History Webanimation / TerribleWritingAdvice

* InstantExpert: He says in his Dystopia one that the protagonist should learn everything instantly.

** The "Dystopia" video suggest [[StrawmanPolitical using such characters to demonize an ideology the author hates and blowing it out of proportion]].

* {{Abandoned Catchphrase}}: “What this story needs is a {{love triangle}} used to be a {{once per episode}} {{running gag}} but now J.P. rarely ever says it.

-->''"Don't focus on avoiding Mary Sues. Focus on writing good characters."''

* AcceptableTargets: [[invoked]]"Humor Writing" shows a list of hard targets and soft targets, with the soft targets being easier to mock. Given the sarcasm the series runs on, the hard targets include people like politicians and hypocrites, while the soft targets include minority groups, and people suffering from mental conditions.

-->'''Beaubien:''' [CharacterDevelopment] not nearly as interesting as subjecting the reader [[Literature/{{Twilight}} to endless pages of a character's internal pining]] and complete inability '''''[[SuddenlyShouting to just freakin' spit it out and finally admit what they actually WANT!]]''''' ''(Beaubien boots MarySue [[LiteralAssKicking in the ass]].)'' [[invoked]]

Hyperspace? You have to travel through '''Cthulhu's back lawn!'''!\\

* CerebusRetcon: Encouraged in the "Grimdark" video with particularly absurd examples:
-->”Don’t forget to darken the other parts of the setting Everything powered by Contrivium? '''[[PoweredByAForsakenChild It’s made from ground up widows!]]'''\\
Macguffin everyone’s fighting over? Turns out its powered by '''[[SealedEvilInACan pure evil!]]'''\\
Magic? thats energy harvested from '''the souls of the damned'''!\\
Hyperspace? You have to go through '''[[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Cthulhu's back lawn!]]'''\\
Crude oil? That’s made from '''ancient dead creatures!'''”[[note]][[ExpospeakGag Crude oil really is made from that]]. It's why they're called [[MeaningfulName fossil]] fuels.[[/note]]

** When considering actually doing research to provide thought-provoking nuanced stories, he inevitably refers to the resulting stories as taking too much effort and/or being "boring". This is usually coupled with the image of either the "bad writer" avatar giving a thumbs down next to a big red X, or, more rarely, a bunch of question marks in a trash can.

** Invoked. The MarySueClassic was a common target of mockery in earlier videos, and was even the focus of the very first one. But she very rarely appears anymore. J.P. even takes a moment in "Fanfiction Original Characters" to point out how "MarySue" has become [[TropeDecay a diluted, wildly inconsistent, and overall utterly meaningless accusation that tends to be shorthand for "character I don't like"]].

** "Deconstruction" mentions how the term deconstruction has [[TropeDecay become a meaningless buzzword used to describe any work that's even slightly subversive of its genre]].

* ToiletHumor: In "Comic Relief Characters", JP suggests this to be one of the types of comedy a comic relief character can do.

* TheArtifact: Inner Critic's name. In his early appearances, Inner Critic was supposed to be the manifestation of JP's internal doubts about his own writing abilities. This was later changed to make him a separate bad writer who had a rivalry with JP, making the "inner" part of his name a misnomer. [note]Somewhat. He is clearly still J.P.'s inner critic but went from doubts and suppression of effort to embodying the traits idiot J.P. supresses on both an effort and preferential level becoming more an opposite than inner.[/note]

* TheArtifact: Inner Critic's name. In his early appearances, Inner Critic was supposed to be the manifestation of JP's internal doubts about his own writing abilities. This was later changed to make him a separate bad writer who had a rivalry with JP, making the "inner" part of his name a misnomer. [note] Somewhat. He is clearly still J.P.'s inner critic but went from doubts and suppression of effort to embodying the traits idiot J.P. supresses on both an effort and preferential level becoming more an opposite than inner.[/note]

* TheArtifact: Inner Critic's name. In his early appearances, Inner Critic was supposed to be the manifestation of JP's internal doubts about his own writing abilities. This was later changed to make him a separate bad writer who had a rivalry with JP, making the "inner" part of his name a misnomer.

** At the end of "Isekai", JP tries to [[LightNovel/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone use his cell phone to get ahead in another world]]. However, he gets no signal because there's no infrastructure to support cell phones in this world.

** A possible method of starting a story InMediasRes, as discussed in "Beginning a Story". Also suggested is to use a flashback within a flashback.

* "Dungeon Master's Guide" is all about how to be one, while section of "Player's Handbook" teaches how to defeat one. **"Dungeon Crawl" also indirectly functions the same.

* KillerGameMaster: "Dungeon Master's Guide" is all about how to be one. "Dungeon Crawl" also indirectly functions the same.

** In "Beginning a Story", JP highly recommends Infodump to begin a story, even if the information is not relevant after the intro.

** In "Character Backstories", he suggests that the backstory exposition can be used whenever the author feels like it, paying no need to whether it's appropriate for the current situation.

* DeconReconSwitch: In "Deconstruction", JP shows how this trope applies on a large scale to a genre. With a successful work, numerous others would [[FollowTheLeader attempt to replicate its success]] (often poorly) and establish the cliches of the genre. Then, a deconstruction happens that takes apart all these cliches, becomes greatly successful, and many other imitators will follow suit until the deconstructive elements are the new norm until a reconstruction happens, perpetuating the cycle.

* FreudianExcuse: "Alpha Heroes" suggests giving the protagonist a tragic backstory to justify their obsessive behavior towards the heroine. "Why explain behavior when we can excuse behavior?"

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: In "Mid Series Shakeups" episode, JP suggests that the best reason to shake up a status quo is to make you feel like you've pulled one over on the audience.

* SavingTheWorldClimax: Encouraged in "Plotting a Story". He recommends to add the stakes of saving the world suddenly.

* LoveDodecahedron: "Myths, Legends, and Gods" advises adding the standard LoveTriangle to the mythology of your ConstructedWorld, but ends up adding so many it becomes this. The FreezeFrameBonus even has JP saying that no author has ever been able to make a LoveDodecahedron as complicated as what's seen in several mythologies.