Notes on Storytelling

Personal notes from a course and not a structured article

What is Story?

Story is about change. Change of a character's mindset or life. There may be a change of location or anything, but the character's change is important. It can be anything.

If there is no change, it's just an incident, not a story. That is why many people struggle to grow as daily vloggers. Because you show your routine, there is no change. There is no drama.

Harsh Gujral example, where Lallantop uses a title like "he roasts, couple calls police" it is dramatic and it works.

Understanding Drama

A character in a place where he does not belong, not in his comfort zone. A rich person in a 5-star hotel does not have drama. A poor person in a 5-star hotel is dramatic. The reverse is true. Let's say Mukesh Ambani stays in Dharavi, a small place with many people unlike his place where all maids and servants are there.

Most drama is seen in TV serials, which are melodramatic (i.e., too much). Mostly in art films, narrative films, etc., there may be levels of drama from too much to too little but there is drama. Some movies have more drama, some have less.

For example, in the movie Lagaan, villagers play cricket with expert British players, and if they lose, they pay 3x lagaan. It's a dramatic situation. Same with Hindi Medium, where a rich family lives the life of a poor family to get their daughter into school without good marks. It also shows social status. It is also dramatic.

Michelle Khare has all the thumbnails and titles as dramatic. "I tried secret service academy". Here, the character is not in a place where they belong. For drama, President Biden is also in the thumbnail, which shows he is working as an agent for the government.

There can be degrees of drama. That can be determined by you. Sometimes, for extra masala, fake drama is created. But you decide the degree of drama.

Drama vs. Information

Don't share just information. Let's say a character's dream is to climb Mount Everest. Don't just share that it's the largest mountain and things required to go there. Viewers want to experience the character.

Drama exists only until the character is uncomfortable or when the next step is unknown. If it's just information, skip it. Share only important information. People don't watch to get information it's not an encyclopedia. Viewers come to experience the character, to feel what the character is feeling. How? Through drama.

How Does Drama Originate?

Through Conflict

How to create drama? Through the conflict of the character. Conflict is the problems that the character faces to reach the goal. In the movie Lagaan, to win the cricket match, the hero faces issues like his people not supporting him, how to train and gather people. Same with Mario game to save the queen. Same with many movies.

All characters have a goal. All the problems faced to reach that goal is conflict. Stronger the villain (antagonist), stronger/greater our protagonist (main hero). Antagonist can be a person or situation or anything. Higher the antagonist force, higher the protagonist. If a child wants to be a singer but parents don't let him, they are the antagonist force. Ram and Ravan same story.

Stories are everywhere. Find them. Lagaan movie has too many conflicts, problems, and things at stake. Someone ditches them during the cricket match so more conflict. If there is no conflict, the story is flat with no interesting points. In Sultan movie, he's unfit, shifts from kushti to MMA genre so many conflicts but he still does it because of a higher antagonist force.

Example of Conflict and Goal

A course creator's elder brother died while climbing Mount Everest and couldn’t fulfill his dream. He wants to fulfill his brother’s dream, so he goes. But his parents don’t want to lose another child (antagonist). Also, he is 100 kg. So, an unhealthy person with parents opposing his decision to go to Everest. As a writer, you can add more conflict like he also has asthma.

If he was just 100 kg, people would be like, "Gym karke chale ja." But now, he has the motivation to fulfill his brother's desire so emotions are also attached, which makes it more interesting and dramatic as his brother's dream is involved. Where there are dreams, the audience connects.

If you're fit or a mountaineer and going no drama, not interesting. Interesting only when the character is not where he belongs (unfit and unhealthy climbing Everest). So again, back to drama not where he belongs.

Bring drama in YouTube videos. People hack retention, but if the story is interesting, people will wait. They want to see the resolution how the dream gets fulfilled. How the asthmatic person climbs Everest.

But be practical not like someone in a wheelchair climbing Everest.

Character

• Degree of drama

• Degree of conflict

• Goals/motivation - character and viewer

• Emotions

Also think from the lowest common denominator's point of view like a person able to connect to problems, drama, and conflict. Higher the surface area, more the TAM.

Plot and Character

Plot is the physical activities happening around the character. It may or may not be dramatic. Swades movie Shahrukh Khan comes from the USA as a NASA scientist who doesn’t like soil and is allergic, but he stays as he gets emotionally connected with India and helps them. So character not in place where he belongs emotional connect. Plot from USA to India, even when he is allergic, is conflict. Plot is also good.

Same with Money Heist plot is really good but characters are not too strong, hence Season 3 didn’t work. Raees movie too many twists and turns. Any story does not work only on the basis of plot brilliance. Character should be memorable.

Character also works on YouTube it's personality. MrBeast, MKBHD, we all love their personalities, hence we watch their channels. Because you know their story and you are attached to them. It works in the long term once people know your story. Like they came from nothing, worked for so many years, and now they are here. MrBeast’s goal is to make the best videos in the world. MKBHD shows very little emotion, but still, we want to know from him because we know his story. So character becomes most important.

Character / Why Daily Vloggers Work

Character is the center of the story, i.e., protagonist. Antagonist may be a person, situation, object, or anything. People don't only relate to good people. You can also like the killer if you see them long enough on screen and know why they are doing that. In a train crash, you only feel for the protagonist and not others because you are attached emotionally and you relate.

That's why daily vloggers work.

They are authentic, true. They show their true side to people. People will connect to your real self. They are able to establish a connection with you because they are relatable and show their side. Their flaws so you relate they are just like you. They are vulnerable. So you connect with them. Same with YouTube.

Naruto - 800 episodes. His only goal: to become the head of the village. Even when he was dying, he wanted to become the head. So with that goal, people are like, "Pehle tu ban ja, fir hum aage dekhenge." Later series when they showed his child, people were not invested in that character, hence didn’t work.

Travel vloggers - they want to do this in 100/75 days and have a clear goal with some constraints. They show journey, growth, changes during the time. So people are invested.

Tom Scott - nerdy YouTuber, no entertainment, no gaali, no jokes but personality is so real that no one else can do it.

Content piece, idea very important. But at the center of all, the character connects everything.

The only way to beat the crowd is to be authentic. Add nuances to the character.

Character 70%, Idea 30% for character and plot.

TV shows - character driven. Film may be plot driven, with twists and turns. Generally, films are forgettable. You remember if you connect to the character.

Character understanding + plot brilliance = timeless piece.

Character relatable = true self, authentic, be yourself, vulnerable, flaws... crying like Saurav Joshi, dancing.
Character arc = after a change of something... like from chemistry teacher to killer - that's an arc. When rich people become extremely poor, they understand poor people - they gain compassion. That’s a character arc - they learn, they develop something new.

RASA

In Natya Shastra, there is vivid description of NavaRasa, i.e., 9 emotions for theatre performance artists:

1. Hasya – Humor

2. Raudra – Anger

3. Bibhatsa – Disgust (e.g., Britishers beating villagers in Lagaan)

4. Bhayanaka – Fear

5. Shringar – Delight/Erotic

6. Veera – Heroic/Courageous

7. Karuna – Pity/Compassion

8. Adbhuta – Wonder

9. Shaant – Serene

Only one emotion doesn’t work in a story. Keep a mix of emotions.

YouTube videos mostly work on 3 things: Education, Entertainment, and Inspiration. MrBeast focuses entirely on entertainment not much education. Inspiration is full. Though videos don’t inspire, he as a character inspires doing such big things. There’s buildup of situation/plot in his videos like taking things to extreme.

3-Act Structure

Act 1: Beginning
This is equilibrium - where the character is in their ideal world. For example, a rich man living a rich life.

Then there’s an inciting incident which moves the equilibrium and brings things into action. Like a business loss or COVID hit and the rich man sees poverty.

Act 2: Middle
When the character can’t go back to the ideal, middle act has started. Varies case to case. Like in Lagaan, when Aamir accepts the challenge, the middle act starts. When the king says you can’t say no now you have to fight. Until then, it’s just establishing village life.

Then comes the climax actual match in Lagaan starts after 2 hours of buildup and training.

Act 3: End
Once the match is finished, it goes towards the end.

Structure: Beginning → Inciting Incident → Middle → Climax → End

YouTube vs. Film

Degree of drama may vary in YouTube compared to film because you can’t fake many things like in a scripted film. But if you are authentic, even low drama or low emotions will work. For example, in the video Finding Peace by Monkey Magic, he leaves, an aunty helps him peak emotional moment. As he returns, his goal is finished so no need to take it further.

Also, you don’t need an end in all YouTube videos unlike films.

Motivation and Structure of YouTube

Unlike films, YouTube videos can’t have a proper start and end. As the first 30 seconds are crucial and most audience leaves, video should start directly with the inciting incident.

If the goal of character or video is established, it can help people stay more. Like Matthew Beem: "Will create world’s largest ice cream statue." Goal is established. But no emotions or personalization—just entertainment. Really neutral.

Establish goal of character instantly or a hope that you will get something at the end. Hook/challenge for the end.

Make it emotional or personalized—like Ryan Trahan. He is a personality, so sharing emotionally helps.

Start and end should be really small compared to films. You should enter the second part of the video very fast and without people noticing.

Dramatic in YouTube sense means something unusual. If you start the video within first 10 sec, people will be curious. Like Vinay shared a music video, and for 30 sec no music.

Have a clear WHY for the video. Don’t create just to create. If you have a good idea, the why becomes clear. But also establish it as soon as possible.

Recipe for a Perfect YouTube Video

Two types of videos work on YT:

1. Massy/Idea-based video

2. Personalized videos: personality-based, personal vlog, with a personal touch

3. Starts with idea but you stay because of personality. Mix of both. Idea seems interesting, so you watch then the character hooks you till the end

Study this video:

It starts with establishing the GOAL and why he is doing it. He shows the station cinematically without speaking. Multiple ways to show the hook not just by speaking like MrBeast.

He also solves common misconceptions that people would have.

There were many dramatic points. Although real, he created drama from truth. Even smallest things like ordering pizza or talking to an aunty/later a girl were made dramatic. He wasn’t comfortable talking to her so he was in a zone where the character doesn’t belong. Before solving, there were multiple small dramatic/resolution points. Maybe in reality, girl interaction happened earlier but in video, it was placed later.

Examples

• Random YouTuber shooting a video related to Wi-Fi issue. Starts: "Wi-Fi is far from my room." Common problem, massy can work.

• MKBHD showing world’s fastest car starts with Tesla. People associate with it and it’s recent. Uses authority.

• Solar panel: "I haven’t paid electricity bill in a year." Dramatic intro works better than directly starting. Tech YouTubers give opinion/story so it’s not just information.

• Use drama in title also.

• Guy buying Maggi from aunty showing he was lonely and hungry. So there is drama character where he doesn’t belong. Works.

• Shorts: Start directly with DRAMA.

How Do YouTube Shorts Work?

Only engagement and retention matter.

Two shorts on Zomato vs. Swiggy:

• First guy: started directly with "Kaun jaldi aata hai" and showed who came first great hook.

• Monkey Magic: started with massy hook—"Jab lunch mein laukey ki sabzi thi." Zomato vs. Swiggy rivalry. Waiting created curiosity. High retention.

Start with Shorts → make longer version of Shorts as long form. Sometimes, make personal videos to give a touch of yourself and build personal connection.

Last Important Thing

75-day hard challenge why does it work? Sacchai. Truth. That’s the most important.

Drama etc. are good to have. But your nuances should be visible. Geeta padte hain people know and share because they connect to it.

In his Narmada video, 25 seconds only water is flowing not made for YT but still 10K comments. Because video was real and people connected and shared their feelings.