Plot Luck

Hey Plot Heads! A quick update! This week's video is being pushed to Monday morning at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET.

I've been working hard on this one, but a few things haven't come together quite the way I wanted. I'd rather take a little extra time to get everything right than rush the final product.

I'm sorry for the delay, and thank you all for your patience and support. It really means a lot!

Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

13 hours ago | [YT] | 38

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻🎃 THE RESULTS ARE IN!

I'm excited to announce that your winning pick is coming THIS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 at 9am PT / 12pm ET! 🎬

✍️ How to Write Horror Settings That Scare Without a Monster 👻

We touched on this a bit in our last video on horror games, but I've always believed that setting and atmosphere are HALF the picture when it comes to horror!

I've always liked to think of locations almost like characters themselves. They can shape the story, influence our characters, create conflict, and sometimes even become the most frightening thing in it!

Think about the Overlook Hotel, the Backrooms, the Nostromo, or the world of Annihilation. These places can be terrifying before a monster even enters the picture.

We'll explore some of horror's most unforgettable settings, figure out what makes them work, and even try building a terrifying location of our own! 👀

❗❗BUT WAIT! There's more! 😂

I know I said we'd be choosing ONE final bonus video, but Horror & Comedy received 33% of the vote, and there was so much enthusiasm for both ideas that I figured... why not do BOTH?!

🎭 "Why the Best Horror Writers Understand Comedy" is coming NEXT WEEKEND!

These will be our final two videos of Horror That Haunts for 2026! After that, things will be getting a little less scary around here as we return to our regularly scheduled Dialogue That Delivers programming (with a big video that you've long been asking for)!  🗣️ 

Thank you to everyone who voted and for all the incredible support throughout Horror That Haunts! I've had so much fun exploring this genre with you, and I'm really excited to give this chapter a proper sendoff. 🙏

Don't forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

2 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 91

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻🎮 IT'S OFFICIAL! WE'RE ON FOR HALLOWEEN! 🎃

Horror Writers Need to Learn From Video Games is coming TOMORROW, Saturday, October 31st at 9am PT / 12pm ET!

This is one I've wanted to make for a LONG time, and it's turned into one of the most ambitious videos I've put together for Plot Luck! We're exploring what horror games understand about frightening their audiences, five lessons writers can learn from them, and even putting those lessons to the test in an original horror story of our own!

I seriously cannot wait for you all to see this one! ❤️

A few other Halloween reminders!

1️⃣ ✉️ FREE WRITING HORROR SLIDES!

TODAY at 12pm PT / 3pm ET, I'm sending out the Writing Horror slideshow from our live event to everyone on the Plot Luck newsletter! If you want your FREE copy, make sure you're signed up before it goes out!

👉 www.plotluck.net/free-worksheet

2️⃣ 🎃 HALLOWEEN COSTUME!

You voted, and I listened! I'll officially be going as Bryan from Resident Evil this Halloween weekend! 😂 Can't wait to share a picture of how it turns out!

3️⃣ 🗳️ VOTE FOR OUR NEXT VIDEO!

Don't forget to get your votes in on our community poll to help choose our bonus Horror That Haunts video!

Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding while I've been recovering and getting this video finished. I really appreciate it, and I'm so excited to finally share it with you!

Have a wonderful Halloween, Plot Heads! 👻

Don't forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

1 week ago | [YT] | 72

Plot Luck

Quick update, Plot Heads! 🎃

As I mentioned, I was under the weather this past weekend, and unfortunately, it took a little longer to recover and catch up on everything than I’d hoped.

I was aiming to have our next video ready for tomorrow, but I’m going to need a few more days to get everything finished.

So we’re moving Horror Writers Need to Learn From Video Games to Halloween, this Saturday! 🎮👻

I’m really excited about this one, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Also, make sure to vote in the poll on my last post! October may be coming to an end, but we’ve still got a couple more things planned for our Horror chapter, and I’d love your input!

Thanks for your patience, Plot Heads!

Don’t forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

P.S. I'm working on getting us back into a more consistent upload schedule! ❤

1 week ago | [YT] | 76

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻🎃 Horror Games Update! What's Next! And a Community Poll!

Unfortunately, I got sick over the weekend and couldn't quite finish our horror video games episode in time. 😭

But good news! Horror Writers Need to Learn From Video Games is now coming this WEDNESDAY! 🎮

And we've still got more horror to explore!

👉 Next up, we're going to explore all the different ways we can frighten readers with our writing. Because there are a lot more ways to scare someone on the page than you might think! I'll have a proper announcement for that one later this week. ✍️

BUT... I've had so many ideas for Horror That Haunts that I haven't been able to fit everything in!

And rather than choosing the last one myself, I thought it would be fun to let the Plot Heads decide! 👀

So we're going to do ONE MORE BONUS VIDEO (for next week) to wrap up Horror That Haunts, and YOU get to pick what it's about!

I've narrowed it down to three ideas I've been really excited to explore.

Cast your vote below!👇

Thank you all for your patience and for making this chapter so much fun! I can't wait to see what you choose. 🙏

Don't forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

1 week ago | [YT] | 54

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻 I’ve got a little treat for you!

Tomorrow, I’m sending out the slides from our Horror That Haunts live event to everyone subscribed to the Plot Luck newsletter!

We covered a lot during that event, and I wanted to give you all something you could keep, revisit, and use in your own horror stories.

The slides are completely FREE, but they’ll only be going out with tomorrow’s newsletter! So if you want a copy, make sure you’re signed up before it goes out! 🎃

✉️ Sign up here: www.plotluck.net/free-worksheet

And don’t forget! Our next video, Horror Writers Need to Learn From Video Games, is coming this Sunday at 9am PT / 12pm ET! 🎮

We’ve got a fun weekend ahead!

Don’t forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 47

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! 👻🎮 **Update: Due to illness and being unable to get it across the finish line in time, the video is coming this Wednesday at 9am PT / 12pm ET!**

This is one I've wanted to make for a LONG time!

As many of you know, one of my favorite things about Plot Luck is exploring storytelling across different genres and mediums.

And when it comes to horror, I think video games have created some of the most compelling and unforgettable experiences the genre has to offer.

I think writers have A LOT to learn from them. So our next video is:

✍️ Horror Writers Need to Learn From Video Games 🎮

From Resident Evil and Silent Hill to Alan Wake, Poppy Playtime, Dead Space, Still Wakes the Deep, Until Dawn, Little Nightmares, Five Nights at Freddy's, and so many more.

We're going to explore what makes some of these experiences so effective, what video games understand about frightening their audiences, and how we can bring some of that magic into stories of our own.

Thank you all for the continued support throughout Horror That Haunts! 🙏

Don't forget to stir the plot!

-Brian

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 68

Plot Luck

PLOT HEADS!!! New video coming this Sunday at 9am PT / 12pm ET! 👻

Thank you all for the support on Spooky, Not Scary!! 🖤 https://youtu.be/mem7Z7dDfvU?si=hd8iD...

I had so much fun making that video and I believe it is a great foundation for where we are headed through the rest of this seasonal chapter. 🎃

For our next video, I thought we could make something together!

Think Build-A-Bear. Except we’re doing Build-A-Monster. And I can’t promise you’ll want to take this one home. 😂

🎬 How Do You Build a Monster We Haven’t Seen Before? 👈

I mean have you ever come up with a monster for your story, gotten excited about it, and then realized… wait. Haven’t I seen this before?

We’ve had so many vampires, witches, ghosts, and variations on all of them that it can feel like every good idea already belongs to somebody else.

So how do we create something that feels like our own?

⛓️ If you remember the Character Chain, we’re giving it a slightly more gothic relative: the Monster Chain. 🧟

We’ll explore what makes familiar monsters work, what happens when we change those choices, and build an original monster together, piece by piece.

🙏 Thank you again for building this channel and community with me! I appreciate every single one of you.

Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 141

Plot Luck

UPDATE: Upload issue resolved! We’re on for 11:00 AM PT. 👻

Plot Heads! Quick heads-up: I ran into an upload issue with today’s video and had to reupload it. 🤦

Spooky vs Horror: Why Dark Stories Do Not Need to Scare is still coming today and should be live around 11 AM PT.

Thanks for hanging in there. I’m really excited for you all to see this one. 👻


Don't forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 57

Plot Luck

Plot Heads!!! We have a winner from our dialogue challenge! 🎉

But first, a little Plot Luck news! Spooky vs. Horror: Why Dark Stories Do Not Need to Scare drops tomorrow, Monday, October 12th at 9am! 👻

I am SO excited for you all to see this one!!!

Now, back to our dialogue challenge...

This was such an incredible batch of submissions. Some of these made me laugh, a couple genuinely got me emotional, and I honestly could go through every single submission and tell you something I loved about it.

But I did promise I would pick one. 😂

Before I do that, I want to give a huge shout-out to everyone who jumped in and shared their writing with us:
@MoeBurhanimeez1 @lizzyvv447 @nite129 @IronYetiHistory @SerdiChan @Astroavess @FernieCanto @indigo1562 @The21stGamer @annekim2634 @martincollins6632 @hyrumwendel4389 @gillioxl @DDubovsky @jennatowfighi8736 @yapdog @Tzarina_8472 @equesdeventusoccasus @Dragonmoon1598 @DragnGrl34

And our winner is... @hyrumwendel4389!!! 🎉

You may have actually missed this one because Hyrum posted it as a reply to my pinned comment instead of in the main comment section, so definitely go read the full submission on the video! He took the setup and made Jeb someone trying to get into a prison past Kall, an old friend who’s now guarding it, while secretly trying to help a condemned witch escape.

What pushed this one over the top for me was how much was working at once. The stakes are clear, you can feel the history between Jeb and Kall in the way they talk to each other, and that history actually changes how the conversation unfolds.

And I think the biggest compliment I can give it is that pretty quickly, I stopped thinking about the challenge and just wanted to know what happened next.

And seriously, thank you again to everyone who took part! There were so many deserving submissions, and I’m really grateful you all trusted me and the rest of the Plot Heads enough to share your work with us. ❤️ We’ll definitely do more challenges like this in the future!

See you all tomorrow in the comments for the new Plot Luck video!

Don’t forget to stir the plot!
-Brian

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 65