MAGIC SCHOOLS - Terrible Writing Advice

Do you remember your time in school? Do you long for your nostalgic youth? No? Was it a time of deep confusion and unpleasantness filled with bullies and embarrassing moments? Would you rather do anything to avoid reliving that terrible time in your life? Or are you still trapped in the nightmarish hellscape that is the American public education system? Well that's okay! Because now you can express those pent up memories and emotions by writing about them. And by express, I mean take petty revenge! Yes. As an author, we can set our story in a fictional school or academy. But unlike real life we are in complete control and thus can shape the setting, plot, and characters to our liking! That means that it is completely okay to go way overboard with wish fulfillment while indulging in our are darkest revenge fantasies! That sounds healthy! After all, nothing says “fun” quite like the dry sterile environment of academia. Now the best part about fictional academies is that our students are there to learn about their special powers! Hmm... Children with superpowers. That sounds like an excellent combination! Children and teens are well known for their excellent judgment and lack of cruelty! So lets instantly give them access to a full array of powers! Now a few readers might be perplexed by this. After all, shouldn't our protagonist be attending this school in order to learn about their powers, gradually gaining mastery over them through time consuming practice and careful study? Having a highly detailed training process also gives the reader plenty of time to learn the ins and outs of the story's magic system while also fleshing out the setting. In additional, it makes the protagonist more sympathetic by actually forcing them to earn their powers while also adding a layer of realism by showcasing the safety procedures the staff have in place to ensure the students don't hurt themselves or each other. But you know what is even better? Having our special protagonist already know everything there is to know about their powers and wielding that knowledge to show up the teachers! Earning things is for losers who don't take shortcuts and our time is better spent detailing the protagonist's agnsty teenage relationship drama. Speaking of relationships, be certain to completely ignore or gloss over the internal politics of academia. That should have no impact on the student's lives at all since teachers only exist in the story to either praise the protagonist's unearned talent, or as a minor antagonist that will be put in their place by the end. Another antagonist is the bully character. Every magical academy needs a host of stock bully characters who exist only to torment the protagonist and the protagonist's friends. The bully character must also be leagues behind the protagonist in terms of abilities and talents, magical or otherwise. A bully character must be either a one dimensional straw man with zero redeeming qualities or a thinly veiled caricature of someone the author knows in real life. Not that I would ever do that! After all, I have YouTube channel with hundreds of subscribers, a well reviewed book on Amazon, and a website JUSTIN! What do you have? Nothing! Who's the loser now? Shows you for making fun of me freshman year. (clears throat) Sorry. Where was I? Oh right. Now the rest of the students should also be stock characters. Don't forget the one or more love interests! Now let's take another look at the school itself. Since this is an institution of learning for developing and vulnerable young minds, it obviously needs lots of unexplored labyrinths full of dangerous traps and deadly secrets. Have the teachers forbid these places after pointing them out to students. We all know that children and teenagers always do what they are told. Parents should have no second thoughts about sending their children to a school that houses dangerous mystical artifacts and guards them with terrifying monsters. Nor should any government authority investigate the school for numerous safety violations. It's not like they would notice anything odd while the school turns into a massive battleground between the forces of good and evil. Thankfully the teachers are on hand to deal with trouble. Unfortunately they are completely worthless and will prove entirely ineffective at saving the school. They may even get in the way of the protagonist and refuse to listen to any warnings. In the end, the overpowered protagonist will have save the day and the school. Don't forget to contrive a way to make sure the protagonist confronts the villain alone! We can't have other characters hogging the glory! After defeating the main antagonist, don't forget to take the time to humiliate all of the bullies who picked on me. I mean the protagonist. Be sure to really rub it in and that the bully suffers for their earlier transgressions! Make sure they get their just deserts even if it means we don't have time to address what kind of grades the protagonist made or even if they passed the semester. We have to keep perspective on what is really important. And that's proving all of those jerks were wrong!

Channel: Terrible Writing Advice

Views: 1,042,889

Keywords: Terrible Writing Advice, Not to guide, writing, Bad advice, That was a terrible idea, How to, How not to, guide, comedy, sarcasm, Talentless hack, How did you end up here?, Novel, Novel writing, Writing a book, book, J.P. Beaubien, J.P.Beaubien, Parody, Spoof, How desperate are you?, Terrible, JPBeaubien, JP Beaubien, writing advice, magic schools, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Light Novel, horrible writing advice

Id: AUGznByw9ws

Length: 4min 34sec (274 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 04 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

LOL for anyone who hasn't gone through this guys full series, it's worth it. I just posted the one on Dystopian worlds in another thread, dude is funny and on point for these videos.

I actually took a chance on his book too, it was like 1.99 or something on kindle.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29910101-aeon-legion?from_search=true

[u/tuxedoducks]

This guy is one of the most underrated YouTube channels I've ever seen. I love the sarcastic criticism he uses in all his videos.

[u/justacunninglinguist]

I seem to be in the minority, but I didn't like the flippant sarcastic approach. Was hoping for a more structured/detailed version.