Okay, I admit it. I love reality TV competition shows. Project Runway, Top Chef, Work of Art, The Voice, 24-Hour Catwalk – anything that forces creative people to compete with each other under extreme pressure and turn out sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful creations. So what, you may ask, does that have to do with writing? More than you might think.
- Pressure aids creativity. Week after week, contestants in these shows turn out some amazing work, whether it’s a fabulous ballgown constructed overnight or a four-course dinner whipped up in an afternoon. Could the work be better if they had more time? Maybe – but sometimes the magic happens because they have less time to second-guess their first creative instincts and simply go with their impulse. That doesn’t mean there is no place for editing – but it does mean that the first ideas are often the freshest. I’ve found with writing that I can create some of my best work under high-pressure situations like NaNoWriMo – as long as I edit later.
- All creative artists can get blocked, and most blocks come from fear. Writers talk about writer’s block as if only they get stuck in the middle of their creative process. But all creative artists get blocked from time to time, and, I think, for the same core reason – fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of revealing too much of themselves in their work…the reasons go on and on. But the solution seems to be the same – stop thinking and act. When you only have a day to complete a three outfit collection on 24 Hour Catwalk, there’s no time for “designer’s block.” You have to face your fear and do your best work, as one designer did in a recent episode, or lose. What I learned from this example is to not shy away from facing my own fear when I feel blocked in my writing – face it head on instead. Write and keep writing, and the block with lift.
- Don’t jam all your ideas in one piece of work. Several years ago, a remark from Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn had a profound effect on my writing. While counseling a contestant on a particularly overwrought garment, he mentioned that it is a common failing of new fashion designers to put every big idea into their first major piece of work, creating “a hot mess.” A little light bulb went off in my head – I had been doing the same thing with my first novel, jamming all my concepts for the series into it until it was bursting at the seams. I was able to save that book by identifying what would make it a great stand-alone novel and taking everything else out, saving those elements for the follow-ups.
- Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s interesting to watch the success of the contestants who are always watching the competition vs. the ones who are only listening to their inner voices (and maybe the occasional comment from a judge). While everybody on these shows must be a little nervous on how they compare creatively to others, I rarely see the ones who are obsessed with these comparisons succeeding. Instead, the winners are almost always the people who follow their own vision, even when I don’t always see it or appreciate it. The lesson for me is to not worry so much about what other writers are doing, about their successes or failures, or about publishing trends. Just follow my own vision and be true to it, even when other people don’t always get it. Whether I win or lose the publishing game, I know I’ll have done my best by being true to myself.
Do you watch reality TV shows? Do you think they help your writing, and how?
Really great post, Janet! Who knew we could learn so much from reality TV? Of course, you watch the same sort of reality TV I do–in which the contestants come onto the show being experts already. That’s my favorite kind (vs. Big Brother or Dancing with the Stars). I love watching highyly skilled, creative minds go head-to-head.
Hi Melissa. I agree with you that the shows with contestants who are already experts – or at least competent – are more interesting than the ones with random people. Big Brother and Survivor kind of bore me. I like to learn something while being entertained, I guess!
I disagree with you on one point: Saving ideas for future books. Sure ideas that don’t fit shouldn’t be wedged in, however, as Larry Niven pointed out in his notes on one of his later novels, don’t ration great ideas to one or a few per story out of the fear that you’ll run out of them otherwise. We’re writers. Writers are always coming up with new great ideas. We don’t run out of them. Use every good one you have that does fit in your current work and make room for more good ones to arrive. And that makes sense to me. Make each book the best that it can be without worrying about what your next book will be.
–DB Story
Hey, Janet!
From one uber-TV watcher to another, I enjoyed this. Any post that recognizes Tim Gunn as the amazing advice-giver that he is has my thumbs-up.
I especially love the programs that encourage people to be at their best, rather than at their worst, but I admit that I watch the guilty-pleasure shows, too. Take Survivor. Group dynamics fascinate me, and I always try to figure out just how the most obviously pushy, power-hungry person holds other people in their thrall, even though it’s clear that they’re engineering their own victory. Fear of stepping out of line is an amazing thing!
Hi DB – thanks for stopping by and commenting. Sorry if my point came across as rationing ideas for fear of running out – that wasn’t the intent. My point was about the tendency of some beginning writers – me at the time – to try to do everything at once. Specifically, I tried to cram my entire series into one book. My book didn’t work as a book until I stopped trying to do that and made it, as you said in your comment, ” the best that it can be without worrying about what your next book will be.”
I don’t see any reason to ration ideas for the sake of rationing them – as you said, they don’t run out.
Hi Chris! I am a huge Tim Gunn fan. I love that he truly cares about the contestants and wants them to succeed. He is a wonderful mentor.
I watched the first few seasons of Survivor for the same reason you watch it – the fascination with group dynamics and the hold that a powerful personality can have over others. Some of those manipulative contestants could inspire pretty interesting characters.
Pressure does lead to creativity! I always have to keep the don’t compare yourself to others idea in mind. It’s easy to do but it isn’t helpful.
Great blog Janet- excellent points, and ones I never really thought of before. But Project Runway really does show all of that especially. Personally, I want a tiny, portable Tim Gunn to carry with me to just remind me to “Make it work!”
Great blog, Janet. I don’t watch much reality TV, but I think I’m going to have to start. I would never have put reality shows as a learning curve for writing. Your blog makes perfect sense to me and I’ll keep a more open mind while watching some of these shows. Thanks