The Scriptwriter’s Advantage

How the best creators “manufacture” retention, without feeling fake

Most people think YouTube wins are about thumbnails, editing, charisma, and “luck.”

No.

At scale, the real lever is scripting—not as in “read a teleprompter like a robot,” but as in engineering the viewer’s next thought so they keep watching on purpose.

This whole transcript is basically one message:

If the viewer doesn’t know what they’re waiting for next, they leave.

I learned this from Blackman” — George Blackman, a YouTube scriptwriter who’s been hired to write for creators like Ali Abdaal and Film Booth.

Blackman’s core line is the entire game: “The audience needs to know pretty much at all times what it is they’re waiting around for next.