10 Core Elements of Storytelling (Writing Advice)

Learn what key ingredients make a story.
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[@blueseaturtle6031]

1. Character (Internal Journey) - Overcoming or succumbing to a flaw or lie - Goal what your character wants - Motivation behind the goal 2. Plot (External Journey) - Main plot (usually hero vs villain) - Subplot (challenges the hero to grow) - Stakes: know where to raise them 3. Concept - Central Idea or “selling point” - Low concept: basic concept - High concept: complex “what if” concept - Premise = Concept + Character + Conflict (Aka: good logline) 4. Conflict - Disagreement between two sides (conflict triangle) - Situation: caused by character desires - Action: solve or create problems - Dialogue: Action as spoken words 5. Scenes - Goal, conflict and disaster - Reaction, dilemma and decision 6. Story structure - The “skeleton” of your story - beginning, middle and end - which story structure will you use? 3 act, 5 act or something else 7. Pacing - Speed of which your story is told - Genre determines pacing - Pacing alternates speed throughout the story (not everything will be fast or slow) - You can manipulate the pacing 8. World building ( Setting and Lore) *Setting* - Location, terrain, plants, animals ect. - Weather climate - Population - Economic systems, political systems etc. - Society’s daily habits/ rituals *Lore* - Histories - Traditions - Facts - Stories (told within the story world) 9. Theme (Surface vs Theme) - The underlying message of the story - Meaning beneath the surface - Writers goal is to seek truth: Of both sides of the argument or scenario - Give the audience an opportunity to think for themselves -Example: On the surface level Good Will Hunting is about a genius young man goofing off around his friends but the theme is about how others could possibly be wasting your maximum potential 10. Style (Voice, Tone and Mood etc.) - Voice: Writers personality on the page/ screen, word choice, sentence structure etc. Cutting between moments/ scenes ect. - Tone: Attitude of story (serious, funny, depressing ect.) (think about the difference of tone between Good Will Hunting and Spongebob Squarepants) - Mood: Emotional temperature of a story (your mood should be changing throughout the story, it shouldn’t be all laughs or all serious, add some variation to spice things up)

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Pinning this so everyone can have the info handy

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for taking the time to type this up!

[@AndersonMallonyMALLONY-EricCF]

Thanks! Interestingly, I'm here because Im writing a Pokemon fanfiction and the main character's starter is Squirtle lol

[@spirituallylovingme-11]

I feel the same way

[@skree272]

My personal favorite element for horror stories is cannibalism, weather the characters are forced to do it, or to show just how demented the villain is

[@crator3550]

his videos are always 5-10 minutes, concise and straight to the point, most underrated writing channel by far

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you!

[@sveniusz]

How would you know if there aren't any more writing channels more underrated than this one? There might be many of them, but you've never heard about any of them because they are so underrated. That is not to say Brandon isn't.

[@loriki8766]

@@sveniusz On a regular basis, I look at content producers with low subscriber count looking for underrated gems. Many of the ones I've found do not stay underrated for long. I highly suspect that will be the case here. This is most definitely a severely underrated channel. Brandon delivers quality content, great writing advice that is excellent and concise.

[@thereccher8746]

There's a hidden writing lesson in that. "Brevity is the soul of wit."

[@alaexanderhawkins6324]

Brandon's channel has quickly become one of my favorites. The writing advice is dense (not in a bad way), useful, and immediately useable on a work in progress.

[@AnotherDuck]

A shortcut to a theme is to reverse the main character’s flaw. If the character is a loner, the theme can be that people are stronger together, or opposite that, if the character is too dependent on someone else, then the theme can be independence. You can naturally start with the theme and use that to give the main character a flaw that fits with the story you want to tell.

[@TheLordTravis]

Brandon deserves more attention he is always giving outstanding advice by giving examples and hitting key points in such little time. Thank you.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you! And please tell others about the channel so it can grow!

[@virx227]

I agree, all these videos are amazing. He packs so much useful info into such a short time. If he ever runs classes or seminars, I'm in!

[@sikauf92]

Agree there should be way more views in here

[@coffeecreateconnect]

I'm a recent supporter and I agree ☝️

[@jthopkins2544]

He's basically built Tahara.

[@huntercoleman460]

In order to be a good writer, you have to be a good storyteller. I usually come up with stories when my mind isn’t occupied with something. If you got an idea for a story, plot it in your head and when you do, write it down.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Good call. And thanks for watching!

[@broadwaybrook2319]

@huntercoleman460: Yeah, I come up with my stories when I'm hanging out in my backyard or before I go to bed. Most of them don't have the structure that Brandon is talking about: they're just fanfictions. That's one major problem that I had during my Freshman year of high school. I would get bored and since I was at school for like half of the day, I would get inspiration for a story/fanfic, but if I tried to write it down, my aids would get mad at me because I wasn't paying attention to what the teacher was talking about. The struggles that writers face that non-writers will never understand. I once read a quote by Maya Angelou: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

[@AliKutluozen]

A software engineer here, trying my hand at writing comics lately. this is one of the most helpful videos I’ve ever seen online. Thank you!

[@Anonymous-bp5ix]

CONCEPT is what captures me. This video is the perfect "get back to writing" piece, after being distracted from daily practice, for several weeks, by real life. Thanks.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Concept is my favorite as well! And best of luck with your writing

[@ransomdekafenya2584]

A couple of tips for theme, which is something I struggled with: 1) You may be putting the cart before the horse. If you have the flesh of a story and *then* try to inject your overarching theme, you may struggle. Developing what you want to say, essentially your theme, first will allow you to flesh your events around what that particular truth is or may be; 2) Cast a wide net. It is a lot easier to build around a couple of very broad themes than it is to fit twenty small themes into your work. You may have 20 things you want to say to the world, and that's cool. But you don't have to cram them all into one piece of work. Build solid ideas and characters off a few meaningful themes and **do those well.** The alternative is convoluted work, and nobody likes that.

[@fransbuijs808]

Sergio Leone was a master of pace and style. He could spend five minutes building up to a shoot out.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I watched Once Upon a Time in America last year and thought I'd hate it because of the 4-hour runtime. Instead, I loved it. Leone knows how to pace.

[@Vy-Oh-Letter]

#1: Character - 0:38 #2: Plot (External Journey) - 1:35 #3: Concept - 2:37 #4: Conflict - 3:48 #5: Scenes - 4:39 #6: Story Structure - 5:22 #7: Pacing - 6:10 #8: Worldbuilding - 7:05 #9: Theme - 7:42 #10: Style (Voice, Tone, Mood, etc.) - 8:37

[@BoScotty]

You make an amazing writing teacher dude! Im always looking forward to your content!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you so much! Glad this video helped

[@cjwrites]

On Conflict, I would also point out that internal conflict works. A single character wanting two mutually exclusive things can create wonderful conflict as well.

[@eugitamburini]

One of the most valuable channels for creative writing I've seen. My favourite core element is, funny enough, the themes. It's what I struggle most as a new writer, just like you said!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you so much--I appreciate that!

[@user-qh3de7nm4j]

Thank you for helping my dreams come one step closer to reality

[@mr4stroker]

According to me, as much as every storytelling elements are important, it is the character that makes the difference for me

[@victorhp1537]

This is probably the most valuable and most useful channel on writing I've seen so far on KZbin. Thank you so much Brandon for your passionate and excellent videos.

[@joshmealing5372]

Thanks for the videos and lessons man! Love your channel!

[@kakarotwolf]

Can't believe I just found this channel, love it already. This channel definitely deserves more subscribers.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you!

[@pandaloon6083]

Recently re-watched the 1979 cult hit: The Warriors. Impressed by the world-building. New York has millions of people, but in The Warriors those people disappear. The night, the trains, the liminal space -- the movie makes you feel that New York is almost abandoned but for the rival gangs and some subways stragglers. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for a journey/chase movie like The Warriors, world-building seems like an especially important component. No doubt other genres most focus more on other components.

[@tropicalvacationsrentals6803]

Hey Brandon, thanks for these 10 tips. I always had a desire to write but was intimidated. You boost my confidence. thanks

[@lukaskravies1434]

Thank you for your beautiful work and priceless mentoring. I will keep on writing. Finishing soon to a stage when I can actually talk to people about my work.

[@TheMatFratRealityTV]

One of the most helpful channels on writing. Thanks, Brandon, your information is extremely helpful.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you! Thrilled to hear the channel is helping

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What's your favorite core element of storytelling? Let us know!

[@joshcrackedboooi2392]

it's always the concept and execution of that concept. like the concept of my comic is a separation between humans and demons. there is also the fact that the magic system is designed around making a careful choice cuz you can only have 1 magic ability. once you have those concepts down it is easy to write down a story and world around that

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I'm a concept guy as well. Concept (when done right) is great for unifying the other story elements.

[@joshcrackedboooi2392]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty totally agreed

[@siouxm2117]

The hero's journey. To me it makes everything else work.

[@kasiako355]

Wow, that was so informative and helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge ❤️

[@LayDurafe]

Phenomenal video. Thank you!

[@patriciagray484]

Great delineation of story points. Helps a lot. Thanks

[@sikauf92]

Great work on your videos, learning so much from them

[@gamewriteeye769]

Been a while. This is unexpected but quite similar to what I may have requested a while back...and it's a lot more than I hoped for. Educational as always, Brandon! Sidely, man I can't wait to get back into writing sometime soon...breaks and life-changing events do surprisingly take course though when you least expect it, and it can be hard to maintain or get back that creative energy when you're doing so many other things. Adjustment is important in life just as with anything we write!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled to hear the video helped! And the best advice I can give you is to write a little each day. When I was busy in grad school, I always used to write a few sentences of fiction every day no matter what. The habit stuck, and when I left grad school, I was able to write more (each day).

[@komolafedamilola1736]

It's the last element mentioned here for me. Well done

[@jcd302]

I know nothing about writing, I just enjoy good stories. This information is gold, thank you! I really appreciate your video

[@puppetshack4931]

Love me some back stories!!!!

[@maggot1111666]

dialogue is action...great advice

[@BarresiNewYork]

I learned more from this 10 minute video than my college course…you’re definitely goat

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Hahah thanks!

[@DTHRocket]

Great video! Not only did you give great practical advice on the essential elements of a good story, but you helped draw attention to the priority of each. A lot of young writers place too much importance on style, but that's the last element you need to worry about if you have lackluster characters and no interesting conflict. (I have placed too much emphasis on worldbuilding and theme when other essential elements were falling flat).

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks! And though I didn't necessary rank the different elements in this video, Style is probably the last one writers should be worried about

[@fransbuijs808]

​@@WriterBrandonMcNulty You will find your style when you just keep writing.

[@luvslogistics1725]

To answer your question: the author’s fictive dream or perhaps the payoff…the payoff doesn’t exist in scripts anymore. There’s no villain that seems he can’t be overcome nor a hero that can grow through arduous journey for the final payoff….that’s missing

[@jojogodtier]

Bro i read your book. Its amazing. You and steven king both take my number 1 spot in terms of authors. Can't wait to see what else you write. I just found your channel like /2 a year ago or so by just typing your name on google because i was interested in what else you wrote after reading bad parts. Have not read entry wounds yet but it sounds interesting i will probably check it out. Sorry for the inevitable grammar errors. Im pretty tired at the time of writing this.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Just saw this now... Thanks so much for the kind words about Bad Parts! If you don't mind, please consider leaving a brief Amazon review when you get time--those help a ton. Have a great Thanksgiving!

[@RL.RachelLaurin]

This is a great video with deeply valuable information. Thank you!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad it helped!

[@johnjim6793]

It would be especially interesting to analyize story/character arcs in TV shows that span entire seasons. For example, when watching "The Big Bang Theory", I've always asked myself why I so much resented that story arc where Leonard, Howard and Sheldon build that gyroscope for the military. The answer is probably that the story arc is so obviously forced in to be a season filler. The Colonel Williams guy just pops up out of thin air (he doesn't have someone making appointments, he has no assistants, he doesn't even carry a briefcase!) and vanishes from one moment to the next. The whole story arc is inconsequential. It is never mentioned again (if I remember correctly) and doesn't change the characters. Compare this to the Howard-Wolowitz-astronaut arc aroung season 5/6: this one is great because it really changes how we perceive Howard Wolowitz as a person, and it is often picked up in later episodes. When his father-in-law tells him "Maybe I jugded you to early", then this is what we who knew Howard only as a annoying and needy sex maniac also feel. It is really a turning point for Howard, and he is the only TBBT character who becomes more interesting in the later seasons.

[@gabbodelaparrawrites]

My favorite is World Building. A good well-developed setting enriches a story a lot!

[@RhmnLego]

Love your creativity! I wish I had those types of creative concepts. Also, thank you for this channel

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for watching!

[@Con9f9hoy]

Very nice chat, thank you!

[@TwiztedHumor]

Once again I must bow to the master of writing craft! Thank you for this eternal wisdom 🙏

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@valerieschoof4813]

This is fantastic, thank you!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad it helped!

[@KryoTronic]

Your advice and videos are extremely helpful, thank you so much!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you!

[@KryoTronic]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Happy Thanksgiving!

[@mattbarroccu9690]

Excellent explanation 🙌

[@Your..fav.z03]

Hello I used to watch you all the time but your videos are helping me write a script right now I finally had a good idea anyway love the vids

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled to hear it! Hope your script turns out great!

[@dee1408]

I love all of your explanations. You make them simple enough for me to understand. I've been trying to write a book about a pet bunny with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality, with murderous intentions, yet he's a lovable creature. Thank you for your videos.

[@KutWrite]

Effective and memorable poems also have a beginning, middle, and end.

[@captaindeadpool313]

Nice. I have some of my own but they're of a novice so will need some experience to polish.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Just curious... What other elements did you have in mind? The list doesn't have to be locked at 10.

[@captaindeadpool313]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I have a few elements I use for my stories. Here are some of them:- 1. . Little things matter. I like to read and write small things character do or setting has. Picture a wall in a restaurant where a tiny hand print exists, as if a kid wiped his hand across the wall instead of on a napkin. Or a bored school girl at the library chewing her hair. 2. Every scene directly causes the next scene. Imagine this happens THEN this happens, not this happens AND this happens. {I heard the creators of south part say it, I think} Basically, hero saves the heroines life and she is grateful, which later turns to mutual respect, liking and then love, and not, they're both attractive so they become a couple. Action leads to reaction, which leads to more action. 3. Villians are lucky, heroes are not. Picture how hard Kyle reese had to work to get to Sarah conner while the terminator just happens to be at the right place when Sarah herself leaves a voicemail regarding her location. 4. Story within stories. my favorit example of this is in Saving Private Ryan. After half the movie and several bodies, the audience finally gets to know Ryan. So before the climax, he shares a story of him and his brothers to get a glance into his life. Lincoln, another Steven Speilberg movie, also does this. 5. troublesome coincedeces. If by coincidence hero finds a loaded gun, its boring, but if by coincedence the villian finds the gun, its fun. remember the bell tower scenes in Back to the Future or when Ratatue is caught cooking, hence making it a major shift in story. There are many tips like these that I've heard of. Most of these have already been told by many creators.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@captaindeadpool313 Though I wouldn’t call these elements, they’re great pieces of advice. Especially 2 and 3. Thanks for sharing!

[@julietwochholz9755]

Favorite element: STYLE. David Lynch, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Sturges, Wilder.

[@AryaCyrus]

Your breakdown is great for educational purposes, as always! But … in practice, you can't separate character from theme. The theme is the character arc. The underlying message of a story isn't written on some scroll to be read somewhere in the plot. It's rather your internal journey.

[@stephenbarrett5357]

"you can't separate character from theme." yes you can. just as easily as you can separate setting from theme. (see how easy that was?) so your comment reads as incredibly pedantic lol. it is good to separate interwoven aspects of storytelling to improve upon the craft. the best authors do, in fact. "the theme is the character arc." no its not. a tragic character can fall from grace or to their doom from failing to apply the lesson of the theme. the underlying message could be completely divorced from a character's motives, so theme does not intrinsically follow the arc of a character's development. maybe in a marvel movie, but not all media, so theres nothing wrong with what brandon is saying here. saying its good for educational purposes but not in practice is incredibly arrogant.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Tons of overlap between theme and the other elements

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Theme and concept are probably the two best things to keep in mind when trying to "unify" the other elements

[@AryaCyrus]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty True! But we still need breakdowns like yours, because they help us see the same thing from different angles.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

When I initially read the first comment, I thought "Theme =/= Character Arc." I consider Themes and Arcs separate entities, but at the same time I'm struggling to think of a specific story with a Theme that's completely divorced from the Characters' Arcs. It's tricky because there is plenty of overlap between the various elements. Any thoughts? It's also tricky because Theme is sometimes broadly defined ("It's a story about the theme of love") and sometimes more specifically defined ("It's a story about how far people will go to feel worthy of love.").

[@Stanser_Lagrange]

My favorite element is painting a picture with words. Brandon, you think are only action scenes and thinking hard scenes but there is at least 3rd type - describing scenes, picturing world and emotions. Its like meditation done with literature methods.

[@alexhudson-]

Top 3 favorites books you haven't read go! 1. The Alchemist 2. Moby Dick 3. Roadside Picnic

[@Nawfalahmad]

this is really good.

[@danlewis7707]

I really enjoy your videos, educational and terse. Like falling off a mountain bike. Thank you very much sir!

[@g3tmoore]

This is great. I have a suggestion for a new topic. How do you write in a novel those powerful visual elements that a movie can portray. Examples would be novels adapted to movies and how the author achieved the same or better than the movie

[@NorthVilla]

Amazing content, I'm learning....

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad to hear it! Now get writing!

[@stratoplayer1988]

What really sells me on a story or a series of stories is the lore. Perfect example is Star Wars. Star Wars has sooooooooo many stories shown in different media from books, comics, and video games outside of the movies and television shows that build up to the events of the movies.

[@nicholascauton9648]

My favorite core element of storytelling is characters. Creating characters most especially is my favorite part of creating a story because as someone who plays video games on a regular basis, I’m a sucker for open world RPG games that have custom character creation features. Games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls are prime examples of this. In the story I’m writing called “The Road Ranger,” I have three main characters that eventually come together with two of them meeting up early on and have some kind of subtle budding romance. The first character (who is unsurprisingly the protagonist of the story) is Matt Santos. He’s described physically to have light-brown skin, athletic build, and almond-shaped eyes which is very prominent among Asians. Although it’s not outright/explicitly mentioned, he is indicated to be of Filipino descent. The opening of the story has him pondering in his car which shows the reader his desire (he wants justice for the assassination of his mother), his fear (he knows he could either be killed or thrown in jail for his actions), and misbelief (he believes his mother is innocent and did not deserve such a tragic end). After going through his mind, he opens his glove compartment to reveal a Glock 19 pistol, loads it with a full magazine, and goes out of his car to raid a warehouse guarded by gang members. Eventually he gets pinned down by machine gun fire but the opening chapter ends and transitions to a few weeks earlier before the aforementioned incident. A few weeks earlier, he recently just ended his military service and wants to reconnect with his parents. The second character (who is the deuteragonist) is Maria Garcia. Her physical appearance is described to be fair-skinned, athletic build, and can speak fluent Spanish despite her North American English accent. Just as Matt recently left military service, Maria just recently became a full-fledged FBI agent. Which she later meets Matt by chance. Without spoiling too much, her character arc goes from potential love interest, to a partner-in-crime while also maintaining potential romance arc which isn’t necessarily fully addressed. Basically speaking although it’s strongly hinted they have the hots for each other, there is no scene of them kissing or making love. At most, the only banter they have throughout the story is “Stop killing criminals and let the justice system deal with them type of thing” which Matt doesn’t want to give an inch to such an argument after he got totally screwed by it earlier on. Finally there’s Miz who is this teenage tech-wizard that actually joins Matt and Maria much later on in the story. There isn’t too much to tell about him other than he’s talented with technology and he’s a bit of a goofball. He kinda maintains a smart guy and heart combination of archetypes because while he is undeniably intelligent, he also seems to get along really well with both Matt and Maria despite the two arguing with one another here and there. While there isn’t much worldbuilding in the story to go off of, they are there just hidden in some ways or outright not mentioned. That is because I’m more focused on letting the characters shine which is something I tend to enjoy more than going over the history and lore over the world as a whole. All I can say about their world is the story takes place centuries after a nuclear war and the characters live in Calivada which are the former U.S. states of California and Nevada as one country which is basically a continuation of the U.S. itself. Most of the infrastructure in Calivada remain intact. But anywhere outside of its walls is where the post-apocalyptic stuff are at.

[@nekokoishi]

Favourite core of story telling... Probably world building cuz I am addicted to it XD

[@haunterdragon4580]

No matter what type of person the character is I always feel like every other element is only as important when I can get hooked/interested with the character. Conflict is also very important to get done right having a crisis helps me focus and I get bothered by bad pacing. Too many movies and other ruin the moments they had with terrible pacing where they could have had something work just fine but they sped past it too soon or usually they are too much of a slow burn.

[@velocitor3792]

I don't have a favorite element of storytelling; you need them all, but with many elements, it's easy to get that feeling of "this has all been done before" (so why bother?) Worldbuilding is the wildcard element that can make everything seem fresh. Sure, we all know boy meets girl story, but how different it feels if it's set in a weird cyberpunk world, and the obstacle their relationship has to overcome isn't parental disapproval, but that their brainchips run on incompatable software operating systems, etc.

[@luvslogistics1725]

I subscribed, because I’m a military officer and realized that when I write, I have to continuously revise so that it is clear to readers unfamiliar with what I’m describing. Writing clearly and with an easy flow can be difficult.

[@justinward1969]

fantastic

[@scallamander4899]

Brandon, I've watched all your writing videos, when are you gonna get down to writing a book? It could be easy, basically a book form of all your videos, based on the transcripts but fleshed out a bit. You have a gift for taking complex ideas and boiling them down to essentials that can immediately be put to work.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Soon! Outlining it now

[@matthewwilliams8978]

Great, now you got me taking notes! Pleased with yourself? 😉

[@aprilboden7219]

Do you have a video, or if not, could you do one on starting a book with a cold open? I like that Tarantino, Fincher style of WTF open.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I might have covered that. Can you be more specific with what you’re looking for?

[@aprilboden7219]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Opening a scene from somewhere in the middle or towards the end of the story. Like in Fight Club (movie version) when it opens with Ed Norton having a gun in his mouth, then backs up to explain how he arrived in the situation.

[@jeyhey5320]

I used to find your book mentions quite lame. Now, after hearing your one sentence summary, you really got me interested in both of your books.

[@remi545]

Hey I just discovered your channel and I wanna thank you for the great work you're doing. I have a quick question though. How do you make an efficient worldbuilding without falling into the "as you know Bob" you mentionned in another video. I am currently working on a play I am writing and have trouble setting everything whitout getting to obvious about it. I'm french btw so it won't be in english😅

[@rogeras5966]

This video is very useful, now I have more clear the rules of Storytelling

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad it helped!

[@tylerpettit921]

There are two main kind of totally opposite story elements that I like. First; I love stories where they are so enjoyable in a simplistic but new structure, that they put you in sort of a trance. 😌 Second: I also love stories where they are so slapstick and shocking that it becomes a high ride of several indescribable feelings at once!

[@OrlandoOrtiz570]

I'm no writer, but so long as the characters develop consistently with the plot, theme appears on it's own and often doesn't even need to be addressed.

[@monikadeinbeck4760]

when JRR Tolkien was asked about his worldbuilding he called his concept "distant mountains". Whatever story you tell, you always need other stories, people, lands appear at the side, just outside the horizon, which are never gone into. Asked if he had elaborated on these topics he answered, no, because then I would have to make distant mountains for these distant mountains.

[@Antares2]

My biggest problem when writing is settling on a story. I often get overwhelmed by ideas as I write and it makes me reconsider too much. It's a good problem to have, I guess, but it's still a bit hard to beat.

[@blueseaturtle6031]

Holy smokes you did it

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for the request!

[@tophat2115]

You use the Swain method too!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Dwight Swain is on of the unsung heroes of fiction writing advice

[@tophat2115]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I took his advice to heart and turned my novel into a page-turner. My readers have told me that once they started reading, they could not put it down.

[@ridleyformk1244]

9:57: My favorite core part of storytelling is Wolrdbuliding because it makes your story more interesting and and makes it more stand out, being able to add your own spin on things. This is your story and your unique world, notbody/else's but yours.

[@JR-sx3gl]

Same. As a reader/ viewer I can spin stories in that world, imagine myself being part of it. It is very engaging and I will forgive if let's say a book/ an episode is not so great because the next one can be. For an author a strong world building is a source of additional income through merchandise, so another win.

[@mattcavanaugh6082]

Pace is make or break.

[@grinningtaverngaming395]

In response to your question… Character. If the character is brilliantly written then he/she/it could be surrounded by white walls and be able to capture the reader’s/audiences attention for a very long time.

[@virx227]

"If your story doesn't have structure, you're probably writing a poem" 😂

[@erinspeller4025]

What do you think about split stories? I have all the right elements (I think), but the story is large, following the journey of a couple through 20 years. The issue I am having is the main story element (the biggest conflict) is in the second half. The first half has subplots, character development, internal and external journeys, but is not a complete story in itself really (just a romantic journey with a few hiccups). I allude to the main conflict as the main character perseives a potential threat, but the threat does not actually reveal itself fully until much later in the story. Due to size, this story will have to be part 1 and part 2, but not sure how readers will accept it.

[@erinspeller4025]

I was really worried about my pacing as I would have a couple chapters showing the same day, but other times a single chapter could cover a month or more and sometimes there will be gaps in time between chapters (one chapter in the summer and the next in late winter). I worried the pacing changed too much, but your discussion on pacing helped ease my mind.

[@erinspeller4025]

Part of the issue is that I don't usually enjoy reading romances, but I enjoy writing them - I have identified what I do not like about published romances as these tropes and stereotypes are not included and sometimes dismissed in my writing... again, might not be popular as I am challenging the 'norm'. As a sociologist, I naturally fight certain norms and beliefs, but I always try to make these points the opinions of the characters and never say if they are wrong or right in their thinking (sometimes causing conflict with other characters with differing viewpoint). However, this may be too much for some readers and considered propaganda. I usually twist it into a dilema for a character as they are forced to face a situation and challenge their own beliefs (sometimes acknowledging faults in those beliefs) in a sort of thought experiment and to help theoretical readers understand the characters better.

[@missioncomplete420]

Would game of thrones be high concept or low concept ?

[@prakkari]

Set the stage, play it out, tie the knots. Simple as that. It comes automatically and is built into every story and every joke you tell. What you are doing is what Sid Field did to movies. Sterilise and systemise the process.

[@ThrasherMan]

4:47 You either decided not to, or you forgot to link that video.

[@DC-sk8jr]

As always, this video is concise, practical, and ready to use. I have a question: I've heard over and over that 'writers' should keep writing and I get that; you won't be able to write, if you don't write. However, the old adage, "Practice makes perfect" is a lie. If what you're practicing isn't correct, then you're just pounding in a mistake and not progressing. So, my question is: Is there a way to check so you know your mistakes and can correct them? I'm writing, but in all honesty, I don't know what's not working at this point. I feel like I've reached a plateau. Thanks

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Best thing to do is to seek out other writers and critique each others' work. When other people point out your mistakes, you grow and develop. Another thing that can help is memorizing a page from your favorite book and writing it down from memory. Here's a video of mine that explains this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGnUoZyanthmgdE

[@DC-sk8jr]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you for your advice. I appreciate you taking the time to read to answer my question. I will definitely give the second suggestion a try.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@DC-sk8jr Best of luck!

[@theTRUTHgroup]

Here's a question that I've been baffled about for decades. Perhaps you're the one I can finally get a decent answer from. :) Some 'silly' movies are brilliant: Airplane & Hot Shots. But then other 'silly' movies are awful: Naked Gun, Top Secret, & Stakeout. Even though big name actors, large budgets, and quality production are all present, the final product is definitely NOT the same. What is the difference? Is it dialogue, acting, editing, or something even deeper than that? I'd love to see someone like you produce a video one day that will help me to understand this topic. Or perhaps, if one exists already, you can throw me a link. Thanks :D

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I recently watched Airplane, so I'll comment on that one... It works because it repeatedly fires jokes at you. If you don't like one of the jokes, you only have to wait a few seconds for one that hits. On the other hand, a lot of other comedies slowly (compared to Airplane) build toward their jokes, and if you don't find that joke funny, you're left underwhelmed.

[@theTRUTHgroup]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Hmm, interesting. I'll have to start watching for that.

[@SalvadorAnguianoDG]

Isn’t The Exorcist monotone all the way through? Like there’s no change in tone, no moment of relief at all, the story is sombre, dense and serious all the time.

[@ClownxxBaby]

You gotta be from Chicago right?😊

[@guitar300k]

10 is kind of weird number, when you said core, the less the better, I think it should be 2 or 3, even better if you only have one core element

[@RealEvilLordExdeath]

If u want to make a succesfull story, never subvert expectations. Surpass them

[@captainnolan5062]

Plot.

[@Greatermaxim]

Predictable or not? No stalemate. Will James Bond kill the villain and get the girl or will he miss terribly dying a horrible final death? There are only that many situations and outcomes.

[@odistabettor]

I think what you said about the purpose of a story is too narrow. They can be a lot more or less than the audience just learning "to live better lives". It's kinda like saying that the only purpose of making food is nutrition.

[@kidanemariameyob8752]

Is concept same as theme?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

No, they're separate. Concept is the "cool idea" or "selling point" whereas theme is the underlying message of the story

[@kidanemariameyob8752]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty okay thank you

[@Vermilleno]

Brandon, I have a question. Can a story be a slowburn, while at the same time dealing with timeskips that are month or so longer?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Sure. The Godfather is a slow burn, but you have those time jumps when Michael goes to and from Sicily

[@behindthepageaudiobooks]

My favorite element of storytelling is theme, but I think wish fulfillment is another core element of storytelling that is rarely discussed. Maybe you could call it the 11th core element of storytelling. I think the no.1 determinant of success in fiction writing is wish-fulfillment. But no Booktuber, famous screenwriter or script doctor ever talks about it because this one facet of fiction can sometimes compete with or directly contradict other facets of fiction such as tension, suspense, and theme development. Harry Potter is full of wish fulfillment e.g. Harry goes from a poor child being bullied at home to being a secretly rich magical wizard who can use his magic to seek out revenge (in a politically correct way) against his mean-spirited and selfish step-family. Harry Potter starts out as a powerless nobody and then becomes one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived: he's a quidditch champion and somehow powerful enough as a wizard to take down the most powerful evil wizard - Lord Voldemort. Similarly, Midoriya Izuku in My Hero Academia starts out as a powerless nobody and then is granted the power by All-Might to become the greatest superhero in the world (or maybe just Japan, the anime and manga never clarify this). There's even a whole genre dedicated to wish fulfillment called Progession Fantasy: www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/ Power fantasies, wealth fantasies, and sex fantasies all rely on wish fulfillment for their commercial success, but for some reason it's considered a taboo to teach professional adult writers how to properly write wish fulfillment. It's almost like professional writers feel that this would be like teaching adolescent kids how to use condoms, but pre-teens do, in fact, have sex. Dragonball, Sword Art Online, Naruto, and My Hero Academia are all power fantasies. So many webnovels especially Xianxia webnovels are just convoluted power fantasies. Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey are sex fantasies. All these fantasies max out wish fulfillment in specific ways while adhering to some if not all the other rules of writing.

[@BoScotty]

My friend, I think you need to work on what "time and place" means. You claim no harm is intended, but you post a whole essay about something entirely unrelated to the video. Not to mention, your criticism comes across as mean spirited. Even if you believe it was not intended, that is not what I'm getting from this unnecessary, long winded rant. If you were truly invested in Brandon's improvement, you'd probably message him or something to have a discussion rather than attack him like this.

[@ulla7378]

​@@BoScotty I think we read that essay very differently. Brandon asked the audience what is their favourite core element. They answered. I don't read the essay as an attempt to correct or improve Brandon, but as a continuation of interesting discussion he started.

[@behindthepageaudiobooks]

@@BoScotty Thank you for your concern. I've re-written my comment and I've deleted the part mentioning his work. I've lost hope that Brandon can improve his writing, so I won't message him privately as you suggested. I think everyone should be more critical of Booktubers, but critics should be more polite than me, of course. I've seen a lot of authors not improve their work over the years and I've interacted with writers who don't have a genuine interest in improving their writing. I will just focus on my own writing.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I'm not sure what exactly was said in the original unedited message, and I'm not sure whether it was a criticism of my KZbin content or my novels, but Wish Fulfillment is indeed a useful storytelling tool. I've seen it discussed in at least one writing guide before (might've been in one of Donald Maass' books, but don't quote me on that). Wish Fulfillment would likely fall under Concept, especially when you consider something like Breaking Bad. Everyday people identify with Walter White, who goes from being a pushover to a criminal mastermind. That's Wish Fulfillment, and it's baked into the story's concept. Granted, you might also have a situation where Concept and Wish Fulfillment are separate. One thing to keep in mind is that I named this video "10 Core Elements" and not "THE 10 Core Elements." I did that because I'm sure there are several other core elements that I didn't discuss (Symbolism comes to mind). Also, if you'd like to see a video on Wish Fulfillment, please let me know!

[@behindthepageaudiobooks]

​@@WriterBrandonMcNulty ​ Yes, I'd very much like to see a video on wish fulfillment. And maybe you could also do a related video on overpowered characters since the 2 topics are related. I think some concepts have wish fulfillment built into them, but I think most story concepts don't have wish fulfillment built into them, and you can separate most if not all the wish fulfillment found in many of the most popular stories from those stories' concepts. Here are some examples. You take out most if not all of the wish fulfillment from the Harry Potter series by doing anyone of the following without changing most of the plot or the concept: 1) Make Harry so dirt poor that he has to live off donations and handouts from Dumbledore and some wizard families. Harry would stay poor throughout the whole story and never buys any kind of luxury such as an expensive flying broom. He would only buy cheap food and cheap clothes when his donations ran out. 2) Change Harry's background so that his parents never died and so that his parents' income is half that of the Weasley family. In this case his parents would be normal loving wizard parents and there would be nothing special about them. Harry can still face lord Voldemort at the end of the story as the "chosen one" or whatever you would like to refer to Harry as. 3) Make Harry a terrible quidditch player who through intense perserverance and hard work becomes a great player. 4) Harry defeats lord Voldemort because he's the only person willing to both sacrifice his own life and endanger his friends lives to do the right thing (killing lord Voldemort means his army of wizard fascists will hunt down, kill, and/or torture everyone you care about). Harry is a talentless wizard who works harder than anyone else to memorize an unholy number of spells and relies heavily on Hermione and other wizards smarter than himself to figure out difficult spells. In this version of the story, Harry defeats Lord Voldemort only after a few of his allies die trying to kill Voldemort. So Harry just deals the final blow and is, in fact, not the "chosen one", but the most highly determined one. Harry Potter has wish fulfillment built into both its concept and genre. This video has a far more detailed breakdown of many of the wish fulfillment examples in Harry Potter. I think it's possible to remove all of these examples of wish fulfillment without changing the story's concept: Harry Potter and the Psychological Wish Fulfilment | therapist explains: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHypn6Sebp6HaaM The superhero genre has built in wish fulfillment, but other genres such as horror, mystery, crime, and romance don't. In conclusion, wish fulfillment involves giving characters special abilities (e.g. superpowers) or special status (being a queen, king or billionaire) without them having to earn that status. To maximize wish fulfillment authors take protagonists born without any special abilities or status and then give them those special abilities or social status without them having to work for it. E.g. a homeless man wins the lottery and becomes a millionaire or better yet a homeless man risks drowning in a magical well to find a magical wristband that will turn him into a billionaire. Lotteries and chance don't make for good wish fulfillment, but the forces of the universe conspiring to turn the protagonist from an ordinary person to an extraodinary person because of the character's intrinsic goodness such as kindness, optimism, or resilience etc is, I think, the best formula (so far) for creating wish fulfillment. Cinderalla is an example of wish fulfillment done well, at least in a rudimentary way. Wish fulfillment reduces supsense tension (both microtension and macrotension) in a story and misusing it leads to the creation of Mary Sues, Gary Stus etc.

[@R.senals_Arsenal]

Writer's theme bordering on Propaganda = Terry Goodkind 😅

[@pandaloon6083]

Did you ever see that clip of George Lucas and team discussing the climax of the Phantom Menace? I suppose it's a pacing issue they are discussing. In short, the regret is that there are several parallel/near parallel scenes, with varying emotions. Adventure/grief/danger -- too much too fast. Deep emotional reaction is impossible because the audience isn't permitted to linger. See it. Change the channel. See something different. Change the channel. See something different again.

[@Conserpov]

Hidden allegories, deep references and riddles: *_Robocop_* ("American Jesus"), *_Kill Bill_* (decades of movie history), *_The Ninth Gate_* This overlay - a story within a story that is actually a much bigger story - is what's capable of making a story truly unique and remarkable and memorable.

[@totallyfrozen]

Read Entry Wounds. YUP! Very enjoyable read! Read it. I’m looking forward to reading Bad Parts.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Just saw this... Thrilled to hear you enjoyed Entry Wounds! Please consider leaving an Amazon review--those help a ton! Hope you enjoy Bad Parts as well. Have a great Thanksgiving!

[@totallyfrozen]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Read them both. Great reads!