What Watching "The Walking Dead" Has Taught Me About Writing

Super Bowl weekend, while the guys were out in the country and my granddaughter was on the road back to college, I did something I never expected to do. I decided not to watch the Super Bowl -- too much senseless violence (the joke was on me - keep reading).

While flipping through channels, I stumbled onto "The Walking Dead" marathon. I’m not a fan of guts and gore, so I was surprised at how much I liked the program. TWD has lots of gore and graphic violence, but I usually look away at those parts.

As soon as the guys returned, they started watching too. Much to my surprise, my husband, who prefers listening to political programs, became hooked. Monday morning, he suggested we turn on Netflix and watch previous episodes. While binge/watching episodes of TWD last week, I puzzled over why the show is so good. My answer is -- the writing. The actors do a great job, but without the well written scripts or direction there would be no story for the actors to portray.

 

Here's why I think TWD works so well:

• The writers are masters at suspending disbelief. (A zombie apocalypse, really?)
• The writers are masters at suspense/cliffhangers.
• Each episode starts with action, draws me in, and keeps my attention.
• The characters are well drawn and realistic, ditto for the dialogue.
• The writers make me care about the characters. (Although I get angry when a character I like gets killed.)
• Most of the characters don’t have fancy names. (How refreshing!)
• They are everyday people thrown into an extraordinary event.
• The heroes have flaws.
• The villains (most of them) have some redeeming qualities.
• Every episode has a surprise.
• The program makes me feel more than think.
• The story gets to the heart of the human condition. (What does it mean to be human?)
• The writers skillfully weave in the themes of courage, sacrifice, survival, resourcefulness, family, and loyalty.

While I'm a recent TWD fan, that's my take on why the program works. Any other fans out there? If so, what are your thoughts?