# Anyone else get inspired to write by watching good TV shows/movies?



## authorette (Aug 6, 2015)

I am curious to see if this is just happening to me or if it is universal to storytellers. Whenever I watch a well written movie or TV series, I get fired up with the storytelling bug. Case in point- I am on season 4 of Merlin on Netflix. It is a BBC show that is about Merlin, Arthur, and Camelot. The storytelling (and the acting) are excellent. I am sucked in each episode, my emotions are fired up and I feel the tension in every conflict that plays out on the screen. To me, if a story has that affect on its audience, then the writer(s) has done their job. It makes me feel like I want to be able to write a story that fires up its audience in the same way.

What about you?


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## musichal (Aug 6, 2015)

TV shows which inspire me currently include _Suits_, _Newsroom_ and _The Good Wife._ However, they require fairly in-depth knowledge of either the law or TV production, which I lack.  I don't mind doing some research, but those settings require too much for me.  So the feeling of inspiration remains one of admiration for the teams of writers involved rather than translating into something I find usable.


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## Darkkin (Aug 6, 2015)

Not so much, as I rarely watch television.  I draw inspiration for things around me, things I read, music I listen to, things I notice while out walking.  Television and movies are too passive for me; my creative drives disengage and I zone out.  It is almost like going into a stasis mode, unless it is a series I am particularly devoted to, such as Doctor Who.  Even then, I can only watch it in small doses.  I'm a reader, needing the critical engagement of syntax, context, and print. 

Yet simple things like my favourite cardigan draped on a chair or the little wooden fox my sister brought me from Switzerland can send me on incredible tangents.  It could be just a word I see in passing, but when that little thing strikes, my muse won't let it go until I've completed the project.  It certainly explains some of the bizarre characters I've come up with, violet hedgehogs, notwithstanding.

- Darkkin, the Tedious of Ponds Bottom


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## Deleted member 56686 (Aug 7, 2015)

I've gotten a lot of ideas from movies and TV, especially since I like to write about people and events. A lot of times I could take an episode of say, How I Met Your Mother, and turn it into a different idea of my own. I imagine it's pretty natural to get inspiration from outside sources whatever they may be.


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## Arthur G. Mustard (Aug 7, 2015)

I think TV and films can be a good inspiration for writing,  they can spawn new ideas or bring those half thoughts floating at the back of your mind to engage with pen and paper. Old re-runs of Dr Who, with Tom Baker,  Blake's 7, Monkey or The Water Margin do it for me. The BBC' s latest Merlin was an excellent series which I thoroughly enjoyed. "I am number four", which I believe is also a book,  is an excellent film in the sci- fi/ fantasy genre.


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## Boofy (Aug 7, 2015)

Pessimist that I am, seeing a good TV show/movie only serves to scare me further away from writing. My thoughts are always something along the lines of, "Oh, that was thought provoking/funny/entertaining/other. Awesome. Now I know I will never write anything halfway as good as Birdman/Fargo/Breaking Bad/Game of Thrones/Other". I am grateful that those thoughts quickly dissipate. I love writing AND television. Don't make me choose ;___;


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## popsprocket (Aug 8, 2015)

Sure, happens to me all the time and it's not just limited to TV/movies. Any well-written story presented as any kind of media gets my creative bug all excited.

The real trouble for me is that the creative bug gets working and all his first ideas are just total rip offs of whatever I'm consuming at the time. It has taken years to learn not to jump straight into a project that was heavily inspired by something that has captured my short term interest because the fire just never lasts.


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## Plasticweld (Aug 8, 2015)

I enjoyed last years "True Detective" on HBO  very well written well acted.  I of course would have changed a few of the story line details to have made it better which I think is the curse of any story teller to want to change the story to improve it.  

The new series is horrible, I still watch it like a bad car wreck.  The dynamics of the characters are off, the story line is chopped up and confused.  

When I see a well written and produced story on TV I am always intrigued by the ingredients that make it work.  Characters you care about. A story and location that interests me along with a sense of urgency to resolve something.  Each of those parts are what make up the basics of any well told story, it does not make much difference in which format it is shared in.  Good stories like good cake all have good ingredients.


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## dither (Aug 15, 2015)

Catcher in the rye inspired me and the dream lives on.


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## KateMarie999 (Aug 25, 2015)

Oh I do that all the time! But then I end up writing fanfiction because I have ZERO skills in world building or creating stories. Just expanding characters. But you're not alone, I'm definitely one of those people!


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## InnerFlame00 (Aug 26, 2015)

Any good movie, tv series, or book that strikes me in the right way can inspire. Sometimes if one of these things is good enough in a very certain way it will inspire me for up to a week and I end up writing something like 10,000 words as a result. I wish I could make it happen more often!


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## Justine (Sep 1, 2015)

I love watching good series, it's really inspiring when it's well written. I absolutely love Outlander, Downton Abbey & Game of Thrones.  
But as some people mentioned, sometimes it makes me feel like "Well I'll never write something as good as this" and then I abandon. Also, if I watch too much shows or movies, I feel like my ideas literally look like what i've seen, then I don't feel that original.


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## kasbar21 (Oct 18, 2015)

Yes! I was beginning to think that it was just me! I love doing this and it works for me. I like writing children's fiction and will often spend time on Netflix watching cartoons as a result. Equally I have a plan for NaNoWriMo this year for a zombie story so I am watching lots of The walking dead and listening to We're Alive, which is just about the best podcast I have ever listened to. I think that at the end of the day anything with a good plot that gets you thinking, helps to refuel your creativity.


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## 20oz (Nov 5, 2015)

A Supernatural episode called "Baby." It's one of the elite episodes. It's well written and well paced. It was scrumptious.


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## Minu (Nov 8, 2015)

Can't say I have but then I don't watch much TV. I have found that a number of shows are simply not worth watching. I think the only thing I have ever watched with more than passing half bored interest in the last five years would be _Just For Laughs: Gags. _No, this isn't like Darkkin where I "disengage", I just find the acting corny in a growing number of shows. 

I get inspiration out of real life. Why waste my time watching make belief plots meant to impersonate life when real life is just outside the door? With Omen, my GSD, I have a ready excuse when not working to merely sit out and watch life carry on around me. I've found you can discover some interesting people just wasting a few minutes sitting on a park bench.


I should add as we're in the visual arts, I enjoy theatre quite a bit. I just watched a play this last month - friend was the director. One of the actors caught my eye, not because of his acting, but because of the way he was dressed. I'll probably use that as inspiration in my story for one of the characters.


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