Hi, Glenn! Happy holidays for you! I wanted to say that I'd love to be more involved with the streams and the community here, I hope in 2025 I can have some more time. I even have the bell thingy activated, but I normally don't have either time or brains. I love your vibe and the tools you so kindly share. My best wishes for you from this extremely long country called Chile.

Happy Holidays, Mr. Gers. Looking younger than ever, younger than ever :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family 💖🎊❤🎉❤

Merry Christmas

Merry Xmas and happy Holidays Glen!!!

Happy holidays, everybody!

Happy Holidays! Petition to make this hat permanent in all December videos from now on.

Happy Holidays! Good luck in the New Year!

I hope you enjoy your holidays. Thank you for all you do on this channel. It's quickly become my favorite writing channel. It's especially great because I cannot decide between writing novels or screenplays, and you cover both.

Hey!!! Cool hat!!! 🎉

"He's starving to death, completely laser-focused on this thing" + "Charlie tries to do too much" Gotta tell you, I relate so much to this character. I'm just coming out of the haze of that laser-focused era where you are so singularly focused on your craft you burn through your health and slowly implementing strategies to be healthier. Still, I feel both seen and called out by Charlie's arc. 😂😅☺

Glenn, if you ever decide to use beta readers for your novel, please know that I would be honored to read your novel. You have been an incredible help for me for so many years. It would amazing to give even a little bit of that help back to you. I also really just love the concept and so far everything you've shared feels interesting. I also loved your live-writing script (that's more my normal genre read) but really just about anything you've ever recommended, I like so I think our tastes are somewhat similar. Anyway, whether you need/want a beta read in 2025 or anywhere down the line, I'd be very happy to assist. 😊

great stuff... happy holydays

To elaborate on an earlier remarks, Gregor Mendel's scientific life is one of tragedy, and also one of the things that drives me to keep on writing. During his lifetime, all the theories he wrote on hereditary was highly dismissed by the academic society as mere farming techniques. He eventually abandons his research and all of his research notes ends up being burned. Three decades after his death, some researcher reads one of his published papers and only then his research gained some real traction. His hereditary theory combined with Darwin's evolution theory are the building blocks that leads to the discovery of genetics. Ironically, both Mendel and Darwin actually lived and made their scientific discovery within the same time period. I find it quite similar to the character in your story. There is also another point about how Mendel was a priest and at the time there was some things happening between the church and the academic society, but I'm not too sure on that. Anyway, when can I preorder your book? :D

Merry Christmas to you and yours 🎅🤶

Great topic and great livestream. For what it’s worth, I like Kevin Smith movies. I used to wait eagerly for the next Aki Kaurismäki movie back in the day.

The out takes were a nice touch... It was nice to meet you in the library Glen!

awesome man. .. awesome.. im 43, lost, capable, ^genius.. completely useless .. this happened to me so many times, in so many ways, in so many projects.. thank you for being an inspiration ..very helpful stuff... thank you

you are fcng great man,,, thank you soooo much

Hi Glenn. What if the idea of my script is taken from a popular song and will be covered by someone else in the film? Will buying the copyright of the song make it difficult to get our script approved? Should we remove the song/music even though the lyrics strengthen the story? Thank you in advance.

My take on "non-submersible" is that the feelings of the characters are at their least suppressed. The rhythm between set pieces and the rest of the script is the pacing and tension as well. People often hide their feelings from themselves and others but these things build up until they cannot be contained any longer.

Looking forward to your Bad Arture video!

Beautiful analogy Thanks

Hi Glenn, would you please explain about Writer's Statement for competition requirements? How to make a good one? I search in your playlists and can't find any video about that. Thank you.

Very helpful like always. Thank you so much. I learn in hard way that when I like the script I wrote, others will do the same even it's not for commercial. At least in a majority.

My story outline answers all of these questions Woohoo \( ᐖ)/ i can finally write it!

Live Writing Class - I have thoughts: Complexity very good(as usual).A “Who Done It” may be a way of providing the complexity gradually and then giving a simple narrative to explain it: “The butler did it”. Columbo made the reverse: A summary is given revealing the villain and then the detail is provided gradually until we discover the mistake made by the villain which gets him caught. On the idea that some say they have too much complexity for their story. The task may be to “distil” the story….keep the essence and erode the irrelevant. In a way your ideas here are a description of “reality”: Complex bunches of sub-atomic particles make simple elements. Complex structures of elements make simple plants, animals and mountains. Complex structures of these make simple forests, farms, cities. Complex structures of people in time make……..stories? on an on and on. Perhaps we need to present stories at various levels to make a convincing perspective….. maybe “perspective" is a useful concept. Good stuff.

FIGHT THE PROWER!! As funny as this was - and it could be a T-shirt - i looked up the word prowess again (i am from germany) and the result suited my questioning of what story would interest me most. I already figured out the love story bit but i have to admit i love the development of a hero in training parallel to the love story. And then reaching a new level. And i think prowess suits that emotion well. One of my favourite movies is A Knight's Tale. And i remember rewatching the Dragon Ball Z anime in my twenties, where the main character also trains and trains to fight off the bad guys.. and then after like 100 episodes that were harder to watch as an adult.. i literally jumped out of my chair in excitement when that moment came up where the hero transforms himself to a stronger version called the super saiyan.. well i guess i can accept that rather boyish part of me in hopes it makes me write a good story. Because it still excites me😅 thanks for reminding me

Very interesting. Most of the time I find myself masking my need for sharing in the form of a question. It's kind of tough finding someone to share about my writing journey, especially with the way the writing industry is in my country. Though it's true that I already know the answer to my question, your spending time to write a couple things that might help me find the answer is much appreciated. It's really comforting to have an outlet to share things that happen along the way. It makes me recover from "writing fatigue" much faster. So, thank you so much, Mr. Glenn, for answering all of my "questions".

My favorite example of conflicting advice is this: Stephen King: Never write down your ideas. If the idea is good enough you won't forget it. Writing down ideas just guarantees a list of bad ideas. David Lynch: Always, always write down your ideas, because there's nothing worse than knowing you forgot a great idea.

Story - *what* happens. Plot - *how* it happens. That's a simple definition I heard that works for me. The "story" is what the audience experiences, and they respond emotionally (or not!) to the character's actions and perceive their own interpretation of the "meaning", "voice" or "themes", and why the story was told at all, and how it can help them in their own real lives or society as a whole. The "plot" is how the creator presents those events (the scene order, what is emphasised and what isn't, withheld/revealed, what is explicit or implied, clear or ambiguous). In that sense, you could a have great story with a "bad/boring" plot, or vice versa. I think it's when story and plot become most obvious to the audience; when one is letting the other down. I think a lot of amateur analysis on the internet (from popular social media creators) has made the terms and their usage confusing or even misunderstood.

Plot = Skeleton, vascular system, the thread, the trunk and branches etc. Story = the flesh, the leaves, the wind the roots etc. Motive = blood, organs, the heart or Plot = the simple version of the Who, What, When, Where, Why. Story = the explanation of the 5 Ws or Maybe i misunderstood, but this is how I see it, anyways a story has to have a structure, a thread and a motive. Though you could just write a story about nothing, worked for Seinfeld.

It's always refreshing to see one of your videos. Somehow I ended up with a similar conclusion regarding story and plot. In simple terms, story is everything that happens in the universe and plot is the way I show things that happens to the audience. It works well for me because I tend to write everything that happens to minute details and lose the plot big time. This framework allows me to use the plot as a reminder to not stray off the designated path for too long. Watching your videos and livestreams made me realize the major flaws I have in myself as a writer. And that understanding helps me decide which theories I would more strongly enforce and which ones I'm more lenient about. And at the end of the day, all those theories are mere guidelines to achieve the one true goal of every writer - to finish the <redacted> story.

Hi Glenn, i was the questionner for today's topic ! I'm so grateful you took the time to incorporate that into today's video in was in a great help especially the part when you said if it doesn't HELP you let it go ... whats the story is about you said character's experiences i'm down with this definition. I was already asking myself that question about the example of Tony Stark i gave you this look a lot as character arc so i think i'll go with that. Once again thank you ! 🔥👊🏽

I'm enjoying this series. Thank you! I almost didn't watch this one and I'm so glad I did. Especially the end. Thanks for sharing your intimate struggle to get to that place. I think it gives people like me hope.

Hi Glenn, I just re-watched your definitions of Story & Plot - I love the clarity you brought to them, their distinctions & how to perceive them as simply as possible. Thanks!

I'm so sad I missed this!

I'm relieved to hear that it's not unusual to take so long writing a novel. I have a lot of stories I want to tell, and I'm starting with the most complicated one because that's the one that sets up all the other side stories. I've been working on book 1 off and on for 22 years. None of the original characters have made it into the current iteration, 😅 but _lots_ of progress is being made this year! 😸 Yay!

Hi Glenn, First please excuse my english, i'm french ^^ I'm trying to figure out the difference between story and plot and you spend so much time explaining one specific idea, give so much examples to make sure things are clear for your viewers that i would really like for you to help me figure this out either by a direct exchange with you or maybe with a new video on the subject. The words story and plot are in my case very hard to graps mostly because they are used interchangeably, the first have multiple meaning and the second is a some of multiple things and cerise sur le gateau there is no agreed upon definition so when you take all that and add on top of it the fact that english is not my mother tong saying that it is not easy for me would be an understatement ! For now this is where i am in term of knowledge and what i manage to make sense of so far. ------- Knowledge STORY (1)Story = Chronological sequence of events from birth to death (the only relation they have is their chronology, A being before B and B being after A - The king died then the queen died, there is absolutely nothing that indicate that those two events a linked other than one happen before the other or vice versa) (2)Story = The finish work/product (Movie, Novel, etc ..) (3)Story = What the (2)story is about Unlike story the plot doesn't have multiple definitions even tho they are very often used interchangeably, instead the plot is the some of multiple things PLOT (1) A sequence of events with cause and effect (this happen because of that and therefore this happen that lead to that - The king died and then the queen died OF GRIEF, the reason the queen died is now tied to the first event of the king dying) So the plot is the reason/cause why the event happened but the plot is also two other things (2) The picked and choosed (1)story events from birth to death, (in our life we go to school, graduate, start working, we met the love of our life, we marry, get kids and then everything in our body stop working properly lol (((((KIDDING))))).. The plot take what it needs in our whole birth to death sequence of events to tell a specific story so the plot is the picked and choosed (1)story events, obviously if SOME events are taken it by definition means that other are not. Plot it is also (3) The arrangement of the events (in which order the (2)picked and choosed (1)story events are PRESENTED) So basically the plot is, in which order the (1)story events are presented, which ones are presented and why they happened. All this " above arrow " is where i am in term of knowledge this is everything i know about those two and everything i THINK to be true. ------- Inciting incident - The bugged brain All of that completely get shattered when i read a french article where the author was stating that story and plot were not the same thing. Before that read i thought i was well informed enough until this person introduced the (3) definition which is (3)Story = What the (2)story is about. The example he gave was this: " Plot are the events that happen in the story = Tony Stark is captured by terrorists and is told to build weapons for them. There he comes face to face with the truth behind his weapons. He builds a suit and escapes. Story is the character's journey; character growth, and the heart of it all = Tony Stark starts off as a carefree person who has no problem making and selling weapons and has no clue about, nor does he care to know, the extent of the damage his business is causing. After escaping captivity, he decides that he won't sell weapons anymore and uses his technology to help others. The Story (Tony grows as a person and takes his first step in becoming a Hero.) happens because of the Plot (kidnapped, learns the truth, and escapes). " This completely bugged my brain and my brain have been bugged since then (2months) how is his " character's journey " different from a character arc ? I've been looking to found an answer to what this person meant since, nothing clicked ! let's take Momento, if instead of telling the (2)story out of chronological order you tell it chronologically what you've done is that you have just changed the (3)plot right but the (2)story stays the same ? Now if you remove or add an (1)story event to the (2)plot now what you have done is changing the (2)story Now if you keep the same (2)(3)plot but you change (1)plot the reason why those event happen you'll then have a new (2)story that will present the same events but not happening for the same reasons. Let say Rihanna killed Beyonce, that's an event but the (1)plot the reason the event happen can be completely different Killed because: Out of rage Accidentaly As an act of mercy ? Same event completely different reasons ... Did he meant to talk about internal vs external plot (character driven vs plot driven) somehow when he said (whats the story is about) ? Or is it me having a problem with the word (reason/cause) ? When saying (1)plot the reason/cause the event happen are we talking about two different type of why ? Why: The LOGICAL reason Rihanna killed Beyoncé or Why: The character MOTIVATION = the reason How can two movies have the same plots and two differents stories ? And why is he talking about character journey (arc) in term of story ? Please make it make sense cause i feel i can touch it but for some reason my brain won't get it ... Thank youuuuuuuuuu

I will say that after studying hundreds of opening chapters, the ones I personally enjoy are those that immediately draw the reader into something interesting and engaging-something that matters (as opposed to a long-winded description of the scenery)-or that place you inside the voice or perspective of an engaging character. So I wouldn't say you're wrong for wanting chapters that quickly establish who or what the story is about; I think a certain type of reader needs that to enjoy a book. Other readers, however, love the very slow unfolding of the story, but I personally dislike that approach. If I don’t know by the end of Scene 1 why I should read Scene 2, I’ll set the book aside. That said, I am extremely picky and demanding, and my tastes tend to lean more toward genre fiction, such as thrillers and mysteries.

Thank you, very enjoyable to listen to. Since I saw your first video I enjoy your gentle and respectful attitude towards your viewers/students and how you manage to take being an artist from its pedestal to make it human again, always balancing your concernment with the craft and the writer's wellbeing. Nothing short of wisdom. I specifically liked the little rant about save the cat 😅

Thank you, Glenn! Another helpful video! Loved the point that sometimes you have to make a big mess creating your project and go back to find the material (or gems) within it, pull them out, and refine them. Lots of other good pearls of wisdom and insight in the video. Just try it, for example. Yes, think things through, create a plan in case of failure, take a deep breath, and GO! This can apply to small tasks or projects and life in general. Also, about Ridley Scott's high productivity and not everything he directs being a masterpiece, I am reminded of this expression that only a mediocre artist is always at their best. He has directed some of the classics of our time. If anyone reading this has not seen Kingdom of Heaven, the Director's Cut, that is the version of it to see, not the shorter, theatrical version. The story is explored in more detail in the Director's Cut and makes the film better.

Man, you spilled the beans there. Millions of counselors, psychologists, youtubers out of a job now.

Rewring is now much less of a nightmare to me after this video. Thanks a million, Glenn ❤

A very insightful and useful lecture. Thanks❤

Live writing your next novel??? Yes, please! 😍😍😍

thank you ... this is very helpful.. .

H.R.Giger is one of the darkest artists I know. In an interview he said, when I was a child, I was possessed by demons - until I started to draw them. Who knows what I’d have become if I hadn’t. (Paraphrased from memory.)

Also, I remember a quote from a photographer, something like: “Amateurs care about equipment, professionals care about money, artists care about light. Me, I just take pictures.” A lot, I suppose.

Couldn’t join last time, so I’m watching while exercising. I notice your telling varies between 53 and 58 bpm.