There is something really powerful about serial television. It's sort of a taboo subject to address in a lot of writing circles (what?!? you watch television? like I have syphilis or something). But, yes. I watch television. And no, I don't think it's a bad or a lazy thing to do. In fact, I think a lot of writers I've read could learn a lot from watching some television once in awhile.

Here are a few things I've learned about storytelling from watching television.

1. A good idea is never enough.  Let's take Moonlight for example, although really, you could use almost any one-and-done show. Most of the one-season shows (or even the 13-episode shows) fall flat because all they really are is a good idea. How is that? Wouldn't it be a great idea to write a show about a good vampire who investigates crime and tries to even the balance between good and evil? Sounds interesting. It's been done more than once. (i.e. Angel, in addition to Moonlight) Angel ran for five seasons. But Moonlight only ran for one. Why is that? When you think of a show that is purely paranormal (like almost any vampire show has to be), you have to think, who is my audience? A paranormal show has to have general appeal, but not so much general appeal that you forget it's a paranormal show. Moonlight was a great idea. But it was not executed well. The acting was alright, but the casting (apart from the main character) was not excellent.

2. Good characters make us want to stick around. During the first season of Lost, I was on the bandwagon. I watched every week and DVR'd what I couldn't make. The second season, after one too many broken promises by the writers, I tried to stop watching. Hard. But these characters had become like my friends. I'd lived their lives with them for the last year and a half (in my time... of course, like 20 days for them). I was invested in them and I wanted to see what happened. Plus, I was in love with Sayid, and I needed to know what would happen to him. I wanted to be part of his story. That's the best kind of writing, in my opinion. When the characters are so real and so compelling that I just have to be part of their story.

3. Good characters aren't enough. True confessions: I stopped watching Lost after the time travel crap. They almost lost me when the mysterious "Others" appeared with no explanations and no good reason. But I stuck around anyway (see above, re: Sayid). But when the writers kept writing twists with no purpose and not explaining anything, I stopped watching, cold turkey. To get my Sayid fix, I rewatch season one and the first half of season two. Otherwise, they've lost me.

What does that tell me about writing? Good characters are important, but devices will eventually turn people off. When mysterious things happen and are never explained, when people die (or appear to die, or almost die), but are mysteriously brought back to life (or don't die) and it's never even addressed, you will lose your audience. Yes, you want people to identify with your characters, but if you don't give them a compelling story that makes sense, they're going to tune out.

4. Good stories make sense; the best stories have symmetry. Most human beings are a sucker for a good story. We are also used to stories trying to teach us something. (The human race grew up on fables and parables... we don't get it from nowhere.) The best stories, I think, are not only good stories that make sense to the listener/reader/watcher, but are also stories that teach us something about the human condition.

If you've ever watched an episode in seasons 3, 4, or 5 of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, you'll know what I mean. Let's just take Superstar, as an example. In this episode, an outcast kid casts a spell to make himself a superhero and the center of the universe. On one hand, it's a well-written, funny, evocative story about a kid who takes magics into his own hands and has to pay the consequences. On the other hand, it's a powerful example of what being ostracized can do to a person's psyche. (This is the same kid who tried to kill himself in a clock tower in high school because no one liked him--another powerful episode.) It also happens to play an important role in healing the splintered relationship between the two main characters. By itself, it's a good story. In the context of the season and the characters, it has a certain symmetry that is really beautiful. It not only tells a good story in an effective way, it also uses that story to say something about us. It's not so over-the-top that you feel like you're being preached at. But it's not absent, either. Perfect symmetry.

5. The best characters are so real that their story can't have happened any other way. When I was watching ER and Dr. Greene died, I was unbelievably sad. But it made sense to me as a storyteller. I didn't like it, but I accepted it. When I was watching Veronica Mars and Duncan took off with his dead girlfriend's baby instead of staying to be with Veronica, I was so angry. But it made sense. And I accepted it. When Buffy and Riley broke up, I was so furious, I almost quit watching entirely. But it was so real to both their characters, I had to admit. It was real. When I look back over their relationship and who they were as people, I couldn't imagine it happening any other way. I wished it didn't have to be that way, but I knew it had to be--and not just because the writers wrote it that way.

Not all stories are like that. I can't count the number of times I've been reading a book and the characters did something that didn't make sense with who they were. A headstrong woman, for instance, suddenly can't think for herself. Why? Because it had to happen that way or the story wouldn't work. If she could think for herself, she wouldn't have walked head-long into the villain's grasp (or the storm or the hero's path... whatever the device is), and then she wouldn't have had the [insert plot device here].

So there's plenty of television that's unhelpful. (Although you can learn as much from bad writing as good, in my opinion.) But watching television can really make you a better writer (or make me one). Really. That's what I'm doing today... Research. :-)