SYMBOLISM THEMES AND MOTIFS Terrible Writing Advice
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Let Terrible Writing Advice be your symbol when it comes to writing symbolism, themes, and motifs. How else will a writer show off just how smart they are?
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Let's add in as many random symbols as possible. Some TH-camr would go through every single one and connect the dots for us, then credits me for being a genius writer.
That's kinda how movies are successful nowdays
That new law stating that every media argument can apply to the last jedi seems applicable
Don't forget nonsensical narrative, plot and character assissinations! TH-camrs and 'theorists' will have a blast performing mental gymnastics and giving all credit to the writers. :D
@@Dunmerdog I didn't even have to mention it by name lol
I heard this is what made Dark Souls lore.
For a creative writing class, I wrote a story about a girl being abused by her father. He used to take her out for ice cream, but when he started abusing her, he also stopped giving her ice cream. Someone in the class said, “So the ice cream symbolizes her loss of innocence.” And I was like, “Yeah, that’s totally what I was going for…”
His inability to grasp the authorial intent is symbolic of the dad’s inability to grasp his daughter’s love for ice cream
So, what were you actually going for?
@@taliaflor I wasn’t going for anything. Mostly I was just wanting to show that the dad was a jerk because he wouldn’t even get her ice cream while he was abusing her. But in hindsight, it was actually a good bit of symbolism that I must have accidentally put in. “Death of the Author” and all that.
@@GrndAdmiralThrawn I thought It was a symbolism of how he went from buying her daughter ice cream to giving her ice cream
@@GrndAdmiralThrawn Thank you
“I’ll just rip off Zuko”: between this and the Cabbage Gundam joke from the FanFic video I can tell you’ve watched avatar recently lol
I know, that was clearly the guy from Static Shock.
There's honestly little reason to NOT rip off Zuko.
@@DonVigaDeFierro Zuko is a really good example for good writing to be honest. His character arc is crazy😁
@@LegendarySimp209
Is he the Guy Shoto Todoroki looks like?
@@New3DSLuigi364 yeah, with almost the same tragic backstory loool
"I have a three-digit IQ"
I mean, 010 is technically three digits
**spits out tea, laughing**
Ha! So is .002
And in binary 010=2
-100
@@AegixDrakan **whips out meat scepter**
"An assassin that washes his hands after every job"
Huh, better than my look away idea, im going to steal that
Must. Get. Clean...
Out damn spot and all that jazz
He's actually supportive of using his ideas.
@@sxwriter8569 Even explicitly stated in text in his isekai video.
Levi Ackerman in a nutshell
Not crushing your idea, just giving a case study☺️
Symbols in this video:
-burning pile of pencils represents the terribleness of his writing advice
-unwillingness to listen to his inner critic symbolizes stubbornness of JP
-hammer and bulldozer stand for the complete lack of carefulness
Motifs:
-love triangles reinforce JP's hate-love relationship with hack love writing
-repeated references to intelligence show JP's massive but insecure ego
Themes:
-self-aggrandizement in writing (it's so over the top that it makes this video difficult to watch)
-how incompetence and lack of self-awareness go together
Thanks, this comment was actually helpful.
From what I understand it's something like:
Symbols
⬇️constitute
Motifs
⬇️which can then imply/compliment
Themes
And you want to know what makes it better the fact he shows excalty what should not be done mean he is using the tools correctly to show you how to not use it
lack of self-awareness can be shortened to self-unawareness
this symbolises that the comment you made, while completely correct, can seem frivolous to cynics and skeptics
It's almost symbolic sarcasm.
The hammer appears multiple times in the video, making it a motif.
Why dig into deeper meanings of themes through symbolism when we can just use surface level icons and images then call it parallels and foreshadow?
Religious symbolism is when my main man jesus does the holy T pose
Snyder
@Devin The Dude Such as?
@Devin The Dude
Attack On Titan is the exact opposite of this
@Devin The Dude Again, when does this happen in Attack on Titan?
"Themes are for eight grade reports."
-The showrunner of one of the most popular and high-budget series of all time.
They were too subversive for their time
which is?
@@PengyDraws Game of Thrones IIRC
@@PengyDraws i think its the simpsons
I mean, he also co-wrote X-Men origins: Wolverine, and we know what was of that popular and high-budget show, so...
I'll do you one better:
"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history - true or feigned- with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." - English writer, poet, philologist and academic who wrote best-selling fantasy series.
It's easy.
Blue : you (mostly gud guys)
Green : your ally
Red : enemy
What are you, Fire Emblem?
This is literally how the game works
@@sweethysteria8737 not only in games, but books, movies and even some items are associated with red as a symbol of danger
@@amriakhsan9208 even nature thinks red means danger,there's a frog with red eyes that uses those eyes to scare away predators
Except in power rangers like teams, then red becomes the leader
Also a lot of main characters tend to be a combination of blue and red.
By Mary Sue's nonexistent flaws have I been awaiting this.
Me too, I can't wait for this video, and now it's here!
HELP MY!!! My muscles are too big! I am a big tall man and my muscles are even BIGGER! I use them to get views but they HURT so much!!! Because they are heavy. Do you have any advice, dear and
@@AxxLAfriku stop using steroids
69 likes, make a wish!
@@AxxLAfriku This stupid comment fits so well under the comment about Mary Sue's nonexistent flaws. At first I even though it was a joke.
Symbolism is actually relevant to a lot more than just writing. It’s pretty necessary for art as well, especially creature and character design.
Yeah, you're right. I'll keep that in mind.
Thanks for the reminder, as an artist and a writer
How well a piece of art executes the theme it intends to tell its a nice internal metric to keep in mind when creating anything really
That's so true!
You say that as if writing isn't art.
My symbolism is the OC, Marie Suey. She is a Chinese culinary dish that is absolutely perfect. Something something vague connection to Asian culture... now let's rake in that dough!
Notice us, China-senpai! Er, I mean... Chinese equivalent of "senpai." I don't care enough to learn about your culture. We're not DreamWorks. Just give us money!
Disney moment
Original Cuisine. Do not steal.
Despite Marie and Suey has nothing to do with Chinese but is actually Mary Sue translated into Chinese and translated back into English.
@@hunterkiller1440 Yup. That's the joke.
“Well *DAMN!* Looks like I forgot to add a conflict, theme, and basically anything interesting in this story to go with my perfect Mary-Sue Protagonist! Eh, I’ll throw in a stupid environmentalism message to make this relevant to modern day...”
young adult dystopian fiction in a nutshell
Good. Don't forget to have it really hamfisted in the last few pages even if this was apparently never important before.
It will surprise your audience and make them thing you're extremely clever, and totally not call out you had no idea what you were doing.
- James patterson mumbling to himself while writing maximum ride
@@vitaliykormov1266 Things like that are why YA is one of my least favorite genres in recent history
The Tomorrow war in a nutshell
One day I hope JP gets sponsored by something that has nothing to do with creative writing or anything creative and it’s just, “This episode of terrible writing advice is sponsored by Ritz bits.”
I would literally buy 10 boxes of Ritz Bits if they did that. I don't even eat them. XD
@@Thessalin yeeeeeeaasssss!
TODAY"S EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU TODAY BY RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS!!!
@@supermysterious66 no
@@Thessalin what a total sucker
Optimistic of you to assume that people actually check Wikipedia, instead of going with half-remembered random facts floating around between their three brain cells.
Writing about things you don't know anything about is a symbolic representation of the tendency of people to not know what the fuck we're talking about
@@crimsoncutz8430 Me being stupid symbolizes my lack of intelligence.
I'm not gonna lie, I do this when I write for fun, but in my defense the example was norse mythology. And I'm a huge norse myth nerd
@@roguepsykerhaaker4813 Serious Question:
Are this Youtuebr and Critical Drinker Secretly-related Siblings?!?
I mean, half of this channel here is basically pointing-and-laughing at modern
Writers and Diversity-Hires f-ing up. 'Why modern movies s-ck', a series from Critical Drinker,
is a perfect Example for that...
@@nenmaster5218 I get what you mean, and maybe, but I feel like general media criticism and modern media criticism is a fairly common subject these days at least
I guess in a way the comic relief saying "Zappers!" at the most inopportune moments could symbolize how he wants attention due to not feeling like he's important and no one seems to care about him otherwise.
Shsh! Don't give him layers! He's here to make the kiddies laugh and nothing else!
depends on the situation could literally be him trying to ease the tension of the room by saying something stupid he knows will spark a response. essentially if it comes up it's intentionally stupid and trying to steer a converation away from a landmine.
Reminds me of one of my favorite lines from Bojack Horseman:
"[This show] is poorly lit!"
"The darkness is a metaphor for darkness!"
symbolism is like whipcream. if its on a sundae, it enhances the experience. If its on a pile of shit, It just makes me vomit. when I'm served nothing but the whip cream, I feel cheated
if it's up my ass, im going to a mental asylum
@@ygobe2 I don't know, it just sounds like you got a good time to me (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
This is too underrated 🤣🤣🤣
So whip cream is symbolic of symbolism? This is getting deep.
Is this a good symbolism? I've been working on an urban fantasy story about a 19 year old guy hunting monsters for money and for clearing a multigenerational debt that was formed due to his family being a bunch of devil worshippers that created the first ever vampire, causing a whole bunch of problems.
So like the mc is cheap, dirty, barely surviving, and greedy to the point that he sells his left eye and kidney on the black market for money. And I dont know if this is symbolism or not, but stray dogs will occasionally show up in certain moments, and the dogs are a reflection of him: dirty, mostly independant, hoarding, and fight dirty, with no sense of dignity to them. But if you can get a stray to open up to you, you get one of the most loyal companions out there.
The bit on heavy-handed symbolism reminds me of an old creative writing professor I had.
He kept a regular old 2x4 posted on the wall of his classroom for the entire semester. Every time he taught a writing class, he'd bring it in and put it up. He called it the "2x4 of Symbolism". Mainly because whenever we were studying a work, and there was a moment where the symbolism literally got so in-your-face it took you out of the story, he said it was like getting whacked by a 2x4. If your story has themes revolving around how greed often leads people to bad ends, and your main antagonist ends up getting squashed to death by a giant treasure hoard, congratulations! You've just assaulted your readers with the 2x4 of Symbolism.
He was a fun guy.
Serious Question:
Are this Youtuebr and Critical Drinker Secretly-related Siblings?!?
I mean, half of this channel here is basically pointing-and-laughing at modern
Writers and Diversity-Hires f-ing up. 'Why modern movies s-ck', a series from Critical Drinker,
is a perfect Example for that, let alone all the hour long constructive Criticism that Jay Exci
and Others do!
That cant be coincidence, i say: They must be plotting something together! Paid Associates, i yell!
My dad told me a story about one of his college English classes. Apparently, his teacher was obsessed with finding symbols in books, going on and on about how the protagonist's red car was a symbol for speed or recklessness or something like that. The author happened to be giving a talk nearby, so the teacher sent her class to the lecture.
When asked about the symbolism in his books, the author responded with something like, "Look, there are no symbols. I only made the car red, because I needed a few extra words to meet my word count. I just went through the book adding adjectives."
My dad and his friends thought this was so funny, especially since the teacher didn't believe the author and kept trying to push symbols on her class.
your dad is wrong, just because an author didn’t intend for something to be symbolic doesnt mean it can’t have meaning for someone else. one of the coolest things about art is how everyone can have a different interpretation, a different relationship to the story based on their own life, I think
I accidentally misread "giving a talk" as "driving a tank" lol
I hate how he acts like this as a joke for mostly free when Hollywood acts like this for money
The disturbing part of that observation is it means the audience basically demand this stuff, and then sit around and complain about how the last Star Wars movie or what ever sucked because the power fantasy was so over the top.
Except that the people in Hollywood may not be acting.
Which only makes it worse.
@RJLbwb, Bruh I remember getting so pissed off when the SW fandom made a big deal about how they wanted Rey to have famous heritage and then when it happened, they suddenly started screaming that they preferred it when she was a nobody. 🙃
@@theflickchick9850 well. The star wars fanbase doesn's have the best reputation to say it as nice as possible.
@@theflickchick9850 I mean, it could just be that there were multiple groups of competing preferences? Prior to ROS coming out, I heard debates ranging from She's a Skywalker/She's a Kenobi/She's a no one!/She's a Palpatine!
Acting like communities are of a single mind that're schizophrenic is of no use beyond trying to dunk on them.
And a phoenix flew behind Mary, making it look like she has fiery wings behind her back. Because Phoenix are symbols of rebirth and it’s awesome AF!
Hello Mulan 2020.
Hello Game of Thrones
That’s another pitfall of symbolism: cultural differences.
I’m not Chinese and don’t know much about Chinese mythology, but from reviews I’ve read of Mulan 2020, the Asian phoenix doesn’t have the same association with rebirth that the Greek phoenix does. The explanation Mulan’s dad gives in the film draws on European ideas.
Symbols have different meanings in different cultures, so if you’re setting a story in a particular real-world culture, you need to make sure your use of the symbol lines up with that culture’s use.
@@emilylike-the-soup2502 yeah, the phoenix reborn in fire feature isn't that popular in the east, it rather represent an empress, a symbol of noble and royalty, an elegant ruler of a exotic kingdom
@@emilylike-the-soup2502 Thank you for the insight. 👍
"If you have to ask what it symbolized, it didn't" - Roger Ebert
@Laura Bosch I don't know, If you can't tell what something symbolizes then it becomes more of an Easter egg than an actual source of meaning. I think some of the best symbolism I've seen is in Up, because the house so clearly represents his sort of life force or energy, and when letting go of his old possessions makes the house light enough to fly again it's a beautiful, triumphant, tear-jerking moment, and I feel like you don't get that with just a bell.
I agree that the symbolism is the most powerful when everyone knows, oh that must symbolise x. However, I often miss clearly important symbols that enhance the meaning/purpose/themes of the story once I realise they are there (because my English teacher drew attention to them)
@@RenABFF0 Yeah, if you're talking about books, especially much older ones, then the symbols real meaning can be lost. Ebert was talking more about movies than classics though and I think he's right. If you have a visual medium that is using a visual symbol than the meaning of the symbol should not be ambiguous to the point that you ascribe nothing but confusion to it. If you were to take a film, maybe a marvel film, and just cut to a toaster oven, or frame a toaster oven into a lot of shots. The audience might ask "what does the toaster oven mean?" because the film maker is, apparently, putting a lot of effort in showing it to you. It's a bad symbol because there is nothing obvious about it and it is completely disconnected from the film. So as Ebert would say, it meant nothing so you can forget about interpreting it as a metaphor. It's not really an attack on poorly known symbols but poorly executed attempts at symbolism.
@@RenABFF0 Same. A lot of times I feel incredibly stupid for not getting the theme or message a story was trying to convey. The worst feeling Is when you can kind of understand some ideas, but can't put everything together In a coherent manner.
I mean sometimes people really do miss out on symbols even when they can be fairly obvious.
Like Uncle Iroh who studied the other elements to invent lightning redirection is also quite fond of tea which involves earth (to grow the tea leaves), fire (heat), water (to hold the flavor), and air (to cool). I didn't notice that until I saw someone point it out a few days ago. -Or maybe now we are both pretentious idk.-
I'ma use the swastika symbol from Hinduism eventhough my story has no hindu virtues at all. I don't know why, it just looks cool. I'm pretty sure it will not be misinterpreted. I mean like, c'mon, it's so obvious.
It's not like that same symbol has been culturally conected with a group of people with dangerous ideals and that killed a lot of people in relatively recent times in the west.
Technically it could be used for other types of virtues too, the swastika was used by almost every ancient european peoples because it's a symbol that stems from Yamnaya/Pit-Grave culture or potentially even earlier
@@Ditidos r/woosh
The nazi swastika being tilted symbolises how the symbol means something completely different in the western world, being “tilted” away from its original meaning.
@@arte0021 r/whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssshhhhhhhh
The age-old defense of any pretentious piece of media, "Guys, listen, you don't understand it's deep and mean stuff!" "Then, why the creator added 30 minutes scene of the character just taking a shit?" "You don't understand its symbolizes, the internal struggle of the protagonist to let his internal problems away!"
That's some deep shit (literally).
David Cage is cooming at the thought
Its okay You can say Neon Genesis Evangelion
nge fans trying to justify the hospital scene
Okay, that actually sound ... weirdly thoughful
The symbolism present in this thumbnail blows my mind away. The pencil snapping within fire represents JPs mental state. The fire is representative of burning anguish but the fire is more curved than normal fire which represents that over time the pain of the fire has lessened to a more bearable amount . Now the pencil within the fire represents the mental health and creativity of JP. It has been snapped but is still trying to hold itself together even while it is in the middle of a fire. This symbolic thumbnail is truly awe inspiring and can make you rethink the entire meaning of life and what it means to truly live in a world where our mental states are slowly burning away.
Beautiful. *slow claps*
We live in a society
Zack Snyder : "Are you saying that not every single one of my shots should have some very in your face symbolism so my audience thinks my work is very smart and intellectual?"
Jesus Joker lol.
Snyder Fanboi: "NO MASTER! They don't get it. They are not ubermensch, and thus are too simple to understand. By Ayn Rand's own belly button, we know who the real geniuses are!"
Man of Steel: I AM JESUS! I AM JESUS! Beating you over the head with Messianic symbolism so much it's annoying.
Hey it does look cool you can’t deny that
Snyder just took that visual approach/ language from comics.
English teachers watching this video: "write that down! Write that down!"
(Seriously, I love a good bit of symbolism but the fact we spent entire quarters in high school repeatedly JUST talking about themes almost killed my interest in reading and/or writing for a good while.)
Totes same. I feel that pain.
It reminds me of the time in high school when we’re discussing Florante and Laura (it’s a romance story told entirely in poetry, written by Francisco Balagtas). She could’ve boiled the story down, but she chose to focus on “the dark forest” that was mentioned in the first stanza, and how it symbolizes the Philippine’s suffering under the Spaniards’ rule (which I’m pretty sure it’s just a setting, not an actual symbol for anything).
We never got off from that, and the rest of the time, we were just reporting. It was legit boring and terrible.
I remember something Calvin said, in a Calvin & Hobbes strip: "These assignments don't teach you how to write, they teach you how to hate writing."
Fucking Great Gatsby and my class’s focus on color symbolism made it so we never even talked about the actual themes in the story (which I’m happy to have found out later in life) except for how they related to those damn colors. What a mess.
@@emblemblade9245 sounds like a hell
The Dunkleosteus was a seven meter long armored predatory placoderm fish from the late Devonian period (380-359 million years ago).
Paleozoic marine life gets nowhere near the attention it deserves in our modern media landscape. Thank you for bringing Dunkleosteus to so many people's attention. You have performed an invaluable service to the community.
Their armor is a symbol for how the main character tries to hide from the outside world and builds metaphorical walls around themself.
Bravo!
Ingenious. Simply ingenious.
Ah, Dunkleosteus. A very cool fish of the Devonian. However, unlike modern fishes, the Dunkleosteus lacked proper teeth, instead the cranium armor was modified giving it teeth-like extensions made of true bone.
@@Ditidos the fish lacked proper fish?
Just remember - make sure to only add the normal/socially acceptable aspects of themes. No-one ever wrote great literature by exploring a theme in contexts that challenge a reader's preconceptions about it.
I mean, it's not like that also hasn't historically ended in literal wars being started.
Ah... Be very careful, or at least ready to face some backlash, if certain symbols are used...
Oof, that Evangelion diss tho.
Not wrong, either.
“Get in the freaking robot, soldier, or else Mary Sue will have to do it again”
ikr
Atleast they stick with it and dont drop it whenever confeinant
Mary Sue?
But he is wrong, the refusal of the kabbalah is what is going on in Evangelion and it's movie.
Sorry for this JP, but I have to be the first dislike, it symbolises the fact that we superficially look for random labels, like “first like” or “first dislike”
if I were an english teacher I'd still fail you but good job.
Thats the complety wrong adtude to have
I had to like this, so that it would have 101 likes, symbolizing the educational nature of this comment.
And now this comment has 111 likes, therefore becoming a symbol of the monotonous repetition of people engaging in ultimately pointless activities in order to obtain some sort of achievement, such as first like. Or something like that I guess.
The near 300 likes on this comment has cheered me up, symbolising how hollow my life is.
Hey J.P, you should cover the alternate timelines/ time travel trophes/cliches!
Plus It could also bring another villian to share the sponsorship
Sounds like an excuse for a lot of unnecessary and confusing sequels
Some other good ideas to talk about:
>Villain Redemption
>Hero's Fall
>AU (Alternate Universe)
>Sidekick
>Cursed Artifacts
>Movie Adaptations
>Macguffin Hunt
>Revenge Plot
>Creepypasta (Monsters, "liminal spaces", haunted video games and lost episodes)
>Robots
@@anevilghost670 He did revenge already: th-cam.com/video/kdVfv2HPZSQ/w-d-xo.html
He also did AI (which technically covers robots too): th-cam.com/video/V_szwq4R7oY/w-d-xo.html
I'm interested in all your other suggestions though! ^_^
@@munken7673 Which means more sponsorships!
The real question is, what symbolizes the reason that she left me?
I think it's the motif of your flaws
Your paycheck
A mirror.
Bruh... 💀
The cold f-ing frozen lake near your house that shattered out of nowhere.
Excellent, I was struggling with an 8th Grade Book Report.
Fuck Dumb & Dumber!
Could you do a terrible writing advice on prequels?
YES!!! and also sequels!
While you’re waiting on JP, Overly Sarcastic Productions has a good video on sequels.
1. Explain completely unneccessary things about the characters backstory or his traits.
2. Put them in life or death situations, even though they will obviously survive because it is a prequel.
3. Introduce a new bad guy that is simultaneously a huge threat, while also being minor enough to be completely forgotten by everyone in the universe in a few years.
If you're writing a prequel, don't forget to throw every single character or their relatives from the original movie in there! Everyone needs a backstory that is also linked to the main storyline and connected with the MC's arc!
Doesn't matter if the universe feels like a small village after this, our protagonist HAS to know his son's future nemesis!
@@lukaszspychaj9210 Also don’t focus on characters that were either underdeveloped or try to tell a different story in this world all sequels and prequels are the same story again!
One thing to remember if you use motifs for a thing is to have it appear in absolutely everything even distantly associated to the thing.
For example, if your evil organization has a logo, make sure it's printed on every item they ever use, tattooed on each of their members' neck, and glow as a halo behind their leader whenever he or she talks. Also, their base must be hidden under a landmark carved to resemble that symbol and have a floor plan following the symbol, no matter how impractical that would be in real life. A Bat-signal with that symbol should be used either continuously or whenever they set their newest plan in motion.
and when the world needed him most, he returned!
nvm he uploaded 3 weeks so
Stephen King suggests not really worrying about themes and motifs in the first draft, instead observing what patterns seem to happen naturally in the flow of the story, and then going back to sharpen them in the second draft.
Personally, I notice I tend to write about the theme of cheating death a lot, but it's almost never on purpose. It's just sort of a subconscious preoccupation. Look through your own writing and see if you have something that similarly just keeps on happening without you meaning it to.
Edit: Apparently this is also brought up in the video itself. Note to self: watch entire video, THEN comment.
We read some of Stephen King’s writing advice in my middle school. It really helped me look at my writing from a different angle and improve it. He rocks.
Evagelion fans- Tell us, what do those Christian symbols mean?
Evagelion Creator- I don’t know, I just thought they look cool.
I consider myself a pretty proficient writer and I still practically squeal with glee when I see a new video from you!
Keep it up! Your advice keeps me in check! Strangely, none of my 20 books have been published despite following your notes to the letter . But I'm sure that's just because publishers don't understand and appreciate my brilliance! Nothing at all to do with your fantastic advise I'm sure!
While symbolism and context are important all but what really matters most all.....
A love triangle
It's true.
You goddamn right
Inner critic is my favorite character in this show.
Yeah I want to see more of him :)
And just like any great character he isn’t used much
More than O G herecy🤪
@@midnightwolf7131 I'm seeing him a lot more than I think would be entirely healthy.
Oh, you meant JP's inner critic. Nevermind then...
“Nazi Communist Socialist”
The universe would implode
The symbolism was just too thought provoking!
Ever heard of the Nazbols? I mean, they're basically just Nazis with a superficial Soviet aesthetic and a bit more focus on how the groups they hate are conspiring to undermine the working class rather than all of society, but still...
JP is Nazbol gang
@@grizzlyowlbear3538 Nah, he's anti-nazbol - he's an anvegpagborg. Clearly. Come on.
technically nazis were socialist but they despised communism
Honestly this whole "I must show off my genius intellect instead of writing a good story" attitude is perfectly displayed by the character Flip from season 5 of BoJack Horseman:
"Hello welcome to the premiere of my magnum opus! If you enjoy it that means you're smart and if you don't then that means my genius is underappreciated in my own time which is fine too!"
"Since I have a triple digit IQ"
Quality joke
Serious Question:
Are this Youtuebr and Critical Drinker Secretly-related Siblings?!?
I mean, half of this channel here is basically pointing-and-laughing at modern
Writers and Diversity-Hires f-ing up. 'Why modern movies s-ck', a series from Critical Drinker,
is a perfect Example for that, let alone all the hour long constructive Criticism that Jay Exci
and Others do!
That cant be coincidence, i say: They must be plotting something together! Paid Associates, i yell!
You know, part of me always wanted to see the Yin-Yang symbol on batteries for the positive and negative charge of the electrons. :)
Electrons are always negatively charged. The flow of current comes from positively and negatively charged Ions (like Lithium) that agitate the electrons. The negative charge repells them (because equal charges repell each other) and the positive charge attracts them, creating an electric current.
But yeah, no idea why noone has put the yin-yang symbol onto a battery yet, its such an obvious design-choice.
Like the statue in front of cern representing the “cosmic dance” of subatomic particles
It's funny, I never imagine future literary geniuses praising my work for my amazing themes, I imagine board English school students listening to their teacher tell them about themes that aren’t actually there.
Boy oh boy. Another TWA video that'll make me insecure, procrastinate and prevent me from ever writing a story, or more accurately, make a comic to satisfy my desire to just finish something for once.
Love your vids, JP. Keep up the good work.
Don't worry, the East Asians do it right back to us: "How do I show the readers someone is evil? I know, an inverted cross! That's clearly evil!"
"Saint Peter got crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy of dying like Jesus. It's a symbol of sacrifice either way; it just doesn't work."
"Too late, it's staying!"
What part of East Asian media does this? Because I've only ever seen the evil inverted cross in western goth culture.
As a side, the cross of St.Peter is _always_ empty. If the cross have Jesus nailed on, it's a blasphemy.
@@kimifw58 The hint is 2:09
Evangeline?
I've watched so many videos from this channel over so many years that I have become the absolute best writer that you've never heard about, but only because "readers" just can't grasp true quality. Once society catches on to the genius of the advice provided here, I will become truly renowned.
The mere sight of the Ego Scale fucking kills me.
You forgot that if you don't feel like adding themes then just awkwardly shove a preachy environmentalist message right at the end that is nothing more than "global warming is bad"
@Cassius Zedaker Wanna bet they are going to do that with the little mermaid live action even if the story happens in the 16th century before the industrial revolution?
I think an interesting topic for a video would be the voice of reason.
Ooooooooh, I like that video idea!
+
My book represents writer's block and my motif is blank pages
I didn’t realize a story I was writing had a theme until I noticed every character’s problems were caused by an inability to accept change and adapt.
"Well, I don't want to sound pretentious. Eh, if sticking to these themes, motifs, and symbolism is too hard, I guess we just won't use 'em. What's learned in middle school should stay in middle school."
"We're about to start shooting the last season. Are you guys ready?"
"HECK YEAH!"
You again
Oh I love these so much! When might we get a solid sci fi terrible writing advice?
You could read his book.
(Im joking its actualy realy damm good)
You know, I kinda wish the inner critic would have kept butting in for this video, I would have loved as much info for the subject as possible, but what we got is still a great launching point for writers who can see through the sarcasm; I wonder what that's about.
2:13 crosses and robots? That was definitly an evangelion reference. So he is one of us, a weeb!
You didn't get that vibe already from the knockoff Guts?
@@ginogatash4030 big man with big sword is pretty universal. What was in this video was extremely specific, another clue was the video about isekai. First the video name itself but then there's also how he represented every single females in this video with thigh highs which is something you only notice or talk about when you're used to anime.
@@pougetguillaume4632 he did admit himself that the design is inspired by Guts in his edgelord video or something, but the fact that the character is brought up everytime there's a tragic/dark and violent story involved also makes the comparison pretty evident, tho the character designs are made to be generic on purpose so I guess it's understandable how you missed it.
I can't remember what exactly, but I got the feeling he watched a lot of anime from a few of his videos.
Did all of you miss his isekai video?
Could you do an episode about "Show Don't Tell" next? Also loved the Evangelion reference.
I love how he is completely relatable instead of judgmental. Do you not even know what symbolism is? That's chill, you're probably just like me!
Serious Question:
Are this TH-camr and Critical Drinker Secretly-related Siblings?!?
I mean, half of this channel here is basically pointing-and-laughing at modern
Writers and Diversity-Hires f-ing up. 'Why modern movies s-ck', a series from Critical Drinker,
is a perfect Example for that, let alone all the hour long constructive Criticism that Jay Exci
and Others do!
That cant be coincidence, i say: They must be plotting something together! Paid Associates, i yell!
Themes and motifs are *always* more important than the actual story itself
And what the story is trying to say is always more important than if the plot or characters make any modicum of sense…
Isn’t that the key to getting a job in Hollywood?
The creativity in these videos is amazing. Some of these writing mistakes are so mind-numbingly stupid I never would've even *thought* of them.
Completely serious thoughts: My favorite symbolisms in stories are the ones where the writer realizes after the work published "Oh shoot, that thing is symbolic for this thing, and it fits perfectly in my story. I didn't even know it now."
Happened to a story I read. Messaged the author saying "love your work, did you notice how this story had fire all over it, from the title to the names of some characters to how several times people die in fires to how the tags had "slow burn" in it?" and she was like "yeah, sure, I'll pretend it was all intentional" xD
@@JaneXemylixa What story?
@@milicadiy Tales from Netheredge, part 1 Bright Flame. It's on AO3. Mind the tags
@@JaneXemylixa Thanks for the info. Goodbye.
I would love a video about character chemistry from you. Because, not only English isn’t my native language, but I keep failing to understand how can it be implemented so it feels organic (in case I want to write a beautiful and compelling romantic relationship, or even just a solid friendship).
This video was great as it helped clear the lines in my head between symbolism, motifs and themes. Keep up the amazing work, and I hope you do well in life!
From just this comment, your english actually seems great.
Although, I would point out that in this case, it's ". . . failing to understand *how it can* be implemented. . . " rather than "how can it", but I suspect that that was a typo.
@@Steelpoly3dJ316
Thank you! But that mistake was an honest mistake on my part.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a good example of an author just going crazy, and people were so starved for meaning they connected the dots for him.
I genuinely believe anyone who thinks Eva is a masterpiece was asleep throughout half of the show and just thought EoE looked cool th-cam.com/video/S0f0RVCAkHk/w-d-xo.html
@Wind Rose "The religious symbolism isn't even really meant to be symbolic, it's just there to look cool and that's it."
No, it has a purpose, but it's so tacked on and sloppy that our best guess would be as good as any canon.
Ah, finally. The Hideaki Anno school of writing advice.
Meanwhile, Araki and Akira: songs and veggies
When you mentioned norse mythology you reminded me of a guy I knew in college that was telling us about this story he was writing about a pair of brothers called Odin and Thor because they're *like* those gods except... every distinct quality of those myths. We were very puzzled and tried asking what about them stood out as Norse Mythology-like and, despite claiming something did, he couldn't come up with anything. After a bit, we just said it's fine if he just thought the names were cool but we really didn't see the parallels he thought he was drawing.
A good symbolism was Zuko's nightmare as a Firelord, with the two dragons talking to him, the red dragon with the voice of azula which belonged to Sozin, and the blue dragon with the voice of Iron that belonged to Roku, it represents the internal struggle of Zuko between his two grand grand parents.
Suggestion: TWA on writing Multi-perspective?
This goes in really in handy as I'm trying to write a story that is more from the perspective of a group as a whole rather than center focusing on the perspective and internalization of a single main character.
"I have triple digit IQ."
The digits after the decimal point don't count, JD. =P
This plus sign symbol with little extra ticks looks cool, I should use it for my story!
Oh… oh no
Don't forget to make absolutely certain that your characters make decisions based on conforming to the theme rather than their own established motives, beliefs and capabilities. A good writer ensures that if a part of their story is supposed to reference a real world event, they do not make that reference come across by virtue of having characters whose strengths and flaws naturally produce similar results, but rather by having them make uncharacteristic decisions that serve no purpose but to deliberately sabotage their own aims for the sake of creating a point of similarity with what you're referencing.
I really like when stories create their own symbols that are specific to THAT story. A green light may be jealousy in one story, but it doesn’t have to be in another.
I personally dislike common symbols like flowers because they aren’t intuitive and can even have different meanings to different people. Like yeah a rose almost always represents love, but how am I supposed to know when a lily is representing rebirth and when it’s representing femininity? And why do I have to google your symbolism?!?
I have a knightly order using a rose as a symbol, not for love but because it’s a thorny plant that is a dominant red, basically it’s thought of as a symbol of retribution, you can’t pluck it without it slashing you up. The full symbol is a bunch of torn banners hanging off of a large rose stem.
5:21 Need to have the comic relief shout Zappers upon seeing the alarm clock.
11:15 Everyone knows that in Japan you’re only allowed to meet your true love in March or April!
Plot twist, its the dead of winter but in a greenhouse.....
2:04
I tip my hat to you for grilling evangelion's symbolism
The only reason Ano put so much in was straight up that Christianity was esoteric and mysterious in Japan so it looked nice
He appearently was a big fan of ultraman who used it, which he thought looked cool in, christian symbolism
It is the equivalent of getting a tattoo in eastern characters
Yeah. The way I like to think of it, America's infatuation with Japan-chan is indeed reciprocated.
Tolkien is my personal role model when it comes to writing a good story. The dude famously hated allegory too. I think he was onto something.
06:57 _"It is possible for themes to develope during the writing process rather than being planned"_
Very thoughtful JP, I just realized that I'm always does that and it work really well for me than planned out the theme first.
Don't forget to take credit when someone else comes up with symbolism in your story you had no idea was even there.
why does jp kinda sound more like he’s being held at gunpoint to say these things more than the episodes about isekai and fanfic ocs
Probably because he hates talking about this stuff.
Just wait until the crossover episode where he does an episode with OSP. It would be hilarious to see JP and Red completely argue over what makes a good story even though JP is always sarcastic. Most people except Hollywood and the mainstream media know to do the exact opposite of what JP says.
He's actually holding his inner critic at gunpoint, which means he's holding himself at gunpoint as well.
So I wasn't the only person who hated the Isekai episode after all?
you should do one about potentially scaring content in children's books
Serious Question:
Are this TH-camr and Critical Drinker Secretly-related Siblings?!?
@@nenmaster5218 I've never heard of critical drinker but probably.
Finally more stuff to help out with my non existent future writing career
I feel as though JP missed an opportunity here jp could have had the inner critic keep coming back and getting stronger and stronger each time JP suppressed it
this would symbolize how unhealthy it is to suppress and reject our inner critic instead of listening and working with it to identify what the problem is and how to fix it
I know this comment is old but I agree 1000000%! JP actually drew & talked about that in an earlier video, and 2 years later it’s turned out to be some of the best life advice I ever got!
I love JP’s inner critic as a character and how he interacts with JP. Like, you can tell he’s trying to help JP, but JP just ignores him all the time & ticks him off, and it’s implied that’s a lot of what’s keeping him from becoming a decent writer. It’s the most positive & imo accurate portrayal of inner critics I’ve ever seen.
I have Bad anxiety when i go to sleep witch make me have panic atacks, i now can only sleep when i use the whole playlist of videos as background noise so thanks JP
_ Headcannon masters & pretentious overthinkers adding meaning & depth that wasn't originally there into their favorite serie(to justify them liking it, eveating it & themselves for being able to appreciate it better than the plebeians), hyper inflating the expectation of newcomers(& critics), whom would either become overthinkers themselves or hate the serie for not being what he expect it to be(& then got attacked by the pretentious overthinkers for being too stupid to get it)
_ There are also writers who try to stimulate the fans to overthink their story with random symbolism that goes nowhere(or completely contradict the story & other symbolisms) to intentionally create legion of overthinkers defending their bad writing(& to milk them for all there worth)
=> Both ruin their serie & fandom
Holy good lord in heaven, this is incredibly accurate lol.
I slightly disagree with you. In my opinion i think that:
-Its okay to justify what you like. If you like some of the badly written story just go for it, that mean a part of the story is really good for you. Its not a sin to like that and defending what you like. But yeah people should acknowledge that what they like is different from what other people like, so yeah don't make other people expecting too much from what you personally like
-Most bad writers doesn't even acknowledge that they are bad. Let alone making a random symbolism to justify their bad writing. The writer itself probably doesn't think about that, they probably just think that its cool.
But i agree with your opinion
My favorite example of how to use symbolism is Fruits Basket. Admittedly you need to do a little research into what meaning the Japanese give to different flowers, but whooooo boy when you know that much there are so many moments that link to each other in ways you might not have considered without being pretentious about it. Also the constant callbacks to its own symbols it sets up early in the series keep the message focused in a natural way.
This is exactly Disney's 'Into the Woods' They kept explaining their symbols like we had to admire how smart they were when they didn't even make sense.
You already fail if you keep explaing symbolism.
Dude, I had an idea for directing Into The Woods (the play) that, since the wolf and Cinderella’s Prince are supposed to be played by the same actor, the Prince would have wolf motifs on his armor/uniform.
I'm leaving a hate comment to symbolize what's wrong with modern day internet culture, because I am above all internet discourse, which is ironic because I am actually fueling it, which means that I am actually part of the problem, but this too was all sarcasm, making me a genius actually.
Well as a hate response I don't agree with you and I'm personally offended for some reason.
Don’t forget that a blue room is never just a blue room. The author making the room blue b/c they liked the color blue or wanted to show that the character likes blue? Nah it has to be something much deeper
Death of the author. Just because you found lit class boring doesn’t mean you can’t analyze every part of a work
The same applies to blue curtains, because everything has a deeper meaning
This but unironically. Thinking critically is important when reading, regardless of author intent. Interpretation is an important skill, you salty middle schooler.
@@Kuraiko-nn4cl everything does have a deeper meaning. Analyzation is part of literature. Why do you think Moby Dick is a classic?
@@Wyattporter But left unchecked you end up finding meaning where there is none. At that point you run the risk of wildly misinterepting a work and drawing wrong conclusions.
When the video started I thought "Symbolism, hmm... I guess how long will it take to show a sladgehammer as a metaphor".
48 seconds apparently.
Faster than I thought tbh.
Sladgehammer.
Now 20% more blunt than a sledgehammer!
(No hate. I just think typos are funny.)
The story is about time and fading memories. So we'll put clocks on everything! That way no one can forget! It's genius!
Man, does this remind me of my English teachers saying "Every story needs to have a theme." No, I just want to write my low fantasy go away.
I love that "triple-digit IQ" line.
Since 100 is the mean--or was, before inflation--most of us have a triple-digit IQ.
If "IQ" means anything, "triple-digit IQ" somehow means even less.
IQ tests are continually readjusted so that 100 continues to be the mean, despite the general trend of most people doing better and better over time. A score of 100 on a test taken to 1950s standards is not the same as a 100 score earned today. 100 is not an actual number with a fixed meaning, but rather a representation of the concept of "average." A symbol for average, if you will. Not a real number. You can look up the Flynn Effect to learn more about this.
JP showing crosses in the background and I get the feeling that somebody has some beef with Evangelion.
You gotta admit things exploding in cross shapes in NGE look really awesome.
@@federicopalacios7439 Agreed
J P undoubtedly needs to write a story containing prime examples of his amazing advice. It will be a best seller and nigh impossible to find anywhere, due to its extraordinarily high popularity!
Or it'll make a strong argument for illiteracy.
Say it with me everyone: "Sometimes the curtains are just blue!"
THE CURTAINS WERE FUCKING BLUE!
Say it with me everyone: "blue curtains joke is overused and rarely true to reality"
What series is this a reference to?
@@empoleonmaster6709 I don’t believe this is a reference to a series, merely that there’s a specific play in which blue curtains are commonly interpreted as symbolism for the protagonist being depressed, but because of how arbitrary and English essay paper it is, I’ve heard that phrase numerous times
On the other hand, yeah. But on the other hand people make that joke but then have absolutely terrible reading comprehension and take everything literally. If they even understand what they just read. Maybe there is a reason why your english teacher wanted you to over-analyze the text.
So someone on an trope talk made by overly sarcastic productions said that TWA and Trope Talk should do a crossover
Also in that comment section they said it would be cool if the did an episode on crossover
You've done it again, JP: you have found my literary Achilles' Heel