My Mom said "It's Bad for my Brain."
She can't be right about everything. What I've learned about Writing from Watching Television.
Not all television will help your writing, but I've found certain shows have helped me. Two in particular have assisted me in writing my suspense romance, and they share some things in common. One is Midsomer Murders, a British crime drama show; the other is an American police procedural and legal drama, Law & Order.
Both of these shows have been on for years.
Midsomer Murders has been on television for over twenty-seven years. The other one, Law & Oder, was on for twenty, and its sister, Law & Order, Special Victims, premiered in 1999 and is still on today.
These shows feature crime and/or a mystery to drive the story.
The Midsomer Murders show is an adaptation of the famous novels in the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series created by Caroline Graham. Although the British show takes place in Midsomer Worthy or Badgers Drift, it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that this much murder can take place in these idyllic places; estates covered with green grasses and gardens heavy with roses and perfect flowers; quaint towns with old inns and churches. It's also challenging to find an episode where a wealthy estate owner is not traipsing about with their shotgun thrown over their shoulder. The British seem to like their shotguns, oh, and their afternoon tea. There's a lot of tea drinking, and when you think of it, wine drinking is happening too. Where Midsomer Murders appears at first glance to be idyllic, Law & Order seems the gritty and scarier one. After an episode or two of Midsomer Murders you soon discover NYC, where Law & Order takes place, is the safer of the two.
In NYC, we expect awful things to happen. It's America, after all. Of course, after you watch a couple of episodes of Midsomer Murders, you wise up. Murder can happen anywhere. There are certain things the writers do on Midsomer to warn us that murder is coming. The use of visual cues. The murderer always seemed to wear black gloves, and there's weird music that plays during the killing. There's a debate about what the sound is. Some people say it's peacocks, and others say it's foxes. Since there has yet to be a consensus, you must listen to it and reach your own conclusions. As soon as we see gloves and hear the music, we know a murder is soon to occur. Unlike most Law & Order episodes, Midsomer Murders typically has more than one murder per episode; the writers of that show seem to believe more is better. Three is the magic number.
Law & Order depends on music, too, or rather a “mash-up” of sound, but it's always at the beginning and at the end of the show, not during the killing. Mike Post, who created the sound, said, "I sampled a jail door slamming, a couple other things — this clunk clunk, ching, Chong Chong thing, whatever you think it is." He gave more details to Entertainment Weekly, "Most notably, the sound includes a sample of 500 Japanese men stamping their feet on a wooden floor as part of a large dance class." I found this info on the Vox website.
Although we can't use actual sounds when we write, we can make descriptive sound work; that's why using our senses to write is so important.
What do both shows have in common:
Surprising and creative plots and storylines. Yes, many of Law & Order plot lines are taken from real-life news stories.
Entertaining dialogue. Law & Order approaches character development from all aisles, the police, the victims, the perpetrator, the defense and prosecuting attorneys. Midsomer Murders deals mainly with closed relationships between Inspector Barnaby and his various detective Sergeants as they interview people. There are also side plots with Barnaby's wife, Joyce, and sometimes his daughter, Cally.
The unique ways people are killed. Drowned in a bowl of hard-boiled eggs, smeared with truffle oil to encourage that the victim would be found and mauled by wild boars; crushed by a giant wheel of cheese, another was blown up by a toy tank; all on Midsomer Murders. On Law & Order, one sister killed another sister, framed the husband, and put herself in a coma (seems extreme, but she was having a bad day.) In another, there's a schizophrenic serial killer and then a copycat by one of his investors; then there's the Robert Durst-inspired episode, the child from hell, a ten year-old girl killer who sticks her victim, a little boy in a drainage pipe and then the mother of the year award goes to a caretaker of a severely handicapped son. The mother somehow escapes a raging fire that kills him. I could go on here, but this wouldn't be a short newsletter and I’ve got stuff to do.
How the shows differ:
Midsomer Murders is a much longer show, 89-102 minutes long, but it seems short. There's always another murder right around the bend. I was at a workshop once and the presenter said if your book gets boring, kill someone or bring out a gun. This seems to work.
Midsomer Murders is closer to a mystery show, and Law & Order is a crime show.
The use of humor. You would expect these shows to be dark. Law & Order is undoubtedly the darker one, with more drama and seldom laughs, especially since Jerry Orbach, who played Lennie Briscoe, died and boy do I miss him. His sarcasm and off-handed jokes lent some levity to the darker murder scenes. Midsomer Murders, on the other hand, contains a lot of humor in between the murders. It's hard not to laugh at someone killed by a wheel of cheese. The dialogue is also funny, especially between Barnaby and his detective, who he takes to task for his driving abilities and jumping to conclusions when solving crimes. One of the funnier episodes was watching Barnaby loosen up and let his hair down after eating some “bunny cakes” laced with marijuana, unbeknownst to him.
Midsomer Murders often depicts the struggle and superiority of the middle classes over the old failing aristocracy. They may possess the land and titles, but many have lost their way; many need to be better people. Barnaby is the middle class, sensible and reasonable, and will find out what they've done and put them away. Law & Order focuses on various crimes and shows the effects of poverty. It seems only the rich often get adequate representation and get away with their crimes. When an underling of Jack McCoy, expresses concern about the possible innocence of someone he just convicted, McCoy, indifferently responds, “He can always appeal.” It rings true.
Midsomer is a fictional village, but all the places they film are very much real. Law & Order was filmed in NYC. The producers of Midsomer also use "real people" for more minor roles, and you can tell this. They aren't blond, skinny, and with perfect teeth.
Midsomer has brought some weirdness into things, and I'm not talking about BDSM, but paranormal things…crop circles, ghosts, and the like. I don't recall Law & Order ever doing anything like that although Law & Order did bring BDSM into a couple of episodes. Of course, the paranormal could be explained by the English having houses and castles hundreds of years older that alien beings and ghosts might wish to reside in. HA!
Watching television shows can be a great way to learn about pacing, writing dialogue, and character development. If you're looking for some inspiration, I recommend checking out these two shows. You can watch MidSomer Murders on Prime Video, Ovation Channel and your local PBS station. And speaking of inspiration, I'd love to hear about what television show has helped you with your creative endeavors. How did it inspire you and what did you learn from it? Please feel free to share your thoughts.
Have a great writing week, sneak outside, enjoy the weather, or do both!