Mad Writing
By Kathleen Bolton | September 13, 2010 |
I don’t watch a lot of television these days, but one show I do make time for is Mad Men. I think it has the smartest writing on television. Each episode is a master craft of character-driven writing. Just when I think I can predict which way creator/showrunner/writer Matthew Weiner is going to take the storyline, I’m thrown a curve which leaves me breathlessly going “I didn’t see that coming,” followed by “Why didn’t I see that coming? It was all there, right in the characters.” For me, Mad Men has become essential viewing, and I always harvest a nugget that will help my own writing.
[If you don’t watch Mad Men, you should start. Seriously.]
This past week, an episode aired which will surely be nominated for an Emmy. Called The Suitcase, it was basically a payoff of three seasons of character building for the lead protagonist Don Draper, and his protégée/female work counterpart Peggy Olsen. At the start of the episode, they are both ruining their lives, Don with his drinking, Peggy by putting her personal life on the backburner for her job as one of the few female copywriters in the advertising 
profession. But by the end of the episode, both had come back from the abyss, saved by the other. And no, there wasn’t a shred of romance involved between them. Don, who was avoiding a phone call to find out that the one person who loved him unconditionally was dead, spent the episode getting progressively hammered until he was literally on his knees vomiting his life away in a toilet. Peggy chose work over her boyfriend, humiliating him because she was unwilling to leave an unfinished ad campaign to meet him for a romantic dinner. Both reached out to the other across the divide of gender, work politics, and human frailty to bond in a way that will have repercussions for the future.
The lesson I drew from this episode was this: don’t be afraid to give your character a fatal flaw, but make sure that flaw informs every aspect of their actions and reactions. Then take them to the utter limits of that flaw before you have the story put them back together again.
Weiner’s genius is that he doesn’t worry if the audience finds his characters temporarily repelling. He knows we are going to keep watching because we want to know how they are going to cope. I should note that he’s careful to make each character fully dimensional, with positive and negative traits. Don’s ex-wife Betty, for example, is a 
terrible, often cruel mother, but she’s also a woman trying to cope with the rigid gender role assigned to her by birth and economic status. So we empathize with her trying to have her kids be perfect, even if her methods of parenting leave us cringing.
In an interview with Rolling Stone (Sept. 16, 2010), Weiner, who has suffered his share of rejection as a television writer, says that the overarching theme of Mad Men is to have the characters answer the question who am I? Informed by time, place, their flaws and strengths, each character on the show, even the most minor, are answering this question. Weiner never deviates from this theme. I’ve learned to apply this to my own writing, too.
Which television shows do you find compelling from a writer’s standpoint and why? What lessons have you learned from them that you use in your own writing?
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
Wow, that’s the best case I’ve heard for Mad Men, period. (And I have several coworkers who are obsessed with it.)
For me, some of the best writing I’ve seen is on Grey’s Anatomy (seasons 1,2, and 6, specifically) and Battlestar Galactica (the 2008-2010 version, not the oldie). Like you said, the writers aren’t afraid to push their characters to the limit, even to the point where viewers might hate them (temporarily), in order for them to fully transform and redeem themselves. I love that.
I’m not yet that fearless as a writer, but I’m really, REALLY working on it with my latest project.
Television? I watch it for pure escape. Mostly Holmes on Homes (which is scary because we’re renovating our house) and Food Network offerings.
We have been watching Dexter, and I suppose being a killer is definitely a “fatal flaw” although I’m still considering the use of that term, because to me, it implies no possible redemption. Fatal=Death=The End.
What I’ve picked up in general from a variety of shows is structure. Building tension, adding conflict. I have to avoid making things too easy for my characters when I’m writing.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I don’t watch much TV either (I’d much rather curl up with a good book and listen to silence — having two small children will do that to you), but one show that has struck me as persistently clever in its writing is 30 Rock. Granted, I realize that comedy and drama require two entirely different approaches, but I am dazzled by the quality and consistency of the writing.
OK, you sold me. And I don’t mean that in a flippant way, either.
I’ve caught two episodes three months apart, and found them visually appealing, slow, and with a mood of deep pessimism. However, I love the kind of character arc you’re describing. I’m going to have to DVD this one.
I’d have to go with Battlestar and Burn Notice. I have yet to watch Mad Men, and now I might have to get with the program and start from the beginning.
Kathleen, so glad you took the time to comment on that episode about The Suitcase. It was so well done. The tragic hero element is coming forth more and more. Last night’s show took audiences in another direction, still.
As for other shows, you might want to check out Rubicon which precedes Mad Men.
Patricia
https://pmpoetwriter.blogspot.com/
I agree, Kathleen. Mad Men is beautifully written and acted. I watched the DVDs and got caught up, and now I tape the show and watch it…twice. The first time I lose myself in the story. The second time I study it. The character development, the tension, the foreshadowing of the twists and turns. And The Suitcase? Absolutely masterful.
The only TV show I watch is Mad Men. Brilliant, sigh-in-admiration writing.
This season of Mad Men is the best yet, and that’s really saying something. I was telling my husband last night it’s like a master class. Love it!
I tried to watch Mad Men a couple years ago when everyone first started raving about it — but I couldn’t get past how WELL they depicted the sexist timeframe. LOL So I’ll give them points for excellent writing, but I can’t seem to give any of my free time to it.
One show I just finished watching, and wishing it had been given more than two seasons, is a Canadian series called Intelligence. It was complex, and complicated, and intense, with very sympathetic “bad guy” characters. Calling it “great writing” seems so tepid. LOL
I came late to the Mad Men cannon; we started with Netflix for Seasons 1 and 2, and after each episode we kept saying, “so, should we pop in the next one?” We just couldn’t stop watching the characters and their lives unfolding like a trainwreck.
I’ve heard good things about Breaking Bad (and Therese will tell you Lost is epic, epic television), but I’ve got to get a few projects done before I allow myself to be lost in another good television series.
Great post, and I think you nailed it for fiction writers when you said “we want to know how they are going to cope.” That’s the essence of creating character-driven tension (and story). And teaching we readers how to cope is satisfying the reason that good fiction is good–we learn more about how to be a human being living in the world we live in.
I watch Chuck and nothing else on TV. Too many of my favorite shows get cancelled for me to watch. I usually find the brilliant series on DVD after their one and only season. Chuck has strong characters, strong dialog, and plenty of character development over time. In fact, some of the die-hard Chuck viewers complain that he’s changed too much!
My most recent blog post was prompted by a story I wrote about Chuck and posted on the web as a freebie. Yes it’s a fanfic, but the post is about why fanfics get written.
Marc Vun Kannon
https://authorguy.wordpress.com
I’m with you. I think Mad Men is the best show I’ve seen in a long time. Before that, I was obsessed with The West Wing.
I’ve been insanely hooked on Mad Men since Barb Ferrer started talking about it during the first season. Sophisticated writing, subtle, smart, and wise. Also exquisite detail work.
I ordered the first season on DVD today!
My favorite show at the moment (from a writerly standpoint) is Lie to Me. I think it’s doing a great job so far of weaving decent character development with action story lines and clever, intelligent dialog. It also manages to stick in a good deal of scientific information (which one assumes is based on actual fact…I guess?) in a way that’s neither boring nor info-dumpish. I also like The Big Bang Theory, for truly witty and fresh comedic writing that actually makes me laugh out loud. And I need that on a regular basis.
i love Madmen – from day one. I think the actor playing Don is superb – the guy is a wastral and yet so sympathetic. i enjoy the recaps and Weiner’s discussions at the AMC site. I’ve also been enjoying the Good Wife.
There you are – women who love Mad Men! This is the best show on TV – it’s filmed like a movie – and the writing is spectacular. It’s a fabulous lesson in writing. I often blog about it the day after it’s aired. Hubby and I own every season on DVD. It continues to win the Emmy for best drama – but it’s rare for us to find others who watch this. Or maybe they’re just not as vocal as American Idol and Glee fans – lol!
Geesh–the only thing that graces my television set is the NFL and Spongebob. I hate to be missing out… might have to be the series on DVD.
The West Wing – done extraordinarily well, with such compelling characters and dynamics and interactions.
Veronica Mars – season 1 especially. For plotline and things tying together, and also for sympathetic yet horribly flawed characters, including Veronica herself.
[…] Now, I joke that TV is a waste of time, and in some ways, sure, it is. But well-written TV actually inspires me. It helps me think about character development, plot arcs, sharp dialogue, and scenes that function well on multiple levels. Episodes are like chapters, seasons like novels. It’s not apples to apples, but it can be informative. […]