Writing for YouTube - Opening / JiD

Hey you,

Today’s Listening: Some of the most angelic guitar playing I know

There are many types of writing.

I've done essays, research papers, design documentation, instruction manuals, poetry, discord chats with insane people, and most recently, novels.

But there is one that I continually struggle with...

Script writing. Specifically, for YouTube.

Writing in Sequence

The weird part, I figured it would be simple for me; because the way I write scripts, and these newsletters, is the same.

When I want to write a YouTube script, I'm aiming for the video essayist approach. Start off simple, maybe crack some jokes or self deprecation. Keep the tone conversational, until eventually we start hitting the big topic, the main point.

Now, for clarity, I do not have some penultimate checklist of script writing where every one of those boxes must be checked, but having a structure does help.

Flowin'

When it comes time to write the script, either I'm left staring at nothing, or I enter a feverish state where I crank out 1000 words in 30 minutes. And then I decide to scrap the whole thing.

When I'm writing these newsletters, I have a simple topic or emotion in mind, and then begin writing, journal style. It flows, I make a couple edits, nod my head and say "yup good enough"...and then I just post it.

So I suppose a big difference, is for the video...I have to speak the words.

Is That My Voice?

And many of you might be familiar with the cognitive dissonance that occurs when you hear your voice through a microphone. The first few times, I recoiled in horror, inaudibly of course because I wished to never disease the aural realm with my voice again.

Although, something about doing video editing eventually makes you numb to dumb noises. One of the reasons I know my own videos so well, is because I essentially watched it 50 times during the creation process. Hearing the same cringe-y line...over and over...and over...

Learning to be okay with hearing your own voice is one of the greatest forms of self love and yall need to get on that. (behold an overly dramatic photo of my microphone)

Call It Done

But the fact that I'm so hesitant to commit to a script is the true issue. Having to speak it out loud makes me confront what I wrote…And of all the people to break my fear, I didn't expect it to be Daniel Thrasher.

This man is absolutely unhinged. If you've seen his stuff on YouTube he has such a wide creative spectrum from contemplative enlightenment to borderline psychedelic, to straight up demented. It is...incredible.

However the core of his work is in the pursuit of artistic expression, and comedy.

During an interview, they were talking about how creatives love throwing out work because they decide it sucks. He said "My rule is, if it's funny to you once, then it's funny."

So What Do?

I have decided to believe this is how I should approach my script writing. And I'm not writing comedy.

There is a certain danger to releasing something you aren't sure of yet, but honestly, I'm not sure about a lot of things.

I'm constantly learning, and learning comes best by doing.

And making mistakes.

So y'know what? This newsletter is getting posted whether my brain thinks it is finished or not.