Writers: have you noticed that as you grow your craft, you often start to recognize how the sausage of the story is made when reading or watching stories for pleasure?
For me, that means I inadvertently ruin the plots of movies for my family. Several years ago, my curious 12-year-old asked about the story structure beats taped to my office wall and I explained inciting incidents and false defeats/victories. A couple of weeks later, he heard me mumble, “false victory” at the midpoint of a superhero movie. He whipped his head around to gasp, “You mean [character redacted to avoid spoilers] is actually a bad guy?!”
Oops.
It also means I figure out the twist before the end sometimes or I identify where the clue is hidden, like in the thriller we recently read for book club. The ladies in attendance all seemed surprised by it then asked if I had figured it out. I mean, why would the writer include a flashback scene of receiving this gift if it weren’t where the giver (who had since gone missing) had hidden a secret message for the protagonist? Chekhov’s gift, right? If it is on the page, it’s important.
I often wonder if my book club is over me and just too lovely to tell me to keep my writerly input to myself. (In my defense, I never deliver it with that level of Elle Woods sass)
We are currently reading a historical fiction written by a well-respected name in the genre. I am, however, having a devil of a time getting into it because I do not have a clue what the two main protagonists (it’s a dual POV) want.
Oh, it’s well-written and full of historical detail and I can see the research that went into it because that’s blatantly on the page, but the story? The why? I can’t find it yet.
Granted, I’m not that far in, but I’m far enough in that because I don’t know it, I’d normally put the book down and move on to something else.
In other words, I should know something that they want by now to keep me curious.
Because it’s for book club, I’ll keep reading to give it a chance and participate in the conversation. Which I know will be great because our discussion leader for this book loves delving into the history of the real life people the characters are based on and does a brilliant job of sharing historical context. The conversation should be riveting.
As your writing skills improve, are you noticing your craft knowledge bleeds into your reading/watching habits?
Reading and watching shows is a great way to test your skills. You will start to notice in books that you previously might have put down because they just weren’t doing it for you for some reason, now you know why. You might recognize unique story structure devices or better decode formula dramas like “Law & Order.”
And don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you will stop enjoying these stories.
Often, my enjoyment is enhanced when a story is told well and I can see the choices a writer made to create it. Or I’m surprised by something. Or the writer held me so spellbound I wasn’t paying attention to the mechanics, I was simply lost in the story.
Identifying what you love and don’t in the stories you’re consuming can be super helpful to honing your craft.
I enjoyed rewatching Ted Lasso for this reason. Because there are three seasons, you can watch each as its own arc but also analyze the arc over the entire season. It’s a fascinating study of three-act structure.
I’m excited to rewatch The Bear for different reasons. It’s taking some risks in its story structure and I’m super curious to not only see where it goes but to also go back and see what the writers are doing creatively to tell the story. All I know is I’m captivated and I’d love to figure out why!
So, dear writers, keep reading and watching and learning.
And maybe keep your mid-movie whispers and honest book structure feedback to yourself.
At least until you read the room.
Featured image above is my actual book club at our January 2024 annual Winter PJ Party. We always read a book with a cold setting (this year was Winterland by Rae Meadows about female Soviet gymnasts, which is why we’re all wearing gold medals in the picture with our PJs!).