Advice that TV can sometimes be better at inspiring writing than books



In order to write interesting stories and good writing, it is important to read and learn from a lot of books, both fiction and non-fiction. However, author and cultural psychologist Christine Ma-Kellams points out that 'TV shows can be the best literary teachers' and explains why.

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Kellams cited the TV drama series ' Breaking Bad ' as an example of a good TV show. 'Breaking Bad' tells the story of a brilliant scientist who has been a high school chemistry teacher, but who starts manufacturing and selling drugs to support his family, making a huge fortune but losing sight of what is important. In addition to a good plot, 'Breaking Bad' is characterized by its skillful use of the technique of cliffhangers , which end each chapter without revealing the important conclusion of the story. The episodes end with very ambiguous or catastrophic events, making the viewer want to see more.

The cliffhanger strategy of a drama series can also be used in a novel. At the time when readers are likely to put down the book and stop reading, for example at the end of a chapter, presenting an unresolved event with no clear conclusion foreshadows the complexity of the plot. Kellams pointed out that television dramas are full of ways to keep viewers interested, since they cannot watch episodes 1 and 2 or seasons 1 and 2 back to back and there are often gaps of time.



Kellams also explains that it is important for a story to have a combination of dynamic action scenes, static conversation scenes, and the overall story, using the comedy drama '

The Family Restaurant of a Top Chef ' as an example. In this drama, even in scenes where the focus is on the conversation on the surface, the screen is busy with a large number of order forms arriving with a noise and food burning in the background. The same technique is also important when writing sentences. Even when performing everyday actions, it is important to be conscious of the meaning considered from the perspective of the whole story and the real tension in short dialogues. Even in scenes where there is only a conversation, if you can think of the premise that the speaker is not just standing there talking, but 'talking while moving in a noisy and changing environment,' the reader will not get bored.

There is also a scene in Kellams' novel ' The Band ' where he is conscious of combining screen changes with conversation. 'The Band' is a story about a popular male K-POP idol who is bashed by his fans due to a small trigger, and is saved by a female therapist, which brings about a big change not only for the two of them but also for the music industry. Even in a scene where the two are having a long conversation at the therapist's house, the content of the conversation creates a certain tension just by the therapist's husband entering the scene. Kellams says that the quality of conversation scenes can be improved if you are conscious of cases in which the screen changes in a TV drama, such as 'the character in focus remains constant, but other characters and backgrounds are shown on the screen halfway through.'



Kellams points out that there has long been a perception, especially among book lovers, that 'books are always good and noble, and television is vulgar entertainment.' However, Kellams said, 'I would argue that good television has as much artistic value as literary masterpieces. After all, art is art.' And since good works in another medium can definitely be applied to writing novels, Kellams concludes, 'television shows can be our best writing teachers.'

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