As a creator, you wear all of the hats, all of the time. You’re a producer, an editor, a business owner, a marketing manager, a talent agency and a writer. So as your channel grows, the weight of all those hats increases which can burn you out and affect your upload schedule, even (or especially) if you love what you do.
A lot of channels mitigate this by getting a helping hand. This can go up to 30+ people teams, but when you’re starting to feel this pressure around the 100k subscriber or 200-250K view mark, you likely won’t have the resources to onboard a whole team.
However, you may have the means and interest to bring on one or two people.
One such person is a scriptwriter. A good (read good) scriptwriter will not only help you write, but will also take the time to get to know your voice, help with the structuring, researching and editing of the script to take some of that scriptwriting load off your plate.
But it’s also a risk. Your channel and your voice are reflections of you which could be ruined in the wrong hands.
So should you hire a YouTube Scriptwriter? Let’s get into it.
1. Size & Timing
First of all, you need to consider if this is the right time for you to bring on a writer. Younger channels at around 50k subscribers or less may still be finding their footing both with their audience but with their own content. Even if you have the resources, it’s worth spending time getting to know what you like and how to express it which will make it much easier to bring on collaborators but it will also help your channel develop a unique identity.
If you’re in the 100k-500k range (assuming you don’t have a writer already), then you’re in an interesting stage where you’re probably starting to work with sponsors and dealing with finite deadlines.
A dedicated writer, either full on or as an assistant or consultant can help shape those scripts more efficiently which will make for stronger, more confident content, a happy audience and by extension a happy sponsor.
2. Improving Retention
Take a look at your retention graphs. If things are looking a bit too low after the initial post-hook drop, then your script is likely the primary culprit.
Think of it like watching a TV show. The cinematography is beautiful, the cast is great, the lighting is gorgeous but if the story doesn’t deliver then you’re probably not going to keep watching, at least not with the same enthusiasm.
Well the same is true for YouTube videos.
Let me put it this way, if the audio or the camera are bad it’s annoying, but if the script is good and the analysis is killer, you’ll probably keep watching. But the other way around? Probably not.
That being said, in a world of fast attention spans having a fantastic argument isn’t always enough to hook an audience. A good scriptwriter can help structure said argument to make sure the people who would love it the most will stick around to watch from beginning to end.
3. Saving time.
This is another big one. Burnout is a big part of what makes content creation unsustainable and two of the biggest time intensive tasks fall to video editing and scriptwriting.
A dedicated writer can obviously take over the writing and deliver a polished, voice over ready script quicker which (if you brief them well), can lead to a much more streamlined production schedule that frees up your time and protects your creative sanity.
The same applies in the case that you just need help with parts of the process and would benefit more from an assistant than a full on writer.
4. So should you hire a writer?
It depends! Look at these main aspects and evaluate if you are in a position, channel or otherwise to bring someone on. If you aren’t but could still use some help with your scripts most writers (me included) are happy to do a feedback session or consulting project.
These tend to be cheaper than full on scriptwriting, but they are packed with value that gives you specialist insight into what your scripts are doing well and what they could do better.