What videos on writing do you guys watch?
Aside from the typical book reviews and how-to-write guides by experts like Jimmy McBuymycourse.
What do you think is lacking in the YouTube space for writers?
5 Likes
Abbie Emmons is a really great YouTuber for writers.
4 Likes
Shitposting
3 Likes
Our own Enna has a YouTube channel where she offers writing advice:
As for what I think is lacking in writing advice videos, Iâd say itâs examples from famous works. Self-published writers always use their own books as examples of what theyâre trying to explain since theyâre really trying to get you to buy their books. But since I havenât read their books, those examples are meaningless to me. I wish theyâd use famous books or movies or TV shows to make their point instead of trying to foist their books onto me. ÂŻ\_(ď˘)_/ÂŻ
5 Likes
The only writing youtube channel I follow is the plottery and I donât watch their stuff very often tbh. Not because they arenât good, I just donât have much time.
3 Likes
Seconding this!
Her videos are great brain food and also nice to have on in the background while busy with other things. Thereâs a fun energy to them and they always feel like she isnât reading from a script and doing a by the numbers sort of thing; feels more like you are being personally addressed, which is something I wish Iâd see other people do in their videos more often!
Her and her videos are actually how I found out about this place! Definitely worth a look 
3 Likes
I totally agree with all of this! (*ďźž-â) äš
1 Like
Sounds like my cup of tea, thanks for the recommendation.
3 Likes
I recognize your name! 
Thanks for coming to check out my channel and @Akje thanks for recommending 
I also have an actual writing advice channel where I give advice (advice is an opinion based on experience, which I talk about in the first video)
2 Likes
Reality. Lack in reality.
So many writers like to show the aesthetics of writing. Pretty set up. Nice music. Calm atmosphere. Rain. Candles. Coffee or tea. A pet. Very few show the actual struggles of a writer, so it looks like you just sit down and create wonderful things.
Many also give very biased or general advice (âshow donât tellâ for example) and I have yet to see many who admit to their faults if they had them in the past. They donât revisit old pieces of advice they gave five years ago even if that advice might have been somewhat false.
Not to say no one admits faults. Some do.
They also tend to be exactly like the problematic writing advice articlesââyou must do this, or you are not a writerâ type of language. Or âthese are the top five things you are doing wrongâ (sometimes without even going into why and how those things are wrong in detail).
I also see people who give writing advice donât clearly know who they are giving advice to. Beginners? Intermediates? Advanced and experienced pros? The type of advice given will differ depending on the person. Iâm going to try to give advice in three levels. Working on it, at least. I do have one video up.
So far, I havenât found ONE person who is consistently giving useful advice. Usually itâs a video here and there from different creators.
Here are some I find to be not bad so far:
This one, not necessarily for advice, but she does show her writing struggles. I very recently found her.
World building stuff. I wouldnât say everything is helpful, but if youâd like to binge watch stuff on world building, you can check this channel out.
Bite-sized videos. I did cover an article by him that I found kind of weird, but I do still like the way he breaks things down in the videos. Thanks to him, I now know my character is an anti-hero.
Jed Herne does do âthe worst waysâ and âthe best waysâ type of lists whichâŚIâm not sure what to feel about (can I trust his word? idk), but he does have some good things on his channel if you look around.
5 Likes
I never have a script XD Youâd be able to tell if I had a script. I sound like a robot
Iâm so happy that youâre here 
If you have writer friends offline or on other sites, tell them about Wacky
4 Likes
Iâll take a look.
3 Likes
Iâm inclined to agree. Though I would also say thereâs a lot of nomothetic criticism against aspiring writers with little to no specifics. Though blanket criticisms without specificity can be symptomatic of a fragile ego, I suppose.
Iâm all for brutal criticism of people and their work, but come on, be accurate with your observations, please.
Finally, someone who sees it.
Most writing videos out there arenât just bad, theyâre embarrassingly incompetent.
The only YouTubers Iâve found who make genuinely useful videos on writing (though they are in the movie/TV show criticism category) are the fellows over at EFAP. Itâs a podcast with three main hosts and a random cycle of guests who go on long breakdowns of writing advice videos.
Mauler (the host of EFAP) makes ridiculously detailed film criticisms (mainly Marvel and Star Wars).
But their advice and rhetoric applies to all mediums of storytelling.
Iâll take a look, never seen her vids before.
HFM has an air of genuine enthusiasm that I appreciate, but heâs just not all that helpful. Once you really listen to what he says, you find that he can often contradict himself. He also falls into the major trap of making statements as if theyâre true with zero qualifications or detailed argumentation.
Iâll take a look, never seen his vids.
Like you said, you never feel like you can trust the guy because he never (from the videos Iâve seen) backs up his advice with examples beyond a couple lines from a novel he liked.
Heâs also constantly trying to pitch his course which makes his videos feel more like 10-20 minute ads than didactic resources.
3 Likes
My people! I loved the streams breaking down Moviebob, quite possibly the worst movie reviewer online these days. He is worse than Longman because he never explains anything!
2 Likes
Those streams were painful. Though most rat reviewers they cover range from abysmal to abhorrant.
Iâve been listening/watching to so much EFAP I struggle to choose a favourite. Probably Ep 274 though if I had to choose one.
2 Likes
Hello Future Me made a video recently on redemption arcs, have you seen it?
As a Dragon Ball fan, I maintain that who and what you can redeem is reliant on the tone and feel of a story. That is why Vegeta got a redemption arc and Azula didnât, even though Vegeta has a body count worth several planets, attempted to blow up planet Earth, aided killed Z-fighters on-screen, killed his partner in battle when he was severly weakened, and has attacked a four to five year old Gohan in both the Saiyan and Namek Sagas.
Azula tried to kill Aang but didnât succed, but the rating limitations and tone of ATLA make her comparably less evil. Helps that Azula is 14 and Vegeta (at the start of Z) is 25.
1 Like
Can I drop you my answer in a dm?
1 Like
OK, but I have to ask why. Too long? Too contreversial?
Itâs a longman 
And off topic
1 Like
Then of course!
1 Like