just kill you; and even worse, at one point you can see them move. Basically every subsequent story rewrites the rulebook on what the Angels can and can't do. This is because the Angels were never meant to be a recurring villain; it's just that Blink was so popular the writers couldn't resist. So they end up being shoehorned into a few stories where an original villain might have worked better, before it was figured out that they're best kept for cameo appearances and their extremely specific set of traits means you can't just place them in any old story.

"I dunno I was in my sword phase" I've never related so much

that skillshare twist

i REALLY needed this! im that person who carries like 5 different fictional worlds in my head with like 80 different characters with cool enough designs and personalities but no fleshed out story to live out, so this is a really really good way of explaining things. might actually get out of art/writers block and make the stupid comic already cuz its been in here for centuries. thank you! love your channel!

Cowboy Bebop ❤

Omg the callback to the last video. Love it haha

PLEASE I NEED THIS VIDEO. I have this story I’ve been writing for years and the problem is that it’s not really a story, it’s just a collection of characters that I couldn’t put into a story together. I’ve always read “give your characters purpose” as advice for actually being able to make my characters interact in a meaningful way, but I never understood exactly what that meant. This video really helped me understand what a character’s purpose is and how it can actually give my characters a story. Honestly, I’m glad this video was recommended to me because, I’ve been thinking about this story for years. If I saw this sooner, I probably would have spent less years trying to figure out what this story is about.

I remember subscribing when this channel had less than 100 subscribers, and now you're on your way to 100k! Well deserved, these are some great writing tips!

Man, I'm not even a writer (at all, I'm a Cinematographer) yet i just can't stop watching your videos. So informative and extremely entertaining, thanks a lot!

I stumbled across your channel a couple days ago, and since then I've been sucked in and watched all of your content. I am an English teacher and a writer. One of my classes is Creative Writing. You have completely broken down some of my fundamental understanfings about writing and built them back up again in a totally new way. You've absolutely ruined me. I will never write or teach or think about stories the same way again. It will be so much better now. Thank you, and I hope all is well.

What am I doing here? I’m a software developer and have no intention of ever writing a screenplay. Why am I so obsessed with this channel?! Binging episodes and taking notes like my life’s work depends on it!

David Tennant is the easiest way to make a thumbnail solely make a video worth watching.

I've read literally hundreds of books on writing theory and honestly at a certain point they all seem to be saying the same thing, to the point where I wind up in that dangerous "Well, I guess I've learned all there is to learn" trap. But I've gotten so, so much NEW and fantastic value out of this channel. You have a way of cutting to the heart of what makes a story and an arc function. Eye-opening. You helped me figure out the thing that has been bugging me about my own writing. Thank you.

for the longest time, I genuinely felt like I had to give up on writing (or at least writing those first primordial stories I've grown so attached to) due to a lack of talent/diligence/whatever. But whenever I watch one of your videos giving writing advice, it suddenly feels tangible again to bring them to life. You're straight to the point, understandable without compromising personality or appearing soulless, and I especially like how honest you are. It's not hacks for writing perfectly, it's advice that may or may not work for certain people, and by framing it not as a promise but as something that might be worth trying, it's somehow more inspiring to actually try at all. Not sure if what I'm saying makes sense; tldr: thank you for the videos. They are incredibly helpful to me and I appreciate your work on this channel

Oh dude youre talking about doctor who, fuck yeah! Impossible planet/the satan pit is one of my favourites.

holy crap some of the most solid writing advice I've ever heard in just the first two minutes

Just wanna say, you have the perfect voice for in depth explanations that I've heard so far. Soft spoken almost to the point of being asmr, fast enough that a lot of information is being said every minute but also has enough pauses to give breathing room for my brain. Not to mention you dont add any arbitrary information that I dont find interesting or insightful just so you sound smart without actually saying anything of real importance. I can tell you explain things from the heart as much as from the brain.

You know even though these aren't the "cool" ad breaks that go at the end of the video, and they interrupt the content, each one still makes me laugh without fail Edit: I have now read the credits and yes please continue adding Minecraft footage to your writing advice it makes it 162% better

When I started writing (age 10), I had fantastic ideas, but the characters were bland and one dimensional, but by the time I was 19 I had come up with a story that I really liked and in that one the story was intrinsically tied to the character's personality and goals. I couldn't let go of him and ended up revisiting the old stories I had come up with 9 years prior and making his point the starting point. I think from there I just wanted him in everything, but as I kept writing stories I realized what I had done was create a foil with no main character to foil and it led to me just being forced to really understand what my characters were. So ever since then I've had this idea when I write that no matter how interesting the setting and plot is, if I can't take my characters, stick them in a room and still have an interesting story then I'm not trying hard enough to make them fleshed out.

"Consider subscribing ironically" is an amazing line. This video was very helpful for giving my story some much needed direction as I reach the tricky middle part. I'm rediscovering a love for writing after many years of putting it aside and I've learned a lot from your content.

" You have to place this character on a timeline, and no matter where you place them, you're gonna have to be forced to spend whole scenes, maybe even whole acts with a version of this character that you're unfamiliar with." ... dear gods, this hit me SO hard. No wonder my characters never "work" as I envision them... I always knew they needed to change/grow... but never thought about having it backwards... Well - thank you so much for transforming how I view my characters for the better! Also, amazing video! I'm gonna check out more.

I like the xylophone James Bond theme in the background

I was literally thinking earlier about watching a video of yours in the background while working on a character-theyre so inspiring to me and my writing. Seeing this video felt a little bit fateful then, and I’m proud to be here while you’re still underground; your videos are phenomenal, and I can’t wait to brag about being into you before your blow up. Keep up the amazing work man!

what i love about this channel is that vids like these are half the length of others i watch usually yet i spend double the time on them because i frequently pause and then think "how did/could I apply this to my characters/story" and it really engages my brain, they always make me want to start writing right after whether it be on a character sheet, beats, or a script, i thank you for that

this is definitely my favorite channel on youtube i really appreciate your perspective every time

I had a preexisting character that I really wanted to do something with but couldn't think of anything that really worked. This video completely addressed the problem that I didn't even know I had. Thanks! Also I hope Kima finds love.

It's very hard to overstate how unique, entertaining and useful your channel is. I write mainly for table top roleplaying and your approach helped me come up with one of the most entertaining concepts I've had yet and do all the prep in a couple afternoons. Love it and I hope you keep making stuff here

Honestly, people need to stop correlating and conflating the word Plot to Overarching Plotline and Serial; and Episodic to Filler. Its annoying to see an episodic drama to be called filler just because it lacked a plot

dude the stuff you say just makes so much sense, you're genuinely great at giving advice

I am so happy with the growth your channel has seen recently, i love your video man, dont stop!

I love your videos so much man, you’re the first person to give writing advice that actively promotes writing. So much of writing advice is only small practices and perfections on the assumption that people know how to tell a story, so to have such a clear method set out is amazingly motivating

Dude, Im so here the minute you upload, I love your dry humor and useful writing tips. I'm here for whatever you make!

i really can't understate just how logical and real your insights on writing are. it's like you have this huge tangled mess that is "how to write" and you simply unravel it string by string, letting us reconstruct what you have taken apart into whatever suits our goals

i'm literally in love with everything you put out you don't understand

As someone named Leon, with long hair and beard, I say ,with immense ego and bias, that your character is very cool

This video really helped me polish a few edges of the current story and characters i’m writing, I’ve had this one character I’ve been wanting to give a proper story for YEARS now and your videos have been helping me a lot to fix that.

Your videos always feel so practical. It's like a step by step guide to crafting a story, which I really appreciate. A lot of the material out there is just on things we should keep in mind while writing while not doing much in the way of explaining how to apply it. Thank you so very much for offering your perspective on writing and giving me and others something fresh to try out!

Love that you talked about Puhoy. I think about the episode a lot and it was interesting to hear your take.

Always good news! Thank you for another video! ❤

Thank you for making this video. That part about taking something like depression and re-contextualizing it into a belief will really help me out.

another great video local! love how you manage to condense all the most important beats in problem-solving to a twenty minute video that, honestly, never feels like twenty minutes. great job!

A channel so nice I had to subscribe twice. Always excited for your uploads boss!

Damn, I didn’t get anything out of this that will actually help me since I have never written a single thing, but it is a good video.

Glad this channel is growing, hope you know how awesome your videos are dude.

One of the few RU-vidrs, who I have only recently discovered, that I genuinely look forward to each and every video put out.

Drink water whilst writing to alleviate feelings of stress.

I learn so much with your videos. Thank you so much for sharing 😭

your take on purpose vs. personality was the spark i needed to move forward in my plotting process. out of all the discussions of character motivations and internal conflicts and throughlines, this one stuck a chord with me the most. thank you for the videos!!

I was hoping for a video based on your 'Purpose Before Personality' tip one day - and boom this video popped into my feed. Thanks for the help man, really helps the struggle of figuring out a plot when I'm so into character-driven storytelling, especially since I plan to complete something before I turn into an adult. Definitely gonna stick around with this channel for your ingenious perspective on storytelling!

I've always had gripes with storytelling in anime. Although there are some that I consider very fruitful like AOT, most seem to doodoo all over the sort of lessons you give and mostly just try to be cool and fun. I'd love to see a video on that if you give a care.

I really appreciate your approach to your content. I do not agree with all of the points that you make, but I'm pretty sure that's the point! The concepts you bring and the way you communicate them actually demonstrate *why* they are worth considering and integrating. The broadness of their application alongside examples and demonstrations really is just fucking perfect. Being able to contemplate what you've said in relation to my projects allows me a perspective with which to criticize my own work and improve it. A lot of writing tips youtube channels feel more like tips for editing your story's draft than actually helping people with the fundamental building blocks of putting a story together. I feel like so many people in the situation the video's about go and watch those and figure that removing weasel words from their prose, or what have you, will mend their ability to write! Your work is actually helpful, and might even be somewhat instrumental in fixing much of the flaws with many an aspiring writer. Oh, sorry, lemmie just... [ *Unweasels your fuckign dictionary* ] -- "Your work is helpful and leads the path to the erradication of shitty books." My partner and I have really enjoyed watching these videos. They've sparked alot of quality conversations about our joint writing project! We'd love to see another very funny and epic video about your process of turning the loose strings of vibes into proper scenes based on the theming of a story. Keep up the good fucking work, dude. Love it!

You're one of the greatest story / character development youtubers, and it's so entertaining to watch these videos! They're not only educational but they're funny as hell. Keep it up (not that you need to hear it from me)!

I recently found this channel and it's been a huge boon to my writing, I've been working on a graphic novel for a while but have had trouble getting traction on it. But since watch a few of these videos it's helped me tease out ideas, how to better constract scenes and dialogue. Just wanted to say thank you.

I am so invested in Kima's arc now let's gooooo

Your videos have always been so concise and well produced, and I especially adore your videos that go over your thoughts on writing. Great video! I get super excited when you upload.

I've been writing for a while so most of your advice is stuff that I already learned, but I still very much appreciate that you're treating writing as a craft and not a mysterious and abstract art, because that's what writing is : it's a job you can learn, get good at, and even master, just like making pots or welding. Thank you lots. I think you're doing really good.

For such long videos, this is so engaging. I am battling with doing this or other stuff. The presentation (visual and vocal and everything) is fantastic, and the actual thoughts being conveyed are genuinely insightful. I want to soak as much of this up as i can and reach my next level as a writer. I look forward to plenty more!

Hmmm, I wonder how you feel about Hollywood's "Instant Prequel, Just Subtract Character Belief" model. Making characters fundamentally unrecognizable by surgically removing their core purpose, motivation, and philosophy in the story and then making me wait one or two movies or seasons to see them be... Themselves. Two examples to contrast. NBC's Hannibal had Dr. Lector meet and "befriend" his dear friends in the FBI, which is fleshing out the backstory to the "funny how i got here" position we meet him in Silence of the Lambs, which is already incarcerated. But his reason to be isn't surgically removed from him. He IS Hannibal Lector, in his prime, twisting everyone else into preztels for his own edification. Even FBI Special Agent Will Graham is himself, and his character arc isn't about gaining his sense of justice but is about gaining his sense of ruthlessness. I compare this to... So many terrible remakes and prequels that think making characters the exact opposite of who we know them to be will somehow endear us as we watch them come to forgone conclusions. "Lets make a TMNT reboot where Splinter is a lazy fat bum in a midlife crisis and after two seasons, he'll become the responsible father and sensei---oh, we were cancelled. No third season to actually see Splinter being Splinter." Let's make a "Young Character" prequel movie where iconic characters act completely different just 5-10 years before we meet them. I'm sorry, but Batman, Magneto, and Ebenezer Scrooge are the only people in history that are allowed to say that one day fundamentally changed their entire personalities. Everyone else can hop right the hell off. 😂

Hey bestie, I caught this in 30 seconds!

you are absolutely my top youtuber when it comes to writingcraft (and ive been on this platform for 10+ years.) Keep whatever you are doing up man, for all of our sakes! 😆

Thank you! I'm working on some little projects for fun but it's been frustrating because i was struggling with this. The core values vs personality part was EXTREMELY helpful to me!

YESSSSS :D