I really need to find a translation of this book, because it sounds like it touches upon a lot of things I’ve intuitively believed but have never seen articulated
You know what movie struck me as a good example of starting with wonder? The Matrix. We open with Trinity fighting cops in superhuman ways, jumping farther than people are normally able to between buildings, and then finally disappearing in a phone booth right before an Agent slams a truck into it. Its power may be lost somewhat in the 20 years of superhero movies since, but it hit at the time.
No, it still hits home. And there’s huge emotional payouts through the entire series, even if you didn’t like the other two (we’re ignoring the most recent disgrace). Great movie pick; you’re so right.
Another good example might be movies about Indiana Jones: they always start with a short "hook" that is pretty much the entire movie's look and feel in a nutshell, but usually not tightly related to the main plot, yet giving the viewer a good taste of what kind of movie it is and how it will feel like.
Oh, and another one might be the first half of the movie "Stargate". (The second half kinda felt short for me in the awe department and turned into another typical "let's kick the aliens' green asses" Hollywood type of movie, but I still liked it.)
The fact that as an Indian I didn't look up Natya Shastra when starting out my writing journey is a face-palm moment for me. John, could you please share the link to the book you read? Thanks! 💖
A lot of people miss it because they think it's only about dance or theater. But the principles can be applied more universally. Here's a good version of the book: amzn.to/3YBDOAY
FYI - *Bharata* is not just a guy's name. It's the name of the *dynasty* that's the basis for the Mahabharata, the epic set of stories that are the foundation of Hinduism. *Bharat* is the ancient, traditional name of the land of India, the home of the dynasty by the same name, and is used by native Indians as the name of the country today.
@@Sarin.ishere Cool. Muni means "sage." The name Bharata Muni means "sage of the Bharatas." And he (if he existed as a particular guy) is said to have shared the Natya Veda, which was (supposedly) created by Bhrama (the Ultimate God of the gods) with humans. That would make him kind of like the Moses (another guy who may or may not have existed as a particular guy) of Hinduism.
Isn't "bharat" also supposed to mean something in the lines of "brother"? It might extend to "nation" by metaphor of "brothers and sisters", i.e. people connected with bloodline, of common origin.
I find these deeper discussions of writing craft and storytelling to be so helpful. Maybe I over-think things, but once I get to that place of comfort, I see the path ahead. Non-western thought can pull us out of our box and provide a paradigm shift. Much of this is intuitive, and it feels natural once you give it a chance. Thanks, John, for sharing this enlightening information.
I'm usually quite critical of writing advice in general, it's funny that some of the oldest texts on writing are the ones bang on the money. I especially love the emphasis on the human experience.
The idea of non-plot forwarding parts fits in well with Vonnegut's saying that everything has to move the plot forward or reveal character. You can even tuck world-building in there, as you can't understand your character until you understand their environment. It's one thing to say the hero met the face of the empire, but is that a bland bureaucrat, or Darth Vader? You have to know in order to understand what the hero is feeling and what his actions, if any, mean.
And it can be part of entrelacement, also: Wolfram's Parzival has a great example where the narratives following Parsifal & Gawain interlace, with the former the main plot, & the latter the subsidiary, even a non-plot plot (if I may describe it thuswise). And the non-plot pieces can also have "through lines" to the plot, so, to revert to Tolkienian analysis, the Tom Bombadil episode includes the woods as a through line to Lothlorien, Entwood & the woods near Minis Tirith, but also the blades born by the hobbits, the thematic element of exposure (eg. gandalf, Frodo & Sam), things older than Sauron (eg. the watcher in the pool, the balrog, Shelob), the redemptive element of song (cf. Sam in the tower when he goes to rescue Frodo), & so forth.
Tom Bombadil was a way to foreshadow things far greater than the known world, like the Balrog and the ring itself. It let the reader know, Here be dragons. Tolkien did an incredible amount of foreshadowing.
Can you elaborate? I read the books, and I have good memories with Tom Bombadil, I was disappointed that it was all cut out from the movie, but I never noticed that it might be foreshadowing something or have some deeper meaning than just a wholesome moment at the start of their adventure. So I'm curious what I might have missed.
@@bonbonpony I read the books as a kid and saw them like the Jackson films, about superheroes. I have started writing my own novel, and so how I view writing in general has changed. On top of that, there is a great series on UA-cam showing the differences between the books and the films. As a consequence, I have been listening to the audiobooks. I can sleep through any book or film nowadays and so I slowly fill out the parts I have slept through. One of the things I started noticing is that Tolkien loves foreshadowing, like when the hobbits receive the barrow blades, one of the hobbits, I think, wonders what such small blades would ever be good for, or something like that. But I'll let you correct that with the exact words. Now, what has happened in the book up until Tom? Well, there is the ring itself, with hints that it is greater than anyone thought. There is Sting with its ability to glow in the presence of orcs and goblins. There is Gandalf, who is more just a kindly old man at this point, although his anger is a sight to behold. And there are the nebulous Black Rider(s) (we and they are not sure of the number just yet.) And we have been in hobbitlands the whole time. Those lands are to show what life is like before the story so that we know how much the world is changing. And the first adventure outside of those lands is Tom. Thus, Tom acts as that transition from the world as the hobbits knew it to the world and events outside it. Now, a modern writer would usually tell you and Sam, for example, has spoken about fairytales of Ents. But here Tolkien wants to show that the danger posed by the Black Riders is real and we have no idea how weird the world is going to get. Today, such things are common, but fantasy was still young back then. And many readers would be young. So, he breaks it gently. Old Willow and the wright show that very deadly threats loom but that kindly old men will protect us, only Tom, like the 2 main Elven lords, does not leave his lands and Gandalf dies in Moria, which now becomes all that more heart-wrenching, esp. when Strider appears unready to take over Gandalf's role and shows little magical power. Specific words, no, I can't recall them at the moment, but if you go back and reread those first couple hundred pages, no doubt you'll find specific things to fill out these observations. If you reread the four books, please note that the trilogy is about the transformation of the four hobbits into real heroes as is shown by the scouring of the shire and the superhero tale is just a backdrop. The same thing happens in The Hobbit, but I didn't catch it at the time. That is why Bilbo (a type of sword from Bilbao) didn't force the hobbits to return everything by force but, instead, bought it back with generous payments. So, look for that character arc in The Hobbit too, but it is shown more by the last days of Thorin.
I’ve suggested it before, and I’ll affirm it again… your channel is easily in my top two for excellence in the topic of writing craft. Thanks for the generous effort, it’s appreciated!
@@CarlaRelobaa Well, it might very well be John here at Bookfox. It’s hard to take a subjective matter and insist on absolutes. I’m comfortable saying Top Two.
@@CarlaRelobaa My other well-appreciated craft channel is by writer Brandon McNulty. Along with BookFox these two are head and shoulders above the crowd.
Hi John! I love your videos! Can I leave a suggestion? You talk about MANY authors that I've never heard of and I think I'd be insteresting if you made videos about some of them, like "what we can learn from This Author", not only to give us writing tips but also to introduce us to new authors. Sometimes you bring them up in your videos, but since it's just a quick mention I can't be sure if I'd like them or not. But it''s just a suggestion, if you are looking for new video ideias, I love them the way they are =)
Thanks! This advice changed my process and really helped me move forward. I’ve been struggling for a decade with a project, and this video truly helped me. I just wish I could give more cash in this super thanks😂 Maybe someday
Dang, I started my story with excitement so the disappointment he feels, which drives his decisions that leads to despair and hopelessness that drives his internal conflict can hit so much more impactfully
Yeah, it's important to make sure that if you start your story with awe-inspiring stuff, you better make sure that your ending will top that. There's a lot of stories that start with awe and very bold promises, then fall short in resolution, or have very unsatisfying resolution, because the author(s) ran out of ideas and didn't figure out how to tie all the loose ends and write an awesome ending that would be satisfying to the reader by fulfilling all those promises.
Mistake about Tom Bombadil there. He's in the book to show Frodo a way out. You can be free of the ring, if you don't care about power. It's Frodo's secret breather. Peter Jackson left it out, because why another soft scene and we need to take the ring as serious as possible, so the tension goes up. But on a personal level, if you want to let go of an addiction, don't take it so serious. It's also a silly habit. That is deep wisdom, Jackson missed.
Yes, I agree with all of that. Bombadil is the one being on Middle Earth that the ring holds no power over. I'm not saying that Jackson SHOULD have left it out, but I understand WHY he left it out.
Wonderful video, Thank you for the new perspective, on the art of delivery. Great focus on the impact of a readers emotional experiences, notes that translate on core level with readers, ideally with innate lessons or deeper meanings. (Theme) Really good stuff. I also like dark irony as a comedic beat, exp Deadpool V Wolverine
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece is a great example of a work that highlights all of these. It begins with the eager emotions of excitement and elation looking forward to an epic journey (marvelous sentiment), and just jumps rope with those emotions. It relates characters to the readers using strong emotion. It ties together the stories of many people, kingdoms, and events throughout the extensive plot. It has the human, it has the divine, it definitely has the demonic. A vital drop holding everything together (the world's quest for the One Piece). With it all, it carries strong lessons around courage, virtue, adherence to a goal, etc. I know it's a manga, similar to a comic, but I feel strongly that despite it's lighthearted appearance and often goofy demeanor, it is the perfect example of everything highlighted here.
Fun fact: the first novel ever written was by a court lady in feudal Japan, The Tale of Genji. Granted, it chronicles the life of a minor prince. l agree for the longest time nobody wrote about the common folk. I think illiteracy is the reason. Only rich people had enough leisure time to enjoy literature
Thank you very much for this video! It really sparks some thoughts. Regarding the episodes that don't lead to plot development - I was just the other day thinking about why sometimes heroes even in a well-made story feel artificial. And I came to the conclusion that in order for a hero to feel alive, it is critically important that they have scenes, at least micro-moments, that do not work for the plot. Especially when they show the importance of the character's values or relationships. In such moments, the element of "impracticality" is important, as if the hero freely stepped aside from the plot track to do their own thing. That feeling of a life that goes beyond the frame.
Dope video. Thank you so much for introducing me to such an important document and series of concepts. Have you ever considered making a version of these videos for the focus-challenged? 20 minutes is rather difficult for me and my kind
Here is a feedback I hope it's positive and useful, In your latest videos I don't sense the end of the video. Your tone, your sentences, does not sound like an ending for the video. I feel like the video has ended unexpectedly.
Very interesting. It certainly gives a new yet familiar angle on how to write a story. I would argue novels existed at least as early as the late 1st century AD in Ancient Rome with the Satyricon from Petronius, or the Metamorphoses from Apuleius for example.
I think I would call the fourth step "Certainty of Resolution." Resolution to the story, for good or bad, has become inevitable. We are past the point of no return.
When you mentioned the bit about the demonic, the human, and the divine, that actually made me think of Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil felt like part of Tolkien's attempt to introduce the reader to the divine element of LotR. Then you got to the bit about episodical incidents. Got two birds stoned at once Tolkien did
Idk man the more I hear these the more I’m like “these are so unbelievably obvious that I don’t want them in my book because I can predict what’s going to happen.” The more tips I hear that are vital the less vital they all sound.
09:27 I also see the parallel with these three worlds and the ancient Greek three-act structure with Thesis (the "human" world as it is at present for the protagonist when he's still the average Joe), Antithesis (the "demonic" world that is the opposite of it once the protagonist is thrown into his journey, full of dangers, obstacles and dark moments), and Synthesis (the "divine" part in which he realizes himself as a hero and saves the world, restores the order, the new status quo, where everything is good again, but better). I'm not sure if these worlds were also in the same order in Natya Shastra. If they rather were in the specific order that you mentioned in the video (human, divine, demonic), then it might also be seen as the progression of the story: first the "mundane" world of the protagonist in his ordinary day, then the "divine" might be all the "awesome" parts of his adventure in which he thinks he's gonna make it because he's special, then the "demonic" part when the bad guys are closing in and he realizes that he might not be able to make it, culminating in the Dark Night of the Soul / the "All is Lost" moment in which the bad guys seem to be winning and the chances for the main protagonist starts looking bleak. But in that case, there would be the entire part missing in which he actually wins :q So I'm not sure if the analogy is compete here.
I jumped a little the moment he said natyashastra! Like yeah i know i should be studying it (not cuz I'm indian or anything, but cuz i've known long since this is a storehouse of rules and advice) but now that even bookfox mentioned, the need to read it has become ever pressing.
Twenty minutes ago I Googled how to write a good sex scene without sex. I really appreciate the plug to that content 😊 I mightve watched it already but I could do with a rewatch.
Joe Campbell would be proud. 💪😎✌️ 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨ "Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind’s journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul’s fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope’s strength resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe’s endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again." 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨ --Diamond Dragons (series)
Would you consider doing a video about the difference between deep/genuine-feeling and cringe-y sex scenes in novels? Grappling with whether or not to include one in my own work, which is - at heart - about a romantic relationship. And if I do, how do I structure/word it such that it conveys depth and connection?
I do have a chapter on this in my book the Linchpin Writer. At some point I might do a video on it, but I don't want to run afoul of the UA-cam censors.
I absolutely love your videos. You are incredibly articulate, interesting, and informative. BUT, I just cannot get through them with all the sounds of camera clicks and other noise. No offense, but it’s annoying. I really wanted to see this video. 😢
8:37 no offence but you can’t pronounce it either It’s Ove not Ova Anyway thanks for another great video inspiring in my attempts to write as always :)
I get you want to use euphemisms for the sake of discretion, but as a writer, you know your word choice and their meanings are very important. Sex and romance is radically different so using "romance" as a euphemism for "sex," not only makes what you're actually trying to say unclear, but it could spread misconceptions on the relationship between the words. If you don't want to talk about sex, don't talk about it, but if you want to talk about it, talk about it. Don't call it something with a completely different definition. There's more accurate and direct euphemisms anyway.
Telling people to start with an emotion is literally just telling them to start with a genre which 99% of storytellers do anyway, and that's a part of starting with plot anyway. It's not transformative advice when you really give it thought. The thing is that there's emotion genres, setting genres, and other genres such as medium genres. I'd say that this advice is saying that you should always know your emotion genre first.
The map of India is shown wrong, India was spread across Afghanistan, Iran Iraq, Syria, Kashmir, to Thailand, Indonesia. Kashmir has always been a part india and will always be.
So basic stuff, huh? Just not fashionable these days. I thought that The Satire of the Trades was about commoners and it was 2000 years older than Natya Shastra.
the fact that you showed an image of Cruella the film as an example of veera makes me question your entire understanding of heroism and your credibility.
What's the point of reading 2 thousand year old ancient texts on novel making and film making, when we make more movies, tv shows and books and other forms of storytelling than they ever did in their lifetimes. Maybe anachronistacly the ancients should learn from us modern folk.
I really need to find a translation of this book, because it sounds like it touches upon a lot of things I’ve intuitively believed but have never seen articulated
As a practicing hindu amd fiction writer I found this both extremely spiritually profound and exremely beneficial.
You know what movie struck me as a good example of starting with wonder?
The Matrix. We open with Trinity fighting cops in superhuman ways, jumping farther than people are normally able to between buildings, and then finally disappearing in a phone booth right before an Agent slams a truck into it.
Its power may be lost somewhat in the 20 years of superhero movies since, but it hit at the time.
No, it still hits home. And there’s huge emotional payouts through the entire series, even if you didn’t like the other two (we’re ignoring the most recent disgrace). Great movie pick; you’re so right.
Another good example might be movies about Indiana Jones: they always start with a short "hook" that is pretty much the entire movie's look and feel in a nutshell, but usually not tightly related to the main plot, yet giving the viewer a good taste of what kind of movie it is and how it will feel like.
Oh, and another one might be the first half of the movie "Stargate". (The second half kinda felt short for me in the awe department and turned into another typical "let's kick the aliens' green asses" Hollywood type of movie, but I still liked it.)
The fact that as an Indian I didn't look up Natya Shastra when starting out my writing journey is a face-palm moment for me.
John, could you please share the link to the book you read? Thanks! 💖
A lot of people miss it because they think it's only about dance or theater. But the principles can be applied more universally.
Here's a good version of the book: amzn.to/3YBDOAY
Yeah, it's almost like watching modern Indian peeps struggling with math when they have Aryahatiya or the Vedas (especially Atharvaveda).
Thanks for turning me onto the Natya Shastra !!!! I enjoy your channel as I write my first novel~~
FYI - *Bharata* is not just a guy's name. It's the name of the *dynasty* that's the basis for the Mahabharata, the epic set of stories that are the foundation of Hinduism. *Bharat* is the ancient, traditional name of the land of India, the home of the dynasty by the same name, and is used by native Indians as the name of the country today.
Don't complicate it dude. Natyashastra was written by Bharathamuni. Thats all.
@@Sarin.ishereI agree with you with the point of view of a foreigner but disagree being indian. That Boomer dude is prob an Indian
@@Sarin.ishere Cool. Muni means "sage." The name Bharata Muni means "sage of the Bharatas." And he (if he existed as a particular guy) is said to have shared the Natya Veda, which was (supposedly) created by Bhrama (the Ultimate God of the gods) with humans.
That would make him kind of like the Moses (another guy who may or may not have existed as a particular guy) of Hinduism.
@@EnderMaskBoy Not an Indian. Just a fanboy of certain Hindu philosophy. (My profile image is Buddhist.) See my answer to the guy here.
Isn't "bharat" also supposed to mean something in the lines of "brother"? It might extend to "nation" by metaphor of "brothers and sisters", i.e. people connected with bloodline, of common origin.
I find these deeper discussions of writing craft and storytelling to be so helpful. Maybe I over-think things, but once I get to that place of comfort, I see the path ahead. Non-western thought can pull us out of our box and provide a paradigm shift. Much of this is intuitive, and it feels natural once you give it a chance. Thanks, John, for sharing this enlightening information.
I'm usually quite critical of writing advice in general, it's funny that some of the oldest texts on writing are the ones bang on the money. I especially love the emphasis on the human experience.
Incredible stuff. So well articulated. I would've never heard of this book, had it not been for you. Your videos are always helpful. Thank you.
So much value in this 17 minutes. 😊
The idea of non-plot forwarding parts fits in well with Vonnegut's saying that everything has to move the plot forward or reveal character. You can even tuck world-building in there, as you can't understand your character until you understand their environment. It's one thing to say the hero met the face of the empire, but is that a bland bureaucrat, or Darth Vader? You have to know in order to understand what the hero is feeling and what his actions, if any, mean.
And it can be part of entrelacement, also: Wolfram's Parzival has a great example where the narratives following Parsifal & Gawain interlace, with the former the main plot, & the latter the subsidiary, even a non-plot plot (if I may describe it thuswise).
And the non-plot pieces can also have "through lines" to the plot, so, to revert to Tolkienian analysis, the Tom Bombadil episode includes the woods as a through line to Lothlorien, Entwood & the woods near Minis Tirith, but also the blades born by the hobbits, the thematic element of exposure (eg. gandalf, Frodo & Sam), things older than Sauron (eg. the watcher in the pool, the balrog, Shelob), the redemptive element of song (cf. Sam in the tower when he goes to rescue Frodo), & so forth.
Much respect for the effort put into this video. I am in 1 hour traffic jam and I am enjoying this so much.
Marvellous sentiment: That feeling after watching and reflecting on all of Attack on Titan
Tom Bombadil was a way to foreshadow things far greater than the known world, like the Balrog and the ring itself. It let the reader know, Here be dragons. Tolkien did an incredible amount of foreshadowing.
Can you elaborate? I read the books, and I have good memories with Tom Bombadil, I was disappointed that it was all cut out from the movie, but I never noticed that it might be foreshadowing something or have some deeper meaning than just a wholesome moment at the start of their adventure. So I'm curious what I might have missed.
@@bonbonpony I read the books as a kid and saw them like the Jackson films, about superheroes. I have started writing my own novel, and so how I view writing in general has changed. On top of that, there is a great series on UA-cam showing the differences between the books and the films. As a consequence, I have been listening to the audiobooks. I can sleep through any book or film nowadays and so I slowly fill out the parts I have slept through.
One of the things I started noticing is that Tolkien loves foreshadowing, like when the hobbits receive the barrow blades, one of the hobbits, I think, wonders what such small blades would ever be good for, or something like that. But I'll let you correct that with the exact words.
Now, what has happened in the book up until Tom? Well, there is the ring itself, with hints that it is greater than anyone thought. There is Sting with its ability to glow in the presence of orcs and goblins. There is Gandalf, who is more just a kindly old man at this point, although his anger is a sight to behold. And there are the nebulous Black Rider(s) (we and they are not sure of the number just yet.) And we have been in hobbitlands the whole time. Those lands are to show what life is like before the story so that we know how much the world is changing. And the first adventure outside of those lands is Tom. Thus, Tom acts as that transition from the world as the hobbits knew it to the world and events outside it. Now, a modern writer would usually tell you and Sam, for example, has spoken about fairytales of Ents. But here Tolkien wants to show that the danger posed by the Black Riders is real and we have no idea how weird the world is going to get. Today, such things are common, but fantasy was still young back then. And many readers would be young. So, he breaks it gently. Old Willow and the wright show that very deadly threats loom but that kindly old men will protect us, only Tom, like the 2 main Elven lords, does not leave his lands and Gandalf dies in Moria, which now becomes all that more heart-wrenching, esp. when Strider appears unready to take over Gandalf's role and shows little magical power.
Specific words, no, I can't recall them at the moment, but if you go back and reread those first couple hundred pages, no doubt you'll find specific things to fill out these observations.
If you reread the four books, please note that the trilogy is about the transformation of the four hobbits into real heroes as is shown by the scouring of the shire and the superhero tale is just a backdrop. The same thing happens in The Hobbit, but I didn't catch it at the time. That is why Bilbo (a type of sword from Bilbao) didn't force the hobbits to return everything by force but, instead, bought it back with generous payments. So, look for that character arc in The Hobbit too, but it is shown more by the last days of Thorin.
Whatever amount of money or notoriety you gain from these videos, it isn’t enough
I was gonna say the same thing 😅 I love his videos.
Agreed!
I’ve suggested it before, and I’ll affirm it again… your channel is easily in my top two for excellence in the topic of writing craft. Thanks for the generous effort, it’s appreciated!
who is #1?
@@CarlaRelobaa Well, it might very well be John here at Bookfox. It’s hard to take a subjective matter and insist on absolutes. I’m comfortable saying Top Two.
@@BooksForeveroh i just wanted to know who else gives tips because i only know him and i want to hear more povs lol
@@CarlaRelobaa My other well-appreciated craft channel is by writer Brandon McNulty. Along with BookFox these two are head and shoulders above the crowd.
@@BooksForeverthank you!
Great video! Fresh info, well organized, well produced. Thank you.
LYLE LYLE WAKE UP! THERES A NEW BOOKFOX VIDEO
This is such a great video, thank you so much for this!
Hi John! I love your videos! Can I leave a suggestion? You talk about MANY authors that I've never heard of and I think I'd be insteresting if you made videos about some of them, like "what we can learn from This Author", not only to give us writing tips but also to introduce us to new authors. Sometimes you bring them up in your videos, but since it's just a quick mention I can't be sure if I'd like them or not. But it''s just a suggestion, if you are looking for new video ideias, I love them the way they are =)
Thanks! This advice changed my process and really helped me move forward. I’ve been struggling for a decade with a project, and this video truly helped me. I just wish I could give more cash in this super thanks😂 Maybe someday
Oh, I'm so glad to hear about your breakthrough! And happy the video could help you.
Thanks so much for the super thanks!
Added this to Favourites. Thank you so much for the research and your comprehensible review
Start with emotion and construct plot and characters to work towards that emotion is just like Poe's composition essay. Very recommended.
I love this. I've read this before as a dramaturg. Somehow, I'd not connected it to my own creative writing... Great share!
Atticus shooting the dog is the only scene from To Kill a Mockingbird that I remember - you’re darn right it’s important!
Such an excellent material
Your videos have been such a great help, they've given me a lot to think about
This was fascinating. Thank you for taking the time to present something most people have never heard about.
Dang, I started my story with excitement so the disappointment he feels, which drives his decisions that leads to despair and hopelessness that drives his internal conflict can hit so much more impactfully
Yeah, it's important to make sure that if you start your story with awe-inspiring stuff, you better make sure that your ending will top that. There's a lot of stories that start with awe and very bold promises, then fall short in resolution, or have very unsatisfying resolution, because the author(s) ran out of ideas and didn't figure out how to tie all the loose ends and write an awesome ending that would be satisfying to the reader by fulfilling all those promises.
Excellent. Never heard of it before. Thank you.
Mistake about Tom Bombadil there. He's in the book to show Frodo a way out. You can be free of the ring, if you don't care about power. It's Frodo's secret breather. Peter Jackson left it out, because why another soft scene and we need to take the ring as serious as possible, so the tension goes up.
But on a personal level, if you want to let go of an addiction, don't take it so serious. It's also a silly habit. That is deep wisdom, Jackson missed.
Yes, I agree with all of that. Bombadil is the one being on Middle Earth that the ring holds no power over.
I'm not saying that Jackson SHOULD have left it out, but I understand WHY he left it out.
@@Bookfox thanks for answering. I agree too, but it makes the story less deep.
I would rather have Tom than those lengthy, overly stretched out (to the point of getting boring) battle scenes.
@@bonbonpony Indeed.
I agree with your surprise at the similarity but with useful twists. Thank you for sharing, love this video!
Wonderful video, Thank you for the new perspective, on the art of delivery. Great focus on the impact of a readers emotional experiences, notes that translate on core level with readers, ideally with innate lessons or deeper meanings. (Theme)
Really good stuff. I also like dark irony as a comedic beat, exp Deadpool V Wolverine
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece is a great example of a work that highlights all of these. It begins with the eager emotions of excitement and elation looking forward to an epic journey (marvelous sentiment), and just jumps rope with those emotions. It relates characters to the readers using strong emotion. It ties together the stories of many people, kingdoms, and events throughout the extensive plot. It has the human, it has the divine, it definitely has the demonic. A vital drop holding everything together (the world's quest for the One Piece). With it all, it carries strong lessons around courage, virtue, adherence to a goal, etc. I know it's a manga, similar to a comic, but I feel strongly that despite it's lighthearted appearance and often goofy demeanor, it is the perfect example of everything highlighted here.
great advice, thanks much for this summary of useful points that a lot of "modern" advice on writing misses or skips
This was soooo good!
Thank you very very muchly!
Really great video! The ides of the human, demonic, and divine in every story and every character is a great rule of thumb!
thinking of food as a seed in the narrow road to the deep north is a great analysis. I wouldn't have made that connection
Great video and interpretation of the advice in this book. Thanks!
Ssshhhhh. Did you hear that? IT WAS MY MIND EXPLODING!!! Great information.
I love these videos, Mathew.
Best advice ever, really.
The reason why I started writing my book was because I was in a D&D game and I though "this isn't how you do fantasy."
whoa this is so good!
Fun fact: the first novel ever written was by a court lady in feudal Japan, The Tale of Genji. Granted, it chronicles the life of a minor prince. l agree for the longest time nobody wrote about the common folk. I think illiteracy is the reason. Only rich people had enough leisure time to enjoy literature
Thank you very much for this video! It really sparks some thoughts.
Regarding the episodes that don't lead to plot development - I was just the other day thinking about why sometimes heroes even in a well-made story feel artificial. And I came to the conclusion that in order for a hero to feel alive, it is critically important that they have scenes, at least micro-moments, that do not work for the plot. Especially when they show the importance of the character's values or relationships. In such moments, the element of "impracticality" is important, as if the hero freely stepped aside from the plot track to do their own thing. That feeling of a life that goes beyond the frame.
Dope video. Thank you so much for introducing me to such an important document and series of concepts. Have you ever considered making a version of these videos for the focus-challenged? 20 minutes is rather difficult for me and my kind
I have some shorter videos as well!
Funny, the emotion that surprised you was the first one that came to mind for me!
Brilliant!! Loved this :)
demonic+divine+human in characters is such a useful tip. great video, thank you for sharing!
Love that Frank Peretti name drop btw
I live in India and i didn't know about this.
Thanks for sharing
Here is a feedback I hope it's positive and useful,
In your latest videos I don't sense the end of the video. Your tone, your sentences, does not sound like an ending for the video.
I feel like the video has ended unexpectedly.
Great content 👍🏻🏆😎
Great stuff thank you
Very interesting. It certainly gives a new yet familiar angle on how to write a story.
I would argue novels existed at least as early as the late 1st century AD in Ancient Rome with the Satyricon from Petronius, or the Metamorphoses from Apuleius for example.
I think I would call the fourth step "Certainty of Resolution." Resolution to the story, for good or bad, has become inevitable. We are past the point of no return.
super summary of super material!
When you mentioned the bit about the demonic, the human, and the divine, that actually made me think of Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil felt like part of Tolkien's attempt to introduce the reader to the divine element of LotR. Then you got to the bit about episodical incidents. Got two birds stoned at once Tolkien did
I love you're videos.
Idk man
the more I hear these the more I’m like “these are so unbelievably obvious that I don’t want them in my book because I can predict what’s going to happen.”
The more tips I hear that are vital the less vital they all sound.
09:27 I also see the parallel with these three worlds and the ancient Greek three-act structure with Thesis (the "human" world as it is at present for the protagonist when he's still the average Joe), Antithesis (the "demonic" world that is the opposite of it once the protagonist is thrown into his journey, full of dangers, obstacles and dark moments), and Synthesis (the "divine" part in which he realizes himself as a hero and saves the world, restores the order, the new status quo, where everything is good again, but better).
I'm not sure if these worlds were also in the same order in Natya Shastra. If they rather were in the specific order that you mentioned in the video (human, divine, demonic), then it might also be seen as the progression of the story: first the "mundane" world of the protagonist in his ordinary day, then the "divine" might be all the "awesome" parts of his adventure in which he thinks he's gonna make it because he's special, then the "demonic" part when the bad guys are closing in and he realizes that he might not be able to make it, culminating in the Dark Night of the Soul / the "All is Lost" moment in which the bad guys seem to be winning and the chances for the main protagonist starts looking bleak. But in that case, there would be the entire part missing in which he actually wins :q So I'm not sure if the analogy is compete here.
I jumped a little the moment he said natyashastra! Like yeah i know i should be studying it (not cuz I'm indian or anything, but cuz i've known long since this is a storehouse of rules and advice) but now that even bookfox mentioned, the need to read it has become ever pressing.
Twenty minutes ago I Googled how to write a good sex scene without sex. I really appreciate the plug to that content 😊 I mightve watched it already but I could do with a rewatch.
Wasn't Tom Bombadil a remnant of a rejected draft?
Great video!
7:08 Surely the resolution of a tragedy isn't actually sadness? It might be time to read Aristotle's Poetics again. 😁
Maybe I need to work on my catharsis ... :)
Kindly share author edition of natya shastra you read
Joe Campbell would be proud. 💪😎✌️
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
"Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind’s journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul’s fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope’s strength resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe’s endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again."
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
--Diamond Dragons (series)
What is the difference between experience and entertainment?
my novel start with fear, because my protagonist discovers a black feather
Bombadil is absolutely needed for the plot of the LotR but you have to think about it to see how. Jackson didn't.
How do you spell the name of that book?
Would you consider doing a video about the difference between deep/genuine-feeling and cringe-y sex scenes in novels? Grappling with whether or not to include one in my own work, which is - at heart - about a romantic relationship. And if I do, how do I structure/word it such that it conveys depth and connection?
I do have a chapter on this in my book the Linchpin Writer. At some point I might do a video on it, but I don't want to run afoul of the UA-cam censors.
Makes sense. Thank you! I'll look up the chapter :) And thanks for your content. It's always really thoughtful and coherent. Much appreciated.
I absolutely love your videos. You are incredibly articulate, interesting, and informative. BUT, I just cannot get through them with all the sounds of camera clicks and other noise. No offense, but it’s annoying. I really wanted to see this video. 😢
I can try to make those much quieter.
8:37 no offence but you can’t pronounce it either
It’s Ove not Ova
Anyway thanks for another great video inspiring in my attempts to write as always :)
I get you want to use euphemisms for the sake of discretion, but as a writer, you know your word choice and their meanings are very important. Sex and romance is radically different so using "romance" as a euphemism for "sex," not only makes what you're actually trying to say unclear, but it could spread misconceptions on the relationship between the words. If you don't want to talk about sex, don't talk about it, but if you want to talk about it, talk about it. Don't call it something with a completely different definition. There's more accurate and direct euphemisms anyway.
How did you manage to say "Rush Komaka" instead of "Raskolnikov"?
Adbhuta = sensawunda
Telling people to start with an emotion is literally just telling them to start with a genre which 99% of storytellers do anyway, and that's a part of starting with plot anyway. It's not transformative advice when you really give it thought. The thing is that there's emotion genres, setting genres, and other genres such as medium genres. I'd say that this advice is saying that you should always know your emotion genre first.
15:13 not exactly correct. The Tale of Genji is often cited as the first novel, and that was written in the 11th century.
I want you to have a million subscribers
Funny, me too!
@@Bookfox I believe there's one more: shaant (peace)
The map of India is shown wrong, India was spread across Afghanistan, Iran Iraq, Syria, Kashmir, to Thailand, Indonesia. Kashmir has always been a part india and will always be.
there were asian novels a thousand years ago
Please find actual artwork and stop leaning on those ugly AI pictures.
This comment needs to be seen. If he will use stolen images instead of paying for them, why would we pay for his written art either?
So basic stuff, huh? Just not fashionable these days.
I thought that The Satire of the Trades was about commoners and it was 2000 years older than Natya Shastra.
the fact that you showed an image of Cruella the film as an example of veera makes me question your entire understanding of heroism and your credibility.
please use right map of india not the ones promoted china's CCP
What's the point of reading 2 thousand year old ancient texts on novel making and film making, when we make more movies, tv shows and books and other forms of storytelling than they ever did in their lifetimes. Maybe anachronistacly the ancients should learn from us modern folk.
Wild dog = rabies apparently
Jesus is Lord❤✝