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Imagine accidentally giving good dating advice while teaching people how to write

Censoring feet online is still my favorite gag everytime I see it.

My guy is giving possible relationship advice and writing advice at the same time…while fending off pirates, a true hero.

he is gonna turn me into an actual good writer

Dude. You have by far the most creative format while making it seem so freaking effortless. Great

the quip about chronically online people projecting themselves onto characters was just perfect, shit's mad annoying

Everybody's talking about what he says but I'm baffled at his abillity to succinctly depict the topic using ms paint

The construction of these videos just KEEP getting better. Nothing said ever feels unnecessary - yet it's still 20 minutes long?? That's called engaging content! And incredibly clear writing advice. So good!

I hope Party Dude makes it back to his home planet safely.

What you said about charm is so true. Entertaining chemistry to watch =/= chemistry that makes people pair together. A lot of sitcoms try to pair opposites romantically or as best friends, because opposites are good for comedy and conflict, but I find myself not understanding why they're so into each other.

i’m glad that writing just to give my drawings something to do eventually gave way to considering themes to give meaning to the things my characters do

"Life didn't evolve through organisms meeting each other's mental health needs" is a pick up line

Only the best UKpostsrs can make a video about character relationships while drunk driving a boat

When I started writing romantic relationships for my characters, I would make them totally co-dependent; "Guy is struggling to find meaning in life, Gal is stuck in emotionally distanced family, they fall in love and find their problems fixed . . . with each other 🥺" Guy has mental problems that would take years of therapy and community support to recover from? It's fine, he has true love! Gal needs to to separate herself and give distance so the two can function apart? It's fine, she has true love! They both already have people in their lives who could've also listened and helped them heal? It's fine, they- uhhhhhhhhhhh, nnnooooo they didn't

I didnt know charming relationships in stories could be shallow :O

Perfect timing! I was just wondering whether my protagonists have any reason to like each other. Now I can project myself onto their relationship, but *with style.*

It's hard to write relationships when you are rizzless.

i only discovered this guy half an hour ago, and so far I’ve received so much help and excellent advice- and the way he blurred his feet has spurred me subscribe and kill myself laughing😭☝️..

18:45 Local basically summed up every single bad love polygon story, and fixed all of them in 20 minutes. Genius

A few nights ago I had a dream that I went to a party in America (I'd flown from the UK), and I met you but as soon as I said "Hey! You're Local!" You looked at me, said "hey" and ran away in a comical manner.

also i wanna say thank you for being the only guy on the face of the earth willing to defend love triangles. i see so many self-professed writing gurus make blanket statements like "love triangles are lazy" without ever backing this up and explaining why they came to that conclusion. i feel like long ago someone somewhere on the internet said "love triangle bad" and everyone started going "so true lol!" ad nauseam and it's like. okay, but why. explain to me why this trope is inherently bad. your example of the seriousguy/bubblygirl/partydude like, perfectly articulates what a love triangle is, and that's one character being faced with two sides of a thematic argument and having to choose between them. it can be such a neat & tidy gateway into dramatic tension and character growth and developing the themes of a story and such... more people should open their hearts to love triangles. i think when understood & used correctly they can be great

Couples therapist here. I love the connection between attachment theory and writing character relationships. I highly recommend looking at lectures by Dr. Sue Johnson, who discusses adult attachment styles. Her model of couples therapy (EFT) is based on attachment theory. I think this model has been incredibly helpful in writing. Often in EFT we are talking about attachment needs, which is easy to translate in creative writing to a character need. Our attachment needs inform our interpretations and behavior associated with our partner. If we know our character’s attachment needs then we know how to create the conflict of not meeting them. You can weave superficial dialogue with attachment based subtext. Great video!

You know what's also fun to do? Have an unhealthy relationship in the background as a cautionary tale for the deuteragonists. Writing in a ghost of christmas future is a bit more difficult but also more fun imo. Mostly depends on the context though

Localscriptman spitting so many straight facts he forced me to get outta bed and grab my writing notebook

I tend to use the attachment scale not just for romantic relationships, but also friendships between characters in general, especially if I want to write toxic codependent friendships. It’s useful advice.

Local I feel like you're the only youtuber who actually gives real, actionable advice. By knowing what you're talking about and practicing what you preach you actually inspire me to use these methods. I want to emphasize again how actionable it is, the drawn bubbly girl example is frighteningly helpful.

7:53 Defining exactly were is the line between a romantic relationship and friendship is kinda difficult, because they are in essence, the same. Romantic and sexual attraction are different things that are not always together, so that's not a real difference (See: Asexual, Aromantic for more info.). People fall in love and that feeling is completely different than meeting a friend for the first time, sure, but that feeling of "falling in love" won't last forever and is not enough to mantain a relationship on it's own. And yeah, there may be fundamental biological and chemical differences between friendship and romance, but in the end, your romantic interest will probably be your best friend in a healthy relationship. What's the difference then? In reality, you can do with a friend anything you would do with a romantic partner, even kissing and displaying affection in romantic ways if you are comfortable with that. I believe then, that romance and friendship are just different scales on the same spectrum. Even if a friend can be a romantic partner, there's a different set of expectations attached to those roles. You can dislike certain parts of your friends, but that's more difficult in the case of a romantic partner. You could say that a romantic partner is, at the end, a much more deeper form of friendship. The first time I reached this conclusion it felt... wrong. Like there was no way romance could be so "mundane". I think this reaction comes from what we learn about love through media and the world itself. The idea of the "soulmate" and "finding the one" has become so predominant that it's difficult to see past it. Love is seen as something capable of changing your life, something that can fulfill that void in your soul and make you happy for the rest of your time. But love is not magic, it can be beautiful and fulfilling, yes, but just in the same way a friendship can be. With that said, amazing video as always :)

19:20 did serious-guy just drink bubbly-girl's tears there

I really like how you branched out from bubbly girl and serious guy. you got me invested

I'd just like to add that in long-term studies of attachment styles, it has actually been observed that attachment styles change over time. The characteristic time is several years, depending on what people you meet or what situations you get into. Which means that your experience as a little kid CAN inform your current attachment style as an adult, but it doesn't have to. And one of the common reasons for the attachment style to change are long-term relationships. I experienced that myself. In a borderline abusive relationship, I grew closer to the anxious attachment style. In a balanced loving relationship, I grew closer to the secure attachment style. Which opens up a whole new possibility for constructing a relationship story - how someone's attachment style drifts BECAUSE of their partner. It can get better, it can get worse, it can make an ex-partner's presence important to the theme, it can justify that the main character shuffles several partners. Though of course, if the story is contained in a short time period, then the respective characters' attachment styles are as good as set in stone.

Hey the guy has gotten better at drawing the little guys

If you take a look at asexual relationships, you might get more insight into what a relationship without sex looks like. Afaik, the main difference between a relationship and a friendship for asexuals, is the feeling of trust, openess, and feelings similar to those that might make you call a friend, your "brother". Except there's no "oh but they're just like a brother to me", there's just, "they're so good to me i might aswell be with them" I suppose a good way to describe it is comradery without "buts". Case in point, JR Tolkiens iirc actually experienced his british army comrades fall in love with one another, and reminisced about it in an interview (this is just from my memory of a tumblr post, i suggest you do some research on this). There's a fine line between comradery and love in that sense. A fine line, which i think is primarily kept due to, well, a myriad of things: from society's influence on us (the eteronormativity, for example. This is probably just a terminally-online me thing, but i truly believe that most people are pansexuals with internalized homophobia.); our natural disposition and parent-style (as in, how our parents interacted with our unique baby form's ingrained personality); our friendships (LGBTQ+ accepting groups will more naturally lead you to question things that a heteronormative group might not. For better and for worse.); and in general, anything we learn in our baby and teen years. of course, this is just from my limited understanding of the psychology behind love. And, also, with a very limited list of possible reasons as to why someone might be with their partner. It's more than a spectrum, but one thing's for sure: Our life experiences clashing against our innate personality, dictate (in known and unknown ways) how we will turn out, and nothing else.* *afaik

“All of the booty has been plundered” is my new favorite quote

I don't know how you break down complex dynamics into such clear, concise points... but you do. Props to you, sir.

I feel like these are always the perfect videos, uploaded at the perfect time, perfectly. Literally some of the most helpful writing advice I've ever heard, every time (and I've gone through a *lot* of unhelpful advice).

I was just stuck on writing a romance between two leads and you made this video. Please stop looking into my inner thoughts, but thanks for the video!

something that i find really useful about your vids is that you expose the underlying ideas behind writing certain aspects of characters, which i personally find way more helpful than stuff like “well your story needs a 3 act structure and a climax and resolution etc etc” because understanding how to create the characters that drive that story structure and how they work in internally drives me more. like i actually start thinking about WHAT actually happens in a point in a story because im now thinking about the character thats central to the narrative, rather “dang i need to have an inciting incident” and not knowing what to do because im more focused on a plot checklist than the character/theme. Even some stuff you bring up like “characters need something out of a relationship” which i was already aware of on some subconscious level is great to bring up because now im more focused on it, whereas before even though i did address these things somewhat, they were half baked and not tied into the character’s arcs or the overall theme if that makes sense. love your vids!

Watching this has actually made me feel a lot more confident in one of the relationships I've been writing. A quick check of my notes confirmed that both characters get something from the other, and while they definitely aren't perfect to start, their respective strengths and weaknesses... kinda balance each other out. I have no clue how I stumbled into this, but I'm happy I did. This video has also helped expand my framework for writing in new relationships if I ever find that necessary. Edit: After further thinking, I've even realized the pairing is Anxious/Avoidant, and I don't even have to change their existing backstories for facilitate a clash. One's a prince who's mom died when he was little and has a very strict dad. He hasn't gotten nearly as much love as he's needed, and the other is a Princess of a destroyed kingdom who never got to know her parents, leading her to feel closed off and outside of the real world, so human connection is somewhat alien and unnerving for her.

Why are Romeo and Juliet attracted to each other? After going over it a few times in my head, there isn't realy a reason. Each half of the couple even has other people they could be paired with, but it's never shown or explained why they simply have to be together and not with anyone else. They each wax poetical about how the other is just so irresistible, Romeo in partiuclar making a comically awkward metaphor appropriate to his lovesick teenage character about how Juliet's eyes shine brighter than the sun and you just get this image of a human floodlight as though Juliet were cyclops from _Xmen,_ but all this serves is to highlight how nothing about this attraction is rooted in a definable need that the other fulfills. "She's just prettier than the other girls," isn't a need. The only reasons actually given by the story and any of the characters explictly are, -- Destiny -- Spontaneous romantic chemistry -- The thematic allusion to the two houses: Romeo and Juliet love each other because their houses hate each other You will notice that none of these offer a conrete motive and may as well be tautological: They love each other because they love each other. Determinism is the antithesis of motivation, spontaneity likewise, and finally no particular reason is given for why Montague and Capulet are in a feud. The conflict is already in progress when the play begins. The play is quite aware of this and seems to find a certain mystery and purity in it. The imag eof love at play is not that Romeo and Juliet are somehow deeply special but the opposite in that when a romance happens in any case, when two people are compelled to be together, it is the will of God. The ritual of marriage is supposed to reflect this. According to our values, this is how every relationship would be. But society is not particularly wary of what it wishes for. In any event, divorce is so common these days that this image isn't very credible. And indeed, other cricumstances bring the relationship to a disaster. The kind of relationship Romeo and Juliet represent is just as dead in our public consciousness as the characters are by the end of the play. (Romeo racking up quite a kill count in collateral on his way to the grave.) Which leads me to consider whether or not the ideal of totally absorbed eternal infatuation with another person was not a product of marriage as an institution rather than the other way around. We need reasons for people to be in love now because we've had such a buffet of sour grapes where the lovers have ulterior motives or just don't get along; where this fantasy is destroyed; psycho analysis being the fruit of wisdom we get as compensation for our fall from grace. Part of the point of the play is just that such a love is too good for this earth in line with the christian ideal of spirt being the real thing over matter: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for. thee that one of thy members should perish, and. not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." -- Matt 5:29 Romeo and Juliet are the fantasy while Montague and Capulet represent the social and political menutia of the real world. Sorry, Shad. There may be some worth to the dream of the perfect marriage, but it is no resolution for despair but rather it's source. If people no longer desired perfect relationships, they would stand better odds of living in the real world. The main reason people get divorced is because they have wildly excessive expectations. Marriage symbolizes a fantasy but is really entirely pragmatic. You can't get people to do it anymore by making them dream at night about it. Man cannnot live on the word of God alone. He needs bread. But to get back to writing, we don't need the story to come prepared with a fillibuster justifying why Romeo and Juliet must be together because there are plenty fo interesting dynamics at play without it and that's the real purpose of trying to ground these things in the first place. If anything, the relationship itself is quite insipid. That is the nature of infatuation. Shakespeare doesn't shy away from the spectacle of two dipsticks acting out a tale collective and as old as time as though it were something uniquely personal.

watching my guy come for the throat of "the oc community" like swinging a bat at a hornets nest and brother i say keep swinging

I usually take like 3 times the length of a video because I keep opening my notepad and writing stuff down. Good stuff, man

Can you make a video with tips for writers with autism who are struggling with character writing and relationships? Our tendency (not always though) seems to focus on things, concepts, etc rather than the relationships between people, and the feedback we get is often that our characters are not relatable

I just love these vids, bro. I like how you ask writers to challenge their characters' beliefs. I still remember the vid about how to make really good dialogue; it really opened my eyes. And it wasn't because of all the small bits that make a good dialogue (subtext, etc.), but because I saw you create it. I would love to see more vids like that. Theory is good and all, but practice is necessary. When starting out, I don't have a reference point, and I would love to see someone with actual experience write something. Anything would do; writing dialogue, writing visual images of scenery, how to set up a fight, etc; It gives us something to compare our work with. So thank you for your work and the time you put into making these videos. Keep up the good work.

I'll take this as your "Arcane Analysis" video...for now. As always, great insight into writing.

Hello Sir, mad respect. You're videos and writing process is a breath of fresh air in the vast and convoluted online world. The shear insight and charisma is always appreciated by us, and your no-bullshit analysis concept is brilliant. These videos you produce are compelling and eye opening. I tilt my hat to you

The feet censor had me dieing for a good minute 🤣

Dude this is fucking PERFECT for what I’m writing at the moment. Thanks a ton

this is big for me cause i want to start writing some good relationships but i do not know how people actually talk to each other lmao, this helps for sure

18:55 this is the most chaotic single image I've ever seen

My favorite UKposts channel about storytelling talking about how to write romance (my favorite genre to write)???? Sign me up!! 😁👍

re: "on kissing homies goodnight" - WAY ahead of ya there, my absurd relationship flowchart that might be more pain-in-the-ass than help in the long run but can at least help me build ideas and MAYBE keep tangled stuff straight HAS CONNECTIONS FOR ALL THE MAIN CAST, THREE OF THEM RELATED, TWO OF THEM MARRIED, ONE OF THEM THE NEW GUY IN TOWN

Amazing video as always. Concise, well explained, and structured in a way that holds my attention (I have ADHD and I find it difficult to follow content generally). This being said, in case you come across this comment, a question that bugs me most of the time while I'm writing/thinking about ideas etc. is, how do you get from A. (idea, character, world) to B. (an actual story) the fastest? When I use a solid structure I get into analysis paralysis, while by not using one I end up writing stuff that goes nowhere. Thank you!

Geez, you voiced basically everything Ive been thinking about fictional romances in this video. It really gets on my nerves when people throw their characters together “for the vibes” without any thought of how the whole romance is going to actually fit with the characters’ motivations. And honestly it’s so much more satisfying (and emotionally devastating at times) when romantically involved characters have foils with their arcs. Great video, I applaud you

i love these videos because they speak my language to a T. im a blunt, to the point, tough love kind of person and for some reason advice videos on creative writing just don’t get through to me. these videos help me see my writing more impartially and since i’m studying psychology, thinking more logically about my character’s voices and interactions is making them more 3 dimensional. ive looked into enneagram and attachment theory for so long without applying them to my characters so thanks 🤞🏽

7:29 You're cracking queer theory there! There is little difference between romance and close friendships other than sexual/romantic behavior/desire. It's just that in a (Western) heteronormative society, there's a cultural expectation that when a man and a woman meet that there's some romantic friction. This is why the queer shipping community exists; if you step away from heteronormativity and start assuming that all friendships *could* be charged with romance then you get a lot of fanfiction about same-gender pairings. Another funny example is, "historians will say they were friends," which is a phenomenon where same-gender romances are interpreted in heteronormative society as platonic. There's also performance and expectation to consider but for the sake of brevity I'll just say: get into queer theory. tl;dr: you're right. Friendships and romances are both types of relationships that are about meeting each others' desires.

Bro really called Welch's sparkling grape juice "red wine"

The way the level of his wine glass changes drastically through the video xD

i always look forward to your uploads because they always level up the way i think about writing :)

I genuinely love this channel. Keep it up!!

i needed this

i love your videos. your writing advice is always actually practical & helpful

i absolutely love the framing in your videos man. the unhealthy relationships segment where its just a speck of you on the field is my favourite. also your art style gradually gets better, the mouths on the characters is one sign of that. i hope you keep being this wonky and whimsical as your channel grows.

this is the format i subbed for thanks for bringing it back.

All video essays should take place on a boat evading pirates

the heidi prebe mention felt manifested right outta my head the way i was thinking about her when you mentioned attachment theory😂😂cool video as alwaysss!!

Just when I struggle with my writing, you are popping up with a new video that has a perfect solution.

Hell yeah! I cannot get enough of this quality content!

another local banger, one of my favorite creators atm, will be citing this video often because I feel like I sometimes struggle with writing romantic relationships as someone who is aromantic, this cleared up alot!!

I subscribed a while back in your Freakishly Good Dialogue video, but i've been watching your channel for a while now, and your sponsorship integrations/transitions always make me laugh out loud

Thank you for the highlights, it helped me to think even better about the characters i'm writing

How do you have such expert knowledge on so many aspects of storytelling? Very informative as always, tysm.

Very good advice imo. I love how efficient your writing is for your videos, it really shows that you care for the stuff you're talking about as you like to mention efficiency a lot (not a bad thing). I especially like this advice because writing a character and writing relationships are, weirdly, two different things; and even though two different characters may be fleshed out, relationships aren't always and people need to work on those dynamics more.

Always a good day when Local posts.

The irony is that characters are people, and vice versa. Great analysis this channel keeps getting better and better

bro's narrative craft is so compelling, even his stick figure sketches leave an impression on me

You have officially leveled up in your video style/quality. I salute you. 🫡

I love the new video composition style, great stuff and great video essay!

this entire channel for me is 'never before have i been so offended by something i 100% agree with' (as a person giving my drawings something to do) for this, i thank you.

Never have I felt so thoroughly described as when he talked about anxious attachment 😭

Bro, you mad Extremely entertaining and informative. Love the content❤

this is actually one of the best, most concise breakdowns of how to write relationships that i've ever seen-thank you so so much!!! God i gotta apply these to my friendships so fast

I normally don’t comment but I just want to say your videos are amazing and the quality has only gone up! Keep up the amazing work!

This is legitimately the most helpful writing channel I've ever come across. The advice doesn't just inform, it inspires.

Yup this is exactly what I needed. I have two best friend characters that I’ve been having some trouble with. Their relationship has been a little aimless. But this put everything into context. Keep it up!

great shit as usual. i think a lot of people do have an idea that this is how you should do relationships, but having that put into words and exemplified really helps to make it stick and be put into practice

I’m so glad I came across your videos!!! I’m a writer but I took screenwriting classes in college (by far, the BEST advice I got was from this class compared to other fiction writing classes) and it’s very refreshing to see actual good advice on here.

Giving good relationship while telling how to write.. Great stuff dude!

This is the first video of yours I've seen and I gotta say. What. A. Banger.

Because of you, your humour and perfect editing/painting skills im more and more into writing. Always wanted to write but never had any good ideas or believe that i can make something worth reading. The only thing im good with is human's emotions, and i understand people really well. But thanks to you i see that this is valuable in writing. thank you

You and Heidi are definately my two favorite youtubers and I had a feeling you watched her too just based off how you talk about writing relationships and adding depth to them :D

I think another thing that writers have to consider more is the relationships that these characters _outside_ of their romantic relations. A huge problem with a lotta writing is they don't develop friendships or family relations beyond basic archetypes or beyond being characters that just help the main character progress the plot. But the reality is that your other kinds of relationships tend to influence your choices and can as a result influence your romantic relationships (and vice versa). Is the main character's friend group an echo chamber of their same thoughts, stunting their growth as a person and letting them bypass red flags because they feed the MC's bias, or do they have independent thoughts and call the MC out when they're indulging in toxicity/doing something toxic? Does the MC have a trustworthy relationship with their parents, meaning they can go to them for advice about these types of things, or is the main character kinda forced to handle things without the proper guidance of a wiser & older person? What about authority figures that work as second parents, like teachers or coaches or a boss? Additionally, consider the hierarchy that the main character might apply to these relationships, because everyone's priorities for what relationship is more important varies - some value friends or specific friends above all else, some were raised to prioritize family, and some believe that romance is the end-all-be-all in their life. Depending what relationships a character values more, they might be more inclined to listen to that person's advice compared to the judgement of others. And - again - that can influence their choices.

Genuinely the best channel for writing on this website

Your videos are both educational and validating. It's easy to understand and phrased in a way that makes it clear that this is advice and not a rule written in stone - while not sounding insecure about the validity of your advice either. I'm not only learning new things, but also evaluating my existing ideas differently. The obsessive romance I've been writing doesn't "just click", but I somewhat accidentally gave them really strong reasons to be together. And now that I know that everything will be revolve around these reasons, I have a second angle to look at my scenes from!

Absolutely brilliant!

Love your channel and love Heidi Preibe ..thank you for all the videos, super helpful

homie had his feet censored

this video actually highlight that characters and people really are not that different. the only real difference is that one is real and the other is fiction.

Im gonna need a continuation of this pirate storyline in all future videos please and thank you. also how dare you read my mind when u said arcane. i NEED that analysis, man! great work, keep it up!

bruh when this man showed up with his legs kicked up, feet blurred, with a bottle of wine on his own private boat i instantly knew that he was Gojo is real life bro