GUEST POST: Using Netflix to Better Your Writing by Alexis Ratcliff

Guess what everybody… you get a break from my mindless blathering today. Oh, you lucky, Turnips.

Today I’m pleased to hand the reigns of command over to guest blogger: Alexis Ratcliff who’s debut novel, A Vanishing Glow, just came out. It’s an amazing looking steampunk/flintlock fantasy mashup. If that sounds like your cup o’tea, then stop dilly-dallying and go grab a copy.

Alright, enough from me. Alexis has a great little topic in store for ya’ll, so without further adieu, here are some Notes on Netflix.

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Notes on Netflix: Using TV-Time to Make Yourself a Better Writer

by Alexis Ratcliff

Netflix has been the death of more potential writing sessions than anyone can probably count. I know the feeling: You get home from work, you’re tired, and you’re staring at your open laptop on the desk. “I should really write a little bit tonight,” you think.

Then your significant other pops their head up over the couch and proposes a TV marathon of something truly awesome on Netflix. Popcorn, your favorite show, and a cuddle session on the couch probably sound a whole lot better than grinding through another thousand words tonight, right?

I’m not here to make you feel bad about that. It’s only human to cave. I get it. And while, yes, you should focus and bang those thousand words out anyway, I admit that I’m just as guilty of sometimes vaulting onto the comfy cushions and grabbing the remote instead.

But all’s not lost just because you’re watching TV tonight! Maybe you’re not writing, but get your author hat on anyway, because we’re going to get some real use out of that Dr. Who marathon you’re about to binge on. How? Let me show you.

1. Pacing, Plotting, and Story Structure

Every piece of television you’ve ever watched started with a script (unless you’re watching improv comedy), and that script had to follow most of the same rules of story-telling that your writing does. Writing for TV and film is actually tighter than books most of the time, since they have such specific time windows to fit the content into.

The formulaic pacing and plotting actually helps you in this case, because once you’re clued in, you can watch how they do what they do. I strongly recommend reading the script-writing classic, Save the Cat!, and then paying special attention to how they lay the different pieces of the story progression out in whatever you’re watching.

With time and practice, you’ll start to see the setups and pay-offs for what they are, and you can steal the same methods used by great shows for your own writing!

2. Devil’s in the (Character) Details

When was the last time a character on your favorite show stood up and began to explain their backstory? Probably never. That’s a good thing, because if they did, it would make for some pretty boring TV.

Instead, they show you what characters are like through a series of actions, words, and props. This is your chance to come up with ideas for showing versus telling. When you’re watching a character similar to a character you want to portray in your book, pay special attention to what that character says, does, and wears that evoke their character traits. Nobody will overtly tell you on TV when a character is selfish, or kind, or loves violence, but you still know when they have those traits.

Pay attention to how you know! Then, next time you get the urge to write some backstory for a character that’s a little too on-the-nose, scrap it and use the details you stole from TV instead.

3. Words, words, words! (Or really dialogue, dialogue, dialogue)

Dialogue in visual media is usually very polished for the same reasons the pacing is tight: They don’t have much time to get their point across. The thing about dialogue in writing or TV is that it’s not like real speaking. It’s like the greatest hits of speaking.

Your dialogue shouldn’t have verbal pauses like “uh” or “um,” it should be witty and snappy, and when appropriate, it should be dripping with tension. Watching TV is a great opportunity to pay attention to dialogue that sounds natural while still having those “greatest hits” qualities that are the hallmark of good writing. If your dialogue on the page falls flat, try reading it out loud and tweaking it until it sounds more like the characters on your favorite show (in the same genre). You might find that your manuscript improves dramatically!

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About the Author:

Alexis Radcliff is an author, gamer, unashamed geek, and history junkie who spent the better part of a decade working in tech before dedicating herself to her first love, literature. A VANISHING GLOW, her debut novel, is the opening book in her MYSTECH ARCANUM series, an exciting blend of steampunk and flintlock fantasy with mature themes.

Alexis lives and works in the Portland area with her adorable (if surly) cat and her equally adorable fiancé. When not writing, she spends her time reading, running, playing way too many videogames, and thinking too much about everything.

Lexirad.com | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

 

 

 

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About the Book:

A VANISHING GLOW is the exciting opening to THE MYSTECH ARCANUM series, a deep and thrilling blend of steampunk and flintlock fantasy with mature themes.

Amazon.com | Goodreads | Read Sample Chapter 1 | Read Sample Chapter 2

It is an Age of Revolution, an Age of Industrialism. Constructs, living men who are as much brass and steel as they are flesh, man the factories and wage the wars of a ruling elite who gorge themselves on the fruits of the common man’s labor. Mystech, a brilliant fusion of magic and machine, gives rise to a new class of privileged inventors and merchants even as the country festers with wounds from decades of internal strife.

Only one man holds the promise of a brighter future: Nole Ryon, the crown prince. When his childhood friend Jason Tern answers his call for aid, the two of them set out to fight for the change their country needs in order to survive, even as shadowy foes frustrate their efforts. But soon, Jason and Nole’s idealistic mission of hope becomes a furious manhunt for a political murderer as the nation balances on the precipice of a country-wide civil war. Can they cut through the threads of intrigue to discover their true enemy before everything is lost?

Sweeping from the ancient cities at the heart of the nation to the dusty edges of the war-torn frontier, A Vanishing Glow tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and assassins, friends and lovers, who come together in a time of epic struggle. Here a brave officer risks everything to win back his estranged father’s respect; a brilliant young engineer attempts to atone for her sins; a war-weary commander tries to pick up the pieces of the life he lost; and a man touched by the gods struggles to prepare a nation for the coming of an ancient evil which only he can see. In the dying light of a once-prosperous society, amid twisting plots, suffering and betrayal, lost love and shattered dreams, all must fight for what they hold dear. Who will taste the fruits of victory and who will lie bloodied on the ground in the light of a vanishing glow?