5 Ways Watching TV Shows Can Make You a Better Writer

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! I had a great time with family on Friday and Saturday and then a nice, chill Easter day at home. We went to church and had an egg hunt and then just sort of relaxed the rest of the day which was really nice after two days of travel.

So I don't know about you, but I am a total TV show junkie. Like I love shows just as much as I love books. Don't take away my bookworm credentials buuut most of my favorite characters are from TV shows and I've actually learned more about writing while watching shows then I have reading books. Actually, let me put it this way, I've learned more about storytelling while watching TV shows. With books I've absorbed and learned a lot about writing but shows are where I get all my best storytelling tips and tricks. Here are five things that TV shows have taught me about storytelling.

• Teaches you pacing and structure. This one is huge! Go back and rewatch any of your favorite TV shows and tell me the pacing and structure of each episode and each season doesn't stand out to you. Episodes and seasons have to be so planned out and carefully written to keep a viewer's interest. Unlike books where you get a big chunk of the story all rolled into one, a TV series is tiny pieces of the story given to you once a week which means they need to keep their viewers coming back. They need to keep them drawn in. And how do they do that? Through good pacing and story structure. Most shows are fast paced and most the episodes end on some kind of cliffhanger. But you also can't have your story going too fast or it would feel rushed. Too slow and it won't hold people's interest. Some of the best TV shows have found that sweet spot. The perfect middle between fast paced but slow enough where the story doesn't feel like its being rushed. 

• Character arcs/character development. This one is also huge! I had the hardest time wrapping my head around character arcs. Like I knew what character arcs were and how they were supposed to be but for some reason I just had a hard time figuring out how to apply an arc to my own characters. The only reason I learned how to plot out a character arc was through dissecting several arcs on some of my favorite shows (mainly on TVD). Character development was the same. I could write a story but I knew I needed to be more structured with my character's development and through watching TV shows and watching how the writers developed their characters I learned how to do that with my own. 

• How to frame a scene/write with more descriptors. Ever since being a TV show junkie and watching more shows than I read books, my writing has changed. I write exclusively in third person past tense. I do my best writing in that POV and tense. And I realized why. Because third person past tense is like the book version of watching a TV show. It's very visual and I'm a very visual person. But even if you don't write in third person past tense, this can be beneficial to you. You learn how to frame a scene and be more descriptive in your writing. Just by watching so many shows I've been doing this subconsciously and I'm sure many of you do too. But it took me reading this post by Well-Storied that I realized what I've been doing and just another reason why watching some of my favorite shows can help me become a better reader. 

• Learn more about dialogue. This is an obvious one. Unlike in books where you're privy to the main character's inner monologue and turmoil, TV shows have to convey all of that through facial expressions, dialogue and body language. Through watching TV shows I've learned how to craft better dialogue but also how to not rely on dialogue and inner monologue all the time. How to also describe and use my character's facial expressions and body language to convey certain emotions and unspoken thoughts. By watching TV shows I realized how important the unspoken things matter. Facial expressions and body language can be just as telling as the spoken word. 

•  How to make side characters that can stand on their own two feet. I learned this one by watching shows like The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Teen Wolf. All three of those shows have side characters that are the main characters of their own stories. They all have stuff going on and could easily have an interesting TV show about themselves. Heck in TVD the last two seasons aren't even about the main character! The last two seasons center around what were considered side characters in season 1. How did they manage to pull that off? Because those side characters were so layered and so real and were the main characters of their own stories that they could keep a show running for two more seasons all on their own! I've always been so inspired and amazed by that. By watching shows like those, I've learned why its important to spend just as much time on your side characters and villains as you do on getting to know your MC. 

Those are just five ways that watching TV shows can help you become a better writer.

Some of the best TV shows to learn from:

The Vampire Diaries 

Teen Wolf 

The 100 

The Originals 

Heartland 

The Blacklist 

Stranger Things

I hope you guys enjoyed the post! Have a great week everyone! :)