YouTube scripts · Documentary · Explainers
Scripts that keep people watching.
Long-form YouTube scripts: documentary and explainer pieces of ten to thirty minutes, researched from primary sources and structured to hold a viewer to the end. Head writer for Moon since 2025, with earlier work for Versed Media and BeAmazed.
A script is not an article read aloud
A script is built around attention. The first thirty seconds have to justify the next minute, each section has to raise a question the viewer wants answered, and the facts have to be correct, because the comments will check. The information also has to arrive in an order that feels natural rather than listed.
I write for the voice that will read the script and the footage that will cover it: shorter sentences where the edit will be fast, more room where a visual needs time, and notes for the editor where a fact needs a source on screen.
What I bring
- Research from primary sources: papers, archives, interviews, rather than the summary of them
- Hooks, open questions and payoffs planned before the first line is written
- Ideas and titles as well as scripts
- Editing and reviewing other writers' scripts to a single channel voice
- A background in audio production, which helps with pacing and delivery
Subjects I have scripted
Space and cosmology, AI and technology, engineering and large projects, natural phenomena, history, and the science behind everyday subjects, for Moon, Versed Media and BeAmazed.
Sam is definitely a cut above the rest! The quality of his work always exceeded my expectations in terms of creativity and originality.
YouTube channel owner, review on Upwork
His ability to never lose the quality of his writing, even with a new story every day, has been an absolute testament to his knowledge and his craft.
Editorial lead, AI news publisher, review on Upwork
Scale
Moon, Versed Media and BeAmazed
Scripts I have written have been watched by tens of millions of people across Moon, Versed Media and BeAmazed.
Talk about your channel →Questions people ask
Questions about script writing
What kind of YouTube scripts do you write?
Long-form documentary and explainer scripts, typically 10 to 30 minutes, on science, technology, AI, history, space and the future. I've been head writer for Moon, a channel with 1.8 million subscribers, since 2025 and wrote science and engineering scripts for BeAmazed when it passed 10 million.
How long does a YouTube script take?
A researched 2,500 to 4,000-word script usually takes five to seven working days from brief to first draft, less for formats we have produced before. On a retainer I can keep a weekly schedule.
Do you write for retention?
Yes. Every script is built around a hook in the first 30 seconds, open loops that pay off, a structure that earns each next section, and an ending that makes the next video the obvious click. I work from your retention data where you have it.
Can you help with ideation and titles?
Yes. For Moon I contribute to video ideas, titles, thumbnail text and content development as well as the scripts.
Can I see a sample?
Most scripts are under NDA and the videos are published under the channel's name, so I share samples privately. Tell me your subject and I will send the closest match.