Summary of "How to Write the Impossible"

Summary

The video shows how writers and artists can make the “ineffable” — things that cannot be fully named or described — feel present and meaningful on the page. Instead of pinning the impossible down literally, creators imply, circumscribe, or provoke the reader’s imagination so the emptiness or otherness itself becomes part of the experience.

The piece argues that the goal is often not to describe the ineffable directly but to make its effects, context, or emotional truth felt. Artists use a set of recurring techniques to suggest what cannot be fully represented.

Artistic techniques, concepts, and creative processes (with examples)

Circumscription / show effects rather than the thing Describe how people, places, or reality react to the ineffable instead of trying to depict it outright (e.g., Lovecraft’s Cthulhu; Monty Python’s “funniest joke in the world” sketch).
Use known reference points to magnify scale or age Place the unknowable “before” or “beyond” familiar historical touchstones to hint at magnitude (e.g., Lovecraft’s Nameless City placed before Memphis/Babylon).
Compound analogies and liminality Chain varied comparisons (cats, bulldogs, humans) so the mind flickers between images and cannot fix a single literal picture (seen in Lovecraft’s mummies / unnamable creatures).
Sparse, selective concreteness Give a few concrete, ambiguous details (a gelatin with eyes, “a blemish”) to stimulate the reader’s imagination without resolving the whole image (The Unnamable).
Emphasize rule-violation / “outside” properties Signal that the thing breaks ordinary laws of physics or biology or obeys its own rules (e.g., The Colour Out of Space).
Use altered perception frames Put experiences in drugged, delirious, dreamlike, or late-night states to justify perception shifts and make surreal imagery plausible (Lovecraft’s references to delirium; Douglas Adams’ hyperspace nonsense).
Employ emotional or “story truth” over factual truth Invent or fictionalize events when they better convey internal truth than strict factual accuracy (Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried).
Strategic omission or abruptness Withholding description entirely or breaking narration abruptly can communicate awe or ungraspability better than any attempt to explain (Douglas Adams’ Total Perspective Vortex / Restaurant at the End of the Universe).
Use nonsense, hyperbole, or comedic absurdity Non-literal, baffling language can mimic the experience of something beyond comprehension (Arthur Dent’s hyperspace description in Hitchhiker’s Guide).
Create sensory paradoxes or simultaneous stimuli Mix sensory cues or contradictory analogies to produce an ephemeral impression the mind can’t retain (analogous to attempts to see “impossible” colors).

Practical advice / tools for representing the ineffable

Don’t try to fully define the thing — circumscribe it by showing consequences and surroundings.
Anchor scale or age with familiar landmarks or history to hint at magnitude.
Use compound analogies: offer multiple, shifting comparisons rather than one literal simile.
Provide a few concrete but deliberately vague details rather than exhaustive description.
Frame perception through altered mental states (dreams, delirium) to justify surreal imagery.
Lean on “story truth” (emotional/evocative truth) when factual description fails.
Use omission or abrupt narrative breaks to convey incomprehensible scale.
Point out how the thing violates ordinary rules (physics, biology, causality) to emphasize otherness.
Consider humor or absurdity to acknowledge that some things simply can’t be comprehended.

Creators and works featured or referenced

H. P. Lovecraft — Cthulhu; The Nameless City; The Colour Out of Space; The Unnamable
Robert W. Chambers — The King in Yellow
Monty Python — 1971 “funniest joke in the world” sketch
Douglas Adams — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Total Perspective Vortex; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Tim O’Brien — The Things They Carried
Junji Ito — (mentioned as a subject on the channel)
Clive Barker — (mentioned as a subject on the channel)
Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin — (mentioned as planned subjects)