It’s great to be back!

In case you care where I’ve been, I was in Bulgaria doing this…

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A word to the wise – don’t sit on your skis. My left ankle is still complaining.

Anyway, how are you?! Got anything YouTube-y that’s been on your mind? Don’t forget, you can always reply to these!

Now, to business…

Let me be totally transparent for a sec…

Most of my emails are titled something like:

“THE BIG, MASSIVE, STUPID, THING MOST YOUTUBERS IGNORE!”

Now, while I only ever share advice that I truly believe will help you write better scripts…

I am also trying to make you open the email with a dramatic subject line 😆

But, in the next 2 minutes, I want to touch on something I really do think most YouTubers ignore.

Like, really.

Because I ended up giving this advice to numerous creators this week – across consulting calls, script reviews, and on Slack when no one really asked.

To understand this advice, let’s look back at a conversation I had with Ed (Film Booth) when I was helping write a video for his second channel, Creator Booth.

It was a script about how Thomas Frank makes a tonne of money from Notion templates.

But, when I wrote draft #1, I failed to ask an absolutely critical question.

The result… a minor telling off from Mr Booth.

“I think it’s an inspirational story. I don’t think we want nitty-gritty details. Make it something that anyone can get no matter how little they know about business, but also feel inspired from.”

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The thing is… I had included nitty-gritty details.

I’d spent ages mining Thomas’s tweets so I could reveal, down to the letter, his exact strategy for making so much money.

But not only was it a huge timesink… it wasn’t what Ed wanted.

And I hasten to add – this was not Ed simply being “picky”.

It was about the audience avatar he had in mind for his content, and my failure to tailor the level of detail to that avatar.

So… how much detail SHOULD I go into?

It’s a toughie.

Making that choice – about whether to go super in-depth in your script, or to aim for a more “inspiring”, surface-level video, may not be obvious.

Having run my agency for just over a month, we’ve occasionally run into this as a problem.

We, as a group of writers, are approaching everything from a YouTube-first mindset – that is, we want to create maximum engagement, sometimes at the expense of detail.

But, some clients (totally fairly) want a detail-oriented approach, even if that comes at the expense of high engagement and “broad appeal”.

To oversimplify things, these are your choices:

1. Go granular with detail, accept some viewers will get overwhelmed and click away, but know those who stay are more likely to follow your CTA. Or…
2. Go lighter on detail, focus on engagement to keep more people watching (which in turn causes YouTube to promote the content more), but accept each viewer may be less inclined to follow the CTA.

Neither approach is wrong.

But it IS important to choose what you want.

Are you trying to make your audience take action from your content, or simply to inspire them?

Because this will dramatically alter how you approach the script and who will want to watch your videos.

In a nutshell…

It’s the difference between making an “inspiring” video about Thomas Frank…

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…and making a “detailed” video as Thomas Frank.

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Boom. Stuck the landing. We’re back in the saddle.

Happy to be back writing this newsletter again!

So, if you have any questions about this topic, send ’em my way!

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

Hey Reader,

Wouldn’t it be nice to know how likely your script is to engage your audience?

Well, most creators ignore a simple trick that will (mostly) help you do this.

If you’ve never tried it before, this’ll take 5 minutes to learn.

And, better still, it’ll become second nature by the time you’ve written another 1-2 scripts.

So, let’s fix an old script of mine…

Here’s an example of a script I wrote that failed to use this technique (and suffered as a result).

To start, let’s look at the hook:

“Sometimes sponsorships go completely wrong, so let’s talk about the three mistakes you can avoid and the three situations that are out of your control.”

Looks ok, right?

Now let’s throw in my secret weapon!

“CMD+SHIFT+H”

Or, to keep it pithy, “highlighting”.

If you can identify the purpose of what you’ve written by assigning it a colour, you’ll quickly notice what needs to change.

In this case, I want to highlight the key components of a hook.

You might have seen me talking about these key components in the past:

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This is an educational video, so we’ll be using:

Target, transformation, stakes

Now, here’s the same hook again, with sentences highlighted to represent their intention:

“Sometimes sponsorships go completely wrong, so let’s talk about the three mistakes you can avoid and the three situations that are out of your control.”

Notice anything?

It turns out, this ok-looking hook contains almost none of those key components.

We’ve got some “stakes”, but pretty much no “target” or “transformation”.

• Ok, the target audience is implied because of the title, so maybe we don’t need to mention them explicitly.
• But the transformation – the very reason the audience should give us their time – is never mentioned.

This is bad news.

It’s not enough simply to say “we’ll talk about XYZ” – we need to explain how the audience will be transformed and why that matters.

Today, I’d have written the hook like this:

“Every creator wants to make predictable income for their business. But, even the most promising sponsorships can go completely wrong.

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So let’s talk about the three mistakes you’re probably making that are ruining your sponsorship strategy, and the three red flags to look out for from brands so you can continue to grow your business with consistent sponsorship revenue.”

You’ll also notice I carefully adapted the line about the situation being “out of your control”.

Saying something like that in your hook is totally self-defeating – it makes the audience feel like their situation is hopeless.

But this is nothing compared to my next example – reading it back, I want to hurl some deeply personal insults at 2022-George.

But, before I show you that (and how highlighting could have fixed it), check this out…

How to hire a YouTube team in 2024:

​

The latest episode of our podcast, “Making It”, is out now!

This week, we discussed:

• How to outsource your YouTube editing, scripting, and thumbnail design.
• How to get the best out of your new talent.
• And, if you’re a YouTube freelancer, how to land clients.

(Jamie also has a small meltdown about the frightening potential of AI, but he’s fine now).

Watch on YouTube, or listen on Spotify + Apple Podcasts.

I did a very bad thing…

So, back to the script.

We’re now looking at the bit immediately after the hook.

Here, the colour coding we use needs to change slightly.

Because, after the hook, what’s important for your audience is this:

1. They need to know what they’re going to learn/see in the next 1-2 minutes.
2. They need to feel excited as you build towards that payoff.
3. You provide the payoff in a satisfying way.

Or, for the sake of coding it:

Setup, tension, payoff

Let’s look at “point #1” through this lens, and see how closely it adheres:

“The first thing you can control is how you conduct yourself when a brand is frustrating. Even if you want to tear your hair out, you have to stay graceful. Your aim is not just to sign a one-off sponsorship deal but to create a relationship with that brand so you can do multiple deals with them moving forward. You want them to hire you again and again and again, so there’s gotta be a little give and take.
​
​You know how life sometimes throws unexpected curveballs at us? Well, that’s not gonna stop because you recently signed a sponsorship. Something might come up in your personal life which impacts your time and attention, or maybe your camera breaks or your computer shuts down on the day you were due to create the content…”

You might notice… not a single part of this segment contains any tension. And why?

Because I gave the payoff instantly.

This is particularly frustrating because the second paragraph is so clearly perfect as a set-up for the segment.

It appeals directly to the audience’s own experiences and empathises with them.

And this is ideal when you’re introducing a new segment – it’s easy to lose viewers between topics, so grabbing them emotionally is essential at the start of each new one.

However, by starting with the payoff, the explanation loses its tension, and the second paragraph (which could have been a great set-up) becomes pure waffle.

In under 1 minute, we’ve lost 43% of the audience.

Today, I’d have written it like this:

“You know how life sometimes throws unexpected curveballs at us? Well, remember, your contact at the brand is also a person dealing with a bunch of curveballs. But when creators forget this, it often leads to a problem that will cause them to damage their relationship with the brand – permanently.

​

Yes, it can be frustrating when your contact isn’t replying. But don’t forget – they’re probably juggling a ton of different tasks, just like you. They might not have replied to you yet because they’re talking your pitch through with their boss, or maybe they’re just out the office for a few days!

​

But the one thing that’s always inside your control is how you conduct yourself, even when a brand is frustrating. Spamming them with passive-aggressive emails is never a good look, and it’s gonna completely destroy your chances of working with them again.”

Of course, this isn’t a technique you have to use forever.

After a while, you’ll start to notice these problems intuitively, and the need to highlight things will reduce.

As with almost anything on YouTube, it’s about re-wiring your brain ever so slightly to help boost the potential of your videos.

See you soon!

Last thing before I go – I’m gonna be off for a couple of weeks.

Having finally launched my course (without really stopping over the holidays), I’m taking some time away.

Of course, I’ll still be checking my emails (I guess that’s my life now lol), but I won’t be writing my next newsletter until Feb.

Until then, wishing you all my best!

Speak soon,
George 👋

Having spent two years writing scripts for YouTubers ranging from around 30k subscribers to 3m+… I noticed something concerning.

Despite getting good results, working with nice people and having a lot of fun…

I was consistently stressed out 🤯

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Every time I sat down to write, I found myself overwhelmed by decision fatigue.

I just couldn’t figure out the best way to approach a new script.

I’d end up sort of “brute forcing” it every time, jumping between different parts of the script to try and tie it all together in a way that made sense.

I’d learned lots about retention from writing this newsletter, but I also struggled to identify whether each new script was watertight against the same retention-related mishaps from the time before.

In short, I didn’t have a system…

Introducing: The YouTube Scriptwriter’s Playbook

That’s why I’m incredibly excited to announce that my complete guide to systemized YouTube scriptwriting is out now 🚀

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​
​You see, having realised why I was feeling so overwhelmed while writing, I spent the last 6 months creating the system I always wished I’d had.

Now, my writing process looks like this:

1. Prepare – spend time thinking about my audience avatar in depth.
2. Brainstorm – conceive of every possible detail I might want to include in the script.
3. Structure – narrow these down and create a robust structure.
4. Write – connect A to B to C using the essential rules of progression.
5. Optimize – edit the draft with a set list of retention-related improvements.

I wanted to create a system that would not only improve the quality of my output, but that would also reduce the amount of stress I was feeling while writing.

Transparently, if you aren’t interested in making the investment in YTSP, I strongly encourage you to implement a system like this in your writing anyway!

You’ll undoubtedly experience both of these benefits.

But, if you are interested…

The YouTube Scriptwriter’s Playbook is waiting for you 🥳

While I’ve briefly outlined my system above, YTSP goes into a whole new level of detail…

‍

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We’re talking:

• Checklists for optimizing retention, hooks, CTAs and more.
• Deep dives into the TWO essential elements that will make or break your video.
• Line-by-line script analyses and breakdowns.

And much, much more.

You’ll start with a half-formed video idea… and you’ll walk away with a fully written, retention-optimized script that’s ready to film 🎥

So, if you’re ready…

Unlock YTSP now!

(And don’t forget to use “LAUNCH10” at the checkout for 10% off any tier until this timer runs out 👇)

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And, if you fancy joining our community…

…not only will you benefit from 100+ other students swapping advice and sharing their scriptwriting wins…

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…but you’ll also get access to some exclusive guest sessions.

(I’ve lined up these heavy-hitters next week 👀 👇)

Ali Abdaal, January 16th

Dodford, January 17th

Ready to take the leap?

Then it’s time to join 100+ students already using YTSP to create more engaging videos for their channels…

😍

Just remember to use “LAUNCH10” at the checkout for 10% off any tier… you have until this hits 0! 👀

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Unlock YTSP now!

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Of course, if this isn’t for you right now, that’s absolutely no problem!

This newsletter is at the heart of my whole business, so I can’t thank you enough for supporting it ❤️

(I also appreciate you indulging me a little this week too… back to normal next week, I promise!)

And, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me 🙂

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

🥳 Happy New Year! 🎉

I hope you’re excited for another 365 days on YouTube.

There’s a chance that a single video could do something life-changing for you this year.

But only if you stay committed to improving your content with every new upload.

So, to kick off the year, we’re gonna keep it simple.

Here are the three most important things to focus on in 2024 to improve the quality of your scripts, get more views, and grow your channel faster…

1/ Hook

Focus on your audience; you need to understand who they are.

It’s well and good knowing who they are, what they want and what scares them in theory, but you need to be able to translate that to the page.

Right away, you need to get them excited, reassure them the video will do what the title says, and overcome their objections.

In the first 10 seconds, they’ll have decided whether you’re the person to entertain/educate them.

Make it a no-brainer, like Jason did in this video I’ve continued to adore…

​Chinese Takeout Fried Rice Secrets Revealed​

“By the end of this video, you WILL be able to make fried rice at home better than 99% of takeout restaurants. You’re not going to need to master any extreme techniques. You don’t need to cook your rice on a portal to Hades. Everything in this video is adapted for the average home cook on a standard burner.”

Objection-busting is in bold 👆

2/ Payoffs

Yes, your video needs to deliver on the promise of the title.

But if it “reveals the answer” or “shows the explosion” right away, your audience has no reason to stay.

Equally, if it forces them to wait 15 minutes for any sort of payoff, they’ll get bored and leave.

So break each script down into smaller components.

Look at this banger from Jenny Hoyos, and notice we’re constantly experiencing “mini-payoffs” throughout the video.

​I Found a Loophole to Shop for FREE​

• 0:50-1:30 – we learn the basics of couponing from Google.
• 1:30-2:20 – we learn advanced techniques from her mum
• 2:20-4:50 – we see what coupon-gathering looks like in action.

Each mini-payoff builds on the last one and we constantly feel the video’s momentum driving us from one to the next.

You should be able to label your video’s mini-payoffs too.

If you can’t, your audience is gonna be lost as heck.

3/ Test Run

So, you’ve set aside a few hours in your calendar for filming.

You’ve even got a couple of scripts prepared, so you’ll have TWO videos in the can by lunchtime.

And thank goodness, because after lunch you’ve got another 36 urgent tasks that need your attention.

Luckily, you’ll have the warm glow of having shot two whole videos to get you through it.

But then filming day comes.

You try speaking to the camera and it turns out what you wrote just sounds bizarre.

• You’d never say this like that.
• Some sentences are so long you’re running out of breath.
• And you’re also kinda repeating yourself.

Now you’re awkwardly making edits to the script while the camera’s still rolling.

Meaning bigger files to upload, more crap to cut out in the edit and, crucially, less progress during filming.

The problem is… you won’t know whether your script sounds good until you read it out loud.

When you do, you’ll spot a tonne of problems with:

• Awkward phrasing
• Repetition
• Clarity

Not to mention whether the hook and payoffs properly adhere to the advice I gave above!

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So read it aloud before filming day. Properly. As if you were delivering to camera.

This should become a non-negotiable part of your scriptwriting process.

Bonus: My CTA Formula

Use it. Confirmed life-hack 😜

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That’s all for this week!

If you’re waiting on a reply from me via email, Twitter or elsewhere, I’ll come back to you as soon as I can.

Trying to launch YTSP has been a whirlwind and I’m way behind on my usual comms.

Appreciate your patience in the meantime ❤️

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

As we come to the end of 2023, I’m more bullish on scriptwriting than ever.

One of my pre-launch students, Aaron, shared some incredible stats with the YTSP community this week.

He started scripting in 2023, and generated 5x as many views as in 2022… with 1/5 as many videos.

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Safe to say, I’m excited to learn more about the scriptwriting “niche” with you in 2024.

But it got me thinking about the “journey” I’ve been on to get here.

Because creators like you and I are constantly asking ourselves questions like:

• Am I in the right niche?
• Do I actually enjoy making this type of content?
• What does this whole thing look like in 5 years’ time?

So, to close out the year, let’s take a whistlestop tour of how I went from fresh-faced writer to whatever the heck I am now, so we can try and figure out which direction to go in 2024.

May this edition give you permission to revel in uncertainty, and to be excited for your unwritten future!

Phase 1 – Arrival

October 2021-July 2022

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• Hired to work full-time for Ali Abdaal.
• Felt frequently out of my depth and broadly had no idea how to write a good script.
• The videos I wrote got 1m+ views each, but not every video I wrote got made.
• Beyond scriptwriting, I also ended up writing newsletters, helping with the Part-Time YouTuber Academy and learning a bit about cameras, filming, etc.

Lesson: Working with a pre-established creator team is imposter syndrome central, but getting your hands dirty across the whole business is invaluable for learning about YouTube.

Phase 2 – Exploring

July 2022 – May 2023

• Branched out and worked with several other creators, including Creator Wizard, Creator Booth and Noah Kagan.
• Continued offering to write newsletters, tweet threads… basically anything. I wanted to make myself as “hirable” as possible…

My old “offer” 👆
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• I also started a newsletter with no particular aim – I guess I was gonna be “the freelance scriptwriter/newsletter guy”?

Catchy, right?
​

• …but 4 months later, my newsletter found a new direction: publicly reviewing people’s retention graphs. So I guess was gonna be “the retention guy” instead.
• Spent months reviewing people’s content for free while continuing a variety of client work.

Lesson: Working across different niches and forcing yourself to study data from numerous creators provides a much more holistic, nuanced understanding of YouTube.

Phase 3 – Narrowing

May 2023 – October 2023

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• Restructured my business (and, yes, I was calling it a “business” now)… no more tweet threads, no more nothin’ unless it was about scriptwriting.
• Built out my offers around scriptwriting, including offering 1-1s, script reviews, and even productizing my retention graph reviews.
• After weeks of worrying my subscribers would hate me, I told them I wanted to refocus my newsletter on scriptwriting itself. It went well…

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• I guess I was trying to be “the scriptwriting guy” now.
• With this new focus, I opened a hypothetical pre-orders page for a scriptwriting course I wanted to make. It went well…

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Lesson: Exploring is both good and necessary… but once you truly find your thing, put 100% of yourself into it.

Phase 4 – Expanding

October 2023 – NOW

In the last 2 months, I lit about a bazillion fuses.

• My course (still unreleased) grew into a community.
• I did my first masterclass to 100+ people.
• I ramped up my consulting offer.
• I launched a new podcast.
• I launched a new agency.

Biggest of all – after 6 months of work, I finished the course itself:

‍

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In a nutshell… everything is kicking off!

I’m probably more stressed than before, but I’m also having more fun.

I have no idea what’s going to happen to the business in the next six months, but I think it’s going to be good.

Lesson: Well… I’m still figuring this part out. Ask me for a more compelling “lesson” in around February/March when things have calmed down a bit.

But, regardless of what stage of your “journey” you’re at – whether you’re a YouTuber, writer, or anything else – throw yourself into 2024.

• Follow what sounds interesting and explore it as fully as possible.
• Take a break if you need to, and don’t be afraid to pivot.
• Find the thing that excites you, then refuse to focus on anything else.

Let’s compare notes in a year’s time – I’m excited to see how much your channel/business/life has grown 🚀

That’s all for this year! Wishing you a magnificent holiday season (if that’s your thing) – sending love from Spain 🇪🇸

Speak soon,
George 👋

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‍

Hey Reader,

I’ve been a bit of a silly boy.

As if launching both a course and an agency simultaneously wasn’t enough stress for one man’s brain…

🎙️ I’m also launching a podcast!

​

While working for Ali Abdaal, I met Gwilym Sims-Williams (left) and Jamie Whiffen (centre).

Gwilym was another writer; Jamie was Ali’s producer.

In fact, between us… we realised that we work as:

• YouTube producers.
• Writers.
• Thumbnail designers.
• Strategists.
• Consultants.

(Basically everything except editors 😂)

That’s why we decided to launch “Making It” 🚀

​

While there are some incredible podcasts devoted to interviewing creators, and even to interviewing people like us who work for creators…

We wanted to have conversations exclusively between folks like us working behind the camera.

In the 10+ episodes we already recorded, we’ve talked about:

• What “working for a YouTuber” actually looks like.
• How to get hired in the first place.
• How we’re growing our own creator businesses from scratch.
• “Insider” strategies on ideation, writing, packaging, and more.
• The realities of trying to balance work and life in an industry that’s ripe with opportunity and seemingly has no limits.

Episode 1 is out now!

In this episode, we reveal how we got hired by Ali Abdaal as full-time employees in 2021.

Then we discuss how we’ve continued to work with multi-million subscriber YouTubers over the last year while building our own creator businesses from scratch

Click to listen on YouTube or Spotify.

(Apple Podcasts coming soon.)

That’s all for this week Reader 🙂

What did you think of the episode? Hit reply and let me know! ❤️

Any questions, I’m just an email away 🙂

Speak soon,
George 👋

‍

This is an exciting week!

You folks sent me a bunch of questions on Twitter, so today I’m sharing a 35min video Q&A with my responses!

December Q&A

We talked about:

• My scriptwriting “process” – where it starts and ends.
• The misunderstanding people have about “Grand Payoffs”.
• Whether creators actually need to hire scriptwriters or not.

​

Click to watch the Q&A 👆

Got any questions? Or anything you’d like me to talk about in future? 🧐

You can reply to these emails anytime 🙂

Speak soon,
George 👋

One of the main “retention edits” I do for every script is to improve clarity.

Clarity is a major factor in whether or not someone will commit the next 15 minutes of their life to your video.

If your audience feels confused, they’ll leave.

That’s why it’s especially important during the hook (although it matters a good deal throughout the script too).

So, this week, using extracts from scripts I’ve worked/advised on…

I’m sharing three quick clarity checks for you to do on your next script before you hit record…

Jargon

I spoke last week about the need to unlearn “essay-style” writing.

But this is not a debate about “dumbing down” your script.

Rather, it’s about avoiding overly convoluted language when it doesn’t serve any purpose.

Here’s an example from a script I reviewed, which sounds more like an “essay” than a YouTube script:

“We live in a world for the loud. This can be hard to accept at first – there’s a sort of moral irony in it.“

Keep in mind, these are the first words of the video.

But the comment about “moral irony” just feels like… too much.

Nothing wrong with being a bit vague during the hook to open curiosity.

But this is so vague and jargon-y that I don’t feel curious. I just feel mildly confused.

Hence my comments at the time:

​

Surplus Detail

You don’t always need the amount of detail you might think.

And it’s easiest to notice when this is the case if you read your scripts out loud.

See this example from a script I reviewed:

“Or, more simply, as comedian Steve Martin once advised in an interview: ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.'”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with saying “once advised in an interview”.

But when you actually say it, it sounds clunky.

Unless the fact that he said it in an interview is specifically relevant, it’s just far easier (and more naturalistic) to keep it simple and say: “said”.

So ask yourself:

Am I overcomplicating this?

After all, nobody wants an overcomplicated script, just like nobody wants an overcomplicated screen recorder… 😉

Smoothest segue ever, right? 😜

Let me tell you something you might not wanna hear:

I love Tella.

There, I said it. I won’t take it back. You simply can’t make me.

I’ve tried a couple of different screen recording options over the last two years, and this has ended up being my favourite because of how flipping good the recordings look.

Check out this quick video if you wanna see all the cool stuff Tella can do 👇

​Click to watch my love story with Tella unfold in realtime ❤️​

The good news? Their affiliate program is offering new users 30% off forever when you sign up through my link.

You’ll literally be paying less than I am to use it lol.

Highly recommend trying it out if you do a lot of screen recording 👇

Try Tella (1 week trial, then 30% off forever)

Because I’m an affiliate, signing up through this link will result in a small kickback for me at no extra cost to you 🙂

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Ok, let’s get back to the final clarity check…

Conceptual Confusion

The next video’s hook sounds great…

…but it accidentally implies a different type of video than we actually got.

The first sentence is:

“Meeting the world’s richest comedian is easier said than done. He’s not all over podcasts and movie screens this comic has built a comedy Empire all without having to leave his home.”

To me, this sounds like a video where the creator tries to physically meet someone.

One of those classic “track them down” quests where we see the creator catching 6 planes, almost being arrested and spending the night in a bush…

Just to get a 10-second chat with their idol.

Now, the video I quoted above is actually really good…

But the plot I described doesn’t happen.

It’s actually a talking-head listicle about the richest comedians in the world.

“Meeting the world’s richest comedian” actually meant “figuring out who the world’s richest comedian is”.

It’s both subtle and unintentional…

But I’m certain early retention suffers from this lack of clarity…

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Aim to be clear, not clever.

And, if you want more on how to simplify hook writing, you can check out this old thang I wrote a few weeks ago.

Stronger hooks within 24 hours, or your money back.

(Joke’s on you; you didn’t pay for this newsletter 😈)

⚡️ Action Point

Review your script and check it for:

1. Jargon.
2. Surplus Detail.
3. Conceptual Confusion.

That’s all for this week Reader 🙂

Got any questions? Or anything you’d like me to talk about in future? 🧐

You can reply to these emails anytime 🙂

Speak soon,
George 👋

“Why is finding a good scriptwriter so dang hard?”

It’s a question I get asked constantly.

After all, I could recommend 5-6 editors off the top of my head.

But I’ve consistently struggled to vouch for good writers (until recently).

This is a problem, both for scriptwriters looking to prove themselves and for YouTubers who need writers.

So, after 2+ years as a writer in this industry, I’m going to offer my (admittedly subjective) thoughts on the situation, and what needs to change on both sides to reach a solution.

The Problem For YouTubers

Finding the right person to outsource a part of your content to can feel like a scary, deeply personal task.

But creators have successfully done this for the best part of the last decade with editing.

The same is not true for writing… but why?

I’ve heard some creators argue that hiring a writer just isn’t as useful as hiring an editor. That they’ve been burned in the past. That they can’t find anyone good.

But why is this? Plenty of people can write well, so I don’t think it’s a theoretical lack of potential talent.

And I’ve just gone back through my DMs and emails to find I’ve received almost 100 inbound enquiries this year… so the demand is only increasing.

At its core, I believe there’s a fundamental difference between how it feels for a creator to relinquish control of an edit vs the words coming out of their mouth.

There’s just more at stake with the latter.

Yes, the way shots are cut together and edited can vastly affect how a creator comes across to their audience…

But the words they say are baked into the video and forever associated with that creator.

And trusting someone else with that is scary.

If you’re a YouTuber in this position, it might seem just as likely that you’ll have to re-write everything to make sure it definitely sounds like “something you would say”.

So, solving the “writer problem” begins with something simple…

Both writers and YouTubers must approach their relationship with excessive communication.

Have a long conversation before every video, if you can.

Make sure you both understand what you want this video to be before you put pen to paper.

Check in with each other after the structure has been drafted, and ideally once more before the end.

Get on the same page.

The result is almost always better when both parties assume nothing and make everything explicit.

The problem we see with scriptwriters getting offered abysmal rates stems from skipping valuable steps like this.

When you offer $50 per script, of course the writer is desperate to finish ASAP.

They’ll need to write another 4 this week to make this a viable part of their income.

Ergo, they won’t feel inclined to spend extra time aligning expectations, taking great care over every word, or going the extra mile for your content… because they’re rushed.

So what happens?

1. The result doesn’t improve.
2. The YouTuber remains convinced the service is barely worth it.
3. They continue to offer $50 per script.

The rate you set implies the level of detail and care the writer should employ.

The Problem For Writers

Now, the responsibility to improve the situation lies with writers, too.

Just as we saw the proliferation of the “I’m also a YouTube strategist” Twitter bios…

The same thing is starting to happen with YouTube Scriptwriters.

This part of the industry is on the cusp of becoming much bigger, and people can sense the opportunity.

But there’s a huge misconception here.

Making the transition to YouTube scriptwriter is not as simple as porting your writing skills from college.

It’s actually requires the destruction of half the writing principles you’ve spent two decades being taught.

You’ll need to unlearn defunct skills as much as learning new ones.

Because writing a YouTube video like an English essay is usually a recipe for disaster.

It results in bland, bloated, boring paragraphs like this:

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And I hope you won’t mind me roasting the writing, because it’s mine.

And I don’t blame younger me for being crap – my instinct was simply to write like I did at school, as it is for most people.

It speaks to a wider problem:

This part of the YouTube industry is incredibly young, and there’s very little education surrounding it.

For most, getting better at scriptwriting involves years of trial and error.

It involves being up-front and honest with clients about what you can offer.

At first, you might simply position yourself as someone who can help with their scriptwriting bottleneck.

6 months later, with more experience under your belt, you might start to offer scriptwriting and strategic advice.

Then help with ideation, packaging, etc.

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Solutions

With all this in mind… I can understand why many creators feel disenfranchised by the idea of hiring writers.

It’s a nuanced problem, and I don’t have a perfect solution.

But, in a word, what both writers and YouTubers need is time.

90% of what I’ve learned as a writer has come in the last year, because the skills and knowledge have started to compound.

I allowed myself time to work with as many creators as possible, stared at retention graphs until my eyes dried out, and spent time thinking about and systemizing this extremely particular style of writing.

But, by the same token, the clients who have seen the best results from my writing are those who have given me time to adjust to their style and have paid me fairly so that I might give their scripts more care and attention.

Remember… we’re all on the same team here!

We all just want to make the best videos possible while earning a living in this amazing industry.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, whether you’re a scriptwriter or a YouTuber. Did anything ring a bell or touch a nerve?

I’m always interested in discussions like this about the meta of the YouTube industry, so any and all opinions are welcome!

Speak soon,
George 👋