Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! New video coming this Sunday at 9am PT / 12pm ET! 👻

Thank you all for the support on Spooky, Not Scary!! 🖤 https://youtu.be/mem7Z7dDfvU?si=hd8iD...

I had so much fun making that video and I believe it is a great foundation for where we are headed through the rest of this seasonal chapter. 🎃

For our next video, I thought we could make something together!

Think Build-A-Bear. Except we’re doing Build-A-Monster. And I can’t promise you’ll want to take this one home. 😂

🎬 How Do You Build a Monster We Haven’t Seen Before? 👈

I mean have you ever come up with a monster for your story, gotten excited about it, and then realized… wait. Haven’t I seen this before?

We’ve had so many vampires, witches, ghosts, and variations on all of them that it can feel like every good idea already belongs to somebody else.

So how do we create something that feels like our own?

⛓️ If you remember the Character Chain, we’re giving it a slightly more gothic relative: the Monster Chain. 🧟

We’ll explore what makes familiar monsters work, what happens when we change those choices, and build an original monster together, piece by piece.

🙏 Thank you again for building this channel and community with me! I appreciate every single one of you.

Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

6 days ago (edited) |[YT] | 125

Plot Luck

UPDATE: Upload issue resolved! We’re on for 11:00 AM PT. 👻

Plot Heads! Quick heads-up: I ran into an upload issue with today’s video and had to reupload it. 🤦

Spooky vs Horror: Why Dark Stories Do Not Need to Scare is still coming today and should be live around 11 AM PT.

Thanks for hanging in there. I’m really excited for you all to see this one. 👻


Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

1 week ago (edited) |[YT] | 57

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Plot Heads!!! We have a winner from our dialogue challenge! 🎉

But first, a little Plot Luck news! Spooky vs. Horror: Why Dark Stories Do Not Need to Scare drops tomorrow, Monday, October 12th at 9am! 👻

I am SO excited for you all to see this one!!!

Now, back to our dialogue challenge...

This was such an incredible batch of submissions. Some of these made me laugh, a couple genuinely got me emotional, and I honestly could go through every single submission and tell you something I loved about it.

But I did promise I would pick one. 😂

Before I do that, I want to give a huge shout-out to everyone who jumped in and shared their writing with us:
@MoeBurhanimeez1 @lizzyvv447 @nite129 @IronYetiHistory @SerdiChan @Astroavess @FernieCanto @indigo1562 @The21stGamer @annekim2634 @martincollins6632 @hyrumwendel4389 @gillioxl @DDubovsky @jennatowfighi8736 @yapdog @Tzarina_8472 @equesdeventusoccasus @Dragonmoon1598 @DragnGrl34

And our winner is... @hyrumwendel4389!!! 🎉

You may have actually missed this one because Hyrum posted it as a reply to my pinned comment instead of in the main comment section, so definitely go read the full submission on the video! He took the setup and made Jeb someone trying to get into a prison past Kall, an old friend who’s now guarding it, while secretly trying to help a condemned witch escape.

What pushed this one over the top for me was how much was working at once. The stakes are clear, you can feel the history between Jeb and Kall in the way they talk to each other, and that history actually changes how the conversation unfolds.

And I think the biggest compliment I can give it is that pretty quickly, I stopped thinking about the challenge and just wanted to know what happened next.

And seriously, thank you again to everyone who took part! There were so many deserving submissions, and I’m really grateful you all trusted me and the rest of the Plot Heads enough to share your work with us. ❤️ We’ll definitely do more challenges like this in the future!

See you all tomorrow in the comments for the new Plot Luck video!

Don’t forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

1 week ago |[YT] | 65

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻 Our first full video of Horror That Haunts is on the way!

And I wanted to start the chapter on the slightly lighter side of horror.

🎃 Spooky vs Horror: Why Dark Stories Do Not Need to Scare

Coming very soon (TBA)! 👀

I know some of you have already told me horror isn’t really your thing. But if you love Coraline, Beetlejuice, Wednesday, The Addams Family, Scooby-Doo, or just anything a little Gothic, macabre, creepy, or strange...

This one is for you. 🖤

Because a story can have ghosts. Monsters. Death. Haunted houses. Things lurking in the dark.

And still not be trying to terrify you.

So where is the line? And how do you write it?

That's what we will be exploring through the lens of Spooky Storycraft 👻

ALSO...

🗣️ Remember the dialogue challenge from our last video? Tomorrow I’ll be announcing my favorite continuation of our guard scene and giving one Plot Head a shout-out! 💙

I can’t wait to finally get this chapter started with you all.

Don’t forget to stir the plot!

Brian

1 week ago (edited) |[YT] | 68

Plot Luck

Plot Heads!!! 🎃 Tomorrow at 12pm PT / 3pm ET we’re officially kicking off Horror That Haunts with a live event!

Make sure to hit “Notify me” so you know when we’re about to go live:
👉 youtube.com/live/KOg1yj-OSKA

We’re going to explore what actually makes horror work, put some scary ideas to the test, and build something together before opening things up for a big story + writing Q&A.

AND....

🎬 Our FIRST full video of the chapter is also already in production! I’ll be announcing more details on that very soon.

👻 I know horror isn’t for everyone. But one of the things I love about Plot Luck is that we explore all kinds of stories and find different things we can bring back to our own stories. Horror has so much to teach us about suspense, antagonists, atmosphere, tension, reveals, and more.

🍂 Also, a quick note: This chapter won’t just be about “scary stuff.” We’ll also be exploring some of the other sides of horror, including comedy + horror and even the cozy/spooky side of storytelling.

I’m really excited to explore all of this with you this month.

Don’t forget to stir the plot!
Brian

2 weeks ago |[YT] | 75

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🔥 PLOT HEADS! New video officially drops WEDNESDAY @ 9AM PT / 12PM ET! 🗣️

👉 Most Dialogue Advice Is Making Your Writing Worse

This turned into one of my longest videos yet, but I’m really excited about where it landed.

We hear SO much advice about writing dialogue, but when we actually sit down to write dialogue… what the hell are we supposed to do with all of that?

On Wednesday, we’re putting some of the most common dialogue advice to the test, figuring out when it actually helps, and then I’m sharing the system I use in my own writing and when I’m helping other writers figure out what their dialogue actually needs.

I cannot wait for you to see it!

AND THEN… 👻

Horror That Haunts officially kicks off this SATURDAY with Plot Luck Live!

📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 12PM PT / 3PM ET

Make sure to hit “Notify me” so you know when we’re about to go live:
👉 youtube.com/live/KOg1yj-OSKA

Thank you all for your support on the recent videos! I'm really excited for what's ahead.


Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

3 weeks ago |[YT] | 78

Plot Luck

🔥 PLOT HEADS! A couple BIG updates on what’s coming next! 👀

1️⃣ NEXT VIDEO — Most Dialogue Advice Is Making Your Writing Worse

Officially in production! (Aiming for Monday, Sept. 28 — TBC)

We’re going to put some of the most common dialogue advice to the test, talk about where it helps (and where it doesn’t), and then I’m going to share the system I use to actually approach and work through a dialogue scene.

Very excited to finally bring all of this together! 🗣️

2️⃣ OCTOBER CHAPTER — Horror That Haunts 👻

After three dialogue videos, we’re taking a little seasonal DETOUR for October! We’ll be digging into horror and what makes it work, with plenty to steal for your own stories even if you never plan on writing horror.

And we’re kicking it off together with a new PLOT LUCK LIVE! 🔴

📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 12pm PT / 3pm ET
👉 Make sure to hit "Notify me" at this link so you'll be reminded when we're about to go live: youtube.com/live/KOg1yj-OSKA

And don't worry! We will back to dialogue and plenty of other storytelling topics in November.

As always, thank you for continuing to build Plot Luck with me.

Don’t forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

3 weeks ago (edited) |[YT] | 127

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Hey Plot Heads!

The anniversary video is finished and uploading! Since I'm at work today, I'll have it out for you tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET!

This is one of the most personal videos I've made yet, and I hope it reminds you why you fell in love with storytelling in the first place.

After that, we'll be back to our normal schedule this weekend, and I'm excited to share my own framework for writing dialogue with you all!

I can't wait to share these both with you.

Don't forget to stir the plot!
Brian

1 month ago (edited) |[YT] | 88

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Hey Plot Heads!

I've been working on a really special video to celebrate Plot Luck's first birthday! It's a bit different from what I've done before, but it's something I've really needed to make for myself lately, and I can't wait to share it with you.

I'm hoping to have it ready for Tuesday morning, but I'll keep you posted!

Thank you all for being part of this first year. It means so much to me. ❤️

Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

1 month ago (edited) |[YT] | 154

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Plot Heads! Quick update: I ran into an issue getting today’s upload over the finish line. Unfortunately, with the day job, I won’t be able to take another run at it until this evening. So I’m going to have This Is What Good Dialogue Actually Sounds Like up first thing tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 9am PT / 12pm ET.

Sorry for the delay, everyone. I really wanted to have this one out for you today! We will get things back to our normal schedule this weekend.

Thank you and don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

1 month ago |[YT] | 135