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Friday, November 18, 2011

Friday Five - TV show edition and what I take away for my writing

1. "New Girl" CRACKS ME UP. I love it. Love, love, love it. Every time they showed the turkey in the dryer, I laughed.



2. I love "Modern Family" for the same reason - funny!

3. My new obsession is Downton Abbey. I've watched five episodes and cannot wait to watch the rest. Season 2 starts up January 8th on PBS and I will be there with bells on. The characters. The setting. The dresses! And Matthew. Ohhhhhh Matthew.


4. "Vampire Diaries" has been excellent this season. I've loved finding out about the history of the originals and seeing a different side to both Damon and Stefan.

5. "Once Upon a Time" is a new one I've been watching. I love how the show flashes back and shows us the characters' history, and feeds our desire to see the fairy tale aspect alongside the present day, contemporary characters.

Wow, what a varied list. And yet, what it shows me, what I take away as I go back to work on my YA WIP, is that whether the story is about vampires or aristocrats or a gay couple, what pulls me in, what makes me want to keep watching, are the characters.

And so it is in the fiction that I read as well.

We must remember, as writers, that yes, a great hook and fascinating plot are well and good, but in the end, it's the characters the reader wants to connect with. Give me an interesting character, someone I can relate to on some level, or admire, or want to be, or maybe even despise and want to see change, or SOMETHING, and I will follow that character anywhere. Yep, character is where it's at.

Happy weekend!

4 comments:

  1. I love NEW GIRL too! That turkey in the dryer was hilarious.

    'I put it on permanent press'

    'Great, then you won't have to iron it...'

    HAHA!

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  2. LOVE Modern Family and Once Upon a Time!! I'll have to check out Downtown Abbey ;)

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  3. Great post. You're right, character is where it's at. A story can have a fantastic plot but if you don't care about the characters, then you don't really care what happens to them.
    I love Once Upon a Time as well =)

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  4. I love New Girl, too. And Downton Abbey. And Once Upon a Time. Sounds like we have similar tastes!

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