Jenji Kohan, showrunner of Netflix’s well-established ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and new show GLOW, had a pretty good June. OITNB’s season 5 was its best season yet, and GLOW was a brilliant debut from creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. Here’s why female ensembles were the key to both shows being so extraordinary.
We’re finally into summer and there’s no more need for warm-ups. Which means it’s time to get to the real writing. You’ve been here before—the start of something new—but you’ve always arrived with at least one idea at boiling point, ready to spill over onto the page.
But what if you face the blank screen or empty page and there’s no sign of inspiration?
Brutal truth? Too bad.
The sun is shining, so dive into some awesome new writing!
Writing isn’t a desire, it’s a practice. There are fun aspects to it, which without a doubt improve it, like daydreaming about winning Oscars, reading the new Leigh Bardugo Wonder Woman novel (which isn’t out until August 29 so mark that day off for some serious not-writing), watching the new season of Orange Is The New Black (it’s SO GOOD), and probably Wonder Woman again because it rocks… All of those things (and any you’d like to add to the list) are great for studying plot construction and character development. You gotta read and watch and consume to learn and get inspired. But.
Nothing is as important as getting the words. on. the. page.
Put the words down, baby. Drop ’em like they’re hot. It’s the only way to be a writer.
We’re not total tyrants though; we’re here to help!
So, here are three metaphorical matches for you to strike and spark your inspiration.
It’s been fifteen years and she doesn’t look any different, except for the fact that the last time I saw her, she was dead.
“Whatever you do, do NOT eat—” “…oops…”
Either I die. Or they all die.
In a future post, we’ll get into some hints on how to keep the story burning.
For now… get writing!
We’ve spoken a lot about that first draft. It’s the place where you let loose, write anything and everything that comes to mind. It’s the time to riff like you’re in minute 5 of a guitar solo and you just don’t want to stop. It’s the improv phase. Even if you had an outline.
So we’re going to assume you had a blast, and now you have a first draft on your screen. A big, beautiful, messy, crazy first draft.
You, staring at that first draft like…
What now?
Now, you get ready to edit.
When editing, you’ll focus on a myriad of things: plot, character, world-building, scenes, beats, every line of dialogue… every line… every word…. We’ll look at these in more detail in future posts, but right now, we recommend doing what will feel so unnatural to you: set that first draft aside for a while.
Not for too long — you don’t want to lose your momentum — but you need to give yourself time to recharge, refresh, and, most importantly, readjust your thinking. This time away can be whatever you need: finishing an episode, or season, or — let’s be honest — a series, on Netflix, having a get-together with all those friends you’ve been neglecting since you were captured by your muse, or just a long walk to see what the world outside of the one you just created looks like.
It’s also not a bad idea to take this time to clear your schedule. If your first draft is a 50 yard dash, editing is the 26.2 mile marathon and you’re going to need to set aside time to keep up a good pace.
The first draft was the raw material. Editing is engineering, where you hone and craft and rebuild and shore up and make sure your story has narrative load bearing walls… ok, enough construction metaphors, but you do have to think that way a little bit.
Now you have to roll up your sleeves, and get ready to make thousands of changes.
Oh yes. Remember when in The Martian, Matt Damon is facing a terrifying, unwieldy, seemingly impossible situation, and his response was how he was gonna science the shit out of it? That’s you, right now.
You, solving a narrative problem while editing. Promise.
You kind of want to go back to Netflix right now, don’t you? Resist the urge! You can celebrate with Orange Is The New Black (or your fifteenth Gilmore Girls rewatch) when you finish your second draft.
For now, trust that you work has genius. It’s there, glorious and beautiful — you just have to bring it to light. Put on your shades, because now it’s time to get to work…
A.D. Croucher 