Many people believe that movies and TV shows have nothing on books, and they are right. However, this does not mean that you cannot improve your writing skills through these shows.

While books allow you the liberty to imagine the character, setting, and actions as you see fit, TV brings you the visuals on a silver platter. The advantage of this is that you can connect to the story in more ways than one, improving your perspective as a writer.

Life is simple; if you cannot write your essay, you can easily go to sites like legitwritingservices.com and search for the best platforms to help you out. In the same, you do not have to spend hours reading books on how to write books when several TV shows can help you achieve your goal. You do not learn to write only through reading the works of other writers; you can also be a great writer by watching the works of others. This article is written to show you how.

 

Three Types of Netflix Shows That Will Make You a Better Writer

On Netflix, three types of shows will make you a better writer than you were before watching them. The first is authors’ documentaries where you can watch how some of the best writers in the world achieved their success. These shows also take you through their creative process, and you can get into their head and draw inspiration for your works.

 

Authors Documentaries

If you want to be a great writer, you have to look into great writers’ lives. Movies and TV shows have been made about some of the greatest writers in our time and beyond. Several of them are on Netflix, and you should add them to your to-be-watched list. Here are some of them and why you should watch them as soon as you are able.

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

When The Center Will Not Hold was released in 2017, it became a must-watch for several people, including aspiring writers. The documentary, narrated mainly by Joan Didion herself, takes the viewers through the novelist’s life from her early years as a young writer to the icon that she is today. If you are yet to watch the documentary, do so as soon as you finish reading this article, it will leave you with a better perspective on your writing career.

Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry

Look and See not only tells us about Wendell Berry‘s life as a writer; the story is told through the lens of his other passion, farming, and the environment. The movie is filmed across farming seasons and told through Berry’s prose, showing the viewers how he sees his environment. Knowing the way a writer sees his society goes a long way in understanding such a writer.

Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Writers draw inspiration from their surroundings. In this documentary about the Nobel Laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you will learn about how he drew inspiration from the events of his childhood to become the legend he is today.

There are several others apart from the ones listed above, and while watching great writers, you are on the road to becoming one yourself.

 

Netflix Shows About Writers

Apart from the documentaries focused on real-life writers’ lives, there are lots of shows on Netflix that have writers as their main characters. These shows teach viewers the fundamental aspects of writing through the actions in the story. Most times, they tailor the events in the story after the life of a real-life writer. From these, you can get to know how writers’ minds work and improve your writing skills.

A few of these movies focus on generally writing, while some commit to specific aspects of writing. Some of those shows are The Writer, The Bold Type, Valeria, and so much more.

 

Others

While the first two categories of shows directly teach you how to improve your writing skills, there is also the indirect way. The indirect method of being a better novelist by watching Netflix shows comes from observation and assimilation. When writers watch a movie or a TV show, they see more than the average viewer does. They notice the details and think of how they can use them in their works. They reimagine the story in other forms and think of how it could be better. This improves a writer’s prowess and makes them better at their craft.

Therefore, while authors’ documentaries take you through the life and writing processes of real-life authors and TV shows about writers teach you writing from the characters’ point of view, other random shows also allow writers to learn and improve their skills. Some well-written shows on Netflix that will make you a better novelist are: Better Call Saul; Breaking Bad; The OA; The Girlfriend Experience; Fargo; Designated Survivor; Bloodline; Stranger Things; and so many others.

 

Why You Should Watch Netflix Shows As a Novelist

There are probably a million reasons you should watch Netflix shows as a novelist, but we will tell you a couple of them before rounding up this article.

• You get to see how other writers go through their writing processes.
• You gain a better perspective as you watch the characters react to their circumstances and other characters.
• You improve your sense of imagination and visualization.
• You get to learn about different aspects of writing, such as building up conflict, crafting characters’ relationships, designing the setting, and so on.

 

Writing skills you can learn from watching Netflix shows are many, and they include character development, suspense building, finding themes, choosing settings, arranging plots, and so many others. As a novelist, you have to write with the mindset that when people are reading your work, they create the movie version in their minds.

This is why TV shows help novelists improve their writing and produce better quality works. Who knows? A producer might choose your novel to become a show on Netflix one day.