8 TV Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist

8 TV Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist Netflix Write: 8 Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist Reedsy editor and novelist Andrew Lowe highlights an excellent way to improve your writing craft without the need to read a word or skip a YouTube ad. You’ve probably already absorbed it without even knowing. It will enhance your story if the key characters all want different versions of the same thing, or if their change or development is influenced by a unifying theme. You don’t want characters to feel like ciphers; window-dressing for the story. You want them to be an integral part of the way the story functions. The way to do this is to be absolutely clear about your theme. You need to be able to answer that second question with total confidence; ideally, in the fewest possible words.In the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things, they’ve boiled their theme down to a single four-letter word: loss. Joyce is a mother who’s lost her son, Will. Jim is a police officer who’s lost his daughter to cancer. Eleven is a young girl who’s lost her childhood. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas have lost a friend. Jonathan Byers has lost his younger brother and his father. What can @netflix's #StrangerThings teach authors about 'theme'? All the characters are pulling in the same direction, and so all the writers have to do is examine their differing motivations as the characters set about finding the things they’ve lost or achieving some kind of related redemption. If you can set your story around a potent central theme, then it will go a long way towards making your characters believable, your story multilayered and - a big bonus, this - because of the clear focus, that dreaded synopsis will be a lot easier to write.Where to watch? NetflixOr if you want to read some of the books that inspired the series, check out our quintessential Stranger Things book list here!Andrew Lowe is one of our top copy-editors on  Reedsy, and you can visit his profile here. His novels The Ghost and Savages  are  available now.What have  you learned about writing by watching  your own favorite TV series? Share your thoughts in the comments below, but be warned once more: there will be spoilers.